We wish you a Merry Christmas!

It's almost time for Christmas, and the Smiths have been a busy bunch! Noah is getting in to everything and attempting to stand on his own. We've had more than our share of bumps and bruises, but he's starting to get the hang of it. I'm very proud to tell you all that I haven't been the paranoid Mom that most of you thought I would be; I calmly tell him he's ok, brush him off and scoot him on his way! :)

Justin's been busy at work but really loves it. I have to say again that it's such a blessing to see him start to do what he was born to do; he's just blooming and it's great. He has Christmas off so we're going to visit Kansas to see my family and I'm just so excited. We'll be there from next Thursday to Sunday, and Justin is really excited to be able to go for the second year in a row since we've been married!

As for me, it's been sort of a rough semester. I guess the honest truth is that I didn't know how much I would love being Noah's mom. I've also REALLY missed being in the classroom and on a campus, so my bosses have generously let me offer to try to do my current job part-time for a semester and see if that works out better for me. I'm really excited but I'm nervous and hopeful that this will be better than the fall semester. I'd covet your prayers as I try to work this out. The people in Abilene ISD have been more than generous to allow me to even keep working, and I'm so incredibly thankful and want to do the best job I possibly can.

Our house is coming along really well. For Christmas Justin and I got each other floors! We had already carpeted, but we wanted new entry tile and hard wood in two rooms, and that's almost done. I'll put up pictures when we get it all done. They look GREAT and I can't wait to get it all done and all the rooms arranged just how I want them.

So, back to Christmas...this year Justin said that we could get a real tree. He was allergic as a kid, so we were hopeful that he and Noah would both be ok. We went to a farm about an hour away from here that happens to grow Christmas trees (though we can't wait for our friends here to start their Christmas tree farm) and cut down a tree. Well, let me be honest...I cut down the tree while Noah and Justin watched. I really thought that I would just start it and Justin would finish up but when I got started I just couldn't stop. Here's a pic of Noah watching...

Here's Mom and Noah after a successful tree-cutting venture...

And, with that, we'll let you go. Have a very Merry Christmas. It's our prayer that you're all on Santa's nice list, but that you don't forget the true meaning of the season. Happy Birthday Jesus, and goodbye!

We've got so much to be thankful for!

Things around here have been busy but great. We've started going to a Life Group with my old church from college and work has been really busy for us both. Justin and I are both definitely looking forward to some time off to celebrate all the new things we've got to be thankful for over the last year. Speaking of new things we've got to be thankful for, here's our #1 thanks to God for the year. Brand new Noah videos!

Funny Daddy!

And, we'd like to announce...WE HAVE A CRAWLER!

And, for all my math friends, his new favorite thing to do is crawl over to a poster and play with it. It just so happens that the poster is one I had in my room when I taught, and it goes over the steps for solving a word problem. His nerdy parents couldn't be more proud!!!

First Pumpkin Patch...as a Giraffe!

What fun! Last Saturday I drove Noah to my parents' house and then on to Frisco for a convention. We made a little pit stop at a pumpkin patch with the cutest giraffe you've EVER seen! He was precious and it was a great place to take pictures and to see Noah explore. Here are some pictures.

Look Ma, no hands!!!

A lot has been happening since my last post! A few weekends ago, Justin and I took Noah to the Big County Balloon Festival. This is the night light. It was beautiful.
Noah was a little bit sleepy, so he wasn't all that excited at first. Here's Noah and Daddy! Look at that rockin' outfit!

And Noah and Mommy!

Then, we took a trip where Noah got to play with Daddy all week and Mom had to go to workshops! During that trip Noah got to see Tiffany and Justin and I got to see Alan and Michelle. Congratulations to them on their soon-to-be-born baby girl! Here's Noah ADORING Tiffany. He just couldn't take his eyes off her!

And, for Aunt Gogi, here's Noah's first trip to Freebirds. That's a monster, for those of you who are familiar with Freebirds. :) About right for our almost six month old who's been wearing 9 month old clothes for two weeks!

During our trip, Justin played tennis in Corpus Christi. It was Noah's first time to a beach and even though it was a Texas beach, it was still a beach! We had a great time!

Since we were in Corpus at the beach, we decided to take Noah swimming. But, the water was a little cold, so we went to the "hot" tub, which was actually more like bath water.

This is when Noah really started having fun. You can see that Justin had a great time, too, getting splashed in the face while I conveniently snapped pictures!

A couple of nights later Noah and his dad both fell asleep reading in about the same position. How cute!

And, finally, Noah has started to sit up. Here he is! He's doing so well and we're so proud of him. I timed him today and he had a stretch of time that he was sitting up for FIVE MINUTES all by himself! He's started to correct himself when he starts to fall, but still isn't always able to sit up. I think that he just sometimes decides that he's tired and falls over because it's fun.

And, lastly, Noah is sleeping really well. I took this picture because his great Aunt Kris gave him this "woobie" which is a baby blanket that Noah holds over his face when he sleeps. I just think it's adorable!

On Sunday, Noah will be SIX months old! I can't believe that! I'm excited to feed him "real" food, so we'll post pictures as soon as we can!

