Just blah...

It's been a bad day... I'm not quite sure why and I really can't pinpoint one thing that made it 'bad' but it's just been one of those days that I'm glad is almost over. I think it was the rain. You get so used to the sunshine down here that on one of those eternally gloomy days that is marked by more than a passing shower it hits you even harder.

Today is the last day of September. That completely blows my mind. Wasn't yesterday only January? I can't believe that the kiddo is nearly 4 1/2 months old. As we progress into the end of the year, I've been missing the change in the seasons. Florida has no seasons. It has nothing, nada, except mugginess, heat and rain. Since tomorrow is the first of October, I'm really missing the smell of fall. If anyone in the midwest could bottle that up and send it to me down here I'd really appreciate it ;-)

Alright, I'm off to play with the kiddo and redeem any part of this day I can. Hugs to everyone - enjoy the pictures!

Noah playing in his exer-saucer

This one is for Uncle Keith

Happy Noah!

Noah in the "baby cage"

A Few of My Favorite Things

With all of the bad news going on today with the failed bail-out plan and the plunging stock market I thought it'd be good to remember a few things that make me really happy:

1. Grant - I have a fantastic husband. He makes me incredibly happy :)
2. Noah - The kid is adorable - need I say more?
3. "The fam" - Have I told you guys that I miss you lately?? Even though we're kind of spread out knowing you're no more than a phone call or email away makes me fell better
4. Bella - She's the bestest puppy ever! Whenever I'm feeling down or bummed out she's there with a big "Arroooo" and sloppy kisses
5. A good book - I love curling up on a rainy afternoon and getting sucked in to a good book. My current favorites include anything by Amy Tan or Janet Evanovich.
6. The Monkees - Call it bubble gum pop if you will, but it's addictive music that makes me feel good and smile
7. The "Florida Family" - Don't know what I'd do without "the family" we have down here...
8. Grey's Anatomy - See previous posts if you need more on this
9. Cooking and "Hosting" - I love making other people happy and trying out new foods and recipes
10. This blog - I really enjoy winding down at the end of each day by sitting down, reflecting, writing and posting my thoughts and pictures from the day.

I know that it's only Monday and it kind of looks like it has the makings of being a crummy week, but these are just a few of the many blessings in my life that I can think about and be instantaneously happy. I know these are only a few, but I'm grateful for each and every one...

Noah and I went to the library today. I have been trying and trying each time we go to get him a copy of "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" but apparently it's always out! We'll just have to keep trying. We tried to go get ice cream at the new place that opened up not too far from the house, but apparently the place closes at 8pm... 8pm - that's so strange! Ah well, I settled for a slurpee instead (Another one of my favorite things!)

Only one picture from today but it's a really cute one, I promise! Until tomorrow, then :-)

Inspirational

I've been wanting to post about this for the past few days. In the mornings I am up early (just after 7) to feed the kiddo before I "head in" to work for the day. A few weeks ago, I was watching "Good Morning, America" and was really touched by a story they did on a little boy and his dream.

The short version of the story is that J.T., a 12 year old boy from New York loves trains. It is one of his favorite past times to take the Arcade and Attica train. A few years ago he started saving recyclables for money to buy additional tickets for kids he knew that were unable to buy their own. He was upset to learn, though, that the train was not handicapped accessible. So he made it his goal to raise enough money to equip the train for those with handicaps.

The first time he was on, "Good Morning, America" surprised him by telling him they had called in the crew from "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" to do an extreme makeover on the train. He was so excited and this week they followed up and showed what they had done to the train. Here's a link to watch the video: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5891930&page=1

I was so moved by the dedication and goodwill of this little boy that i just had to share it. I will admit to shedding quite a few tears at the story. It just reminds me that even when things are rough and the world looks like a pretty scary place, there are those out that on a daily basis go above and beyond to make other people happy. God Bless J.T.!

From here today, we have to report that Noah officially rolled over from his back to his tummy completely! For the past few weeks he's been 3/4 of the way there (his belly was on the floor he just couldn't get his arm out of the way) but this morning I put him down on his back and the next time I looked up he was on his tummy! Yay Noah!! Otherwise we've spent the day playing with the kiddo, I've been working on Noah's ABC book (see below) and Grant's been finishing up some odds and ends. It's been a great Sunday and we're looking forward to what this next week will bring. Noah and I also wanted to send out lots of "happy thoughts" to Grandpa Larry and let him know we're thinking about him! Enjoy the pictures, more tomorrow!

