sick

Did I mention that all of us, along with pretty much anyone and everyone I know, were totally sick and out for the count last week?
It began at MOPS. I go to MOPS at a local church here every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month. One of the gals who attends has a little girl who also goes (along with Noah).
In her blog, she stated that her daughter had thrown up all over the car on the way home from MOPS. I thought to myself, "Hmm...Noah's never thrown up...I wonder if now is the time." Sure enough, Saturday night, we had friends over for pizza, and Noah kept lifting up his little shirt and pointing to his tummy. I kept saying, "Yes! That's your tummy! ...can you say 'tummy'?!" Well, I put him down to bed at about 7:45 pm, and Christian decided he was going to bed at about 8:15pm. He had been up riding the night before (reserve policemen) and was way tired. So I figured I'd get ready for bed, too. Normally I go to bed at about 10:30 and check on Noah right before I do, but I decided to check on him early. So I open his bedroom door and immediately the sickeningly sweet and sour vomit smell wafts out. Ughhh. He had puked, in his sleep, and continued to sleep and roll around in it. It was all over his face, in his ears, hair, down his pajamas, all over his stuffed animals and blankies. Every.where. So Christian had to put his legs on so he could clean up the mess while I bathed Noah, who was puking. And puking. And puking. He proceeded to puke until about 11:45, when I finally decided to take him to the ER. The poor little guy was just exhausted. He could hardly hold his head up. And I was rocking him the whole time. To top it all off, he was afraid of the puke bowl and kept pushing it away, so I ended up just having him puke into a towel. Eight puke soaked towels later, he was still going.
So my mom and I sat in the ER for a few hours (coulda been way longer, I know) and they gave him some stuff to stop the vomiting. Along with the most precious little baby hospital gown EVER. Open in the back and everything. I could have died, it was so precious. Because once he got the anti-nausea pill, he was his happy peppy self, and was beebopping around the ER in that little gown. Precious.
Well next it was my turn. Started feeling sick Monday night, and puked all through the night. Then it was Christian. Oh, and my mom also got sick, same time as me.
*Note to Jen--(if you're even reading this)--I still wasn't as sick as the time you took me to the hospital. Gosh, never have I been sicker than that.
Anyway, so thankfully, we're all much better now, although something is going on with Noah, I think. He's been SUPER fussy lately. Since being sick, I mean. I'm wondering if he has an ear infection or something, but he's showing no other signs of one. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. We shall see.

Tuts my Barreh

I'm sorry, but this is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen. Just watch it. You won't be disappointed. It came from my sister. She always finds good, quality stuff!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=52642135

Click on the link!

Melissa

Noah dancing

Noah loves dancing and it is so precious when I can get him to do it. I figured I'd post my first video on here. We were just getting him ready to get in the bathtub...we don't normally let him run around in just a diaper! (He also likes to play hide and seek in our closet!)Also figured I'd post one of the only pictures I got from our girl's weekend at the beach. It pretty much sums the whole trip up!

A Case of the Clingys

That's right. I've got a handsome, cute male constantly on my heels. He doesn't say much, he eats whatever I make for dinner, and he adores me. He's my son. It sounds completely lovely, but, am I alone here when I say that it's somewhat annoying to me? Noah is SO clingy right now. If I'm doing the dishes, he manages to wriggle his little baby body in between me and the sink (his head comes to about my mid thigh) and he puts his arms up in the air and squeals "Mama! Mama! Maaammmaaaaaaa" and kind of bounces up and down. It is urgent to him. And if I try to finish one thing, or (dare I say it!) WALK into the other room, it's over folks. He cries. It is the saddest little face you ever did see. His little mouth opens and his lips contort and he gets SO upset. I should actually try to take a picture, since it WOULD be worth a thousand words. It's so so sad. But he wants me to hold him all. day. long. And it's physically impossible for a gal to do. It just is! Is he like that toward Christian? No.
After reading "Bringing Up Boys" about a year ago, I decided to pick it up again tonight. This time, I skipped straight ahead to the chapter about moms and boys. I remembered that there had been discussion about boys being clingy with their mothers, and then letting go slowly and clinging to their fathers. I couldn't find it.
Please somebody tell me that this is normal! It's not like I'm gone all day at work or anything. It's not like we don't play and have fun--we are together all day long! But he still just can't get enough of me! (I am, I guess, pretty much kind of a big deal) Anyway, Christian said the other day, "This CAN'T be normal. I have never seen a child behave like this!" But I tend to think (or hope) that it is. Anyway, any suggestions or comments out there? I know that these days will pass all too quickly, and believe me, I am trying to cherish them. I count my blessings every day and hug and kiss Noah so much! But I wanted to see if anyone else had any thoughts??
--Clung to in TD :)
PS--did I mention that he is 32 pounds? I tried carrying him around with me everywhere for a few days, and although he was happy, my right hip and bicep were not.

Girls weekend at the beach!

