Stay At Home!

I am tired! Although Noah is a great baby this parenting stuff is tiring. I have so much respect for moms out there with more than one child. One question for you more than one child moms, how do you do it? Actually I have more than one question. Here they are...

Why did you do it?

Did you always know that you wanted more than one child?

Do you miss sleeping?

How do you lug all your children around?

Do you get to leave the house much?

I do have a desire to have more children, but for some reason I am exhausted this weekend and I only have one child. So what is my problem? Maybe it is because I have dragged Noah all over God's creation this week. Let me tell you where we have been.

Colonie Center-twice!
Hannaford
Walmart
Garden Gate Florist
Brenda's house
Acura dealership
Panera
Wit's End
Visited both grandparents- a few times
Fairways of Halfmoon
Venezias
Church
CVS
Doctor's Office
Boscovs
Marshalls
Hair and Body Essentials-but only for 2 seconds. They wouldn't wax my eyebrows because Noah was with me. Ask me how irritated I was.

So what is on the agenda for this week? Hopefully some stay at home time. We shall see!

More pictures!

Just a few pictures!

Cut the Cord!

Tonight was a big night in the Hickok home. I say that with a little sadness and a few tears. I said a few tears. It is not like I am crying a river here. Tonight I made the decision to put Noah in his big boy bed. Actually he is in his crib but it seems like a bed. Currently I have the baby monitor strapped to my ear so I can hear the slighest sound coming from the nursery.

I don't know what made me decide to put him in his room tonight. Maybe I just feel that he can handle it. He has been practicing by taking naps in there. He loves his big boy bed or I have just convinced myself that he does. To help him with the transition I turned on his turtle night light. I think he will appreciate that.

Of course I turned on his mobile, but personally I don't think it plays long enough. He cried a little after it went off but he is doing pretty good now. I am keeping everything crossed that all goes well for him. Before bed I had a conversation with him about sleeping in on Saturdays. Hopefully he will be a good listener. I will keep you posted on the big boy bed transition. I can't believe I am cutting the cord already.

Big Day for Noah J!

Noah had a big day today. He had a doctor's appointment. At today's visit we learned that Noah weighs 12.8 lbs and is 24 inches long. He is growing like a weed. I had to chuckle to myself when the nurse asked how many hours Noah sleeps during the day. She said, "Does he do like two, four hour naps during the day?" I glanced at John, smiled and responded with, "He sleeps like 18 hours a day." I was beginning to wonder if that is what babies do. The doctor reassured me that it was perfectly normal that Noah sleeps 18 hours a day. Personally I love to sleep so maybe he is going to follow in my footsteps in that department.

Noah was a good boy during his visit despite the fact that they had to give him a shot. It broke my heart when he let out a scream, but John stepped in and calmed him down. Overall it went very well. I am told there will be many visits and shots to follow. Poor Noah.

So long summer!

Summer is officially over. Writing that makes me so sad. Some people look forward to the fall but not me. It just means that winter is around the corner. I love the summer and everything about it. I love the hot weather, swimming in the pool, my birthday, ice cream, hot dogs and the warm summer nights. Next summer I have a few things to look forward to...

-teaching Noah how to swim and the art of sunbathing and how to not disturb his mommy when she is sunbathing. No task is too great. I think I can teach him.

-teaching Noah how to lick an ice cream cone from my favorite ice cream place-Rainbow Delights.

-our birthdays!

-vacation. We are going somewhere next summer.

-shorts. I hope I can fit into some of my old shorts, not that I minded the maternity shorts because they were really comfy.

-a nice tan.

-a deck for the pool. Please build us one Johnny.

-flip flops-need I say more?

So I say farewell to summer and all of its fun memories. It's time for me to prepare myself and Noah for the dreadful winter months. Winter gets kinda lonely in our house because John is either snowmobiling or plowing snow. This winter he thinks he is going to strap the baby bjorn on and take our son snowmobiling. I don't think so, but I will keep you posted.

Stretched to the Limit!

I am not sure why I watch Runway Moms on the Discovery Channel. It is pure torture, however when I am flicking through the channels I find myself drawn to this program. I guess my infatuation started when I was pregnant with Noah. I have a love hate relationship with this program. What I hate about Runway Moms is that I cannot find one single stretch mark on any of these beauties out of all the episodes that I have watched. I stare at the screen intensely looking for one purple mark but I haven't had any luck yet finding one. Now finding one on me is pretty easy. I feel like you could spot them a mile away even with layers of clothing on.

