Christmas with the Whites

After we got done opening our presents at home on Christmas morning, we packed up and headed down to Mike's brother's in Kyle. The White family tradition over the last several years has been to gather at their house for Christmas. The kids were really anxious for us to get there so they could open presents.

The aftermath of the opening of presents here always impresses me.

Mike: "Jared, this is my bourbon. Don't touch it."
I don't remember what upset him, but poor Noah-you can tell he'd been crying

All the kids pitched in a got Mike's Dad a Wii Fit for Christmas.

Now he's happy again!

Playing with a new toy from Grandpa

So sweet. Snuggling with cousin Lydia

Earlier in the month they got a Wii and Rockband so there was a lot of video game playing. It was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be. And amazingly, Rockband especially was great for family bonding. It was something pretty much everyone could play. Mike's Dad never did although we really tried to persuade him. And of course Noah wasn't big enough yet, but he did at least try to get in on the action a few times. There was one night all the adults stayed up really late playing Rockband. It was a blast. I was best at singing but liked the drums the best. Somehow I never really got the hang of the guitar. Our oldest nephew, Isaac, kept telling me how bad I was. Oh well. It was fun trying!

We had planned on spending all weekend with the family. However, Saturday morning Jared, the youngest nephew, woke up with a fever and after a trip to the doctor it was determined that he had the flu!! So, the rest of us packed up and got the heck of of dodge as if we were evacauting for a hurricane or something (as Mike's Dad described it). Luckily, no one else in the family did come down with it and after just a couple days Jared was feeling much better.

Playing with Lydia

Reading one of his new books with Daddy.

The traditional decorating of the ginger bread house

Even though it was short we still had a good time and I think Noah enjoyed hanging out with his cousins and the rest of the family.

Merry Christmas!

We spent Christmas in Austin this year and woke up in our own home as a family of three on Christmas morning for the first time ever! We were so excited to have our first Christmas with Noah-it was almost like being a kid all over again (I think this is one of the cool things about being a parent-sometimes it's like experiencing childhood all over again). Noah woke us up per his usual routine. Then we went downstairs and got our stockings. Then had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then opened our family presents. It was so much fun.

Noah of course had more fun climbing on boxes and trying to get in the tree. He really wasn't all that interested in any of his presents. The one thing he kept wanting to play with that morning was an old book. Pretty funny and not so unexpected I guess. Anyway, we had a blast and loved having our first Christmas with Noah. I suppose I should enjoy these early Christmas years when he's still clueless and isn't clamoring to open gifts at the crack of dawn.

Here's hoping that wherever you spent Christmas this year that you were surrounded by people you love and were able to take time to remember the REAL reason for the celebration-God's perfect gift to US in HIS SON JESUS!

Christmas Eve

I am so excited to say that we went to Christmas Eve service in the brand new Point of Grace Church building on the night of Dec 24th! Anyone that has known us for a while knows that this not only has been a really long time coming but that we came really close to not making it in time for Christmas Eve (the building, I mean). The building was originally supposed to be done around Easter this year so we're easily 8 or 9 months overdue. Currently, the building isn't even 100% complete-just close enough to get into the sanctuary for worship. We have a temporary permit but even with that, Mike had to play fire marshall and check fuses every 15 minutes throughout the service (they apparently installed the wrong fuses and it would cost over $1000 to overnight the correct ones so they opted to monitor it instead). Oh, and we got the temporary permit at 6:15 pm on the 23rd...crazy. Apparently God isn't done teaching this congregation to depend on Him and rely on His perfect timing for everything!

The service was beautiful. We even had the traditional Silent Night with candlelight at the end. All of the Whites came to join us for service which made it even better. I wish I could say that Noah stayed with us during the whole thing but he's just too active and can't sit still that long so he only made it through the first few songs. Regardless, it was a very special night that I'll always remember and a great way to start off celebrating Jesus' birth!

