A Week of Wordless Wednesdays - Pt 4 {Hello, Turtle!}

A Week of Wordless Wednesdays - Pt 3 {Noah loves the park!}

Wordless Wednesday {Hangin' with cousin Lucas}

What a difference a year makes . . .

Today is a day to celebrate and to reflect.  It is Noah's Homecoming Day!!!!  One year ago tonight we were anxiously waiting in the baggage claim of O'Hare Airport for our precious little man to come home forever.  I remember it so well.  Pacing, constantly checking the screen for flight updates, trying to find a place to buy a soft drink (just about impossible that late at night!)  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  And then, there he was!  I look at pictures now and it seems so surreal - he looks so different now.  He's grown so much!   I think back on all the great things we've shared this past year and all the joy he's brought to my life.  I can't find the words to describe it.  I'll never be able to convey in this blog all the emotion of that night or all the wonderful ways this little boy has changed my life, so I'll just say, 

"HAPPY HOMECOMING DAY, NOAH!  

We love you so much."

Wordless Wednesday {Intro & Our Favorite Things}

One thing I love about blogs is stealing other people's ideas!  I have a few mom friends who do some weekly features, namely the "Wordless Wednesday."  Just a couple snapshots every week to share what our crazy kiddos are up to.  Here are a few showing the boys doing their favorite things.  Enjoy!

Every day is something new . . . .

One of my favorite things about being mother to a toddler is that you just don't know what each new day is going to bring.  New words, new tricks, new experiences.  I love watching Noah grow and learn - every day I get a front row seat to The Noah Show.  I'm so blessed that I get to stay home and share all his accomplishments.

That being said, I must note that not all of Noah's accomplishments are necessarily good or worth bragging about.  Case in point:

It's very hot here now and we haven't put the air conditioner in Noah's bedroom window yet.  It was pretty warm at bedtime last night, so we put him to bed in a T-shirt and his diaper in the hope that he wouldn't be too hot.  Noah is a great sleeper and he wakes up in a great mood.  He is content to play in his crib and sing and laugh and babble to his best friend Dog Dog until I go up to get him.  If I don't go get him right away, he will eventually throw his pillow and blanket and all his other stuffed animals out of his bed onto the floor.  This is nothing new.  This morning, I went up to get him and found he had thrown everything out of his bed, including his diaper.  I found him sitting in his crib singing while playing with his weiner.

Oh my.

Vocab Test

Today I had lunch with my friends, the other three moms of the Fantastic Four boys.  While we were chatting, one asked me how many words I thought Noah could say right now.  I really had no idea; I guessed about 30.  It got me thinking, so I've decided to make a list of the words and expressions that Noah knows, understands, and uses on a regular basis.  He understands SO MUCH MORE, but these are the ones he uses to speak with right now.

FAMILY
Ma/Mama
Dada
B (That's Baby Eli)
"Low" (That's how he says Emily)
Pawpaw (He always whispers this one when he says it - so cute!)

BODY PARTS
Head
Eyes
Shoulder
Knee
Elbow
Toes
Nose
Neck
Ear

FOOD
Cheese
Snack
Broccoli (although sometimes he says this while pointing to a cupcake!)
Apple
Egg
Milk
Water

NATURE/ANIMALS
Outside (he always whispers this one too - I don't know why!)
Bird
Flower
Kitty
Dog
Fish
Elephant
Bear
Zebra
Moo
Pink Pig (it's never just pig, it's PINK pig)
Frog
Duck
Quack
Moon
Star
Grass
Stick
Bug

THINGS THAT GO
Car
Truck
Airplane
Helicopter

TOYS
Ball
Stitch (he has a stuffed Stitch from the Lilo and Stitch movie)
Book
Bubble
Block
Elmo
Color

CLOTHING
Shoes
Socks
Hat
Necklace
Button

AROUND THE HOUSE
Light
Clock
Nap

EXPRESSIONS
Thank you
Please
Love you
More
Hi, Dad!  (or Hi, Kitty!)
Night Night
Brush Teeth
Whoa, Mama!
Bye Bye
All Done
All Gone
Yuck
Phew!  (as in phew - stinky!)
Uh-oh

Wow - I counted over 70 different words and phrases.  That's amazing!  And remember, these are just the words he actually says and uses.  His comprehension is so much more that this.  What an awesome little man!!!