Noah during his "naked time" this morning

Noah "walking" with Daddy's help

The letters for Noah's ABC book I'm making (A is for ark, B is for Bella, C is for Cookie Monster...)

Noah and Daddy

Noah playing in his "exer-saucer" this afternoon

Daddy and Noah chasing Bella around the house

Regular Saturday

Noah sleeping in his high chair

Noah hanging in his cradle for awhile

Ready to go to Church! Cookie Monster got to go, too.

I love Saturdays. They are such a laid back easy going day for the most part. Grant mowed the lawn, I cleaned the house, we went to Church and then game night at the Kunkle's! Nothing too out of the ordinary except that this is the first official blog on the new computer. Yay! It's really late, Noah and I just got home, so I'm going to keep this very brief. Lots of stuff tomorrow, though.

C is for Crazy

I've made more than one reference to what is known as "The Cookie Monster Phenomenon" in our house... Tonight I was finally able to capture it on film:

As you can see, no matter if Noah is pitching a fit or anything else is going on, as soon as he hears "C is for Cookie" everything else instaneously stops! No more fussing, no more crying, no more noise... I'm officially crediting my sister Sarah with instilling the Cookie Monster gene in him and Michelle for figuring out the thing with the video. The craziest part is it doesn't work with any other song or any other character. I've tried Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Elmo and got nada... The kid is a Cookie Monster freak!

Grant came home early today and we ended up going out this afternoon and doing some shopping. We did (finally!) get my new computer - yay!! We also went shopping for a high chair for Noah. I am proud to say that I assembled it by myself completely and it is all in one piece ;-) I do have to say that I am convinced that assembling child toys and accessories is only a small step below rocket science, though. Whoever thought pictures of the back side of what is being assembled was a good idea should have their head examined. So Grant installed everything and got the computer running while I put together Noah's new toy.

While we were out shopping I also made Noah model some hats and I've of course included the pictures. Noah was less than impressed. It's been a good day here, and I've got one tired kiddo to get in the bathtub and ready for bed, so that's it for now. I've included lots of pictures from today, though!

Grant working on getting the new computer up and running.

Noah chewing on his toy from Grandpa in his high chair

Noah and Grant

Noah and his puppy

Noah in his high chair for the very first time

Noah with the pumpkin hat on

Noah in the owl hat thinking "really mom?"

Seriously? Seriously!

This is going to have to be a quick post tonight as the Grey's Anatomy premiere is literally minutes away! (Yay!!!) I have the best husband in the whole world who has officially released me from "mommy duty" tonight so in a few minutes my big bowl of popcorn and I are going to go off and watch two uninterrupted hours of my favorite show ever! Hopefully it will live up to my expectations, which at this point are for it to be better than the first half of last season, which shouldn't be hard :)

Noah and I had a good day around here today. He got a good scare in today. I was in the shower this afternoon when I suddenly heard a loud "thump." I wasn't quite sure what it was, but didn't hear it again, so I figured that it was the wind outside or something. A few minutes later I heard "thump, whump, bang, etc." repeatedly. I went tearing out of the shower and into the bedroom only to find Noah in his cradle doing "the worm" and kicking his feet like it was going out of style. I'm lucky he didn't kick out the bottom. He was in a great mood and just apparently wanted to make sure that I was paying attention.

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday! No big plans for the weekend at this point, but we have decided to go ahead and get the new laptop so I'm looking forward to that. Tomorrow is officially the last "make-up" day at Harris as well, so in two more weeks I'll be glad to have Grant at home every other Friday again. It's been weird not having him around on Friday's. It's strange that that has become something I just expect. I think I've missed having him around almost as much as he misses being off.

Alright, off to watch the premiere!! More pictures tomorrow, I'm still working on the cookie monster thing!

Noah playing on his fish mat

Noah hanging out with Mommy this afternoon

"Boob Juice" Ice Cream?

