This is OK, right?

As long as Noah wears a super hero mask, it's cool for him to dress up like a lady bug, right?

Noah's birth story

After looking into several different options for prenatal care, we knew we wanted to have Noah at home using a midwife.  
My first labor was LONG….like 37 hours long. There was NO way I could do that at home, so I was really praying for a short labor. 

During the last couple weeks of my pregnancy, I felt a decrease in Noah's movements and his heart rate was in the low 120s and we could not get it to increase.  My midwife was concerned enough that she thought it would be best for us to schedule an ultrasound.  So on January 18^th, 2010, 5 days before my due date, I had an ultrasound.

We went and were grateful that everything looked good. Noah was “sunny side up” and had not dropped. Our midwife suggested a few things for me to do to help him turn and told us not to expect him anytime soon. 

So of course I went home and got busy. She said to clean the floors on my hands and knees, so I scrubbed all afternoon. She also told me to lay on my left side to help Noah turn.  And so lay I did. I was one determined pregnant lady. 

Around 5:30pm that same day, I started feeling light contractions that were about 4 ½ min apart. They were not too painful but definitely enough to notice.  After about an hour they were coming every 3 minutes. I called my midwife and talked to her through several contractions. We decided it was probably just the baby turning since I could easily talk through the contractions. She suggested that I get in the tub to try and space them out. 

The water felt great! I soaked for over an hour and my contractions slowed significantly. Then I got out…and I felt like labor was coming full on. 

But I was used to a 37 hour birth.  I thought I had hours before the baby came. However, these were intense contractions. I knew there was no way I could endure them all night. I called my parents and told them to have their bags ready and we would call when it got closer to time. 

Thankfully I have an awesome friend and neighbor who also happens to be a labor and delivery nurse (she was there for Taylor’s labor and delivery). At 9:30pm when the pain was becoming extremely intense, I called her to come and check me. She came over and I was 6 cm and 80 percent effaced.  Whew…I was SO glad that all that pain was not for nothing!

We called the midwife. She lives 30 minutes away and somehow managed to get here in exactly 30 minutes from the time I called.  Speedy little midwife!

Mark also called my parents and told them to come on. They live about an hour and a half away so we wanted to give them plenty of time. 

When my midwife got here I was in transition and everything from there was a bit blurry.  Our midwife and her assistant were running around like crazy getting things ready for the birth, monitoring me and the baby, and gathering all our supplies. 

I have a friend who also got here around 10pm. She was WONDERFUL. During every contraction, she would pray for me and recite encouraging Bile versus. In the midst of the pain, it was exactly what I needed to hear.  

Around 10:30pm my water broke and I felt an immediate need to push. It was some of the most intense pain I have ever felt. But in 10 short minutes, at 10:42pm, or sweet baby boy was born. After he was born, it took him 10 LONG seconds to make a noise, but after being suctioned and rubbing his back, he gave us a nice loud cry!

Somehow, Taylor managed to sleep during the entire delivery…VERY thankful for that! My parents got here around 11pm, 20 minutes after Noah was born. Their first thought when they walked into our bedroom was “who’s child is Lindsey holding?” Just like us, they were expecting a little bit of a longer labor! I loved the shock on their faces when they realized it was Noah. 

A funny little side story…we rented a birthing pool to have at Noah’s birth. I did not know if I wanted a water birth, but I did want the option. Mark began blowing up the tub about 8:30pm. He worked on that thing right up until Noah was born. Apparently he was not doing it correctly, but it did give him something to do. And now we know to set that thing up EARLY for the next baby!

I have had a hospital birth with an epidural and I have had a home birth without any pain medicine. I had a good experience in the hospital, but I will say this; there is a certain sweetness that I just cannot explain about having a child without any pain medicine and in the comfort of your own home.  

Noah’s labor story was not super eventful, but I want to remember it. I write this 2 ½ years after he was born and I know so many of the little details lost. For the next baby, I won’t wait so long :)

lost and found

 I have a bad mommy confession…in the past week, I have lost Noah not once, but TWICE! He has this bad little habit of darting off before I even know what hit me.

Both times we were outside, enjoying this crazy warm weather with neighbors. The first incident occurred last Monday while I was having a quick little one on one chat with Tay (for not sharing or something like that). I look up, and Noah is gone. We live in townhomes with no back yard, so we play in a big green space around the corner from our home. Two other moms were helping me in my search of backyards, streets, and other little hiding places. We finally found him in the street a significant distance frrm where we were playing. 