Noah at 21 months

2009 year in review: a good place to start (Part Three)

OK, let's see if we can finish up the 2009 year in review so we can move on to the fun stuff we're doing in 2010!

Before I move forward, I realized that I have to back-pedal for just a minute.  I forgot something in one of my earlier posts.  In June, my brother Ethan officially retired from the US Navy after 20 years of service.  It's great to have him back on solid ground in this part of the world.  I think my sister Emily and I are both having fun getting to know him again, and I know my parents are thrilled to have him around.  We are all proud of his service and are so happy to have him home.

 Mom, Ethan, and Dad at Ethan's retirement ceremony

AUGUST

The first week of August was a big deal for us - getting ready for Noah's first birthday!  Everything went so fast - it seemed like we had just gotten him home and now it was time to PARTY!  That week, we went to the zoo and also got to spend lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa Martin (my parents) who had come down to camp nearby our house.

Noah and Aunt Emily strike a pose at the zoo

Noah got up close and personal with a tortoise at the zoo while

Grandpa Martin and the zookeeper looked on

We celebrated Noah's birthday on Saturday the 8th, even though his actual birthday was Sunday the 9th.  The day was warm . . . . and WET.  We planned for a big outdoor gathering at a local park with games to play and plenty of room for the kids to run around.  Alas, the weather made that impossible.  We determined pretty early that morning that the party was going to have to be moved inside.  Bummer!  So, we changed plans and started prepping our tiny house to fit a lot of people.  Everything seemed to be going well until about 30 minutes before party time when the power went out.  Oh no!  But, we made the best of it.  We opened the curtains to let in as much light as possible, opened the windows to catch the little breeze blowing, and everyone still had a good time.  The power finally came back on about 2 hours later.  Oh the best laid plans!

We did a Korean tradition at the party called the "toljabee."  It's a ceremony that is supposed to forecast the future and say what the child is going to do with their life.  We sat Noah on a table and on the table were various items that each had a different meaning.  Then, we turned Noah loose and whatever things he chose would correspond to what his life will be like.  For example, the baseball meant he would be an athlete, the sword meant he would be a warrior or soldier, the microphone meant he would be a performer.  Noah chose the ball of yarn, which meant he will have a long life; and the recorder/flute which meant he will be a musician.  Last, he picked up a notebook, so perhaps he will be a long-lived composer or songwriter??

Noah on the table, ready for his Toljabee

At the party, Noah shared some big news with everyone.  The last gift he opened was a T-shirt and ultrasound picture that proclaimed he was going to be a big brother.  We finally let the cat out of the bag and shocked everyone with the news of our pregnancy.  It was so much fun to surprise everyone like that!  It was also a relief to finally be able to talk freely about my pregnancy and to share our excitement with them.  Now everyone knew that we were anxiously waiting for baby Eli Thomas Withers to arrive at Christmastime.

Surprise!  That T-shirt says,

"This little monkey is going to be a BIG BROTHER!!!"

After the birthday party, things calmed down for a few weeks.  We didn't do much traveling; we just enjoyed being at home.  I was not a very happy or comfortable pregnant lady, so I was glad to stay home.  Noah enjoyed splashing in his pool in the backyard (a birthday gift from Uncle Ethan.)  Also in August, I made the decision not to return to work.  Now I was officially a stay-at-home mom.

Noah LOVED his kiddie pool.  It was awesome!