Mike's brother's family: Brian and Dayna; Isaac, Lydia & Jared

We tried to get a picture of all the cousins but it didn't quite work out so well (as is typical with a bunch of little kids). I do love the progression of these pictures though.

Dayna: "Yes, Isaac, you have to be in the picture. Jared, sit down."

Lydia is ready for the camera in this one and

Noah has found something on the floor he thinks he should eat.

We actually got smiles from the boys in this one and Noah was at least looking in the general

direction of the camera, but now Lydia has tuned out.

And now Noah tried to crawl out of the picture completely.

That's me trying to get him back in place.

Noah is not in the least bit pleased with being forced to take this picture.

The kids are all finally smiling and happy! But note: no Noah here. We gave up.

Noah meets Santa

Noah met Santa for the first time this week. Santa comes to the Children's Wellness Center every year to visit some of our patients and the kids at the day care next door. This year he came on a day that I was off, so I took Noah out to see him too. I was really excited about this traditional Christmas event. But, I can't say that it went well. Noah's expressions in the photos say it all.

I love how he's reaching back and touching Santa's tummy in this one

Congrats Kristi and Casey!!

My sister got engaged last night!! We've been suspecting this for a little while now but as of last night, it's official-Kristi and Casey are getting married! Casey set up a scavenger hunt for Kristi (with the help of friends) after work that eventually led back to his place where he was waiting with rose petals, candles, and had "will you marry me" in white Christmas lights on the fence outside. Sounds like they'll set the date for June 27, 2009. Welcome to the family, Casey! And congrats you two--we couldn't be happier!!

(Oh, and I'll get to be matron of honor and Noah will get to be ring bearer. He's going to be so cute-I can't wait!!).

9 month update

Noah is 9 months old now. He's getting to be less and less of a baby and more and more like a little boy these days. It helps that he has a lot more hair than he used to. But just overall he is just growing and changing so much. He can pull up well and cruise around like nothing these days. He's saying "dada and mama" and seems like he's really addressing us when he says it. He's already showing signs of toddler "pickiness" when it comes to eating and has recently really been refusing to eat any solids unless it's something he's really excited about (like yogurt or taking actual bites off a banana). The other day we were looking at books together and he started turning the pages on the book all by himself.

These days he loves getting into EVERYTHING! His favorite toy is this little play table that he can stand up at and play. He definitely has favorite things--there are certain "toppers" to this little table that he likes more than others and will dig through the little basket till he finds the one he's looking for. I love just watching him play and watching his little mind work. I just wish I knew what he was really thinking. He loves balls and hammers and anything with lights and sounds. And we've enjoyed reading more lately too-his favorite books are the touch and feel kind.

We went last week for his well check and all is great. He weighs 23 lbs 11 oz (90th percentile), is 30.5 inches long (>95th percentile) and his head is 46.6 cm big (75-90th percentile). Obviously his growth hasn't slowed all that much either--he's still a big boy! Thankfully no shots this time, but he did get a stick to get some blood to check his hemoglobin for anemia which was perfectly normal. I can't believe that his next check up will be when he is one year old!

Here are a few recent pictures of our little cutie.

Posing with the Christmas tree (in his cute reindeer sweater!)

A few smiles in the highchair

(I swear the bottle was empty!!!)

Messy boy!

Good times at our house

*Note-the following post is not for those with a weak stomach*

Said with a hint of sarcasm, it's been a fun week in the White household. I started the week off last week with a stomach bug. Noah followed later that day with a touch of the same thing, but thankfully not too bad. Except then he got pink eye (trip #1 to the doctor and pharmacy). And then Mike got the stomach bug. We all got mostly better, then went in for Noah's 9 month well check on Friday (trip#2 to the doctor) and were told he had an ear infection. And we need to use a special steriod cream for him for a little while (trip #2 to the pharmacy for meds #2 and #3). Oh, and since his last ear infection was hard to clear he has to be on stronger antibiotics that have given him horrible diarrhea. So at this point here's a list of the current medicines our little walking medicine cabinet is on:
Eye drops for pink eye
Antibiotics for ear infection
Ibuprofen for ear pain/fever (only sometimes needs this)
Steroid cream
Saline nasal spray (to help with the congestion that led to the ear infection in the first place)
Diaper rash cream (to help treat/prevent the inevitable rash that will come from the antibiotics and diarrhea)
Lactinex granules (a type of probiotic to help restore the good bacteria in his belly)

