Noah update

Noah's progress in the last few months really has been so phenomenal that I can't NOT post about it. The kid is now speaking in small sentences ("Need help", "More ice", "Go in the water", etc). A year ago, he had an extremely limited vocabulary. It's been amazing to watch him grow.

(Swimming at a neighbor's house, and he's now tall enough to touch the bottom!)

His interests are also broadening as well, and he's able to tell us about them. He's taken an interest in sports. He's not really competitive, but he really loves baseball and bowling right now. He prefers to pitch to us rather than hit, which is fascinating to me. Normally kids like to be the one batting all the time.

He's also recently become obsessed with bowling. I have Calliou to thank for that actually. He fell in love with an episode where Grandpa takes Calliou bowling. And while I can't stand the whiney kid, I'm kind of excited it spurred an interest in Noah. He actually asked to go bowling and has asked to go back almost every day since. I'm so so glad the bowling alleys in our area do free kids bowling in the summer. Perfect timing!

I had no idea bowling alleys did this now (or maybe they always did?), but they have ramps for kids, mostly for the really little ones or those with special needs. Noah still has low muscle tone in his arms, so after he starts to get tired, he'll use the ramp. Still uses those muscles, but the ball doesn't stop midway down the lane. haha.

And of course, we've been doing lots of swimming and water fun. There's an aquatic center nearby that has a cool outdoor playground pool. Noah loves it there! My sister came with us last time to help me out. We decided she'd be a lot faster getting to him if something were to happen. lol.

People keep asking me how Noah's been handling the pregnancy or if he seems to understand there is a baby coming. We've talked about the baby a few times, especially now that the crib is set up. I'm not sure how much of it he gets, but I've learned not to underestimate his comprehension of things. Brad and I realize that he can take in information in one quick glance and remember it forever, whereas most people need to think about it first. This is one reason we're very cautious about what people say in front of Noah about autism and his development. We actually have made the decision recently not to allow him to be around a particular person anymore. Every time she's around him, she picks him apart... his diet, his mannerisms, etc. The fact that I haven't strangled her yet, given my insanely hormonal pregnant state, is nothing short of a miracle. So yeah, no more of that. 

I do think Noah is at least picking up that something is changing. He's become incredibly clingy to me, bursting into tears when I have to leave for a Dr appt or just to get my hair done. I had to go to the OB last week, and Brad had an interview to go to. My sister came over to stay with him while I was gone, and she said he watched me back out of the driveway then bawled his little eyes out. Ugh. Mom guilt, anyone??

I totally get this is a phase and most likely being triggered by all the changes going on. But it still stings.

The good thing is that the tears don't last long, and he's happy once I come back. It'll be interesting to see how he handles my attention being divided after the baby is here. I'm also a little worried about being in the hospital for a couple of days. I know he'll be fine, but I can't help worrying about him just a little.

The good thing is that we live so close to family, and it's going to be a team effort taking care of him. My mom, stepdad, and little sister will be staying with him. But my dad and stepmom will be helping out too. And hopefully this go-around will be much smoother than it was with Noah. With Noah, I was in the hospital for four days. This time, I'm hoping I get to leave as soon as possible. :)

Baby update

Oh geez. I swear I'm still around. And it really has nothing to do with me not wanting to blog anymore. I seriously have had no time to do it! We've been busy redecorating/rearranging rooms, painting, cleaning, working, and just normal life stuff... so much so that by the end of the day, all I want to do it go to bed or watch The Bachelorette with a bowl of ice cream.

But here I am. Finally attempting to blog about this poor baby. He's totally a second kid. I'm doing my best to get his nursery put together in time, but dang if life doesn't keep getting in the way. I mean, my family barely had the time to throw me a baby shower. haha! I told them I didn't expect one, but luckily, we all believe that each kid should be celebrated, even if they happen to be the same gender as their sibling. My mom threw one for me last weekend, and I managed to grab a couple shots of the decorations and one of me with her.
It really was so pretty. And even though it was small, it was so nice to sit with friends while awww-ing over teeny tiny bath robes and itty bitty mittens.

(My mom's dining room actually looks like this ALL the time. Not with baby shower decor, obviously. But the woman has an obsession with antique china, so it's always set up as if the Queen of England was going to stop by any day now.)

(These were amazing. She ordered them from a local bakery that was on Cupcake Wars.)

