Preparing for a Trip

Well, some of you readers may know and others may not, but Noah and I are about to take a trip to Idaho to visit a cousin.  This particular cousin happens to be my ultimate best friend in life and is my second cousin...which makes her Noah's third cousin.  It may seem distant but she is the closest person I have that relates to everything in my life.  Anyway, she is on the verge of giving birth to her baby girl, Serenity Addison Grover.  I am thoroughly excited to be visiting this coming weekend, which was originally going to be a surprise for Megan (my cousin).  Her fiance and other family members have planned her baby shower for this weekend and called me up saying, "if we can fly you and Noah out, can you come?"  Well, of course, who says "no" to that!?

So, I am heading to Idaho on Thursday morning and returning on Monday afternoon.  I get to spend a weekend there and gratefully can get away from all this white snowing lying around my small town.  Although I am truly thrilled to be going on this trip, I am scared out of my mind to be taking Noah on his first plane ride at the age of 13.5 months.  There are so many questions I have and preventative items that I want to obtain to make sure he is happy while on a plane!  I do not want to disturb other passengers, so I am thinking an isle seat would be best so that he can play within the isle and have more room to move around to keep entertained.  Then I am thinking about toys...well no noisy ones of course!  Food...what are we allowed to bring in the carry on these days?  It is questionable!

Anyway, my point of this post is to explain that I am very nervous about taking Noah on a full day of traveling starting at about 6 AM.  It takes about an 2 hours to get to the airport, and you have to arrive two hours before departure, then we have a connecting flight with a 2 hour layover...and we will not arrive in Idaho until approx. 4 PM.  So, thus, we have a very long day of traveling and Mommy is very worried about how cranky dear little Noah will become.  Steven and I bought Noah a "first plane trip present," it is one of those neck pillows and of course...it has a monkey on it :)  We also got him a  new blanket with a monkey on it, so hopefully those little comforts will help to keep him at ease.  I am hoping that it is possible to get him to take a little nap at some point on this trip.

Wish me luck.  Please comment if you have any tips or ideas for me!  

The New Approach

As I am grasping the idea of family management, I realize that changes are necessary.  I am currently reading "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families," which has inserted different perspective and ideas into my noggin.  The other evening while I was lying in bed reading, I came to the conclusion that I needed to be a proactive person with family management - I need to be the one to make the foundation to begin our life in better ways.  So, I got out of bed, grabbed the large white-board from the kitchen with a black dry-erase marker.  I started to write down some things that I want my family to work on:

1. Think "we" not "me."

2. Set aside one hour a week to discuss what is going on during the week.

3. Noah only eats in highchair.

4. Limit Noah to 6 ounces of juice a day (up to 3 cups with 2 ounces of juice and 4 ounces of water).

5. Limit Noah between 18-24 ounces of milk a day (goal = 18).

6. Exercise when the time allows it.

7. Listen to the person speaking and respond after they are done.

8. Act out of love - show passion.

9. Think before you act - do not act with a first reaction (example:  if something shocking comes up, wait an hour to respond).

10.  Remember to love one another and treat everyone with respect.

These are the items that wound up being on the list the first time around - so far the list has made some big improvements in our relationship as a family.  Some of them are rules and some are guidelines/goals to follow.  It has helped Steven and I communicate as parents about what is good for our son.  Along with, ut has helped us as a couple to communicate our feelings. 

We have decided that each week the white-board would change and we would both put what we think needs to be worked on, on it.  It has been great so far and I believe it will continue to be great in the future.

Cohabitation and Family

We as people may not always realize that there are changes to be made; whether we are labeled as a "good" human being or a "bad" one.  We are dependent on ourselves and others; we coexist.  Coexistence, along with, cohabitation.  In todays society we have come to the point where couples of both same-sex and opposite sex cohabitate without being married. 
In my circumstances, I am cohabitating with my fiance/father of my child -- this is considered normal in many cases and objectified in others.  To me it does not matter what others may think of it; I have created a family that started with a sexual relation.  Relationships can start with just a few months of time and turn out to be grand, people just have to accept that.  When people cohabitate, whether with a child or not, they are going to have problems, complications, and disagreements...it is NORMAL.  Choose to admit it or not, your choice, but I have decided to admit it.  We squeeze ourselves into tight spaces and closed walls with the people we love because we love them.  To clarify - example - Steven and I moved in together because we love each other and we were beginning a family together, we chose to take the hard route of living together because we love each other and want to be a family. 
Families work through things:  difficult, demanding, untroubled, and undisturbed.  Whatever the situation may hold, a family works through it. 

A Little Mishap

Noah has reached the "take your diaper off" stage...you know, the one where they feel like if they can take it off they rule the world?  Well, Noah has taken his diaper off quite a few times now, but on each occasion we have never had something go wrong.  No poop on the walls or urine in places, we have fortunately lucked out in grand amounts so far.
Well, the little incident that this post is going to describe dealt with a little bit of a bowl movement, but doesn't deal with removal of a diaper.  Interesting enough I still had to tell you that Noah is reaching that stage, but with this particular incident he had his diaper on.  We do not know how it happened but we do know it was a mess...luckily a mess that only stuck to the sheets and Noah himself.
After a long morning at the grocery store trying to stock up on things and make sure we have enough milk just in case we wind up being cooped up inside for a couple of days due to the blizzard, we came home and put Noah down for a nap to continue the one he had started five minutes before we arrived back home.  Well, when Steven and I decide to check on Noah about 45 minutes later, he is awake and his room smells awful!  We thought maybe it was the dirty diapers in the trashcan and with the door closed it caused an odor...we were wrong!
Noah had on a onesie and a long sleeve shirt on top of it (we had taken his socks and pants off when we put him down).  Now, when we went in the room Noah was awake (thus the reason we checked on him) and we were about to get him a bottle...when we realized the odor derived from the diaper on Noah.  I go to pick Noah up and realize there is a little bit of "poo" on his hands...and then a little on the sheet....and then about half an inch caked onto his foot...it was terrible!  So, it was declared "bath time."  Steven started the bath up and Noah went directly in...where we filled the tub, then emptied it to remove the feces, then filled it back up so he could then play in the tub.  Now, the question is...how did this happen when Noah had his diaper on???  No theories as of yet...maybe he decided to take a peek after he took his movement or maybe he was in a position where the diaper opened on the side...we have no idea...but the problem is all taken care of now.  New sheets, new clothes, and a much nicer smelling room!
We really lucked out this time...I hope there is no next time or if there is...we are just as lucky!