I decided to come and escape to the blog a little early tonight to avoid listening to the President's address. This whole bail-out situation makes my blood boil. Grant's tired of my loud mouth opinions about it and so I won't subject anyone that might be reading this to them either...

On a completely different subject that also got me thinking today was PETA's letter to Ben & Jerry's about replacing cow's milk in ice cream with human breast milk, or as we call it at my house "boob juice." Seriously?? First of all, their rationale really made me laugh a bit. They say that cow's milk is intended for baby cow's and by using it we are somehow depriving the baby cows... So we're going to deprive human babies instead? Yes, as PETA's Executive Vice President points out "breast is best" but where do they plan on getting all this milk? As Grant just asked me "Are there going to be Mommy farms now?" Here's the thing that really cracked me up, because a Swiss restraunt owner has said that he's going to replace 75% of the cow milk he uses in his restraunt with boob juice PETA thought they should petition Ben & Jerry's, one of the largest ice cream producer's in the country, to do the same? I am all for prevention for cruelty to animals but this is officially ridiculous...

It's Wednesday here and it's been a relatively low key day. The most excitement I've had is watching "Sex & The City: The Movie" which Netflix so kindly delivered today. It was just alright, Ithought. The fact that I was able to watch the kid, make dinner and still not miss anything made me realize I just wasn't that into it in the first place.

We're debating getting a laptop for the house. Grant's old laptop (that he got just before we met over 5 years ago) finally fizzled out a few months ago. And my laptop which we bought refurbished about three years ago is also on its last legs. You know it's time to replace it when every time you pick up the computer the hard drive falls out... We do have the work desktop, but with Noah I find it's much easier for me to have something a little more portable for working on during the day. I think we've got it narrowed down to the one we want, so I'm hoping to have a new laptop in a few days here!

Just a "normal" day otherwise. Noah's sending a "shout out" to Godmomma Shellie to feel better! He says to tell you he promises we're not ignoring you and you are loved :-) Grey's Anatomy tomorrow - woot woot!

Baby Noah sleeping in his "big boy bed" - He says "Go Tigers" for Grandpa!

Bella Moo in the office

Noah trying desperately to squirm out of his swing

Separation Anxiety

So I knew it was going to happen eventually... Last night, for the very first time, Noah slept in his crib in his own room by himself all night. I managed to only check on him about a dozen times during the middle of the night. He, as I had predicted before, did fantastic with the transition. His mommy on the other hand sniffled herself to sleep. As my mom so adeptly pointed out earlier, it was just one of the million of strings to be broken - heartstrings that is. I don't think it would be such a big deal but his room is nowhere near ours in the house. I have to get out of bed, walk through the front room, through the kitchen and living room, through the hallway past the guest bath and office and then into the nursery. The kid might as well have moved out! (At least that's how it felt to this overly sensitive mom!) But we are very happy that he transitioned smoothly. Hoepfully tonight I'll get half as much sleep as he is managing to get...

Today we worked on the squares for Grandma Koz's quilt. I've attached a picture of Noah's square. It was really cute until we got to that last hand, I promise! Noah kept trying to "help" with his other hand though and it was just too much for Grant and I to control both hands, the marker, the dog and both of us giggling. I think it's still pretty cute and it is most defintely unique! I can't wait to see the whole thing come together. Grant and I did our own "hand" square as well.

On an extremely happy note, welcome to the world Ethan Gregory Frey! Yesterday my friend Angie and her husband Greg welcomed their first, a little boy, to the world. We are estatic for them and are thrilled that they've joined the "parenting club" May God bless Ethan and the rest of his family! Congratulations Angie and Greg!! Oh, and Noah said to tell Ethan that he thinks it's really cool that they're about the same age apart as their moms.

I'm working on getting some video of what we are referring to as "the Cookie Monster phenomenom" so hopefully I'll have that by tomorrow. For now, here's the pictures from today!

