One Month!

Noah is one month old now! We are so very thankful for him. He really is a very, very good baby. I have heard about fussy, inconsolable babies, but he is not one of them. The only time he cries is when we lay him down to sleep. This is terribly horribly awfully hard for me because I know that all I have to do to make him stop is pick him up. But, he is a fickle sleeper. He sleeps wonderfully at night, but daytime naps are hard. He just doesn't like to fall asleep. I know that if I let him stay up and have his way, he will be really difficult by late afternoon, so I almost always have to lay him down and let him cry. Sad. But it's getting MUCH MUCH better. He is starting to be better about soothing himself to sleep so he usually just fusses for a bit and then falls asleep. He is down to one nighttime feeding and I am thrilled about this! Usually he goes down anytime between 8 and 10 pm and then he wakes up between 1 and 3 am. Then he goes right back to sleep and gets up around 6 or 7 am. Such a huge blessing! He is also much more efficient at nursing so I'm usually only up feeding him for less than 30 minutes.

At his last appointment he was 21.5 inches long and weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces. He is 50th percentile across the board. I was very encouraged that he gained 18 oz in 14 days... it made me feel so proud of my milk producing abilities :)

A few little things about Noah... He is extremely hot blooded. He has VERY crazy (almost terrible) hair that makes him look like a retired highway patrol officer. He almost always wears a beanie as a result. He loves his jungle play mat. I can leave him on there for 30-40 minutes and he is just happy as can be. He loves to nurse and is getting really good at it. He loves mom and dad. He likes being in his moby wrap. He likes going on walks with mom. He especially loves to sleep in his car seat... which we are very thankful for because we are driving to KS this Friday. He learned to eat out of a bottle recently. He's big enough now to wear his cloth diapers, but I'm trying to use up the pampers before we start them. Maybe when we get back from KS I'll start using them.

Chris and I are doing well. We started up our midweek Bible study again and we have the same group we had last Spring. We are reading Volume 2 of the Attributes of God by Tozer. I'm super thankful for our small group and really excited about growing in my view God. It's amazing how quick I can start to think that God is like me. I need to be reminded often of how mighty and holy He is. I'm feeling great these days! I was just reorganizing our storage closet and it struck me that I was down on the ground in a tiny corner lifting heavy things... oh the joy of not having a baby in me! I feel back to normal for the most part. I mean, I'm not quite in my jeans yet, but we'll get there. In other news, I found out last week that I have to have yet another surgery. Wow, I'm high maintenance. The thing is, my body loves to grow lumps of all sorts. This time it's a lump on my thyroid. I had it biopsied 4 years ago and it was benign, but Dr. Trott (who did my lip surgery last winter) suggests that while my deductible is met I get it taken out since it has grow quite a bit. Apparently it is a simple procedure, but I do have to stay one night in the hospital and Chris will have to give Noah bottles at home while I "pump and dump" for the day. I know that the Lord wants me to grow in dependence on Him and in denying myself the earthly comforts and pleasures that I can so easily worship. He is using all of these things to refine me and for that I am very thankful! Okay, I'm not thankful for the drainage tube that I will have hanging out of my neck, but I'm working on it.

Some things we are excited for: Noah dropping his nighttime feeding. Frazier coming home with us from Kansas! Harry Potter is coming out soon. Chris has all A's in his classes. Bethany is going to visit us for Christmas. We have some snow on the ground! New church members that we love very much... and brothers and sisters in Christ that the Lord is calling out to Jackson this spring.