9 month check-up and update

Noah turned 9 months on Tuesday. We also had his 9 month check-up that day. He's doing pretty well, he's in the 55th percentile for his weight and the 70th percentile for his height. His head circumference is in the 99th percentile which raises a red flag. Anything over 97% they like to test to make sure there isn't any fluid or extra growth going on in the head that shouldn't be. So, we have a CT scheduled for Monday at Children's Hospital. I have had a hard time dealing with this. No mother wants anything to be wrong with their child. If there is extra fluid in there it would be a conditioned called Hydrocephalus. I've spent way too much time researching it (so has Justin). I felt better after I talked with the doctor yesterday and she said she isn't anticipating anything being wrong but this is just being done as a precautionary. I also talked with Noah's Aunt Janis who works in imaging at Boulder Community Hospital. Initially the doctor told us he would have to be sedated for the CT. Well, Janis let me know that he doesn't and I ran this by Noah's doctor and she said that they wouldn't have to sedate him but if for some reason he would need an MRI he would have to be sedated.

I know a lot of people are praying for Noah right now and we appreciate all the prayers and warm thoughts. I know I am doing my fair share of praying right now (and then some)! I will keep everyone posted as to what happens on Monday.

In the meantime, I'm just trying to enjoy my baby. He's such a happy little guy and so much fun to be around. He wants to spend a lot of time standing, I'm looking forward to when he learns to get himself into that position. You can see in the top two pictures that he really loves his toys. This morning he decided to pull a lot of them out of the basket and onto the floor. He's also spent tons of time yesterday and today rolling around on the floor. He was standing at a chair today and decided to sit down. Well, he slid down so that he ended up laying under the chair. What surprised me was that he was able to squirm his way out from under it!

9 Month Pics

Here are Noah's 9 months pictures that were taken today. When I posted his 6 month pictures I was able to figure out how to zoom in and edit them. I haven't had time to play with it yet, but wanted to get the pictures posted. So, don't mind my hand that is in the bottom picture! We were able to cut it out of the one that we bought! :)

No Particular Reason. . .

to write a post today, just wanted to share some pictures. I can't believe all the different baby shirts they make, I thought this one was cute and I had to get it.

And, only 3 more days of school with kids!!!! Yippy! We're almost on summer break, in fact I'm starting to smell the sunscreen!!! Of course J has finals next week, but he'll be done teaching on Friday. The real question is, will he ever be done grading?! I'm really looking forward to spending everyday with the boys!

He looks like he's a little mechanic, checking out his truck!


Look how blue his eyes are!! Not sure what he's thinking. . . . probably something along the lines of "mom, do you have to take another picture?"

Last Monday of the School Year!!! Yeah!!

Hurray!! Today was the last Monday of the school year. My last day with kids is this Friday and then we have a work day on Tuesday. Justin's last day with kids is a week from Thursday and then he has a work day on Friday the 30th. But because of Memorial Day today was the last Monday for both of us.

I haven't posted a picture recently of Noah and Daddy, so here are the two guys.
Oops! Where did Noah go? He likes to play peek-a-boo with his dad on the couch with my Mickey Mouse throw. He LOVES that blanket!
There he is! Don't you love how he's grabbing his leg. Ah, to be that flexible!
So, I found out today I did not get that job at the other school in my district that I applied for. It's just as well, I would have only taught music 2/3 of the time and had to have taught literacy or something else for the other 1/3. So, next year will be my 8th year at Indian Peaks, which is a bilingual school. I struggle with not being able to communicate with all of my students. With music being such an aural subject that makes it very difficult and leads to behavior problems. I'm going to do some planning this summer to hash out strategies for the behavioral problems and to make my teaching more effective. (We'll see how much of that I actually get done with the baby boy to play with!) Well, it's the thought that counts, right?

Sunny Saturday

Here's little Noah trying to drink milk out of a cup. He actually did okay. He hasn't figured out how to work the sippy cup, but has seemed really interested in trying to drink out of a cup so we thought we'd give it a try. It's hard to see in the bottom picture, but there was milk all over his chin!

What a gorgeous day it was here in CO yesterday. We were invited to Grandma Kathy's and Grandpa Tom's for lunch so we walked over using the new backpack carrier. Noah actually fell asleep on the way over! His poor little head was bobbling as we walked. Tired baby! We spent the afternoon outside playing ladder golf and exploring Kathy's backyard. Noah even put his feet in the water at the top of the yard by the gazebo.

Later cousins Mary and Ellie, Aunt Janis, Uncle Aaron, Grandma Debbie & Grandpa Jerry came over. We ate dinner and played Disney Scene It. What a great day spent with family!


