11 months and counting

We are in the final month's countdown to Noah's first birthday. It is hard to believe what all has transpired in the past year for our family and how different life was just one year ago. Not only did we not have a baby yet, but we were living overseas in a very small apartment as well as in completely different careers, teaching school. What a year it has been for us and for Noah. Our little Nicaraguan citizen flew on his first airplane at only 3 months old (and did great!), moving to a new country and a new home.

As parents, Jason and I have grown in many ways! We are still newbies at this whole parenting thing, but we have learned a few things along the way. A friend in Nicaragua, Marilyn, told me soon after Noah was born, "you'll have to figure out what works for you and your family, and just do it." And it is true. Many well-meaning people give advice or make suggestions about baby-raising, just trying to be helpful. But ultimately we've figured out several things that work well for our family.

A few tidbits of things we've figured out about Noah and our family so far:

• Pacifiers work wonders to put Noah to bed & in the car


• Breastfeeding is great, but bottles are not evil. In fact, formula feeding works well for us.


• Naps do not always have to be 2+ hours long, despite what everyone says (though it is sure nice when they are!)


• Noah went to bed at 10-11 pm for many many months, so his long stretch of sleep was during our sleep too.


• We travel after 8 pm so Noah sleeps through car trips.


• Cloth diapers work great for us during the day, but we prefer disposables at night and for nurseries.

A few random things

A few random things about me:

1. My favorite thing to learn about is frugality. I love couponing, deals and freebies.
2. CVS is my favorite store, for the above reason.
3. I love cloth diapering.
4. No green thumb here. I love to "try" gardening but I always kill plants in the end. I don't know why...
5. I love selling stuff on eBay.
6. Jason and I share one car. Until we can pay in CASH for a second vehicle, we are sticking to our guns to share a car.
7. Only two weird, fun obsessions - Gum and Socks. I can easily chew a pack of gum in one sitting.
8. I do not like houses with blue paint. Doesn't matter if its outside or inside.
9. Peanut butter is my favorite food. The big recall doesn't scare me.
10. I only follow 1-2 shows semi-consistently... LOST and The Office. Both always captivate me, but for very different reasons.
11. Garages are wonderful things. No scraping ice and snow off of the windshield.
12. I don't make new year's resolutions.
13. I never had my own cell phone until a year ago.
14. After Jason lost his expensive white gold wedding ring 2 years ago, I bought him another one on eBay. For $25.
15. The worst part of housework is folding laundry and putting it away.
16. I went on maternity leave 1 year ago this week. Teaching feels like years ago.
17. Treadmills are way better than ellipticals.
18. I miss friends in Nicaragua.
19. One day we hope to own a home, preferably something small and easy to clean...but with a big yard.
20. Jason likes long hair; I like short. We compromise and I chop it off every now and then.

Drumming Some More

This little one officially loves to drum. It must be the age. I can't decide if I would want our son to learn the real drums. That seems like it would be a painful learning process for his parents.

Here is another video of Noah drumming, this time in the kitchen on a pot:

Fun in the Snow

Winter in Indiana has been really cold when you're used to the 80-90 degree temps in Nicaragua. Our little Nicaraguan hasn't really gotten to go out and play in the snow yet. A few days ago there were some cold and snowy days, so we took advantage of the opportunity to go outside for a few minutes.



Noah with my mom, Grandma Rosenberger

I thought he might like feeling the snow or kicking it, but nope. And he definitely doesn't look so excited...

He pretty much clung to me like his life depended on it! No snow angels this year, I guess...

Video: Noah's First Steps

As of a few days ago, Noah is just starting to take baby steps. We wanted to show a little video we recorded so you can see them too!

Future Java Developer?

Jason especially enjoys this photo.  Noah is notorious for pulling the books off of the bookshelf, and the other day he pulled this one down.  He proceeded to touch and play with the book.  Jason likes it because it is a Java computer programming book.  I think Noah just thought it looked like a fun toy. :)

Noah's First Christmas

God has given us many things, but we are so blessed to have such a terrific family. We feel very thankful for the joy of a wonderful son. Last year being pregnant during Christmas and this year holding a baby at Christmas have made the Christmas story hit home again in a new way. God in human flesh, born as a helpless baby. I couldn't help but think about Mary as a new momma, nursing her baby son and watching him learn and grow. All the while she knew he was special, not just special to her in that mama-baby way, but special in an extraordinary, supernatural way. What an amazing God that we serve.

Daddy and Mommy's most special gift this year... the picture is kinda blurry though :(

While celebrating the season of Christ's birth, Jason and I chose not to exchange any gifts between the three of us this year. We wanted to break away from the commercialism hype created around Christmas and intentionally focus on the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Noah didn't miss out though. He did receive many nice Christmas gifts from his grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even great-aunts and uncles! He is loving playing with his new toys and wearing his new clothes.

Okay, so apparently 9-month olds can get excited about Christmas presents!? Who knew!? Do you think his smile is big enough? ha

Here he is LOVING playing in the paper! This was so fun to watch him go crazy crawling around in it! Normally he finds paper at home such as newspaper and we take it away. What fun to just play in paper for a half hour!




Noah with new push-walker toy. I can hear the laughter and giggles just looking at this picture. Every time he pushes that toy around he squeals with delight!





Yay! A new riding toy! (He still can't figure out how to actually ride it. He just pushes it around like the other push toys!)

Tying the Knot

On December 20, 2008, we were excited to be part of the marriage ceremony between Luke & Ellen. They traveled back from Nicaragua to get married in Luke's home church in Indiana. Many, many guests traveled from far places to attend....and many others were not able to attend but sent their congratulations.

Ellen was a beautiful bride and officially my first sister-in-law!

With Carey, a good friend from Nicaragua who got to camp out at my house for a few days. Mary did too! Both friends were also bridesmaids in the wedding party.



The 8 brothers and sisters in my family in "age order", Luke the groom is #2



Minus our husbands, fiances and babies, we almost look like a regular family picture.... Well maybe not...

The four nephews, Caleb (7), Elijah (almost 5), Benjamin (14 months), Noah (9 months)

How many people does it take to get babies to smile?



Mary, Emily, Carey, and me all waiting for our turn to smile with the bride :)




4 1/2 years ago we tied the knot!



Bride and Groom with the bridesmaids and matron of honor



Exiting the reception under a canopy of lights

Reception table decorations. Everything looked just beautiful and Christmasy with the red and silver colors! Great job Ellen!

It was so much fun to be part of their wedding. We are so happy for the two of them starting their new life together!

Video: Our Little Drummer Boy

We have a video of Noah playing the Rock Band drums. Perhaps the drumline is in his future?? Enjoy.

Playing is Hard Work, Mom

Late this afternoon, Noah was acting a little whiny in his exersaucer while I was working in the kitchen. The next thing I know, he's being quiet (always a bad sign, as every mother knows). I turn to check on him, and this is what I see:


It was too adorable! Playing must be harder work than I realized!

Falling asleep in random places is hard to do. Do I sense an uncanny resemblance to Uncle James?