The Whites

Monday, April 28, 2008

Family Weekend

This was a big weekend of family events! First, we celebrated Mike's birthday here in Austin with his family. His Dad was finally able to come into town to meet Noah so we went out to dinner with Grandpa White and Brian, Dayna, and their three kids. And then we at lots of cake. It was a good time.

Then Friday, we headed down to Angleton for a family reunion on my side of the family. This was Noah's first trip to Angleton. He got a chance to be introduced to some family friends and LOTS of extended family. The reunion was the Holt side of the family which is my Grandmother's family. She was one of 8 children. Three of the sisters are still living. This was the first get together of this side of the extended family in over 20 years. There were family members there from 5 of the 8 siblings. It was pretty neat. Unfortunately my Grandmother wasn't feeling well that day so she didn't make it to the actual reunion, but we did get to spend some time with her at home. She is the oldest living member of the family and Noah is the youngest member of the family...the both got trophies from the reunion!

Enjoying his chair at Grandma's house

Dad multi-tasking-eating breakfast, reading the paper, and watching Noah

Aunt Kristi

Great Grandmother and Noah showing off their trophies

The Tilton Family sans Thomas (he was in San Marcos)

After the trip to Angleton, we had our nephew Isaac's first Communion down in Kyle with Mike's brother's family. Noah got to hang out some more with his Aunt and Uncle and Grandpa White and cousins.

Meeting Grandpa White

Hanging out with Grandpa and Uncle Brian

Aunt Dayna and cousins Lydia and Jared

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The latest weigh-in

So Noah and I went to the clinic where I work for lunch yesterday. While there I got his latest measurements. I was expecting him to be big...but he was even bigger than I thought!

He weighed in at 13 lbs 2 oz and measured 24 inches long! That's basically 95th percentile for both for his age! Sheesh! Those measurements are both right about 50th percentile for a 3 month old baby (reminder, he's now only 6 weeks old!). No wonder so many of his clothes don't fit any more!

And for those of you that are wondering, No- to my knowledge Mike is not sneaking him protein powder when I'm not looking!

Monday, April 21, 2008

Meeting Great Grandma

Noah finally got to meet his other Great Grandma (on Liz's side) today. We went to visit Grandma Petersen and also got to have a short visit with my Aunt and Uncle.

Great Grandma Petersen

Great Aunt Karin

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Smiles

Well, it's been a while since I've been able to get on and post some updates. Much has been happening. Noah is now 6 weeks old. After too much stressing over forcing him into a routine, I gave up...mostly just because I didn't have the energy to continue but now it seems we're sort of falling into somewhat of a predictable pattern with him. No day is ever really the same, but we're getting there.

He's growing and changing so much. We haven't had him weighed or measured since he was 2 weeks old, but we know he's grown as he's outgrown many clothes already. Noah and I will be heading out to the clinic where I work on Tuesday where I'll be able to check his weight...my guess is he's close to 12lbs now...we'll see how close I am. While he still sleeps a lot, he's much more alert these days...looking around just trying to take in the world...it's really fun to watch him. Last week we were very excited to see his first real smiles for us. A cute smile after a long night of not much sleep makes it all seem so much better! We have yet to really be able to capture it on camera...we've come close as you'll see below.

When he's awake, Noah likes hanging out on his activity mat (a colorful mat that has different toys hanging on it), he turns to noises and really seems to like things that play music. He also really seems to love bathtime now...last week sometime there was one night he was extremely fussy...we put him in the bath and he immediately calmed down (until we took him out!). He also really seems to like riding in the car and in his stroller, and by "like" with these things, I mean he almost always falls asleep with any amount of riding around!

We've enjoyed a lot more outings over the last few weeks. There have been shopping trips, lunch and dinner outings, and we even went up and had a picnic on Mt. Bonnell. We've also been to church the last two Sundays (we hadn't been as a family since Easter). Noah slept through most of the service...even through all the loud music. And I just enjoyed being back since it had been almost 2 months since I'd been to church because of my bedrest the last few weeks before Noah was born and then wanting to keep him away from crowds for the first month or so. It's definitely been nice for me these last few weeks to get out and about a bit more.