I'm also having a baby shower on Sunday that my stepmom is throwing, mostly with aunts and cousins. So hopefully I'll get to blog about that before Little Man actually hits his 1st birthday. ;)

As far as the actual pregnancy, it's still going really well. I'm officially 37 weeks (as of Tuesday). 

Swelling has definitely started, but nothing to worry about. I saw my OB yesterday morning, and she's not concerned. My BP was perfect, and when I showed her my legs, she gave me a big grin and said, "Aww, you have cankles! Welcome to the last weeks of your pregnancy!!" Honestly, I love this woman. She has a kid, and she gets it. She also knows telling me to "stay off my feet" just isn't doable with a 4 yr old at home. So unless I give her a reason to worry, we're not worrying. Same with weight. I still haven't gained nearly as much as I did with Noah (I think I've hit the 35 lb mark? I gained over 60 with Noah, mostly from swelling). I've had more energy and just felt better all around. So yay for that.

I've had some back throbbing type pain which I was concerned was early labor signs, but nope. Just good times carrying around the weight of a baby.

The only thing I'm a little nervous about is going into labor on my own. That probably sounds weird, but I was induced with Noah. I kind of know what to expect, just not when to expect it. So that's probably what I'm more scared about. Just the logistics of all that. I don't know how slow/quick I'll be naturally, if I'll go early or late, when to play it safe and head to the hospital or wait it out... stuff like that. On the other hand, I do NOT want to be induced again if I can avoid it. That pitocin was no joke, and I hear regular labor is much easier on momma than pitocin. Especially pitocin with an epidural that won't work. Um, no thank you. I'll take the uncertainties over that any day.

So yeah. That's really all there is to report, pregnancy-wise. Little guy is keeping things relatively uneventful right now, and I'm so appreciating it!

Pregnancy details

It's definitely true that the second pregnancy seems to go by faster than the first. Noah keeps me pretty preoccupied, not to mention all the fall photography sessions I had, then there was Christmas... frankly, if it weren't for the nausea and the waist in my jeans getting tighter, there's a chance I'd forgot to do things like take my prenatals and drink more water. I also didn't see my OB until I was 10 weeks. She's incredibly popular here, so her schedule combined with mine and Brad's crazy schedule kind of put us behind a bit. I was super nervous by the time I finally got around to that appointment. I seriously prayed every day for this baby's health (and mine), and every time I got worried, God would give me a little reassurance with some kind of obvious pregnancy symptom. I've never been so relieved to feel so terrible. lol

The first trimester was different this time than with Noah in that I felt sick more. With Noah, I was mostly just exhausted all of the time. I was also starving. I would arrive to most of my photography sessions feeling awful, eat a granola bar, and then put on a brave face. Once I got distracted, it wasn't so bad.

As for finding out, we had actually kind of "thrown caution to the wind" since the summer. I was actually beginning to wonder if something might be wrong, considering how fast we got pregnant with Noah, then last year with the miscarriage. But I love God's sense of humor.

I met with a couple of girlfriends one night for dinner back in October. No real reason, just as an excuse to get out and have some girl time. I remember feeling a little sick on the way there, but I didn't equate it to morning sickness. Sometimes I get queasy as a PMS symptom (weird, right?), so I just assumed it was that. I was fine the rest of the night, especially after we starting catching up. Anyway, one of the girls is in the process of adoption. They have three healthy babies naturally already, but adoption has been on their hearts for a long time. The other has four kids, all under the age of 5 (and she's seriously the sweetest, most patient mom I've ever met... the woman should be wearing a cape). So we were obviously talking about families and kids and all that. Well, I'm sure God was totally grinning as I told them how I'd been concerned about not getting pregnant yet. Because little did I know, I was already. Ah, irony.

A couple weeks later, I had an engagement session. Brad came along with me to help, and I told him how I'd felt sick the whole time driving there. We decided to pick up a pregnancy test on the way home. Once we got back, I went ahead and took it. And 5 minutes later, all that morning sickness was confirmed. Our buddy Chase had stayed with Noah while we were gone, so he was there when we found out as well, so that was kind of fun. And he did a great job keeping it a secret. :)

The next people we told were Noah's therapists, mostly because I'm a terrible liar and knew they'd know something was up. I used the "I don't feel well" only once on his OT, and she immediately thought I might be pregnant. Women are too perceptive. haha.

