The ABCs of Pregnancy

A - Aches (back, feet, hips...)
B - Bathroom anyone?
C - Charlie horse
D - Dry skin
E - Endless appetite, at first anyway.
F - Forgetfulne... Wait, what was I talking about??
G - Granny panties
H - Hernia
I - Insomnia
J - John John (as Noah likes to call him)
K - Kicking at all hours of the night
L - Ligament pain
M - Morning sickness (or so I've heard)
N - Numb spot
O - "Overactive" bladder (did I already mention that?)
P - Pinched nerves
Q - Quick trip to the bathroom...again.
R - Relaxin (Ouch!)
S - Stretch marks
T - Tests
U - Ultrasounds
V - Vivid dreams
W - Weight gain (Seriously, how can you gain 25-35 pounds and the baby only weighs 7-8 pounds?)
X - X-ray free (what else can you say of X?)
Y - Yucky glucose drinks (Ick!)
Z - Zipperless pants (But I still feel the need to periodically check to make sure they are in fact zipped.)

Baby Boom

I have 6 friends at church who are also pregnant. We're all due within 2 months of each other. (Don't drink the water, right?) We've been trying to get a picture of all of us together before the babies start coming. We couldn't get all 7 of us, but we managed 6.

We're in reverse order of due date: Shelly (due April 30, boy, #4), Kylie (due April 30, unknown, #2), Leslie (due April 25, girl, #3), Jennifer (due March 29, girl, #2), Kim (due March 19, boy, #6), me (due March 4, boy, #2). Some of us are a little bigger then others...

One of my mom's friends got Noah this alphabet magnet toy when he was born. I put it in the basement for safe keeping. I've been wanting to bring it up, but he has this other toy that has vehicle magnets. Every time I would go to the basement, he would throw all of them down the cat door. I thought 26 more pieces to pick up every time I went to do the laundry was a little much. He finally quit doing it... So, I brought up the alphabet toy. He loves it. (In fact today, he was signing the ABC's. He missed some, but I couldn't' believe how well he did.) He likes to get out my grandmother's Tupperware pie carrier and sit on it to play. (Excuse the hair... He'd had on a hat.)

Noah is obsessed with Christmas lights. Each morning when we get up, I have to turn the tree lights on first thing. When we're out driving, he points them all out and then says he wants another one. It's really very cute!

Noah went pee-pee in the potty today. I was changing his diaper and he wanted to sit on the potty, which is in his room. So, I let him. As soon as he sat down, he said he needed a wipe. He sat on it for quite a while and then he went. I'm not sure if he knew he needed to go or if it was just a coincidence. But either way, he did it. I made a big deal about it of course.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Better late than never, right???

My mom and dad came for Thanksgiving this year. My mom worked like a dog the whole time she was here. (It was her idea to do it over Thanksgiving.) Greg said I was a slave driver. She painted doors, the crib, a bookshelf... I just have the best mom ever to come and work so hard to help me out.

My mom's sister sent Noah a cute little hat. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's got tiger stripes on it. First thing he did was break it. I taped it and Noah announced it had a band aide on it. Jinx also liked the hat. He was trying to drag it down the cat door. (It has a similar texture to flip flops which he loves to chew on.)

We had the works for Thanksgiving dinner. Noah's favorite: mashed potatoes. (And, no, he did not eat all of that food on his plate. Greg's eyes were bigger than Noah's stomach.)

Noah loves to play outside. He doesn't seem to care if it's hot or cold. He just likes the fresh air. Can't complain about that can I?

Playing on his swing set

Checking out the neighbor's nativity

Always on the go

Usually we take things to Goodwill a couple of times a year. We haven't taken anything in 2 years. I've been collecting things in the basement. We decided it was time to get it taken care of. Greg was going to take Noah with him when he dropped it off. There wasn't room in the car... That's a little sad really. But, hopefully someone will be blessed by it.

The Monkey and the Pumpkin

Noah dressed up as a monkey for the Harvest Festival at church. He was so cute!! I was a little worried he wouldn't wear his "monkey suit" as he was calling it. But once he got it on, he didn't want to take it off. John was a pumpkin.

Noah loved riding in the barrels. We had to make him get out.

"Playing" basketball

After the Harvest Festival, we went to Chipotle. They were having a special if you have any part of your body wrapped in foil, you got a free burrito. Noah's wouldn't stay on his wrist, so Greg put it behind his ears.

He had his first Tootsie Roll. Unfortunately, he kept getting it stuck in his teeth and then would ask for help. It was like he bit into it with his front teeth and it stayed there.

Noah got some new tools. He's been fixing everything. He's quite the handy man. Remember the broken door? Well, Noah watched while it was replaced. He's been fixing the door a lot.

The Leaves are Falling

I just love fall. The trees are so pretty. Usually, the weather is so nice. It's been really rainy this year. Noah has been enjoying the leaves. He "helped" his daddy rake leaves Saturday. (Noah raked with a broom.)