The best part though has been dealing with the resulting bodily fluids. Since he's had some congestion, about once or twice a day the drainage seems to gag him and cause him to throw up. We actually had what Mike calls the fountain experience the other night where he was reclining in my arms because I was trying to convince him to take one of the above listed medicines and he threw up and it actually sprayed out of his mouth and hit me in the neck/chest. Yum. The next day he got less of me and more of the floor. When I had to put him down to try to clean up he promplty started to try to play in the mess he'd made on the tile.

And then there's the pooping. We've had some blowouts before, but the other night he had one that actually went all the way up the back of his jammies and then down into one of the sleeves. This morning Mike said he found poop all the way down in the foot of his jammies.

And anyone that has had kids can imagine what fun it is to try to get eye drops into the eyes of a 9 month old that has his mind made up that NOT A THING is going to get in his eyes!

So yeah, good times. I know this too shall pass. What small child doesn't sometime come with an array of infections and bodily fluids sometimes. I will say some of these experiences with Noah give me an all new level of sympathy and understanding for parents that I interact with at work. God has a funny way of teaching us things sometimes.

Thanksgiving Week

We were able to keep up the Tilton family tradition of Thanksgiving at Aunt Georgie's for another year this Thanksgiving. Aunt Georgie is my Grandmother's sister (so really she's my great Aunt) and we've done Thanksgiving at her house almost every year for the last 25 years. I love family traditions like this! With my Grandmother getting older (she's 94!) and her health finally catching up with her age, we were all really thankful to be together at least one more year. Here we are with another family photo to honor the occasion.

Merri, Kristi, Thomas, Mike

Tom, Georgie, Alice, Liz, Noah

Just the kids with Aunt Georgie and Grandmother this time

Out back by the lake

Did I mention Aunt Georgie lives on a lake in the Texas Hill Country? It's beautiful!

All the kids

Just the boysNoah and Uncle Thomas

Playing with Kristi's dog, Nobs Noah and Grandma
Having fun with Great Grandmother

Cute boys

Aunt Georgie getting on Noah about something

Look, I'm a big boy and I can stand all by myself!

(With Mommy close by, of course!)

Granddad and Noah (who knows what Noah is yelling about...he does that alot these days!)

Give me some Turkey!!

Playing with a new toy I borrow from my friend Maddie

(This wasn't Thanksgiving but was too cute to not include)

Our actual family festivities went by pretty quickly. We had tickets to the Texas vs A&M game and since it was played on Thanksgiving Day this year we had to leave as soon as we finished lunch. Noah hung out with our friend the Morans while Mike and I went to the game (they are huge Aggie fans but as far as we know Noah remained in his Texas outfit till bedtime). We had a great time at the game but quickly had to come home and repack that night so we could get up and head to Ft. Worth bright and early the next morning.

We went to Ft. Worth with the high school youth group. Every three years there is a gathering of all the youth from Lutheran churches in Texas and this year it was in Ft. Worth. I decided to brave this short weekend trip with Noah in tow to see if it's feasible for me to continue helping with stuff like this. The weekend was great for the kids and I enjoyed being a part of things but quickly learned that it's probably best not to bring Noah along. He was actually really great but he still requires lots of attention making it hard for me to focus on anything else. Currently I think Grandma is hoping that next trip we just decide to let Noah stay with her and as things stand now we might just take her up on it!

Overall it was a great week...very busy and we were exhausted by the time we got home late Sunday night. But it was worth it and we're so thankful for all the blessings we have.