New Photos!

Sorry for the lack of postings...even though Noah is less than 2 months old, he takes up a lot of time!!! Who knew that feeding, changing, wiping down, sleeping, etc. takes up SO MUCH TIME??? So, that's how I've been spending my days...and some days (like today), I'm lucky enough to be able to get a shower!!! Woo hoo!! Today's shower was the first since...Sunday?...and was much needed. We had a little "incident" this morning, which involved emptying out everything consumed & projecting it on the person next to you. And in this case, meant Noah was the projector, and I was the projectee. So, while Noah got wiped down (and spent the next 20 minutes snuggling in a nice warm towel), I spent the next 3 hours smelling like old milk & vomit. Fun, huh? Still wouldn't trade it for the world, though!

In a nutshell, my rash is back. Yes, this makes it itchy time #3! This time, though, they think it's folliculitis. No, I've never heard of it either, but apparently it's when your hair follicles get infected & inflamed. So, I've got another topical steroid cream to use, and will start taking erythromycin two times a day for about a month. The erythromycin should kill the bacteria, thus taking away the inflammation, and the itch that goes along with it. The person I saw at the dermatologist was a Physician's Assistant, who did call in the doc I saw first to confirm his diagnosis. And HE thought that the original doc's diagnosis of post-partum PUPP (which was what I was told rash #2 was) was incorrect. Personally, I think it's all hormonal, but whatever will make it go away, I'll do. I've even though that if I could sacrifice a chicken to the rash gods, I'd do it. Whatever will take away the pin-prick-bug-walking-itchy sensation that I currently have just about all the time (and gets worse when I'm holding Noah, i.e., Small Portable Space Heater).

I also had to have a root canal last week, too--on the tooth with the only crown I have, the crown that I'm not 100% sure I needed, anyway; the crown that took me nearly 2-3 years where it didn't bother me. The root canal went remarkably well, probably due to the fact that they gave me nitrous oxide (gas of the Gods), which took the edge off. And they also gave me 3 shots of Novocaine (the first two shots still hurt a bit--they are jabbing a big needle down to the roots of a molar, after all--but I was much more relaxed about dealing with the pain). I go to my dentist next week to have the permanent filling put in. (I was referred to an endodontist for the root canal...I don't know if my dentist just doesn't do root canals, and prefers to have a specialist do it, or whether they didn't want to take a chance on me after I regaled them with the horror story of how I came to get my crown in the first place. Either way, I'm glad they referred me--the guy that did it was good, and did I mention the nitrous oxide?

I'm on penicillin to combat any infection that may have begun, and why the penicillin can't kill whatever bacteria may be causing my rash, I don't know. But, all drugs that I'm taking are safe for me, safe for the baby...so no worries.

We're excited to be hosting a Hardin BBQ this weekend--Patrick's grandparents, parents & sister will be visiting this weekend, and we can't wait!!! Patrick has already used his new Smoker (I'm sure he'll wax poetic about it on his blog soon) a couple times, with rousing success. And, we can't wait for Noah to meet his great-grandparents! He's still a little too floppy to travel right now, so it's great that they'll be able to come to him until he can travel safely.

Noah is getting bigger every day...and he's getting so strong! His neck muscles are really developing rapidly (he's almost able to hold his head up all by himself--it still gets a little wobbly at times, but I'm sure in the next month or so, we'll see that disappearing). He's really smiling now--with his eyes, too, so it's not just gas (though even with the "gas" smiles, we tell ourselves that he was smiling at us). It's a little freaky watching him sleep, though--sometimes he sleeps with his eyes open, and goes into REM sleep, so he'll just be staring, and moving his eyes, and going through all these emotions, and it's a little disconcerting. But cool, also, to watch him go through EVERY emotion--he'll go from having the saddest expression ever (his cute little mouth turned down into a frown), to happy, to upset...in about 10 seconds.

We've found these great CDs that overlap womb noises with soothing electronic "New Age" music that I think help him sleep at night. I know they put us out pretty quickly! We've also found out that he doesn't like falling asleep in one place, and waking up somewhere else. And really, you can't blame him! I know I'd probably cry if I fell asleep all snuggly in someone's arms, only to wake up in a completely different locale! So, we're trying to put him down when he's drowsy, with limited success. We know that he's too young to spoil (until they're about 3-4 months old, they don't equate their actions bringing about a direct response--in other words, he doesn't draw the connection between "I cry & Mommy or Daddy come"--right now, it's just "I'm crying because I'm upset, and I don't know why. Figure it out!"), so we just pick him back up, and soothe him some more. And somewhere around midnight, he's finally asleep for good. Then we're able to get about 2 1/2 hours of sleep, get up feed him, put him down. Pick him up. Put him down. Pick him up. Put him down...ahh! Get another 2 hours or so of sleep. Yes, this is the glamorous life! But I wouldn't trade a single nanosecond of it!!!

