Noelle's Birthday!

Here are some pictures from our sweet Noelle's birthday!

Handsome Daddy, ready to meet his baby girl!

Last day to have Noelle in my belly, yay!

Excited!

Our new blessing!

Granny Boo checking out all that hair!

Madalynn holding her long awaited for new baby "sister cousin"

Aunt Lindsey and Noelle!

Beautiful girl!

Noelle Elizabeth Adamson

Our precious little girl was born July 29, 2012 at 5:49 pm.

About three weeks before Noelle was due I went to my ob appointment and found out I was measuring about 40 weeks, when I should have been measuring 37! The doctor ordered a growth check sonogram so we could see how Noelle was growing. The next week I had the sonogram. Before the sonogram tech told me how big they thought she was, she said,  "Now this is just an estimate, just an estimate. It could be give or take a pound. Its just an estimate." Her reassuring me that what she was about to tell me was "just an estimate" made me think oh goodness, this is going to be scary! They estimated she was 9 lbs and 5 oz! With over 2 weeks left until my due date! Carrying her around, I knew she felt big, and this confirmed my achey body! This girly was going to be a big baby. I hadn't had any problems with this pregnancy. My blood pressure had been great, and no crazy swelling. Since everything was so great, my doctor could not induce until I was 39 weeks. That was 10 whole days for my already 9 pound baby to get even bigger. I was a little worried. We set the date to induce on the 29th and hoped I would go into labor on my own before then, but I didn't. The 29th came and we were more than ready to meet our little girl! We arrived at the hospital around 6:15am and got checked into our labor room. We were so excited and in a very goofy mood. Maybe because of the lack of sleep from the night before. Of course, I stayed up as late as I could cleaning and making sure everything was ready. I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyways, I had that kid on christmas eve feeling. The nurse asked me all the routine questions and I had to fight the urge to give her sarcastic and silly answers. We finally got things started and my labor progressed slowly throughout the day. Myles and I just chilled in the room and watched the olympics and waited. Sometime late morning/ early afternoon, the doctor finally made it by to break my water, and I got my epidural soon after. The epidural did not go as good as it did when I had Eli. It took the CRNA a while to get it in and it was more painful too. I also think it was more difficult this time because my contractions were stronger while I was getting it than they were with Eli. After it was in, it took some adjusting to get the medicine working evenly on my contractions. The labor continued to progress slowly. Around 4:50 I was finally at a 5 and that is when things started really moving. Everything moved really fast. Around 5:30 I was at a 7 and then about 10 minutes later Noelle was coming. The doctor literally got there just in time to catch her, which kind of had me on edge. Noelle's birth was much more painful than Eli's, I felt every ounce of her! I don't think the epidural was working all the way. I didn't have to push long, and I am pretty sure they were having to hold her in while the doctor was gloving up, lol.   Noelle was ready to meet us! After all the pain and yelling...and probably scaring all the other patients on the floor, Noelle was born. She was prefect. She had a beautiful, full head of hair and was a healthy baby.

 She weighed 9 lbs, 12 oz and was 22 in long. Big girl!

We enjoyed her alone for about 30 minutes, and then let our family in to meet her before they took her to the nursery. It was such a great time.

A couple of hours after my delivery, I began to have a really stiff neck and a bad headache. It turned out that I had a post dural puncture headache (PDPH). This is a possible side-effect from an epidural. What happens is there is a puncture in the dura space in your spine and it leaks cerebral spinal fluid. Leaking CSF makes the pressure in you head get off and causes your brain to sag some, making you feel like your head is going to explode. When you lie down, you feel better because you are horizontal and the pressure isn't effected. There are two ways to treat a PDPH. The conservative way is caffeine, hydration, and staying horizontal as much as possible. If left alone, the leak will heal on its own, it just takes time. I was told about 2-3 weeks. The other treatment is blood patch where a doctor uses your blood to go back in where the leak is and inject your blood to clot over the leak. The risks of the blood patch are the same as the epidural. I didn't like the thought of going through another epidural and possibly be hurting more. Even though the blood patch is supposed to be very effective, I was just done with needles for the time being so I choose the conservative route. I would not suggest doing this! And if I had the choice again I would probably choose to have the blood patch. My horrible headaches lasted for about 4 weeks, and although they did get better as the time went by, it was awfully painful! I went to the ER the friday after giving birth and tired to get a blood patch, but I found out they don't have an anesthetist working on the weekends. I was then supposed to get to set up to have one on the following monday, but that fell through as well because they told me I had to be off Motrin, which the Dr. had prescribed for pain, for 5 days! However, when they were going to give me the blood patch in the hospital I was taking the pain medicine. So I just had to keep waiting for it to heal on its own. I still get a headache every once in a while from it, and there are certain things I do, like getting up fast in the morning and being on the computer that give me a headache easier, but it is still getting better.