Noah's Aunt Leahna and Uncle Adam left last Thursday for Tacoma, WA. They will be there for three months for Adam's internship. We will miss them but hope that they have a great time exploring WA this summer!!!
Here's another picture of Mr. Smiley pants, I don't have enough! :)

I'm still trying to figure out the new camera. The action is a lot different than our old one and I haven't figure out how to maximize the smile photo opportunities! But I thought this one turned out nicely!

It's a Busy Time of Year!

The end of the school year is definitely a busy time of year for teachers, I think it's even busier than Christmas time!

I had two concerts last week, kindergarten and third grades. Justin's students took the AP exam last Friday. That was a fiasco! Someone pulled the fire alarm with nine minutes left in the test. Because this is a national test, that was the only opportunity for the students to take the test. Now the teachers are worried of the possibility that the test may be invalid because students had a chance to discuss it. It costs $84 per student to take the test and 88 students took it, that would be a lot of money wasted on a test that is invalidated! Yikes.
Mother's day was very busy! My niece, Mary, made her first communion that day. Afterwards my brother and his family, Justin, Noah and I took my mom, Granny and dad out to eat. Then we headed over to the Shoemakers for dinner. On Saturday Justin bought me my mother's day gift: a new digital camera. We're still trying to figure it out. Our old camera was bought 6+ years ago and is a dinosaur compared to this camera!
I decided to apply for a music position at a new school that is opening up in my district. I think this could be a good change for me and it would be very exciting to open a new school. I had my interview this afternoon and now of course I am dwelling on answers that I should have given and things I should have said. I won't know if I got the position until the middle of next week at the earliest. If I do get the job I have to have all my personal "stuff" packed and moved out by the 27th! After 10 years of teaching you won't believe the amount of "stuff" I have at school!

My baby boy is growing more and more everyday. He LOVES to stand up. His personality shines through more and more each day. We were grocery shopping yesterday and passed another baby about his age who was shopping with his mommy. They stared at each other and exchanged some words, it sounded something like this:
Noah: "uh"
Other baby: "uh uh"
Noah: "uh uh"
Other baby: "uh"
It was very cute, I guess you had to be there! :)

Weekend Pictures

Here's Noah's latest ride! We decided that since we will be doing a lot of walking when we go to Chicago this summer we'd need something for Noah besides our big stroller. So, before Ellie's B-day golf party we went to Babies-R-Us and purchased this baby carrier-backpack. He seemed to enjoy it. On Sunday we walked over to Walmart and I carried him in it, it's actually not that heavy. We plan on using it on lots of walks before our trip. We can't wait to use it this summer in the Windy City!
Here's our little bongo player. We got this drum for him a while ago. When we first got it, Noah was frustrated by it. But lately, it's become his favorite toy.

Here's my baby in his newest Rockies clothes. Although, I'm sure Justin will be getting him a Cubbies outfit this summer in Chicago.

We've been trying to expose Noah to some table foods. On Saturday we tried giving him some pancakes. Well, the pancakes got poked, prodded and torn to pieces but came no where near his mouth. The orange, that he's not allowed to eat yet, was a different story. That went straight into the mouth!
Where's Noah? The other night I had this red blank laying on the floor and he kept wrapping himself in it! I'd unroll him and within a second he'd be rolled up in it again. What a goof ball!
Well, I finally got pictures from the weekend uploaded. Now I've got to go get my 3rd grade program typed. I have the kindergarten concert tomorrow night, student council Wednesday night and the 3rd grade concert Thursday night. Justin's kids have the AP US History exam on Friday. I think that we might be going out to dinner to celebrate surviving a busy week. Only 14 school days left!

Joe Summer

"Hey, how you doin'?!"

We had a great weekend and I have lots of pictures to share but can't because our Internet is EXTREMELY slow for some reason. Last night I tried about 5 times to upload pictures and today I tried numerous times and am unable to get them uploaded, except this one. J's going to try to call about it tomorrow, so once this is fixed I will share some pictures from our weekend.

One of our purchases this weekend was Noah's shades, how do you like them? They are actually a little small for him (the package said 3 years and up. They fit Mary fine, but they're tight on Noah- Justin claims it's because his brains are so big)

We went putt-putting on Saturday for Ellie's birthday. There was a couple there that have a baby a month younger than Noah, so at the party it was fun to see the babies interact with each other. I'm excited for swim lessons this summer mainly for him to be around other babies!

I'll get those other pictures posted ASAP- have a great week everyone!

Happy Birthday Ellie!!!

Happy Birthday Miss Ellie! We can't believe you're 6 years old already!!

I remember the night she was born. I had a 3rd grade concert that night. Aaron called me before it started and told me that they would be unable to make it as they were going to have a baby instead! Justin and I went to the hospital after the concert and a little while later Ellie was born. We got to hold her when she was brand-spanking new!

We hope that you have a great day!!! We'll see you at your birthday celebration on Saturday!! We love you, Ellie Kay!!!!