Noah's Nursery

We're in and I'm FINALLY done with Noah's nursery! Here are some pics!

This is Noah's Book Bear! The sack is from the Abilene Public Library, one of his favorite places!

Now, for some pictures of the mini-man himself! Noah got his first tooth on Labor day and his first cold on Thursday through ... now. He's happy even though it's pretty obvious that he doesn't feel great! We're SO blessed!

Here it is! His first TOOTH!!!

Even though he's not close to walking yet, it's still fun to help him take those baby steps! We'll keep you all updated as he grows and grows!

I know, I haven't disappeared...

Well, we're moved in and I was hoping to wait until one room was completely done to put up some pictures. So, there are no pictures in this entry, but just saying I haven't forgotten about you, my dear blog! We also got a good offer on our "vacation home" in Houston, so we're hoping to close on that in early October! Yay!

Noah Notes: Noah is doing fabulously. He's eating rice cereal and ate it for the first time in his NEW high chair tonight! Thanks, Nannie, for the high chair! He's rolling over more and more and he's sleeping longer at night and not as much during the day. Becci is a LIFESAVER (that's the lady who keeps him during the day) and is amazing with him. She's agreed to keep him until the break in the semester, so we'll have to put him in big boy day care in January. I'm very sad about that, but I think that it's WAY better than putting him in day care right now!

Justin is loving his job and has been interviewed twice about flu. If you want to see one of his interviews, go here.

My job is getting better every day. Still haven't taught any students, but I'm getting to talk a lot to teachers and hopefully am doing some of the things that they would have done, thus reducing their workload and allowing them to worry more about the students.

Ok, well, for now, that's enough. Hopefully I'll have some new pictures soon!

...I can't resist. Here's one ecent Noah pic!

Nannie's Funny!

I know it's been a long time. Working has been very hard for me because I have to leave Noah and I've been playing with him in ALL my spare time! But, I had to share. There's a video and some pictures of Noah at his happiest moments. In the video, he's laughing out loud! Turn the music down at the bottom and you'll be able to hear it! The middle of the video is the best!

Developmentally Noah is still just a little bit ahead. He's rolling over completely, but he skipped the tummy to back and rolls over back to tummy! I'm not sure when he'll go tummy to back, but I'll let you know!

Enjoy!

Here are some recent pictures of our happy boy!!!

Here's Noah's first time in the Exersaucer (SP?). He LOVES it!

Workin' Mama

Howdy, folks! It's been a while since I've written a post about myself, so I feel entitled a time or two to let you all know what's going on in our world besides our growing bundle of joy! Last Wednesday, I accepted a position in Abilene ISD. That means that in just two short weeks I'll be a working mom. I'm terrified but have found INCREDIBLE daycare for Noah and just found that I can't pass up on the opportunity I've been given. My official title is the Secondary Mathematics Instructional Specialist. I'll be housed in the administration building for the district, but I plan on spending most of my time in the schools. I'll be working with high school math teachers to try to help them in whatever way I can. For those of you who haven't ever taught, it can be an incredibly time-consuming and stressful thing, so I consider it an honor to think that I might be able to help these teachers so they'll be able to spend more time with their students, improving how they teach and helping them get organized! I'm nervous about the job, but these incredible people in Abilene are so family friendly; they're letting me work a day from home each week so I don't completely miss out on Noah growing up. It's very exciting and nerve-wracking!

Justin also had a big day exactly one week ago...he started working as a full-time pediatrician. It's a little slow right now because he's new to the area (well, returning. He's a new doctor to the area.) but he's enjoying every minute of it. He's working with four other doctors who are partners in the practice, so he's definitely the new kid on the block, but he's really loving it. I have to say that it is amazing to see him in his element and there is no feeling in the world like watching him come home fulfilled from his job each day.

In other news, we made an offer on a house tonight. I'll post more when the offer has been accepted, but pray for us! Our house in Houston hasn't sold yet, so please keep that in your prayers, as well!

Lastly, here are some recent pictures of Noah. He's tempted to roll over on his own but hasn't yet!

Here's a picture of all the moms and kids at the July 4 family reunion for Justin's side of the family. It was a crazy but GREAT day!

Noah LOVES tummy time, as long as he's not sleepy!

Justin caught this picture after Noah got this far over on his own! He's getting so big!

Here's a close up. He's a curious little boy! He's reaching for a frog here on tummy time. He loves these frogs, so thanks to Sara Dickson and Nicole Anderson-Fletcher! They're a big hit!

Pictures...Put in your order now!

Ok, here are the pictures we promised almost three months ago! Let me know which ones you want and we'll put in a huge order next Wednesday, July 15! Don't forget to tell me how big you want them (4 by 6, 8 by 10, etc.)! You can email or post a comment, but if I don't have your address I can't send them to you! The titles are below each picture.

Baby Feet 1

Baby Feet 2
Baby Hand 1

Baby Hand 2

Noah in BlueDaddy's Hands

Daddy's Hands 2

Noah and Daddy

Mommy and Daddy love Noah



Noah asleep in blue

Noah awake in red (obviously you'd landscape this one)

Noah in black
Noah out in blue



Red dimple picture
Black and white dimple picture

Noah asleep in red

Name Picture

Love you all!