SEPTEMBER

September was pretty laid back for us.  Labor Day weekend brought a visit from Nate's parents, so Noah got to hang out with Mamaw and Papaw for a while.  We also took a trip to the Allegan County Fair to show Noah all the animals.  He loved petting the goats and sheep, but wasn't so sure about the pigs - they were awfully noisy, and pretty scary!  Also in September, we left Noah with a babysitter for the first time.  Our good friends Jason and Becky took Noah one evening so we could go out to a show.  It's a good thing Jason and Becky love us because Noah was not cool with Mom and Dad leaving.  He cried and cried and cried almost the whole time we were gone.  Becky finally had to put him in the car and drive around her neighborhood to calm him down.  Not a fun night for them, but I guess it's good to know that Noah knows who his mommy and daddy are!

Noah and Papaw Tom (Noah's favorite game at the time
was Take Off the Hat!)

Noah at the Allegan County Fair

Those are some BIG pumpkins!!!!

Nathan and Noah make friends with a sheep at the Allegan County Fair

OCTOBER

We had big plans for the first weekend in October.  We took our first (and only) camping trip of 2009.  It was important to us to do some of the things we enjoy most while we were still a family of three.  We ended up having such a small window of time to just be the three of us that we wanted to make it memorable.  So, even though the weather was threatening cold and rain, we packed up the car and  met some friends of ours at Mounds State Park in Anderson, Indiana for the weekend.   Even with the cold weather, we ended up having a really good time.  Nate's parents drove up to see us while we were there, so Noah got to spend some more time with Mamaw and Papaw.  As it turns out, Noah LOVES the cold.  I had nightmares that we would be cold and miserable, but it was great.  Noah loves the cold wind in his face and being outside to run around and play.  He was an awesome tent camper, too - he slept great! 

There's Happy Camper Noah and I hanging out around the campfire.

In mid-October, we celebrated my 32nd birthday with a trip to Gull Meadow Farms.  We picked out a pumpkin and went for a hay ride.  Noah's favorite part was the hay ride.  He couldn't take his eyes off the tractors and trailers circling the farm.  We topped the day off with fresh cider and doughnuts - YUM!

Nice pumpkin, Noah!

Of course we also had to get Noah ready for his first Halloween.  We live on a pretty busy street, and trick-or-treating here made me a little nervous, so the Quarry's invited us out to trick-or-treat at their house.  Talk about a sweet deal - they live in a big, quiet neighborhood and Jason hooked a trailer with hay bales to the back of his 4-wheeler to drive us around.  Woo-hoo!  It only took Noah a couple of houses to figure out what this trick-or-treating thing was all about.  In no time at all he was marching up people's front steps and turning on the charm to score tons of candy (which of course he shared with his Momma!)  He was so stinking cute! 

Cutest.  Puppy.  Ever.

NOVEMBER

In November, we started really getting the house ready to welcome a new baby.  We did some cleaning and  reorganizing, but the biggest thing was that Nate and I swapped bedrooms with Emily so that we could be back down on the main floor - close to the bathroom, kitchen, and changing table.  Emily should win an award; in the 2+ years since she moved in with us, she has lived in each of the 3 bedrooms in our house.  Every time we got ready to bring a child home, we made her move rooms!  She's a trooper, though and we love having her here close to us.

The second week of November brought one of the most beautiful days of the whole year.  It was one of those warm, sunny, glow-y, sparkly kind of Indian Summer Sundays.  We spent the afternoon outside with Noah because we knew it was likely the last nice day before the snow would start to fly.  Nothing special, just playing on the swingset in the backyard, but it was special to us.

A great day to be outside!

Nobody gets in to see the Wizard!

Whhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

Sweet Noah, Happy Momma

We made one decision in November that was very hard on us.  With soon-to-be-5 people living in our tiny house, it was just becoming too much to keep all four of our cats.  We put the word out that we were interested in finding new homes for them and soon a coworker of Emily's said they would be interested in our favorite chubby, black, sweet, loving, furball Justin.  I didn't think it would be as difficult as it was to say goodbye to him, but I know he is with someone that will take very good care of him and that we made the right decision.

Bye-bye Justin - we will miss you!