Besides all the headache and neck pain, life with Noelle has been great. She is so sweet and quite the little snuggler. And let me tell ya, the during the olympics is a great time to have a baby and be on bed rest, lol. We enjoyed snuggling with our newborn while watching the games. It was nice when we were up in the wee hours of night feeding, that there was something good on to help keep us awake. Eli did great with her too. He did miss us when he stayed with grandparents, but he still had a good time and was a joy to everyone he was with. He loves Noelle and is so sweet with her. He loves to give her kisses, check on her when she is crying, and knows how to help with throwing her dirty diapers in the trash. We are loving life as a family of four and feel we are greatly blessed. I have never been so thankful for health. After living with PDPH for a month, I can not imagine living with chronic pain or sickness. Praise the Lord for a healthy family, and praise the Lord he is healing me!

We love you baby girl, and are so thankful you are here!

Eli at 16 months!

I absolutely love watching this boy grow. He is growing and learning so much everyday, and I am forever thankful that I get a front row seat to watch.

At 16 months Eli....

Likes:
Playing ball. He could play ball all day. He has a great arm!
He has also recently gotten into throwing the frisbee. Its adorable. He does the frisbee throwing form, but at first had some trouble letting go and then would throw it like a ball. However after working at it more he is a frisbee throwing pro! Its quite impressive!
Eli is also enjoying his stuffed animals more these days. He has 2 little tigers, an elephant, and a bear that he loves to take naps with and play with. He is always so sweet to give his animals hugs, I know he is going to be a great big brother!
Another thing Eli loves is going places, outside, to grandparents houses, or to the store. He loves to "go". He will say "go, go, go, go!" and run to the door. I then have to tell him we need to put on his shoes, and he comes right over and usually will try to bring me my shoes too.
Eli also loves helping mom do anything. He loves to be involved in what I am doing wether it is cooking, cleaning, or painting. I try to let him join in when I can :)

Helping mom paint frames for Noelle's room!

"helping" clean in his room and trying on his old hats

Dislikes:
Like any kid, going to bed before he is ready. He normally goes to bed great, but sometimes he needs a longer time to rock and sing. He still doesn't like fruit in its original form and will only sometimes eat veggies. It can be frustrating, no lie. I just have to think of other ways of getting him something healthy to eat. Sometimes hiding vegetables in his other food works, but a lot of the time he will still find it and spit it out. For getting fruit, we give him yogurt, applesauce, and other kinds of foods that have fruit in them. I think his deal with fruit is mainly a texture thing.

A good green bean day :)

I had to send Daddy a pic, I was so happy!

"Tricks": 
He still does all of his animal noises. We have been working on teaching him what an Aggie says, he says "wooo". He doesn't get the "p" sound in there, but Im sure he will be whooping in no time.

Talking:
Eli had just started up a ton of chattering/ babbling. He is quite vocal! He has a lot to say and thinks we should understand every word of it. It is really really cute and pretty funny. Some of his understandable words are...
thank you: "tank you"
where did it go: He puts his hands up in the "i don't know" position and says "go"
there it is: "ere it is"
bath time: "bath time, bath time" he sing says it
go: "go!"
ball: "Baall"
Moon: moon
Bye: "Bye" with a wave and cute inflection
all done: "ah don"
Please: "ease"
Eggs: "eeh, eeh"
Umbrella: "ellla"
Shoes: "oes"

We love you sweet little man. We can't wait to see you in your new role as a big brother soon!

<3 Mommy

We Have a Walker!

Just over the past week or two, Eli has decided to let go of his walker and venture out to walk on his own!  Just when we were giving up trying to encourage him to walk, at the end of his 14 month he decided it was time. He has done so well, we knew he would have walking down in no time as soon as he wanted to do it. His first steps where a while ago and he could practically run while holding on to his old man walker.

Eli we are so proud of you :)

<3 Mommy

Pool Time!

  With the heat rising each day, I have been itching to get Eli a kiddie pool so we can have some fun in the sun...and stay cool! After sweating too much during our time outside earlier this week, I knew I could not wait any longer!! I bought the pool yesterday and when Myles got home we got it all set up for Eli to use today! I am so thankful for a husband who lovingly helps me out with things I can't do on my own after he has worked a 14 hour day. I am blessed beyond what I deserve.

I was so excited to try it out this morning! I didn't even wait for the water to warm up from the sun. It was a little chili! Eli would crawl around in the water holding his breath because it was cold, lol. Sorry buddy, I was just too excited to wait. By the end of our time in the pool the shade was gone and it was warming up nicely. Eli had a blast. We threw pool balls back and forth played with the boats, shark, and other pool toys!

All ready for his first swim this summer!

Fun, Fun!

He always insists on wearing my shades...haha
He has his own, but moms are cooler I guess!

I am so excited for summer! Let the fun in sun begin....with lots of sunscreen of corse!

