Mission: Rice Cereal....FAILED

At Noah's 4 month check-up, the doc said we could start giving him rice cereal. I went home that night, got the cereal set up and put a bib on Noah. I went in for the kill and he spit it right out. Since that first night, I have tried 4 more times to give it to him and he ABSOLUTELY hates it! I've tried everything from making it warmer, to adding apple juice and making it more watery. But still, the boy hates the stuff. He literally gags on it like it's the most disgusting thing on earth. PLEASE HELP! I'll take all of your suggestions as to how we can help this boy start eating solid food.

On another note, here are his 4 month stats:

Weight: 16 pounds (75th percentile)
Height: 26 inches (90th percentile
Head: 44.1 centimeters (90th percentile...yikes!)

Spring

Which would you prefer? I know what my choice is! Seriously, it's April, time for sunshine and lakes.

This is David shoveling for the 3rd time in one day.

If we were in Texas, we could be sitting on this dock and dangling our feet into this awesome lake!Our lovely yard....nice and brown. .

Bluebonnets in Texas. The best part about spring!

American Idol, Here I Come

Top O' The Mornin'

Throughout my life, I spent St. Patrick's Day hiding the green that I was wearing from my Mom. She thought it was a silly tradition and always said something like, "You're not Irish, so what's the big deal?" But Kerri, Dana and I knew that if we didn't wear green that we'd get pinched to death. So, no matter what, we always wore green even if it was on our underwear. It didn't matter if no one else could see it, WE KNEW we were wearing green. So Mom, I hate to say it, but Noah and I are wearing green today. He may be mostly Dutch (wink, wink), but he does have some Irish in him too. And I wouldn't want the poor guy to get pinched! On another note, St. Patrick was actually a really cool guy and a missionary. He was responsible for spreading Chrisitanity throughout Ireland. So while this day has turned into all things Irish, take some time to read about St. Patrick and learn what this day started out as.

And one more thing....What is funny about my Mom not letting us wear green is that she and my Dad decided to get married on this silly little holiday. So, happy anniversary Mom and Dad! You've made 36 years together look easy. Thanks for being a great example!

The littlest "Leprechaun"

Big girl

Sara Megan,

Happy Birthday baby! I can't believe you are 12 years old today. Oh how the time has flown! You have been and will always be so special to me and all of us. I can't believe that you are almost a teenager. You've always been so "grown up" and such a protective and great big sister. Now that Noah is here I've seen that in you all over again. You've always had a great sense of adventure and humor and as you venture down the path of adolescence I hope that you keep your mind open to learning things keep things fun and keep your heart close to God's. You are awesome, I'm so happy that I'm your dad and so happy that we have each other. You'll always be my big girl. I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives getting to know each other better.
I love you today! I hope it's the best birthday yet.

-Dad

4 Months

Noah is 4 months today. He's gotten to be such a big boy! He no longer looks like a newborn to me. He's spent the majority of this past month with a nasty cold, but you'd never know it. He still smiles from ear to ear whenever we talk to him. His hair is growing more and more sparse. I really would love to shave it off, but David won't let me. I hope his hair starts to grow in really soon because his current hairstyle is pretty awful! My favorite thing that Noah has been doing this past month is when he blows raspberries. It's his own form of communication and the louder the noise, the more the spit. He doesn't care....he just drools and spits on everyone and everything. It's really funny to see in person. He's continued to be a great sleeper which allowed David and I to catch up on some much needed rest. This past month, Noah has also discovered that his sisters are really silly. He loves when they sing to him! Reading to Noah has been a lot of fun this past month. I'm very proud of how he sits so quietly when I read to him. He's started to grab at the book and ooh and ahhh at the pictures. Here's hopin' that he'll love reading for the rest of his life! And in this past month, Noah began to roll over again and has learned how to sit in his little chair (as I mentioned in previous posts). I have a feeling that our days of stillness and quiet are long gone as Noah learns to move and make noise. Each day has become more and more fun as Noah discovers more. I love being able to stay at home with him and watch his little personality develop. I feel very blessed to have this opportunity and dread when I have to go back to work eventually. For now though, here's to many, many more months and years of our fun little boy!

In honor of his 4 months on this earth, I bought him a new toy. However, he's not quite ready for it yet. His toes barely touch the ground and it's a little difficult for him to sit and move around in it right now. But, he thought the colors and sounds were really cool. In the next month, we're gonna work on becoming a pro at playing with this toy. Stay tuned for all the new tricks Noah will learn in the next month!

Look What I Can Do

Hi guys! It's Noah again. I just wanted to show y'all how big and strong I'm getting. My Momma and Daddy are really proud of me. They keep clapping and making a lot of noise whenever I do something new. It makes me smile. Anyway, here's what I've been up to this past week.

I finally learned how to sit up in my Bumbo seat without my head wobbling around!

I learned how to read! Just kidding. But, I really do love to look at my First Words Book!

And the other thing I learned how to do is roll over from my back to my stomach. I don't have a video of that yet. Mom's slacking again. Or maybe I'm just too quick for her to be able to capture it! Hopefully I'll get that on tape really soon!

Annual Ski Trip

This past weekend, I went on my 4th annual ski trip with a bunch of our friends. I think this was the 8th trip for David and Kerri. Anyway, this trip is always sentimental for me because 4 years ago is when I kinda got to know David. If you would've asked me 4 years ago where I'd be today, I would've never guessed that #1 I'd be married to David and living in Colorado and #2 That I'd be bringing our son to ski trip 4 years later. Crazy how things change that quickly!

Heading up to the slopes

On Friday we got to go skiing/boarding at Keystone. Kerri was nice enough to watch Noah while David and I conquered the mountain. Thanks Kerri!! I skied with the girls in the morning and then hung with the boys in the afternoon. I was proud to be able to keep up with them. It didn't make me feel as out of shape! At night we enjoyed some hot tub time and Catch Phrase. Saturday we spent the day hanging around at the house and then went into Breckenridge for lunch and some window shopping. Breck is my favorite ski town and I love any opportunity to walk around there. On Sunday, we packed up, stopped by the outlets and headed home.


It was a great weekend and I look forward to going again next year!

Curt, Trey, David, Jonathan, Jeremy, Katie, me and Sara. We all hung together the entire day.

David, Curt, Jeremy and Jonathan ready to Board

Nighttime festivities always include the hot tub and games. Jeremy is trying to explain something to the guys during a round of Catch Phrase.

4 years from the start....our little family

Shopping Buddies at the Outlet Mall

Look Who's Rolling Over Again!

Yep! Noah has finally discovered to roll over again. AND...he's rolling over both ways! Woo hoo! I don't have a picture of him rolling over from his back to his stomach, but I promise, he knows how to do it! I'm so proud of him! He's not even 4 months old yet! What a genius (But I'm not biased or anything)!

My hopes of college being paid for by his athleticism have been revived! :)

Our Sick Boy

Isn't that just a pitiful picture? You can tell he's sick by looking at his eyes. It makes me sad that Noah is sick and there's nothing we can do about it. Noah has had a pretty bad cold for about a week now. Even though he's sick, he has still been on his best behavior. He's sleeping through the night still and not even that fussy. But, it breaks my heart when I hear his little cough. He's been so great when I put those stinky saline drops in his nose. He barely even makes a peep when I do that.

Poor guy, we hope you get better soon!