Noah in his tub with Jack Sparrow the Duck (only Daddy would name a duck "Sparrow")

Noah's square for Grandma Koz's Quilt

Noah and Daddy

Blowing Raspberries

A few things have changed in the past four months:

1. An iPod that once held all of my favorite songs is now full of Veggie Tales, Raffi, and Muppet music.
2. Baby poop is a huge concern of mine; how often, what color?
3. Dancing around my kitchen like an idiot while also trying to make dinner, unload the dishwasher and play with the dog all in the desperate attempt to calm down the screaming kiddo in his chair is completely acceptable, let's just hope the neighbors don't watch.
4. I will spend hours making funny faces, going cross-eyed and another other number of facial oddities in hopes of just one smile.
5. Blowing raspberries is so cool!

The last one has come about just over the last week or so. I'm sure the average twenty-five year old female would beg to differ on this point, but I'm a Mom now and oh so out of touch with the average twenty-five year old female. Suddenly sticking my tongue out and creating a slobbery mess is suddenly not only acceptable, it's a blast! Of course, the fact that I'm doing this because Noah has suddenly figured out how to blow his own raspberries probably has something to do with this new found perspective. Every day I'm more amazed at how silly I'm willing to look or the outlandish acts that seem totally acceptable now because of him. The only amendment I will make to number 5 is that blowing raspberries is cool as long as your mouth isn't full of peas, Noah Joseph! I learned that one that hard way yesterday...

Noah blowing raspberries at his Mama this morning

Last night we watched "Made of Honor" with Arthur and Kristina. We missed the Emmy's but from the online chatter I read today, we didn't miss much... Though I do have to say I did You Tube this Josh Groban theme song montage and got quite a chuckle this morning. His tongue in cheek take was quite hilarious if I do say so myself. My only complaint is the diss to the Monkees theme song...

Bella hiding in my closet

Mommy and Noah

Noah's Hickey

So this is defintely one to add to the Parenting Handbook... On Wednesday, after getting Noah up from his nap in the crib (we are slowly transitioning him from the cradle to the crib. He'd sleep in there all the time, it's more about me having separation anxiety at this point) and noticed he had two small bruises on his arm. I was a little concerned and spent some time trying to figure out how he'd managed to bruise himself. I decided to keep an eye on it over the next few days and see if he bruised anywhere else...

So yesterday morning I put him on his whale tummy mat for awhile to play. He was a bit annoyed but I was trying to clean the house so I figured he calm himself down or roll over and play that way for awhile. A few minutes later he had stopped making so much noise and I checked on him as I walked through the living room. I found him sucking on his arm! And not just a little lick or something, literally sucking hard enough for me to hear his slurping noise. I picked him up and pulled his arm out of his mouth and low and behold another bruise! The kid has been giving himself hickeys all over his arm! I've included pictures below...

Last night was pretty low key as Noah and I hung out here and Grant went up to Dan & Beth's to help the "Florida group" completea 58 song set for Rock Band. Apparently they did it in just over 4 hours and didn't have to repeat any songs. As I have little to no interest in Rock Band (probably because I stink royally at video games) Noah and I stayed here and played together. I'm ont sure who ended up more wet from his bath - him or me. He's discovered splashing! We got him a rubber ducky (named Jack by Daddy) today while we were out so we'll see what he thinks of that.

Noah and I went to Church this morning and then we all went out shopping for a bit. We're trying to find the kiddo a high-chair which you would think would be rather simple, yeah no... Three stores later and still no high-chair. So we're still working on it. We did manage to get him the aforementioned duck and a really cute Halloween bib, though.

Probably watching a movie tonight or maybe the Emmy's. Back to the daily grind tomorrow for both of us, the only big thing I know about this week is the Grey's Anatomy premiere (which is HUGE!). More tomorrow I'm sure :-)


Kristi



Noah's bruises from his self-inflicted hickeys. It's OK, I laughed hysterically, too :-p

The Beginning...

Hi Everyone!

The Florida Gatchel clan has decided to start a daily blog full of pictures, updates and the general going-ons from down here. Since we have family and friends spread out across the country that we miss dearly, we figured this would be a great way to keep everyone posted on our latest happenings. Please feel free to leave us notes, we love to hear from everyone! Both Grant and I have access and posting abilities to the blog and will attempt to post daily with at least some pictures each time. I've included recent pictures of the whole crew. Can't wait to hear from everyone!

Always,

Kristi

Grant

Kristi

Noah

Bella