Eli at 14 Months!

Looking back at Eli's pictures from just 2 months ago, I can see so much growth in just the short time that has past. The baby in Eli is fading and he is becoming a full fledged toddler!

Likes: Eli loves to play ball, wether its tossing it back and forth, throwing and chasing after it by himself, or racing daddy to it!
Music, dancing to the music.
Walking with his walker outside. Playing in the backyard.
Coloring....his favorite part about coloring is changing out colors, and putting the crayons in and out of the box. When we color it is about 20% coloring and 80% switching colors, haha.
Building with legos.
Books.
Animals.
Bathtime.
Rocking cheek to cheek with Mommy, while singing.
Giving hugs.
Tickling mom and dad aka... attacking them like a little tiger with claws! Its painful, but we can't help but laugh because he thinks it is sooo funny!

Dislikes: Walking on his own! This boy refuses to walk on his own. He runs around with his walker, and pushes his car around the house, but when we try to get him to walk on his own, or even holding just one of our hands he is not for it! I guess he will come around to walking on his own time.

"Tricks": Eli has learned so many animal sounds and it is adorable when he does them. He knows what a cow, dog, cat, horse, duck, sheep, monkey, lion, snake, turkey, rooster, bear, elephant, and owl all say. He can also recognize and point out all of these animals plus more in his books. Eli can point out so many other things in his books when asked too! He can point out a star, the moon, body parts; ears, nose, eyes, cars, trucks, tractors, watch, hearts, hot air balloons, regular balloons, basketball, soccer ball, glasses, shoes, flowers, and the list could go on! He is just soaking up so much! He can also whistle!

Eating: Eli is somewhat of a picker eater right now. We think part of it is him learning he can voice a preference and make his own decision about whether he wants to eat something. One day he can chow down on something and the next he will spit it out like it is nasty. He is definitely done with baby food. He still drinks a bottle of whole milk in the morning with either cereal or eggs, just because he drinks more out of a bottle than he does out of his sippy cups. Other food he likes most of the time include applesauce, pb&j sandwiches, peanut butter crackers, green beans, chili, hamburger meat, beans, potatoes any kind of cookie/cracker (of corse) and anything off of mom and dad's plate! He goes back and forth on liking cheese, (except at the butcher shop cheese there it is always a staple!) lunch meat, rice, chicken, and toddler meals. He still is not a fruit eater...which makes me sad, maybe he will come to like it soon.

Talking: Eli tries hard to communicate, and thinks we should understand everything he is saying, but most of it is baby babble! However, there are words and phrases he is very good at saying: Hi, bye, bye, dada, ball, all done, there it is, I did it, I got it, dog, bath time, and thank you. He is so sweet with his thank yous, it is precious!


We love you Eli!
<3 Mommy

Eli's First Birthday Party!!

Eli loves dogs! One of the reasons he loves going outside is to see the dog. He loves to look out the window to try and find the dog. The dog noise was his first animal noise he learned to make and "dog" was one of his first words. His love for dogs made thinking of a theme for his first birthday party a no-brainer! We decided to do a Go, Dog, Go party! I saw many cute ideas on the internet for invitations and decided on making this....

To go along with our Go, Dog, Go theme we had hot dogs and chips, puppy chow, and puppy dog cupcakes! Yum. 

It was so fun to have lots of family over to our house to celebrate Eli! Everyone had a blast! And speaking of blast...We got balloons for decorations, but decided just to leave them on the floor for the kids to play with. The balloons were a bit over-blown up and would randomly pop. It was pretty funny and added to the fun. 

Eli loved all of his presents! Eli enjoyed opening everyone of them! He also loved looking at each card. I have never seen a kid love cards like Eli does. It is so funny. He sees them as little miniature books. We save all the cards he gets and put them with his books and enjoys looking at them over and over. Cards with music are extra fun, he will study the front then when he opens it and hears the music he starts to dance. So cute!

Thank you everyone for making Eli's first birthday party special! He is so thankful for all his new fun toys and books! Thank you also to Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Sanders who sent Eli a sweet birthday present all the way from Colorado!

I wish I would have gotten a picture of everyone who was at the party, so Eli could look back at it when he gets older....but i didn't. Maybe I will remember next year :) 

Here are some pics from the party! 

Puppy cupcakes!

Cute and yummy!

Some of the chow!

Early arrivers and some of the popping balloons

Eli was a bit more interested in what everyone else was up to, lol.

He liked all the attention on him.
Making everyone clap :)

Our little family :)

Go Eli! Yay for chocolate!

Thanks again to all our guests!

Papa and Grandma, Caleb, Lindsey, Granny Boo and Grandpa Dadee, Gran-nana, Uncle Zach and Aunt Leah, Aunt Missy, Madalynn, Aunt Melanie, Aunt Lisa, Amye, Kai and Sully!

We love you all!