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house in northern Michigan.  It's about 2 1/2 hours from here, so it was close enough for us to be comfortable traveling that far near the end of my pregnancy.  We had a really nice time.  It was the first time in many many years that my parents had all 3 of us kids home for Thanksgiving (that's one of the best things about Ethan's retirement from the Navy - we actually get to see him for holidays!)  We ate and ate and ate, then ate some more, but that weekend we also helped Mom put up their Christmas tree.  This is not a simple project.  My parents live in a very nice timber-framed home sitting on 80 acres of land which includes a lake.  Their living room is 2+ stories high, so they always get a ginormous tree which they cut from somewhere on their property.  This year the tree came from the other end of their property on the far side of the lake.  So, we drove down to the lake, then launched 3 boats - 2 for people and 1 for the tree.  We paddled across the lake, found the tree which Mom had picked out weeks earlier and marked, cut it down, put it in the rowboat, loaded everyone back in the other 2 boats, relaunched all 3 boats and headed back across the lake.  Once we made it back across the lake, we left the tree in the boat and tied the boat to the back of the truck (without a trailer) and drove back to the house with the tree-filled-boat in tow.

Noah and I ready for our boat ride to go get the tree.  

(NOTE: There are no "style points" out in the woods.  

I look pretty wacky, but hey - I was warm!)

If this wasn't a complicated enough venture . . . . there was the saw.  As we left the house, I asked, "Did we get the saw?"  Yep - it's in the truck; we're good to go.  So we get down to the lake, load everybody up and paddle across to where the tree is.  We find the tree and I say, "So, who's got the saw?"  Crap.  It's still in the truck.  On the other side of the lake.  So ,we send my brother back across to get it.  Cut the tree down, get back across the lake and now we're ready to head back to the house.  AS A JOKE (I thought) I ask, "Do we have the saw?"  No one responds.  Yes kids, that's right - we left it on the other side of the lake!  Not one of our family's finest hours - but really pretty darn funny!

The tree's down - ready to drag to the boat 

(See the saw there in the middle?  Yeah - that's where it stayed!)

In the boat, ready to float back across the lake

Mom, Emily, and Ethan pulled the tree boat back to the dock

The finished product

DECEMBER
December is always a super-busy month to begin with, right?  Holiday shopping, baking, gift wrapping, addressing cards, traveling to visit family, etc.  Well, add to that: have family portraits taken, finalize an adoption, and have a baby and you get what our December was like.  CRAZINESS!!!  Eli was due to make his appearance on December 22nd, so we were busy finishing up a few home projects - mostly organization ideas brought on by my need to "nest."  I also realized how badly time had gotten away from us since Noah came home.  We had intended to have family portraits made shortly after Noah's homecoming, but with all the chaos and craziness, it just didn't happen.  We definitely wanted to commemorate our family of three before we became a family of four, so I found a photographer in town to help us out.  I got in touch with Chris McGuire of Christopher McGuire Photography.  He was awesome.  He brought his own "mobile studio" to our house complete with lighting and backdrops.  We had a fabulous photo shoot in the comfort of our living room.  We got great shots - formal portraits of the three of us, great portraits of Noah, and some super-fun candids.  On top of that, Chris agreed to come back after Eli's arrival and document our family of four as well.  I'm so glad we did this - what great keepsakes!!!

Noah

Photo copyright 2009 by

Christopher McGuire Photography

Our happy family of three

Photo copyright 2009 by

Christopher McGuire Photography

Well, my due date of December 22nd came and went with no baby.  Eli was just content as can be to stay exactly where he was - all warm and snuggly inside.  Even though I was totally uncomfortable and had reached that, "I am SO done with pregnancy" stage, going overdue was a blessing in disguise.  It allowed Nathan, Noah, and I to share a wonderful, quiet, simple Christmas morning - just the three of us.  Before this year, we had always traveled for Christmas - either to Indiana, Ohio, or northern Michigan to be with our family.  Because I was nearly ready to burst with this baby, we got to stay home and experience what Christmas is like on a smaller scale.  It was perfect.  Santa Claus came and left Noah an awesome Radio Flyer wagon and filled our stockings with goodies.  We feasted on cinnamon rolls for breakfast and bacon sandwiches for lunch - it doesn't get any better than that! We truly enjoyed our first (and only) Christmas as a family of three.