I just got back from a refreshing weekend at the beach with my two sisters and my mama. It was so fun! No kids, no men (although we love 'em)...just the gals. And lots of shopping! We stayed in Lincoln City, OR and arrived there around 10 pm Friday night. We lounged, and then Saturday we went to breakfast, then shopped all day at the Lincoln outlets. We all agreed that that is where we're going to do our Christmas shopping for this year. SUCH great deals! Then we enjoyed a delicious feast at Mo's, then off to the casino for a little gambling fun. (No luck, unfortunately). But we had fun. I was mostly glad to just get away and have time with my sisters and mom. We have never done this and it was my first time being away from Noah without Christian. I missed him, but it was a much needed mini vacation :)
It was also the first time I've been to the Oregon coast since I was 7 months pregnant with Noah--I was overdue!
Thanks mama for a wonderful girls weekend at the beach! I am looking forward to doing that again soon!

Our time in DC!

WHERE DO I BEGIN?!!! What an amazing time we had in Washington DC this past week. We've decided it was one of the coolest things we've ever gotten to be a part of. We headed out on Monday and stayed the night in Portland. Our flight left the next morning for DC at 6:30 am, so we were up bright and early, and it was a long day of travelling for us. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt, just a few blocks away from the White House, and it was an amazing hotel. We also met up with John Gonsalves, the founder of Homes for our Troops, along with his son, Hunter, and co-worker Tom. Pete Damon (double arm amputee presenting the picture to the President) and his wife Jen were also staying in the same hotel. On Wednesday we got dressed in suits and caught a cab to the White House. We got there at around noon and waited for about an hour before going into the oval office to meet with President Bush. While waiting, we saw Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as well as others, but we didn't know their names. That in itself was pretty exciting, especially for Christian. Then we got to go into the oval office and it was truly amazing!!! We chatted with the president and Pete and his wife presented a painting he had painted of the president. It was very special. We were able to get pictures with the president, and all in all, we were in there for about 20 minutes. A pretty good chunk of the President's time! :) That night we were fortunate to meet with some very special staff from North Carroll Community School for dinner. We had a great time talking with them and we wished so much that we could have gone to see the kids at the school. This trip just didn't allow for it, but kids---we were thinking of you all!!! Next time, ok?? Thursday night was the final address, and it was phenomenal. We arrived at 5:30 and two complete floors of the White House were just open for all the guests to wander through. They served a buffet style FANCY dinner, as well as champagne and wines and other drinks. We were able to walk around with our drinks and peruse the rooms. AND, the best part was that we were able to take pictures! We have not been able to do that before, so we were super excited about that. We snapped away and sat on the furniture and chatted for about 2 1/2 hours before we were seated for the president to give his final address. It was very special. Oh, we got pictures this night with he and Laura, too. They were professionally taken, though. They wouldn't let us take pictures with the president with our own cameras. So anyway, it was spectacular. It was pretty much a private party of about 200 people, whom the President said inspired him very much over the last 8 years. So we feel very privileged to have been able to be there. It was like nothing we've ever experienced!! I posted a few pictures...hopefully they'll work. On a completely different note, Christian was sworn-in last week as the newest reserve city police officer for The Dalles. This is a big deal! We're pretty sure he's the first double amputee police officer in Oregon, and possibly in the US. He makes me extremely proud and we are thrilled that he has been given this opportunity! Yahoo! Although we had an awesome week, we were so glad to get back to our precious little Noahbear last night. We missed him sooo much. He is absolutely our pride and joy--what a blessing!


Above--me in the White House china room! Abe Lincoln's china behind me!


Above--me and C in the White House blue room!

Above--us in the First ladie's room

Above--us in the White House library. Absolutely beautiful!

In the East room where the final address was given...just waiting for it to start!

A little excitement going on!

We are leaving for Washington DC today! We've been invited to the White House by Mr. Bush himself to attend his farewell address in PERSON! AT THE WHITE HOUSE! We are also attending a special presentation in the oval office! I can't believe it! We are both so excited and looking forward to some different scenery :) Noah bear is staying with has Boppy and Boppa (Pam and Doug) and Hannah for the week and Macie is staying with my mom. I wish we could take Noah with us, but he is soooo squirmy these days and I don't think he would do too well on the plane. He's already met G.W. once :)
So that's super exciting news.
As for me, (and on a different note) I'm trying to look at life a little differently than I have been. (Thanks for your note, Cora!!) I do have a tremendous opportunity (or blessing, rather) to raise my son alongside my husband for the time being. And I am grateful for that and I'm trying to be positive. We just get cabin fever, and we're around each other all the time. And we run out of ideas of things to do with Noah to keep him entertained. I would LOVE to get together with other moms in the area and just talk and spend time, even if only an hour, where our kids can play. It's so important to be in other people's company, especially those who believe in the Lord.
So, I am looking forward to those things. And to church! We are looking forward to trying a new church out with friends.
Anyway, exciting week!