Yes, that's right I have been stretched to my limits and have the beautiful purple marks to prove it. At least they come in purple rather than lime green or school bus yellow. I joke about this now, but when I spot them in the mirror tomorrow I will cringe because I know that no matter how much belly butter I lather over my stomach it still will not erase my stretch marks. I have come to the realization that no matter what I rub regardless if it is cheap or expensive won't erase them. These stretch marks are mine to keep but on the flip side so is Noah.

Some things to get excited about

These days I find myself getting excited about the strangest things. I have composed a list of them. If you are a mom I am sure at some point you have gotten excited about these things too. Come on stop rolling your eyes and be honest with yourself.

1. poopy diapers - hey it means he is healthy, right?

2. one outfit for the entire day - less laundry

3. big obnoxious burp - I'm not referring to Johnny

4. sleeping through the night - Noah did that 3 times this past week and I didn't even have to add Tylenol PM to his bottle (Relax, I am kidding).

5. empty bottle - one content baby

It's Official

After three weeks with Noah it has finally started to sink in that I am a mom. It's weird because when you make the decision to finally take the plunge and start a family you are never really prepared or ready for what lies ahead. I think it's a good thing that God gives you 9 months.

I prepared myself or so I thought I did for parenthood. I cleaned or should I say scoured the house for weeks to make sure everything was in its place when he arrived. I boiled bottles and pacifiers. I washed onesies and pajamas. Nothing could prepare me though for the emotional change that I have gone through. I often find myself thinking this is my son and I am responsible for him and what an awesome responsibility that is. I have turned into this person that I never knew existed within me. For some reason I feel that I am the only one that can feed him correctly or comfort him when he is crying. Of course the realistic side of me knows that family and friends are capable and do a good job caring for Noah but deep inside there is a part of me that clings tightly to my new role and I like it and I don't want to let go. I guess my apron strings are just beginning to grow. I love being his mom.

It is amazing that in three short weeks I have developed a relationship like this with this little person. I have learned so much about him, little things like what his crying spells mean though they are rare. So I guess it's official then I am now a member of the mom club. I like my new role.

Shopping trip Part 1

I am pleased to report that Noah had his first successful shopping outing. We drove to Lake George to hit the outlets. First stop on our adventure was of course none other than the Gap. That is probably my favorite place to shop and how can you not love their prices? I must say that I was a little disappointed that they didn't have very many little boy clothes. Noah and I felt a twinge of jealousy at the amount of pink and purple clothing for little girls that lined the walls. We managed to get over it and purchase some very much needed cute little outfits. I say much needed because Noah has a lot of newborn outfits that don't really fit him anymore and some that didn't fit him to begin with. He is big boy!

After spending time at the Gap we hit some other popular baby clothing stores. I think we were pretty successful with our shopping. After all of that shopping we were starving, actually I was starving for lunch. We went to one of my favorite Lake George restaurants, The Log Jam. It was a yummy treat thanks to my mother-in-law. She joined us on the trip too and provided much needed assistance. Because I am a new mom it takes me a while to figure out how to operate the stroller. Sometimes it takes two heads to figure these baby gadgets out. Overall we had a great day so great that I think I am going to venture out next week for part 2 of our shopping trip. I would give Noah an A+ for his baby behavior and give myself an A+ as well because he made it home in one piece, and I never forgot him once in any of the stores.

I have been up to...

It has been a while since I have posted and I must say that I have a really good excuse. He is a 10 pounder and consumes most of my time, but that is okay with me. Let me share with you what I have been up to. The list is not in any special order.

1. Pumping, pumping, pumping. I have decided to pump besides using formula. It is really time consuming and it looks very unnatural, but it works for now.

2. Staring. I find myself staring at Noah trying to figure out who he will turn out to be. He does a lot of staring too, almost like he is thinking, "Who in the world is the women and why is she always looking at me?"

3. Laundry. I love folding his little clothes.

4. Researching. I am constantly online googling information about babies. I must say that I am getting pretty good at it.

5. Yelling. Finn has heard his name more than he needs to. I am beginning to feel bad for him because I am always shouting, "No Finn!" Anyone want a chocolate lab for a few months?

6. Looking in the mirror. I am always checking the progress of my stomach and wondering if it will ever be the same again. I am praying it will.