Noah's Growing

Well, at 10 months old Noah continues to grow long and lean. He weighed in at 20 lbs. 12 oz., and he is 29 inches long. Only the 50th percentile for his weight and 70th for height. The doctor is predicting a tall, skinny kid. Hmmm... I guess we'll have to wait a few more years to find out. He's cute regardless. I will try to post some pictures later as it is library day and I want to get home before rush hour hits.

Can I get an "Amen"

This is a question and answer article from some unknown source (I found it through another friends blog- thanks Ashley). But I love the response made to the lame-o question asked by the childless, clueless, abandoned friend.

Carolyn:
Best friend has a child.
Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc.
Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today?
Her: Park, play group . . .
Okay. I've done Internet searches, I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners... I do all those things, too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY.
I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events) and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.

Tacoma, Wash.



Dear Tacoma, Wash.,

Relax and enjoy. You're funny.Or you're lying about having friends with kids.Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.

Internet searches? I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard.

To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed.

So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form.

When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.

It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.

It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.

It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise.

It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.

It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand or keep your snit to yourself.

Can I get an 'Amen' from all the mommies out in blog-land?!

I'm 10 months old today

Hi. I'm Noah. I'm 10 months old today. I have my check-up on Monday so who knows how big I am. The outfit I am wearing in these pictures is a 3-6 month size. The pants are way too short so mom rolled them up. The sweater is too small and has a stain on it. Oh well, I still look quite handsome. In case you were wondering, I still don't crawl because I get around quite well in the sitting position as I dig my heels in and scoot on my bottom. I think I will be a professional baseball player when I grow up. I am always grabbing myself during diaper changes. I just laugh and laugh. Mom and Dad don't find it amusing (well, Dad does). I also like spitting food out while I eat. It really makes my sister laugh. That's about all you need to know I guess. I hope you like my pictures.

Little Bear Goes to School

Today was Carlie's first day of preschool. We were so excited for her, and she was very excited herself. When we dropped her off she was happy to see there were lots of Ponies and babies to play with. Noah really missed his sister. I went to the grocery store after dropping her off, and he cried and cried the whole time. He never does that. Even when we got home he was still crying. I had to give him Cheerios, and he finally stopped crying. Once we picked her up, he was fine. Definite love for the big sis. I know Carlie played hard because this is the first nap she has taken in quite a while.

Looking supersweet

Ready to roll

Walking into school as Principal Ketchum welcomed all the kids.

Carlie's teacher, Mrs. Garthe

Cubbie Corner

The Week that was

We didn't do a ton last week due to the intense heat and humidity, but I did manage to drag the kids out to an open practice during Rams training camp. Unfortunately, it was so hot, we only stayed about 30 minutes so we didn't get autographs or anything. You can tell in the photos how hot and miserable the kids are. I don't know how the players do it wearing all that padding. At least we live 5 minutes away so it wasn't a big deal to leave after a short time. Maybe next year it won't be quite so hot, and we can meet a few players. We did get to see a Rams cheerleader up close. She was selling calendars. Most of the cheerleaders look like they want to be the next stars of "The Girls Next Door".

Getting Ready for School

Well Carlie starts preschool in 10 days. So I took a few pictures of her when her new school backpack arrived in the mail. Yes, the backpack is as big as she is, but I really don't want to have to keep buying them every year. I am hoping this will get her thru 8th grade. We'll see. Don't worry, there will be plenty more pictures of her on her first day.

Water Babies

It has been so hot outside that we have spent several mornings in the pool. I wish I could fit in it. Noah absolutely loves it and splashes and splashes. Carlie of course thinks he is splashing her on purpose and gets a little annoyed, but she goes with the flow and loves playing with her little brother.

A Visit with Kristi

I was so fortunate to get to visit with our friend, Kristi, during her move to Dayton, OH. She will be starting her residency there, and her hubby was able to find an optometry job so all is going well for them. Carlie loves visiting with her old friend. Kristi and her hubby used to watch Carlie for us when they lived in St. Louis before they moved to K.C. But I won't give their life story. I was just glad to get to visit with her even if it was for just a few hours.