We finally told my dad and stepmom privately on Thanksgiving. I originally wanted to wait until Christmas like I did with my mom, but again... I'm a terrible liar. I felt terrible and knew they would notice I didn't eat much. Who doesn't want to eat on Thanksgiving?? I was able to avoid my mom easily, which sounds terrible. But she was super busy working (she's a freelance sign language interpreter) and doing typical holiday stuff.

My belly starting showing a lot earlier this time around, which I'd heard is normal. So here's me at 13 weeks:

As of today, I'm officially 16 weeks. I've been feeling better, still nauseous sometimes, but it's mostly subsided. I've also gotten lightheaded a few times... one time almost blacking out. I kind of move quick anyway, so I'm trying to slow down. The good news is my blood pressure is obviously normal/low (I was pre-eclamptic with Noah, so yay for that).

I'm doing my best this time around to be as healthy as possible. I've been eating salads every day for the last couple of weeks (once I felt like eating something besides bread again). And more red meat than normal. I actually don't eat much red meat at all... like twice a month maybe. But in an effort to increase my iron (I'm always low), I decided to increase my red meat and dark leafy green intake. Iron supplements tear up my stomach (even the "gentle" kind), so I'd rather stick to the regular sources if possible. My goal is to exercise 3x a week. I'm sticking to walking or yoga to play it safe. But like I said, I move quick naturally, so my fast walk? Most people have to jog to keep up with me. Drives Brad crazy when we're out places like the mall. lol

People keep rooting for me to have a girl this time (of course), but I keep telling them I'm happy with whatever. And it's not a lie. I really am so happy to just have a happy baby. Yes, a girl would be fun, but boys are fun too. So we'll see in a couple of weeks!!

Christmasy type things

I know, I know. This break has gotten a little ridiculous.
And I have good reasons, but I'll get to those later. Right now, I desperately need to do a Christmas recap! What better time to do that than on the weekend when nobody's reading blogs. ;)

So, Thanksgiving. Yeah, it's been that long...

We kept things simple this year and only went to my grandparents for lunch. Noah has been doing such a fantastic job at big gatherings. If it gets to be too much for him, he goes upstairs to the little game room to play where it's quiet.

Also, you'll notice in some of these pictures, Brad shaved. It was a temporary thing. A friend of ours posted some old pictures of him from high school, and I was all, "Aww, I miss his face!" So when he came home one day from work, I told him I missed his face. He went straight to the bathroom and shaved. That was our deal in the beginning. He would only keep it until I was tired of it (his rule, not mine). Anyway, the beard is back now, but it was nice to change it up for a week or so. I hadn't seen his face since the beginning of summer.

Brad's work schedule... as you can imagine in retail... has been pretty crazy. Lots of 7 day, 14 hr shift stretches. But we keep reminding ourselves of all the time off he gets during the rest of year. We still manage to make Christmas memories, and Noah is so laid back that he's happy to go along with whatever. Another plus side to Noah... no whining and begging to do certain activities. He's happy wherever we are.

Noah also isn't very crafty. He likes to paint, but that's about it. So I spent a couple hours baking and decorating sugar cookies... for him to spend a total of 10 minutes on them. Oh well. His favorite part was eating the cookie dough and sprinkles. lol

Our little town had their Christmas parade a couple weeks ago. It's so cute to see who and what makes it into the line-up. Random tv newscasters, a group of kids from the elementary school, high school bands (that aren't even from our county, lol), the beauty pageant winners, and of course the Shriners in their mini cars. Noah's favorites were the police and firetrucks, the Shriner cars, and the bands. He spent a lot of the parade with his ears covered, but I expected that. It's a lot to take in for a sensory kid, and he did so well. And when it got to be too much... instead of melting down... he grabbed our hands and let us know he was ready to leave.