And then it happened again on Thursday. We were on our back porch and I saw Noah disappear behind our fence. I put the cap on some bubbles I was holding, went to go get him, and he was out of sight. I swear this kid is going to give me a heart attack. Anyways, another neighbor found him behind a row of cars in the street. How is a 2 year old so stinkin’ fast?

I really have no idea what to do. We NEED our outside time, a fence is not an option, and I am afraid DCs might get called if I put a shock collar on him (KIDDING)! 

So, do you have any ideas on how to contain him? He has no fear whatsoever of being on his own. In fact, I think he really likes it. I need help.

And because every post should include pictures of my cute kids. Maybe they will make you forget the awfulness of losing my child :)

my baby turned 2

What? My baby turned 2? How do these things happen?

Noah is the MOST fun kiddo to have around. Everything is a party to him and he laughs ALL THE TIME! I really hope that he never loses his love for life because it is absolutely contagious!

(as I write this Mark is giving the kids baths and all I hear is Noah’s chuckle :))

Noah gives me a run for my money everyday, but I would not change it for the world. 95% of the words that come out of his mouth on any given day are truck, tractor, and choo choo.

LOVE THIS KID.

For his special day, I made him what I thought was his favorite meal, mac-n-cheese. The kid never eats, so who knows what he really likes.

Dinner time at the Elliott household normally goes something like this for Noah; we give him his food, he plays with it for a while, he pretends to eat it only to spit it back out, he proceeds to throw it, and then it ends up on the floor. We are working on it.

Nice Noah, nice. 

He managed to eat only the icing on his cupcake, although this was to be expected. 

I love the middle picture...we were singing him happy birthday and his patience level was wearing out.

Happy 2^nd Birthday Noah Bear!

Who made you?

Is anything cuter than this?

I think not!

Oh my cuteness!

Do you see this face?

This cute, cute, face?

I am so in love with this boy!

Enjoying some one on one time with this little guy!

Something to hit

Noah is most definitely going to play some kind of sport. Specifically, a sport where an object is used to hit a ball. Maybe baseball, or golf, or tennis, I don’t know, but it is going to happen. Noah uses every object that he picks up to swing at some type of ball or whatever happens to be in front of him at the time.

Yep, that’s a leash

Before I had kids Noah, I could not imagine putting my child on what I refer to as a “leash”. I remember seeing children who were wearing a backpack with something attached to it for the parent to hold on to. I always thought it was odd to put a child on a leash.
And then I had Noah, and now I am eating my words. I most definitely would put him on a leash, and today, I did.

Our friends asked us to go to Cheekwood and we gladly agreed. Mark had never been and we figured that the kids would have fun running around.
For those of you who don't know Noah, he is not one to be still. He is on the move, ALL the time. We figured today would be the perfect day to try out the leash backpack. He was not a huge fan, but it gave us a little piece of mind and we did not have to spend the entire time chasing him down.



Taylor decided she wanted to pick up worms and cicadas the entire time we were at Cheekwood. I love how this girl can be all pink, dolls, and princesses one minute and then be picking up all kinds of critters the next.

Soaked!

15 months

Noah, you are the funniest little kid I have ever been around. You are always making me laugh.

At 15 months you have a few simple words…

“dada”

“milk”

“bye”

“uh-oh”

“dog”

“ball”

“airplane”

“that”

“hi”

“Yay Yay” for Taylor

“daddy’s home”

“all done”

“dino”

You won’t say mama, but I know you can because I have heard you say it before.

You are in to everything and laugh at almost anything. You are energetic and funny. You walk so well that you can almost run. You keep your mama busy and are always finding something new to get into. There is not a day that goes by when you don’t hit your head or fall off something.
Lately, you and Taylor have started to play with one another and it is so perfect. BUT you have also started to fight like brothers and sisters. You already know how to push her buttons. You absolutely LOVE Sophie. Your face lights up every time you see her.

We are so in love with you Noah. You bring us joy everyday!

The first (of many) bump

We spent our morning playing at Let It Shine gymnastics. This is one of my favorite places to take the kids. Taylor has a blast and I get to socialize with other mamas.

Lately Noah has been quite clingy. He does not want to be put down and he makes sure that I know it when I do put him down. I blame it mainly on teething, but I think it is also just a phase of his right now. This morning at Let It Shine, it was no different. I wanted to spend some time playing with Tay, but Noah would not have it. As soon as I put him down, he was mad. This was the case for most of our play time. However, towards the end, he finally let me put him down. I took full advantage. I went and found Tay and did a few things with her. I kept an eye on Noah, but he was just roaming around having fun. I took my eye off of him for about 30 seconds and I turn around to him balling with this on his forehead!