More Movie Reviews and Recs

We've seen some good movies lately so I thought I would share. You may have already seen them, but here is my take. The Departed and Blood Diamond are awesome movies. They are extremely violent, so not for the kid folk. Blood Diamond just really makes you appreciate living in this country. I can't imagine having to live in an environment like that. And, the worst movie ever made (no, Dad it is not Wayne's World) is Anchorman. Oh, that was just dreadful. We also saw Spiderman 3 on the Omnimax. It was a very dizzying experience on that type of screen. The kid next to me got sick. It was a good flick, a bit long, but good. I am sure there will be another one, but can they please get a new M.J.? Kirsten Dunst is really annoying! ALERT... Katie Holmes will not be in the next Batman movie, her character has been recast with Maggie Guylenhall.

Best movie we have seen lately... drum roll please... Pursuit of Happyness! What a great movie, I laughed, I cried, very inspiring. Will Smith is such a great actor and seems to be a great family man, and I wish he would get a little more recognition than the people shooting roids to break records and shooting dogs in the head. Eeeekkk, but I won't get started on that. If we see anything else worth seeing, I shall let you know.

Conquering Fear

Carlie finally rode Pinto today. Well, I wasn't allowed to turn the sound on because it would "scare Noah". Hmmm... At least she is making progress. She had to deliver the cowboy cookies to Benny before Swiper found them. Her little sidekick helped too. They were all delivered safely.

Bon Appetit!

So we sit down to dinner last night, and someone decides they would rather eat their toes than their food. It was quite disgusting, especially the bite with the yogurt in the mouth. I guess we should sign him up for Baby Cirque de Soleil.

More Pics of the Kiddos

Somebody buy this kid a more manly toy! :)

Other Happenings

Here are a few pics from the weekend. We went to the Mills Mall to hang out, have lunch at Chevy's, and oh yes, ride the carousel.

Happiness is being 9 months old

Can't believe it has already been 9 months since Noah was born. He is getting so big. In looking at a few old photos, I think he is starting to look a little like his Uncle Steve and Cousin Matthew. Here are a few pics I took after his professional session- which should be better since they were outside at the beach and park in Creve Coeur Park.

Splashing at the Park

Today's adventure

States 48 and 49

I made it home safely and can now cross off two of the three remaining states I had yet to visit. Alaska is already calling my name.

It was very beautiful up there and things seemed to move at a much slower pace. At least compared to places like Chicago. Everyone seems to be adjusting well to their new surroundings since moving out there. I started out in Portland to visit R2 (my friend, Rachel, for those of you unfamiliar with the lingo.) Because my flight was delayed, and I didn't get in until 2am, we passed on the beach and hung out at her house the first day. No worries, the next day we got up and drove to Seattle. The boys sure were troopers in the car considering the delay caused by the overturned tractor trailer on I-5. We eventually made it though.

What a cool city Seattle is. I thought people in St. Louis liked dogs. There are doggy stores everywhere, but there are still more Starbucks. People were very laid back and didn't care much how they looked. Seafood restaurants everywhere. Yum. Pike Place Market was very cool, and I will definitely return to the donut stand there. Double yum. And, beautiful flowers-- only $4.95 for some of the bouquets--wow! We met Sarah and her litter (3 kids) downtown. Then, we did a Duck Tour. These are vehicles that amphibious- land and water. It was a nice tour, but could have been better if we had a better guide.

After an overnight with the Lohse's, we drove up to Bellingham to visit one of Rachel's cousins who owns a jewelry store there. It is a small town with a lot of charm (and hippies). They treated us to wonderful afternoon of sights and food and kite flying. I guess I won't go in to all the details of the trip. I'll go faster, but we did cram a lot into the short amount of time I had to visit.

Once back in Portland (I won't digress about getting lost in the ghetto of Tacoma looking for IHOP), we visited Voodoo Doughnut- a much-hyped, hole in the wall, doughnut shop. It wasn't all that great. We also drove to Pittock Mansion to view Mt. Hood, and I took some photos of the Rose Garden in the city park. Didn't get any pics of R2 and me together. Should have had Danny take one. We had to get up bright and early so I could catch my flight home. Much sadness with that, but I did miss Mike and kids very much. Next time they must come with me. Special thanks to Grammy and Pawpaw Rodgers for watching the kids so I could go. It was a great trip, and I am so fortunate to have such truly wonderful friends. Must get kleenex...

The Space Needle (in case you're from another planet and didn't know that)
Karsten
The kiddos
Brandon and Sarah





Danny took this picture of me.
Trying out a $30 hula hoop
Ryan enjoying his balloon.
One of the many kites
Portland and the base of Mt. Hood