Finally, I will tell you my dream...

Okay, for those of you who have been following me all along, you may remember that I kept you going with the idea of my telling you about my dream as a child.  Well, I think it is about time that I told you about that dream!
When I was growing up sleep was my utopia, everything was perfect.  My dreams were ongoing and every night I would pick up wherever the time before had left off (other than the occasional nightmares that would occur).  So, the main dream I had as a child that continued was myself as a mother.  I had a doll, he had a soft body with hard limbs and a hard head.  I called him Mikey, he was the most dear thing to me growing up.  Well, my little Mikey doll was a real baby boy in my dreams.  I was his mother and took care of him, even though I was at a young age.  I had bunk-beds in my room growing up and in my dream they transformed to a very unique bedding system for a mother and child.  I lived on the top bunk and there was a square release whole in the middle so when my child needed tending I would slide down the middle.  The outsides were boarded off, so from the bed all you could see were wood walls surrounding you.  In a way it created very close courters, but it was what kept privacy between my family of two and the rest of the people in the house.  In my dream I had a doorbell on the outside of my bedroom door and a mailbox, so it was like an efficiency room in a way.  It was so amazing how my tiny room became a home to me and Mikey in my dream.  I was such a good mother to him too.  Anyway, every night the dreams would continue and I was a young mother tending to my son in whatever ways needed...Now...you might ask, "where does this come into play now?"
This dream comes into play now because...Noah is my Mikey doll.  A while back I was holding Noah in my arms while he was sleeping and what did I see???  My Mikey doll:  Noah looked exactly like my Mikey did growing up and it was so amazing to realize that I was holding my true dream in my arms.  I couldn't imagine a better feeling than the epiphany of holding the identical child that you dreamt of your whole life, with the only exception being...the difference in the name.
Thus, the point in this story, is that Noah is my dream child, and I dreamt of him when I was just 5 years old, and I continued to dream of him throughout my entire childhood...it is truly amazing when dreams DO come true.  I didn't think I would ever be facinated with such a concept and when I found out I was pregnant or even had Noah in fact, I did not realize this.  I realized it that one night I was holding him in my arms and he was sleeping.  It was IDENTICAL to my dream as a child and Noah is Mikey, I am so glad that I finally got to meet him and I found out that my dreams as a child did mean something.

Haircut

Noah got his hair cut back in December for the first time...well trimmed really.  We did it on the same day he had gotten his first encounter with Santa Claus.  It was quite an eventful day.  So, Noah's hair has started to grow very quickly, as the other day I noticed that it was all the way down to his eyebrows again.  As I noted my previous post about the birth mark, I like to see it...so I decided to try and give Noah a haircut from home.  MISTAKE noted:  Mothers should not give their child a haircut while home alone.  I tried to give Noah his trim while he was taking a bath, but please note that a child at the age of 13 months will not keep their head still for anything.  So, as my fiance said to me, "please never give him a haircut without me here to help you."  Thus, by this statement, you have probably realized that I surely did mess up Noah's hair.  Unfortunately Noah sort of looks like he has a bowl cut from the front because I managed to cut his front bangs all the way to the top of his forehead...and then I didn't know how to blend the other hair...so needless to say, Noah now has a horrible haircut, but...it WILL GROW BACK!  So, I apologize to those of you who do not like his current haircut, but it was the cheap route to seeing his whole face again :)  Yay! 

Freckles and Traits

Freckles...Noah has 4 that we have found!  I always wondered why babies are not born with freckles and everything of that sort...but now they are starting to come in.  Freckles are a reaction to sun exposure...funny thing is that these four have all of a sudden showed up, yet Noah has been cooped inside due to the cold winter.  Interesting as they do show up though, the reason I noticed was because I was drying him off after a bath.  He has two on the inside of his right arm in the middle (the elbow area, just on the inner side); one on the "wenus" area of his left thumb; and lastly one on the center area of his back!  Funny how I all of a sudden noticed FOUR of them out of nowhere. I have always loved freckles, both Steven and I have them and I am so excited that Noah is starting to get some.
Another trait that Noah has is these "red dots" that I have, which I inherited from my father.  They are much like freckles, except they are red.  In particular I have a very large one on the tip of my nose.  Many times people mention that I have barbecue or pen on my nose.  I always have to ask if they are talking about my "red dot"  If so...it is just there, nothing I can do about it.  Anyway, Noah has a red dot on his nose also!  Two in fact:  one is on the side in the crease and the other is on the tip like mine, but his is very small and faint.  Speaking of traits...Noah has the same birth mark that I do.  Along with my father and younger brother.  We all inherited a red splotch that covers our whole head and over time has decreased in redness.  Although, both Noah and myself have the red splotch directly on our forehead.  Mine has faded almost entirely, but when I am upset it is very well noted.  Noah's is still bright enough that people ask if he hit his head or if it is a birth mark.  Honestly, I am just so proud that he inherited my birth mark, it is so rare and I absolutely love it!