I felt horrible. Not only did another mom come to his rescue, I had no idea what had happened to him. BAD MOMMY MOMENT!

I also wanted to include Taylor in this post. I feel like she gets does not get as much “blog attention”. To be honest, she is just not nearly as entertaining as Noah. I am not saying this is a bad thing. In fact, I love her for it. Taylor keeps herself occupied by playing with baby dolls and reading books. I love to sit and watch her “read”.

Sippy Cup Thief

We have a sippy cup thief on our hands. Noah knows which cup is NOT his, and that is always the one he wants. Well, Taylor does not like when he steals her sippy cup, so she puts up a fight. Noah is a smart little guy. He has started to take any sippy cup that he finds (and is not his) to the stairway. He hides out there while he drinks from the sippy cup. Sneaky little kid!


Taylor is going through a baby doll and binky phase. She needs to have a baby doll with her at all times and that baby doll must have a binky. This morning she rode with her baby doll and requested that I push the bunny around the house. Or as Taylor says "mommy do it".

What to do?

Noah used to LOVE bath time. The very mention of the word “bath” and he would get all giddy.
But now, he hates it! As soon as we get into the bathroom and the water starts running, he is MAD! And oh boy, once we put him in the tub, he is screaming at the top of his lungs. We cannot think of anything that made him go from loving bath time to hating it.

So, if you have any suggestions to get this kid to once again love bath time, they would be appreciated!

All boy

I am dedicating this post to my baby BOY, Noah. People will tell you that boys and girls are innately different. While I never disagreed with this, I had no idea exactly how different they are. Noah never sits still. He is into everything. He wants to be sure that he always has something in his hands, in his mouth, or is banging on something. Things that I never had to child proof with Taylor are now child proofed. Don't get me wrong, I love being a boy's mama. I was just not prepared for the amount of energy it takes.
I am using this post to show you all the "fun" things that Noah does during the day. I know this may be picture overload (unless you are a grandparent), but as a doting mama, I figured there could never be too many pictures of this sweet little boy.

I want you to notice the increase in the amount of toys on the floor. Noah wants to be sure that he pulls EVERY possible thing out of the toy box.


Splashing in the toilet is one of Noah's favorite things to do. I normally don't let him do this, but I thought "hey what can this hurt?". Here is where I tell you my not so good mama moment. When I took the first picture of Noah splashing, I realized that our wonderful little 2 year old had not flushed the toilet. We had to have a good wipe down after that.


Not that all of these need explaining, but I thought I would give details behind a few. Noah is not wearing a shirt because he drenches them when he drinks his milk. If you look really close at the picture of him and the sippy cup, you can see milk running down his chin. In the middle picture, Noah has his pointer finger out. Recently, he started to point to everything and say "that". So cute!


I know that was alot, but these are the little things that I want to always remember about my little guy.

Sleepy Noah

Noah is in the transition stage form two naps to one. If he takes a morning nap, he does not want to take an afternoon nap. But if he does not take a morning nap, he is cranky. However, I would rather deal with a cranky kid for a little while and have both kids nap at the same time in the afternoon. That way, I get some much needed "mama" time. When Noah gets tired in the morning he grabs his dino and lays down on the floor. It is so sweet. Of course after I took a picture of Noah laying down, Tay wanted to do the same thing :)

Funny Noah

Noah manages to crack me up everyday. He is just funny. This first picture was from when Noah stuck his foot in one of the toys. He did not seem to mind, just dragged it around with him for a while.

And I LOVE this one. Noah just starting standing on his head. He thinks it is hilarious. He will get in this position and just laugh. He can even move around on his head...talented kid!

Best Friends

Taylor loves her some Bertha. They do everything together. Taylor feeds her, burps her, puts her to bed. They have tea parties and color together. I am so glad that Taylor can entertain herself.

And then there is Noah. Poor guy, just wants to go up the stairs. So now that the gate is up, he just climbs up the first step and cries by the gate. Are we mean for taking video....no, it is just too funny. He is not as upset here because Mark is over there taping. But if he is by himself, he will just sit there and cry. It is pretty hilarious!

I am just trying some new things with Blogger.  I thought this was the perfect picture to make BIG! We did not get many good pictures of Noah and his cake, so hopefully I can find something else to post about in the near future :)