We also went to the Billy Graham Library, which has turned into a new tradition for us. Last year, we didn't do the horse and carriage ride because it was so busy. So this year, we picked a week night that Brad was going to be home, and it couldn't have turned out more perfectly. They have shuttle buses to pick guests up at one of the parking lots and take them to the library. Noah LOVED it. I knew he would, since he loved the one at Biltmore so much. He also loved the horse and carriage ride. He kept watching the other carriages go by and saying, "Horse!" It was so cute. The lights were beautiful, and they give everyone big blankets to use for cold nights (which it was!). The only thing missing was some hot chocolate, but I didn't want to risk spilling any on Noah. :)

My dad's birthday is the week before Christmas, so we always do something for him. This year we just went over there for dinner... and some music. ;) We have a very musical family. My dad plays the drums and guitar, my brother plays the drums, my stepsister plays the piano, my mom sings and plays the piano... so we have lots of instruments for Noah to explore. He's taken a really huge interest in music lately, which came in handy for Christmas ideas.

CHRISTMAS EVE...
Christmas Eve is always spent with my side of the family. It just keeps Christmas Day from getting too hectic. It's so nice having my whole family in one place, but it makes it tough to run from house to house. This just lengthens the celebration a bit and prevents Noah (and us) from getting overwhelmed.

First up is my dad and stepmom. They were awesome and got him therapy type toys... a mini trampoline, a bean bag, puzzles, etc. He's LOVED them all. That trampoline has definitely helped us out on these freezing cold days!

 
After my dad's, we head on over to my mom's house... which is like five minutes down the road. My grandma (aka "Mamaw") spends the night with them on Christmas Eve, and my brother's girlfriend (who we love) was there too. At first, it was all a little too much for Noah. Lots of food prepping, noise/talking, my stepdad making a fire... and the iPad wasn't picking up their Wifi. So we had a good 30 minutes of on and off meltdowns. We put him in their home office, figured out the internet situation, and he eventually was able to chill out. Those moments don't happen all that often, thank goodness. I'm just thankful my family, including my 83 yr old grandmother, understands.

It turned out to be a really fun night. Lots of laughing, good food, and a surprise for my mom.

 (Me, my brother, mom, and little sister)

 Why is my mom so surprised? Because this is what she opened...

Yep! We're adding another little Kemper to the family this summer! I had already told my dad at Thanksgiving, only because I knew he'd notice something was off about me. I didn't touch any of the food, and you do NOT pass on my family's Thanksgiving food. haha

But more on the pregnancy later. ;)

CHRISTMAS DAY...

Our morning was pretty low key. We got Noah up at a reasonable time (he likes to sleep like a college kid), and I even had time to make us breakfast.

For lunch, we headed to my grandparents' (on my dad's side). I didn't get too many pictures of Noah opening gifts there, because frankly, it got too hectic. It's too hard helping him in the chaos and also take pictures. Eh, it is what it is.
He had a blast though. This was the first year that Noah really got into opening presents with everyone without running off. So that part was nice. We also celebrated my dad and uncle Bob's birthdays.

Oh, and I finally got out of 2003 and now have an iPhone!
Seriously, you have no idea how badly I've been wanting one, mostly so I can document on instagram more. It's also extremely hard to take selfies with Noah (since I'm never in pictures) with a big ol' rock of a camera.

Brad also got me a kitten. He really was the cutest thing I think I've ever seen. Unfortunately, he was also the most badly behaved one. He was a rescue kitten who never had a mom/litter to teach him how to play appropriately. He wasn't mean... but he was constantly biting us. It was awful.

So after talking to the vet, she offered to exchange him for two extremely awesome lap cats. They are the most perfect, loving, well-behaved cats. Meet Bruce (the black one) and Louie. :)

I know a lot of people hate cats, and I get it. They're not for everybody. But I love them. I love the sarcastic looks they give, the goofy personalities, and the "I don't need you 24/7 to be happy" part. haha.

And THAT was our Christmas. *breathes*
Now I feel like I can move on...

Have a happy weekend!!

***

ps. I haven't read blogs much either, so if I haven't been commenting, that's why. I don't know what was wrong with me. Just needed a break I guess.

Halloween

Most of you know how I grew up not trick-or-treating or celebrating Halloween in any way. However, as the years have gone by, I'm fine with letting Noah go. My only rule is that he can't be anything scary or evil... but we haven't had to worry about that. Brad, who grew up celebrating all things Halloween, even refuses to let Noah go to the scary looking houses and avoids the scary aisle at Target with him. It's really cute actually. And of course, Noah doesn't quite "get" the concept of Halloween. So it's a non-issue.

So anyway.
The night before Halloween, we carved pumpkins. Noah, being a total sensory seeker, actually doesn't like the feeling of pumpkin guts. So I let him paint his instead.

