Time Flies

Well, I'm really not as good about posting as I thought I'd be. I figured that while I was home I'd have plenty of time to keep the blog updated on a daily basis...HA! So I'm behind. Last Thursday Noah had a very big day...we went to the park for the first time. Noah pretty much stayed asleep in the car seat (except when he woke up to eat), which was fine cause I obviously don't want him getting sunburned. Elisa, Hannah and Nancy all came and brought their little ones out to enjoy the beautiful day.

A visit and a goodbye...

Tuesday Sara came down to meet Noah and also to spend some time with Amy one last time before she leaves for Kenya (for over a year). I can hardly imagine life in Harrisonburg without Amy. I met her my freshman year when she was my Bible Study leader. After that we led Young Life together for several years (later with Sara too - yay Team Hillyard!) and then we even lived together once our JMU days were over. I am glad that she has been able to meet Noah before leaving, but am very sad that she wont see him again till after he's walking. Maybe by then he'll have a new playmate on the way (one who will speak Swahili)! It was a good visit and Noah loved meeting Sara for the first time. (Probably cause she's so cute and funny - I've already broken it to Noah that she's too old for him...he was a little heart-broken - which consisted of some spit up and a "I'm pooping" face) On a related note I watched the new BBC version of Persuasion (it's great, thank you my Rachie-lu!) and the actor that plays Captain Wentworth looks a lot like Jaime Berry - eerie really...again - yay Team Hillyard!

Sleeping through life

On Saturday I took Noah to visit his dad at work...as you can see from the picture he was really excited to be there. The next day we took him to church for the second time, which he slept through in it's entirety. The important thing is that he was looking sharp for his nap! Also worth noting...last night he pooped on one of my Bible study girls, Jackie, (he was wearing a onesie and it came out the side of his leg) so Matt was really excited about that - one down, eight to go!

In honor of Aunt Rachel

So Noah loves trying to suck on his hands, but this one day he got a hold of his middle finger and ring finger together...which is exactly what Aunt Rachel always used to do. I wasn't quite fast enough with the camera, but you can still get the idea. Noah also loves his bouncy seat that Aunt Rachel and Uncle Geoff got him.

Two Weeks!!

Noah was two weeks old yesterday - already!! We went to the doctor (Noah's 3rd big excursion since coming home from the hospital) to see how our little man is doing. He now weighs in at 9obs 11oz (was 8lbs 8oz when we brought him home) and is now 22 1/4 inches long. That's right folks, our little man grew over 2 inches since he was born. How does that happen?!! The picture of him in the carseat is from our trip to church last weekend and the other two are from his visit this past Wednesday to my office (had to show him off of course!)

Sleeping

Noah is such a good sleeper, an amazing one actually - just like his mom!

Settling in...

This looks like a scream but it's actually just a yawn. He really barely cries at all...we're hoping it stays that way!

The first thing that Noah did when they took him to the nursery at the hospital was try to eat his hand...he can get almost his whole fist in his mouth!

Beth brought Micah and Riley by for a visit on Monday. Micah said that he's going to teach Noah how to play with toys - so precious!

First day at home...

So we did end up missing my sisters wedding (which I still don't fully believe because I was so completely positive that we would be there). Well that meant that my didn't get to meet Noah till he came home with us on Sunday. She drove down for a quick visit on Sunday evening and will be back to visit sometime this summer. Noah also got to meet John and Linda who are (second?) cousins of my mom's when they were on their way back from Rachel's wedding. For now that's the only family from my side that he's gotten to meet, hopefully that will be rectified soon!

Noah was all bundled up and ready for us to take him home on Sunday. He loves having his hands in front of his face (which was why we didn't get any good ultra sound pics).

A possible future Valentine?

Noah is a big boy, and he has big feet. When the Myers and Laura visited us with their 4 month old, Lillian, we couldn't help but notice that Noah and Lillian had the same size feet. Apparently they are destined to be together;)

and more visitors...

Visitors!!

Noah loved meeting some of his family and friends. His cousin Micah was so excited to meet him that he couldn't sleep on Thursday night so Beth and Silas brought him and Riley down to meet their new cousin after midnight. They didn't get to hold him till the next day when they came back.

Noah Matthew, 9lb. 4oz. and 20 inches

Okay okay, here are the much awaited pictures. He's amazing, the pictures don't do him justice. These are from the hospital.

Not quite as expected...

Well Noah has finally joined us and is as perfect as he can be. For those of you that want the details about how he ended up coming into the world...here they are. My water broke last Wednesday night at around 10. I was able to stay home and get some sleep that night since the contractions weren't too intense or close enough together to go to the hospital. Matt and I went in at 8 the next morning and I was only a centimeter dilated (yup, that's what I was the week before and my water had broken 10 hrs prior). Since my body was not behaving they started me on pitocin to induce the labor. At 9:30pm I was still only 3 cm dilated (that's right, after over 12 hrs of pitocin induced contractions - no fun). So I was given an epidural to see if that would kick my body into gear...which it didn't, but it felt amazing. I was able to sleep for the next 2 hours and at 11:30 when I still hadn't made significant progress the midwife along with the doctor recommended a c-section. So at 12:35 am Friday Noah was pulled out of me wailing. I was pretty drugged up, but I remember hearing everyone in the room comment about his size, a very respectable 9lbs 4oz and 20 inches long. I have to say when they showed him to me I definitely thought he would be closer to 10...he looked huge! Even though I was very out of it I remember that he was screaming from the moment they pulled him out of me until they put him next to me. They had cleaned him off first after giving me a glance, and then they let Matt hold him next to my face, and as soon as he got next to me he looked at me and stopped crying. He just looked at me quietly - it was incredible. Matt had watched the entire thing (here's him in his scrubs) and then went with him to the nursery while I was in recovery. The labor and delivery definitely didn't happen the way that Matt and I had hoped it would, but God had a plan and brought us all through it healthy and happy.