I did go by Krispy Kreme the other day; the "HOT" sign was on, and I hadn't had a hot KK donut, so by God, I was gonna have one. My blood sugar has leveled out, so I thought it was high time. I'd wanted one since about, oh, my 7th month of pregnancy, and boy was it good!!!! But, while I was there, they had the cutest onesie--so of course I bought it. You can see another picture of it on Patrick's blog, but we took a couple.

I'm also posting a picture of "Fun-n-Sun Noah" as well as a family picture, and one of me & Noah to appease the clamoring masses.

Enjoy!

Growin' like a weed!

Well, we had another doctor's appointment--Noah had a rash on his face that didn't seem to be getting better, had a little diarrhea, and what seemed to be a low-grade fever (taken under the armpit...I was a little squeamish about taking his temp rectally, as I've never done it, and he's a squirmy little thing!)...well, he weighed 9 lbs, 11 oz. and was fine, according to the doc. They took his temp (and I watched, and made mental notes, so that when I need to stick a thermometer up Noah's bum, I'll be better prepared), which was fine; said that occasional diarrhea is normal, and that he's got a combination of heat rash & baby acne. Which is also normal. It seems to be getting better--we keep wiping him down with damp washclothes to help the acne, and we're pretty much keeping him in just a diaper to keep him cool. I just hate that his pretty face is all bumpy!!!

A couple days later, we had Noah's regular 1-month check-up, and he weighed 9 lbs, 13 oz! So we're not quite to the 10 lb mark yet, but we're getting close!!! He's already outgrown some of his little socks...and to be honest, I can't think of that too much or I start to get all weepy!

We're getting more boxes put away, and Noah's room is starting to look more like a nursery, and less like a storage room. I did get Kristina's Noah's Ark cross-stitch hung; it's a little off-level, due to the hanging method I used (Hold it up & get the screws in the wall. Fast.), but it looks really nice--it'll be above where the crib will go.

We're starting to think about the "man shed"--there's a lot of stuff in there, and I really dread having to go through it all. We may use the dollhouse to store items that we don't want to unpack, but we want to keep (like the mouse ears we got at Disney...not something that you wear every day, but we want to keep them), and then when the man shed is a little more cleared out, transfer the dollhouse storage to the man shed. We still would like to transform the man shed into usable guest quarters, but I think that's down the road a bit.

Patrick and I celebrated our 8 year Anniversary on the 4th, and spent it with Mom & Dad, eating some of the best BBQ, courtesy of Dad & his Green Egg. When I think about it, it doesn't seem like we've crammed all we've done in 8 years: moved from Knoxville to West Tennessee then to South Carolina; bought 2 homes; gone from 3 cats down to 1; had a baby... We've been BUSY! I have to say, though, that it's been the best 8 years (11 if you count the 3 years we were together before we got married) of my life--and it just keeps getting better!

Noah still has moments when he just doesn't want to sleep. I think he's taken after his daddy on this respect--Patrick is very much the night owl, and I think Noah is, too. We've started playing a CD we received that puts lullabies over a heartbeat, and that does seem to help. We've ordered a few more CDs like that via Amazon.com, and hopefully they'll arrive soon...we just need to be consistent about where Noah sleeps, and realize that, like us, when he falls asleep in one spot (say, his magic vibra-chair, swing, or in my arms), and then wakes up in a completely different place (his bassinet) and in the dark, he gets a little scared. So--we try to put him in his bassinet when he's just about asleep, and that way it seems to help if he wakes up a little--and he's able to go back to sleep. Until 2am, when he's hungry. Then falls asleep in the middle of the feeding. Only to wake up again when I try to put him back to bed.

We just try to keep in mind that he's new at all of this, too, and we're just going with the flow. The other day we went for a walk & put Noah in his little carrier pouch-Bjorn thingy and he seemed to really like that; in fact, he fell asleep about 3/4 of the way through our walk. We're going to try to do that as often as we can, but days when it's really hot out, we just don't feel comfortable taking him outside.

Patrick's penance at Faurecia is about to end; I think he's manning the station until the end of July, and then he's going to be at Drive...which is about 30 minutes away, I think; but I'm not exactly sure where exactly it is. I do know that it is in South Carolina, though. And today I get to go to the dentist; my crown is really bothering me, and I'm terrified that they'll tell me it's cracked, chipped, damaged and that I need a new one plus a root canal.... The last time I had dental work done--or attempted--they gave me a couple shots of Novacaine, and I was so nervous & keyed up that the Novacaine never took. And since that time, I've been worried that I'll need more serious dental work done, and now I think I've put myself in a position where I'm afraid of an outcome that may not be as bad as I think--but I'll make it bad because of my past experience. At least I'm not pregnant, so I can drink if I need to. (Just kidding!!!!)

Here's one of the latest photos I've taken of Patrick & our boy...enjoy!!! I promise to get more pics of Noah & post them!