first taste of cereal

...

we had a busy day yeserday as i got a little taste of what being a working mom is going to look like. we had a time at the school for the students come to meet the teachers, which turned out to be lots of fun. our sweet little eighth grade boys seem to be excited about the new year, the new place and the new teachers. i'm a little apprehensive about the days that lay before us, but i'm excited, too, about this new opportunity! after having lunch with all of the faculty, i rushed home to pick up ryan (who rushed home from his own work) so we could head to the pediatrician for noah's 4 month appointment (4 months, already-time really does fly! some days have been the longest of my life, but looking back...oh my! where has the time gone!?), where we heard great news! i was actually almost giddy on the ride there, so excited about thinking about noah being able to start a little food and they gave us the go. he's been so funny the last few weeks, seemingly very aware of everything we eat-staring at it and even grabbing at it and trying to shove it in his mouth before we can catch him! tonite we will have our first big adventure...can't wait to see how it goes! i'm pretty excited about the possibilities from here, as i (like most of my friends) plan to make all of his food. no nasty preservatives for him!! i've been doing some reading on these things and am certainly open to suggestions! my inspiration for this is my sweet cousin, Jamie, full-time working outside of the house mother of just-turned-one-year twins...who has made all of their food. if she can do it, certainly i can too!! the doctor also said noah is looking as healthy as ever. he swears he looks like a plump little formula fed baby, which is great news! and he's still trying to talk me into moving to africa to share some of my milk with hungry children... he's still topping the charts in his growth, weighing in at a hefty 17 lbs 15.5 oz and 26.5 inches long!!
after the doc, we went to publix to get stuff for dinner and some cereal for noah, of course! then, we went home and ran (3 MILES!) and then i cooked dinner, we ate and i headed off to the school for a parental meeting. was there for a few hours, then headed home to find the boy already tucked lovingly into his bed (what a great daddy he has!). what a full day! and there are more to come, i'm sure....

i haven't blogged lately because life isn't very interesting...and because noah is so demanding some days. it's like the moment i sit down to do something, he becomes absolutely, ridiculously unhappy with whatever he is doing...even now, he's supposed to be taking a nap and he will, as long as i'm standing over his crib, but the moment i walk away-out pops the paci and the crying begins! it's super frustrating... especially since there is no break in sight for a few days, as ryan left this morning for san antonio. somehow just knowing that it's just me and noah for a few days is messing with my mind! i'm afraid i won't be able to handle it, even though certainly i can and i will.

i went to a meeting today to do some planning and learning for my new job! the gathering began with an inspirational quote (or i thought i was that, at least..): "knowledge is a barren tree, bare bereft of God." i'm still pondering upon it and invite you to do the same... school will start one week from today and i'm really looking forward to it. two days a week won't be too overwhelming and there will be lots of opportunity to learn as i go, which is nice.

well the boy is beckoning...

great news!

 i have noticed recently that i seem to be losing hair, little by little-when i shampoo, brush and even straighten my hair! it's getting worse each day. i finally decided to google it, just to see what could be up and i found this. "The most common period of hair loss occurs approximately three monthsafter delivery. The rise in hormones during pregnancy keeps you from losing your hair. After delivery, the hormones return to normal levels, which allows the hair to fall out and return to the normal cycle. The normal hair loss that was delayed during pregnancy may fall out all at once.

Up to 60% of your hair that is in the growth state may enter into the telogen resting state. The hair loss usually peaks 3-4 months after delivery as your hair follicles rejuvenate themselves. As noted before, this hair loss is temporary and hair loss returns to normal within six to twelve months."

so, it's no fun, and a little saddening since i recently decided that i really am growing my hair long again...but, it's normal, it seems.....

score!

i did it-i ran a whole 5K over the weekend and actually did well. i set a lofty goal, about two minutes faster per mile than i have been running...and actually was within 15 seconds of attaining it! and-i got second place for my age! i was pretty siked about that...when i dropped my card in the basket and saw only one other in there, i knew the news was good...i began planning exactly where i was going to put my trophy-i couldn't decide between putting it right on the dashboard of my car-so everyone who saw me out would know that i'm a runner or putting it on the bookshelf in our house-so everyone who visited it would see it first thing! okay, not really... i was just seriously excited that my hard work had paid off a little-i had done well, no walking the whole time! not even up the monstrous hills! :) unfortunately, though, for the second placers (they really just consider us the "first losers" i guess), there was no trophy! instead i got a sweet little u of m pedometer so i can measure all my steps. pretty sweet-i've always wondered how many steps i take a day. i had a nice big mountain dew the evening after the race, to celebrate my success...i have been off sodas for a while, not because i know that's the healthy thing to do, but because my personal trainer (aka ryan) told me that drinking a soda totally cancels out any running you have done on a particular day. with all my hard work, i could have none of that! but, i will say, the mountain dew was absolutely wonderful! everything i had hoped...and more! ;) we are now training for a 10K...a little further than i'd ideally like to run, but the program is "couch to 10K", so i guess we better continue on! 