Mom and Dad have had some interesting things going on too (in addition to life with Noah!). I celebrated my birthday on April 1st...we went out to Chuy's for dinner...yum! Mike has been super busy juggling work, school, youth, and family. But things are finally getting ready to slow down a bit. He had his last official class at Concordia last week and just has one final this week then school is done for the spring semester. His last day at Active Power is April 28th and then he is scheduled to start full-time at Point of Grace May 15th. Needless to say he is very excited about this transition finally happening. He will still have one on-line class to finish up in June for his DCE certification and will complete his internship during his first 3 months of employment at the church and then will be completely done with everything for school. We both look forward to him being able to focus more time on youth and with fewer things to split up his time, hopefully we can enjoy more family time together too!

We've got some family travels planned these next couple weeks...this next weekend we're taking Noah for his first trip to Angleton (my hometown) to see Granddad and Grandma Tilton and also for a family reunion. Then during Mike's time off between jobs (I'm still on maternity leave) we're going to head up to Chicago to introduce Noah to his grandparents and aunt and uncle. We're also hoping to visit friends in Milwaukee while we're up there.

Here are some recent pictures from the last few weeks...

Aunt Kristi came to visit and took some fun pictures...

Noah passed out on Kristi's lap

Hey...who took my clothes??

Sleeping again

Celebrating Liz's birthday

Mt. Bonnell

First real bath in the tub...Noah's not sure if he likes it

Maybe this isn't so bad

Oh, that's better

Play time...enjoying his activity mat

Now we're getting the hang of bath time

Trying to capture that elusive smile...

Monday, March 24, 2008

Easter and other fun things

Noah is now over 2 weeks old already! I know in the grand scheme of things 2 weeks isn't very long, but it's hard to believe he's been with us that long already! We had his 2 week check up at the pediatrician on Friday. He weighed 9lbs 4.5oz and was 22.5 inches long...that means he's in the 75th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. Can't remember how big his head was, but it was in the 50th percentile. He's still a big boy...and growing so fast!! Mike and I commented this morning on how he seems so much bigger to us in just the span of a few days. The other great thing that happened at our visit with the pedi is that Noah very loudly and obviously loaded his diaper (only the way newborns can do) over the span of several minutes while we were talking with our doctor, it even leaked a little on Mom...it was pretty funny and I think it made Dad proud!

We had some fun this week too. Took Noah for his first stroller ride (a walk around the block that was a very welcome outing for Mom) and then later in the weekend we met Uncle Brian (Mike's brother) and Aunt Dayna and cousins Isaac, Lydia, and Jared at Central Market for dinner. We sat outside on the patio and Noah slept in his stroller for the entire time we were there! But again, Mom and Dad welcomed the fresh air and visit with family outside of the house.

We celebrated our first Easter as a family on Sunday. We did decide to take Noah to church, but snuck in late, left early, and avoided sitting with the main part of the congregation. Even though we missed parts of the service it was still great to be there! Noah even got his first Easter basket...not the he knew the difference, but Mom had fun picking out a few little things for him!

First stroller ride

Getting ready to go out

"So big!"

His outfit says "Dad's Team"

Easter

Noah's first Easter basket

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Our first week home

We've been home with Noah for a week now. It's been a great week. Exhausting and exhillarating all at the same time. Noah is now eating (and pooping!) like a champ! We went for a follow up visit with the pediatrician the day after we left the hospital last week and he'd gained 8 oz in one day! We go back for his 2 week check up on Friday and Mike and I can't wait to see how much he's gained now. The doctor also looked him over and decided that his color was looking so much better that we didn't even need to do another blood test to check his bilirubin level. Mom and Dad were glad we didn't have to take him for another poke after all he had to have in the hospital!

Noah has been such a good baby so far...he rarely cries unless he really needs something, he gives me plenty of warning when it's time to eat, and while we would love for him to sleep better, for a newborn he's doing pretty well. The only complaint so far is that his awake and alert phase the last few nights has been from 11 pm-1230am. We're working on trying to figure out his routine and really all just learning and adjusting to each other so far.

It's been great introducing Noah to lots of friends and family this past week. My mom brought my Grandmother and Great Aunt up to meet him earlier this week. This is my Grandmother's first Great-Grandchild and she just turned 94 so it was really special to have her be able to see and get to know him.

Mike and I are constantly amazed that this wonderful little person came from us and is ours...he is such a blessing and we feel so honored that God chose us to be his parents!