Noah's favorite stocking stuffer?  A toothbrush!

There's plenty of room for Noah AND his toys in his new wagon!

The week between Christmas and New Year's was shaping up to be pretty wild.  We had an appointment on Wednesday the 30th to go to court to have Noah's adoption finalized.  (Noah had to be home for 6 months before our adoption could be finalized.)  On Monday of that week, I had an ultrasound to check and make sure our little overdue Eli was healthy.  Everything looked pretty good, except my amniotic fluid level was a little low.  My midwife sent me home with orders to drink lots of fluids and come back the next day for another ultrasound.  We also made an appointment for me to have my labor induced on Wednesday afternoon (right AFTER our court date.)

I did as I was told and drank lots of fluids that day.  On Tuesday morning, I went back for another ultrasound.  As it turns out, my amniotic fluid was even lower, dangerously low in fact, so my midwife said, "Did you bring your bags?"  Uh . . . . .no?  "Well," she said, "It's time to have a baby.  Go home, get your stuff, and meet me back here at the hospital in an hour for your induction."  Alrighty then!  We scrambled around, made the necessary phone calls including one to cancel our court appointment for the next day.  The good thing is that we were not required to go to court to finalize the adoption - the court appearance is just a nice formality for the judge to present the paperwork to us and for us to commemorate the occasion.  Noah's adoption would still be finalized on December 30th, with or without us going to court.

So by noon on Tuesday, Noah was home with Aunt Emily (with grandma and grandpa on the way to help out) and I was in the hospital ready to be induced.  My labor progressed OK throughout the afternoon, but by early evening I was ready for my epidural.  I had no intention of trying to give birth without help with the pain.  I am NOT superwoman!  I know women do that everyday without pain intervention, but I know myself and that was not the right choice for me.

Ready to be induced!

Let me tell you, labor with an epidural is a no-brainer!  It's awesome.  One minute it's painful contractions, and the next minute I'm saying, "Contraction?  What contraction?"  Oh so much better!  Nathan and I hung out through the evening - we watched the "Transformers" movie, we had a visit from friends.  You wouldn't think that we were trying to have a baby!  Finally we tried to get some rest about 10:30 that evening.  Nathan slept great - I could tell by the snoring!  I tried to rest as best I could, but it was difficult.  I was anxious and a little nervous, plus the nurses would come in and ask me to change position frequently.  Sometime after midnight, we noticed that Eli's heart rate wasn't recouping as well as we would like after each contraction.  I can't count how many positions the nurses had me move into - back, side to side, knees - everything!  No matter what we did, Eli's heart rate was just wouldn't stabilize.  At about 3:30am, my midwife and I decided that the best, safest thing for both me and Eli would be a C-section.  I was in the ER within 90 minutes after that.

Little Eli Thomas Withers was born at 5:06 am on Wednesday, December 30, 2009.  He weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces at birth and was 21 1/4 inches long.  He was one long skinny boy!  His body, especially his legs and arms, had all this extra skin - he looked a little like the elephant man!  He was very healthy, though.  Such a sweet little warm bundle of baby boy!

Happy birthday, Eli!

W

Welcome to the world, baby boy.

Sweet baby, tired momma

Noah meets his new little brother

Proud daddy

Me and my boys

  Our new family

Photo copyright 2009 by

Christopher McGuire Photography

Well, that's it.  That's 2009 in (a lot more than) a nutshell.  Nathan and I could never have imagined how our lives would change over the course of a year.  We are blessed with two amazing, funny, healthy, precious little boys.  Thanks for sticking through these long posts to learn a little more about our family.  It is important to us to keep some record of this time; something we can share with the boys when they get older.  We're happy to also share these stories and photos with you.  Stay tuned, become a follower, or stop by often to hear more about the adventures of our rapidly growing family.  Here's to more stories, more pictures, and more life with the Withers Family!