surprise!

life is so unpredictable at times! i always find myself thinking i just might have it figured out, and then something happens and i realize i don't even have a clue... i am excited about the potential for change in our life right now. we have been kind of coasting along for the past few months, trying to figure out exactly which direction we are headed. having a baby is a huge adjustment. it's everything we thought it would be and more, yet at the same time nothing like we thought it would be. i thought it would be chocolate chips and kisses, smiles and sunshine all the day long...and while it is sometimes, it certainly isn't always that. i have seen a side of me that i never knew existed. it's ridiculous how mad i can be at my little baby sometime, but equally ridiculous, maybe even ri-donk-ulous (i actually heard someone use that in a sentence the other day...seriously) how much i love him. over the past few months, we have slowly adjusted to our new little family of three. i was reading a friend's blog and was reminded that last year, just around this time ryan and i found out that we were going to have a little one. the whole ordeal was quite surreal for us. i actually noticed something was up and decided to take a pregnancy test, just to mark that off my list. i was pretty positive that i wasn't preggo, but, at the same time, always a little nervous that i could be (i think i took like 3 pregnancy tests within the first month of marriage!). much to my surprise, the little stick had a plus sign on it...so, of course, i took another one-to be sure that the first one wasn't a dud. then, i rushed to the store and bought two more sets of tests to take, just to be sure and called ryan in a frenzy, asking him to meet me at the school ASAP. i jumped out of the car when i got there, ran to him and blurted out, "i think i'm pregnant!" i was in such a panic. he said that i should take the other tests and see what the outcome of those were...maybe it was something i ate? so, the next two mornings, i saved all my pee through the night, and did two more tests...only to see two more plus signs. each a little darker than the one before. first thing monday morning, i called the local obgyn and asked them if i could come in for a test. they, of course, asked if i had taken a home pregnancy test. i told them i had taken three, but that i had read that they are only 99.9% accurate...couldn't i get a blood test, just to make sure i did get a false negative?? the lady actually laughed at me and told me that i certainly must be pregnant...and so i was. and now, a year later, i have a 3 1/2 month old baby-the sweetest little guy in the world!
and now..more winds of change are blowing our way. i always assumed that i would be a stay-at-home-mom and that i would absolutely love it. while i do absolutely, undoubtedly, with all my little heart love our sweet noah, i do not always love staying at home...and, on top of that, having a baby is so expensive (much more than i would have imagine. fyi: just because you pay your insurance co-pay doesn't mean that you won't still have to pay doctor's bills...)! so, for the past few weeks, ryan and i have been praying about either him finding a new job or me finding a little part time, side job. i have been pretty picky about the hours i would work...and not really seriously looking...just kind of contemplating the idea of working a few hours a week... and wouldn't you know, out of seemingly nowhere, came a job offer. a great job offer. a i can't believe they actually offered me this job offer. but, we had to take some time to see if this job would work for us...and i was a little worried that the offer would be taken back because we were so slow in responding. but, as it turns out, the job is perfect, perfect, perfect for me for this time in my life. i'll be doing something i will really enjoy...getting to invest a little of myself into a few others-and the best part, i'll get paid for it! so, we can finally get all of the crazy hospital bills paid off (no circumcision for the next boy i have and no epidural for me even if i do have to have another csection...i can suck it up! gotta save money where you can, right??)! even with this great new job, we will continue to look for something that actually makes ryan's heart sing. he is such a trooper to work two jobs that he doesn't really love (for months and months...) just to bring home the bacon (even though we don't actually eat bacon). we have found a potential for him, but are slowly working through the details to see if it will actually be a fit for us. in the meantime, we continue to pray for the Lord's direction!
until next time...

success!

noah finally enjoyed riding in the jogging stroller today. we have tried and tried, but apparently, for him, being 3 months, 2 weeks and 1 day old is the secret for him. he didn't make a peep!! 

in other news, it looks like i may have a new part-time job, which is pretty exciting news! more to come on that as the details finalize. but, i will just say that it certainly is an answer to prayer. we have been begging for direction and provision and it looks like this may be it! :) 

that's all for now...my little guy is calling my name!