Remember that rain I mentioned??? Well, it's created a little mud...which Noah fell into. He had it in his nose. It was a little gross.

Greg got Noah some little golf clubs. He's really enjoyed playing with them.

But enough with the pictures already...

Noah and John have their first matching shirts. Now we just have to wait for John's appearance.

"Pun'kin Patch"

...as Noah says.

As planned we went to the pumpkin patch last Saturday. It was really cold and muddy. But it wasn't crowded. And we did have a good time. Noah didn't seem to notice it was cold.

Just wanted to swing

He walked through the tunnel all by himself.

Sittin' in the pumpkins

Not too sure about Red Robbin

This one looks good.

Our trees in our yard a so pretty. Greg will soon have LOTS of leaves to rake. Who am I kidding? He already does.

He Shall be Called...

We've finally picked a name. After going back and forth 800 times (and this is not too much of an exaggeration...I don't do that kind of thing).

John David Schuster

Noah is calling him Baby John John, which is super cute.

We picked John because it's Greg's middle name and it has a really great meaning (as does David).

John: God is gracious

David: The beloved one

In My Free Time

...I've been making these.

Future Engineer

Noah is obsessed with building towers. Correction...with us building the tower and then he knocks it over. Last night Greg and Noah were building towers while I was cleaning up after dinner. I heard Greg tell Noah to come tell me he needed something, but I couldn't quite hear what exactly they needed. Noah came running in and was saying something. I finally went and asked Greg because I had no idea what Noah was saying. He was say Duplos. I just didn't know what that was... (Excuse my ignorance.) I then remembered we had some blocks in the basement we'd put away because Noah was too little for them when we got them. So, I dug them out. That is all he wanted to play with today. He even built his own tower. (He's very proud and not dressed yet.)

He also got another hair cut today. He really does well when he goes. He just wiggles. He is generally a constant ball of motion, how can you expect him to sit still for a hair cut? He goes to the Hairy Elephant where kids are the clientele. They're used to wiggle worms. (Not the best picture ever, but we had a very busy day...this was the best I could do!)

Over the weekend, we were in Columbia for the Mizzou vs. Nebraska football game and for Aiden's 2nd birthday party. We had lots of fun with MiMi and Poppy. They let him do things mommy wouldn't let him do, like rummage through their closets and drawers. My mom said he was playing in her purses and found a tissue (clean, but wrinkled). He said icky and then was looking around for the trash can.

We also went to pick out a pumpkin. (We're going to the big pumpkin patch Saturday, weather permitting. So stay tuned for more pictures.)

It's a...

Two years ago when we went for our ultrasound with Noah to find out what he was, he was being very "modest," or stubborn... He had his legs crossed and wouldn't uncross them. After much coaxing from the Sonographer, he finally cooperated and we saw that Noah was indeed a boy. I was really afraid we were going to have the same problem today when we went to see what baby #2 was.

Profile of head and shoulders

Luckily, #2 was much more cooperative. In fact, I thought I knew before the Sonographer said anything. So...It's a boy!

Breaking and Entering

It's official... I would make a terrible burglar. I walked into the garage this morning to retrieve a coupon from the recycling bin. Noah locked the door behind me. I was in the garage; he was in the house. Luckily I had my phone in my hand. First, I panicked. I had just tried Greg and didn't reach him, so I called my dad. He suggested I take a crowbar or a screwdriver to pry the door open. So, I found my trusty crowbar and started to work. Noah was on the other side of the door, laughing then crying. Once I started trying to get the door open he said "Mommy noisy." I finally got Greg. I thought I was going to have to break a window, but since I'd already torn up the door, we didn't want to break a window too. I kept looking in the window at Noah. He was doing naughty things. You know, like opening the drawers with child locks. (He's figured those out...much to my dismay!) Anyway, I almost had it, but just couldn't quite get it. Luckily our neighbor works out of his house. He came over and just gave it a little push (I did most of the work) and the door opened. It scared Noah. So, anyway, I'm not quite strong enough to break and enter... But here is my handy work.

On a happy note, Noah poopied on the potty last week. He had his diaper on, but still that's a big first step. I was trying to get him dressed and he kept wanting to sit on his potty. I thought I'll just take his picture since I haven't yet.

When I went to put the camera away, I thought it sounded like he was pooping, and sure enough...

Our sweet friends from church, the Gilberts, gave Noah their old swing set. It's very nice and Noah loves it. Noah "helped" put it together.

This afternoon, Noah's buddies, the Hunters, came over to play on the new swing set. Noah wouldn't come stand by everyone else for a picture. Then right as a snapped the shot...

I did get a picture of all of them, but no one was looking at the camera. What can you do?

Here are some other fun pics.

19 Months

Daddy styled his hair

Computer work with daddy