2009 year in review: a good place to start (Part Two)

So when I ended my last post, it was mid-June and we had just gotten Noah home.  Here is part two of the Withers Family 2009 Year in Review:

JUNE (Part Two)
Our first days home with Noah were just awesome.  He transitioned into our family better than we could have ever imagined.  The books we read and the training we received through our adoption agency taught us to prepare for the worst and hope for the best as far as bonding and attachment with our new little one.  I'm glad we "studied up" on attachment problems, but I'm thrilled that we didn't have to use any of our training.  Noah settled in with us and is just the happiest, funniest, most loving little boy we could imagine.  He makes Nathan and I laugh every day and he is the perfect fit for our family.  After all the struggles and waiting we endured in trying to have a family, I'm convinced that Noah is the little boy who was meant to start our family.  He was definitely worth the wait!

The hardest part of Noah's transition that first week home was the jet lag.  Such a sleepy boy!

First week home:  Noah giving Grandpa Martin some love

Noah came home on a Thursday.  The following Saturday morning, I was sitting on the couch with him and suddenly became sick to my stomach.  I figured it was just nervous anxiety about suddenly becoming a mom and having this little guy to care for, so I didn't think much of it.  Then, it happened again the following weekend.  I wasn't concerned for my health, but it did get me thinking.  I bought a pregnancy test that Monday and took it just on a whim - mostly to calm that nagging feeling in the back of my mind.  Wouldn't you know it, that stick lit up like a Christmas tree the second I peed on it.  Holy crap - I was pregnant!  I called my doctor right away because my first concern was making sure that this pregnancy was healthy and in the right place after having suffered the ectopic just a few months earlier.  I had an ultrasound which confirmed everything was great.  I was already 14 weeks along and was given a due date of December 22nd.

While this pregnancy was never unwanted, it was certainly unplanned and unexpected!  I had a hard time coming to terms with having another child so quickly.  We had just gotten Noah home and had no way to know how well he would adjust.  I was terribly afraid that we wouldn't be able to give Noah the time and attention he needed to adjust to his new life with us.  At the same time, most of our family had not yet met Noah and we didn't want to "steal his thunder" by announcing our pregnancy right away.  So, we decided to wait a few weeks before revealing our exciting news to the world.

JULY
During the first week of July, we headed to southern Indiana to visit Nathan's family and introduce Noah to everyone down there.  Such a crazy weekend, but so much fun!  Everyone was so excited to meet Noah.  He did a great job meeting so many new people.  We celebrated the 4th of July with a parade, Noah's first haircut in the USA, and his first dip in the pool.

Great-Aunt Denise give Noah his first haircut in the USA

Happy boy in the pool

Later in July, we hit the road again - this time to Ohio to meet my extended family.  More people that were so excited to meet our new little man!  Noah has so many people that love him.  He is a very lucky little boy and we are very lucky parents.

"Hey Mark - Nice catch!  Can I touch it?"

That's Noah gnawing on the magic cucumber from Great Grandma Wieging's garden.  (We say it's magic because the day after he chewed on this, he FINALLY got his first tooth!)

Near the end of July, I went back to the doctor for another ultrasound.  Everything was going great and we were excited to find out that we were expecting a BOY.  Hooray for a little brother!

Also in July, we had the first gathering of the Withers', Lafler's, Balon's, and DeBriere's.  Those are the four families here in Kalamazoo that welcomed little boys home from South Korea within 8 months of each other (from November 2008 to June 2009.)  It was so much fun to get all four boys together - they are all so different (with strong personalities!)  What a hoot it was trying to get all four of them to pose for a picture!  It was the first of what I am sure will be many gatherings of our little "fantastic four."

 "OK boys, sit down and smile for the camera!"

 Smile . . . . . please?

 Pretty please?

Everybody's facing forward and nobody's crying.  Close enough!

That's Sylas, Evan, Blake, and Noah

COMING SOON . . . . . PART THREE!!!!