Merry Christmas!

Yes we are still here...post have been hard to accomplish lately. I must say with I feel life with 3 kids has kept me busy lately. I feel that as soon as I have 2 kids set with an activity there 3 needs some extra attention. Mason had hit a new stage, one that wants to be in Mommy's arms ALL.THE.TIME.  I will post all the fun things we have been doing next week (I'm working 3 out the next 4 days).

Christmas this year has been beautiful. My goal was to teach the kids the Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. So today when I asked Grant whose birthday do we celebrate this weekend, he quickly answered "Jesus'" It made my day. Now if only I could find the baby Jesus for our Nativity. He went missing into Grant's room last week, I hope we can get him back into the nativity scene for his birthday. Grant is by far the most excited about Christmas. Today he was asking if we could go buy more presents to give to family and friends.

Christmas Eve, I will spend the day working in the ER. While I love being a nurse, being a staff nurse in a unit leaves you to work on holidays. While I would love to be sitting in Christmas Eve services, singing The First Noel (a favorite since my middle name is Noelle), I will be spending 12 hours caring for patients whom I believe would most likely not want to be in the ER as well.

Tonight I was blessed with a greatest gift, watching Norah take more steps closer to walking independently. She was able to raise a foot up high enough to step over a toy in her way. Tears of joy came as I thought back to last Christmas, she has come so far this year. Jason put it best - she is not normal, she's exceptional.

I hope that every one's Christmas wishes come true, and may it be happy, safe and healthy (if not you can come find me in the ER, I'll be happy to take care of you).

Our 2011 Family Christmas Verse-

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Silly Missy Muffin

Norah is a bit of a goof ball, easily making me smile and laugh.

Norah says she was taking a picture of me when I snapped this picture of her looking more like Mason.

Last week, as I was cleaning the kitchen she pushed a chair over to the sink. As she was about to crawl onto it, Grant quickly jumped up on it. I have a firm only one kid on a chair at a time policy. So she looks up at him and tells him to get off. He ignores her, she continues requesting nicely to have her chair. Then, "Grant get off the chair you stinker." Yup she's persistent.

While playing in her room the other day I checked in see what she was up to. I found her nursing her baby doll. Yes she sees her mommy nursing her little brother often and has begun to nurse her own dolls now. Yes, she burps them too.

Then came time to change her diaper today. As we finished and she was sitting up on the changing table, she looked me straight in the eye and said, "Mommy I need to have a conversation with you." I inquired about what, her response, "Your pimple." Yes mommy's skin does seem to be breaking out these days, thanks Norah for noticing. I glad the conversation wasn't anything more serious.


Norah tantrums are increasing in frequency these days. While we try to ignore them, I do get a good laugh when we tell her to stop it, and from the mist of tears, she'll immediately stops and says OK with a chipper voice then moves on. 


So much love I have for this little girl.

Nap

Grant is nearing the end of daily naps, I see it coming.Grant has always been a good napper.  I noticed that the days where he just doesn't want to take a nap are increasing. I always insist upon quiet time, and try to make that happen in his room. Often quiet time has turned into nap time once sitting in bed reading books.  This week Grant kept insisting he didn't need a nap and he was quietly watching Caillou on TV, so I was happy to let him continue on. Well I went about me afternoon activities, cleaning up, starting dinner, checking out the world of Facebook when I noticed quiet time was even more quiet. The TV was silent, Caillou was done.  I looked towards Grant to see him sound asleep. He looked like a big boy yet at the same time still my baby all snuggled into the new couch.



It was fun to see Norah climb up on the couch and try to wake him up when she woke up not to long after I took these pictures. Grant was asleep, she even tried to pry his eyes upon. So cute listening to her say "Grant William wake up." He opened his eyes turned away and went back to napping. I told Norah to snuggle in, which she did for about a minute before she was off to see if Mason would let her play with him. She did successfully wake him up.

Next Steps

A month ago Norah got her new walker, a Nurmi Neo. It took nearly six months to get this walker for her, but after a lot of research I felt like this was the walker that was a right fit for Norah. Norah took off running with this walker as soon as we let her go. This walker rolled over the cracks in the sidewalk not slowing her down at all. It was much lighter than the previous walker she had. The way the walker is designed she has to stand up in the walker, she also can't rest along the back of it like she use to do. We were able to get a different set of hand grips that can be turned in so her hand alingment is closer to her body. Norah has such a small frame she previously walked with her arms out, away from a natural position. The antireverse brakes on the walker can easily be turned off making Norah work a little harder to maintain her balance. Oh so many things about this walker I love.

We went to the Mall of America the weekend before Thanksgiving where Norah shopped with me for three hours using her walker the whole time, running in the open areas of the mall and enjoying the freedom the her walker allows.

The this last week came, Jason and I noticed, as well as Norah's PT. Something is clicking in Norah's brain and her ability to walk and maintain balance. Today I can tell you is the first time I have seen Norah make an attempt to walk places within the house instead of crawling. If I saw her start crawling, all it took was a little prompt, saying Norah why don't you walk? This would have her immediately standing upright and off to her destination. Just looking at her, you can easily see how proud she is that she is able to accomplish this task. I, too, am very proud to be her mom and share this moment.

Norah is still using her walker while we are out and about running our errands, but I am so happy she is able to walk about the house independently.

Mason ~ 6 months

Where has the time gone, my precious baby boy. It seems like yesterday we came home from the hospital. You were a snugly bundle of joy. So content and peaceful, willing to go with the flow. So much of the is still true, but you have had some big changes as well.

You are 19 pounds already, just a pound and half shy of weighing the same as you sister. You have the most magnificent smile, light up the room and melting my heart. We went through a rough patch the last couple of months, you decided to no longer sleep though the night. This was tough on Mommy who needs her sleep to keep up with your brother and sister during the day. This last week things have been better now that you have recovered from Roseola and a cold, so let's just keep that up. 

We have been working on eating food for a few weeks. It has been a rough start, cereal isn't your thing, carrot and squash get 2 thumbs up while you can't find anything sweet about sweet peas.

Tummy time has become tolerated, you are becoming better at propping yourself up on your arms. We have seen you roll over a few times, but nothing consistent so far. You are also getting closer to becoming an independent sitter, while you do great with supportive sitting.

Toys are becoming more entertaining, right now you prefer your taggie blanket best. You will sit and chew on it until it is covered with drool. You love to watch your brother and sister play, but your are not as tolerant as you used to be when they kiss you extra hard or try to touch repeatedly.

So much love you have given us and that we have for you. Happy 1/2 Birthday, Mason Randall!

Christmas Is Coming!

The Christmas season is upon us, and I love the Spirit of Christmas. No Scrooge's are allow in my house. So. . . . . . Let the decorating for Christmas begin!

Step 1: the spiral trees in the front of the house (We need snow to cover the planters or I will be sending Jason to the store for another strand of lights for the tree on the right).

 

Step 2: plant the deer in the front yard (Thank you Jason!)



This weekend decking the halls continues inside!