Afterwards, he decided to do some pumpkin bowling. He set up his paints on the floor, and tried to knock them over with his pumpkin. Obviously, that proved to be a tad difficult, so I got him some TP to knock down. He plays pumpkin bowling every day since. I'm worried he's going to be really disappointed when his pumpkin starts rotting.

That night, after Noah went to bed, Chase insisted we watch a scary movie. I hate scary movies, so we compromised. We watched the 1931 version of Dracula, which turned out to be more funny than scary. Seriously, if you want a good laugh, go watch it. It was great.

For Halloween, Noah was Bob the Builder... he makes a good one, don't you think?

The other neighborhood kids loved it and would walk around singing the theme song when they saw him.
Noah did okay trick-or-treating. He's not a big candy eater, and he couldn't figure out why we were ringing doorbells and NOT going inside. Made NO sense to him. lol.

But he was awfully cute...

 Happy Wednesday! ;)

31

I recently celebrated my 31st birthday. Which is weird, because I swear I'm only 25. Ha.

I had these big plans to meet up with friends at a local (huge) corn maze... at night with flashlights. I just knew it would be so much fun and was looking forward to it for weeks. Only for Noah to get strep throat the day before.

womp womp.

So yeah, we of course cancelled it and spent the weekend trying to figure out how to get Noah to actually swallow his antibiotics instead of squirming, crying, and spitting it out (we eventually opted for a shot instead).

But it's okay. I think I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that birthdays don't like me. Last year, if you remember, was probably the worst birthday ever. Nobody was around to go out with me, and I had a miscarriage at 10 weeks. We tried to make the most of it and go to the beach, but Noah refused to sleep the whole weekend. That and he pooped all over Brad in the ocean. Super fun.

However, I ended up spending my birthday with those most important to me. On my actual birthday, Brad cooked me an amazing dinner. Chase also came over and brought cupcakes from a local bakery. While we were hanging out upstairs later on, he went downstairs and came back with a cupcake, candle, and sang happy birthday to me. I swear sometimes guys really do make the best friends.

The next day, we went to my grandparents for dinner with my family. Chase came too and got a few family pictures of us. I'm trying to be better about asking people take pictures with me in them. Sure, there are bound to be blurry ones, but I don't even care. I've been documented in moments with my family, and that makes me really happy.

So no, my 31st birthday wasn't quite what I'd pictured, but it was still perfect.

Fall Kick-off

I swear, I was trying so hard not to let the hot weather here spoil my fall fun and make me think it was never going to get here. I mean, 90+ degree heat in October is just wrong.

But thanks to a tropical storm, last Monday brought cooler temps and happy vibes.

So on to what we've been up to...

(which I kind of feel is starting to become a little redundant to blog about since I post pics on FB... but whatever).

A little over a week ago, we took a little day trip up to the mountains. Which is weird because technically, we had to go down to SC, then back up to NC. Apparently that was the quickest route.

Anyway... Brad, Chase, Noah, and I decided to go apple picking. There's an amazing farm in the mountains that, according to every (local) friend I have on FB, is the place to be. The only down side was that it was hot. But other than that, I think it was the coolest apple orchard I've ever seen. Watching Noah and taking decent pictures is proving to be a very difficult feat lately, but I did the best I could. This kiddo is b-u-s-y.

The place had three rules:
1. No eating apples in the orchard.
2. No throwing apples.
3. No riding on the wagons.

The only rule we didn't break was the third one, and that's because we didn't grab a wagon.
But at least the one doing most of the rule-breaking is really cute... and can't read.

The guys tried to give me a hard time for dragging them almost two hours away to trek through the mountains picking apples that we could've just as easily bought at the grocery store.
And they have a point.
But dangit, I was going to have my perfect Fall apple-picking memory even if it was unseasonably hot and out of the way. And so what if someone spotted a bear hanging out near the Jonagold trees. Or that Noah had a fit on the mountain because I wouldn't let him run into the woods.

The guys may have had a fun time picking on me, but I think they were surprised at how fun it actually ended up being. Especially when all the really good apples were up high, and they had to figure out how to get them down.

We went home with an insane amount of apples, some apple-cinnamon butter (which btw, you paleo peeps should make... no added sugar, and it's amazing), apple jelly, and apple cider doughnuts. I'd never actually had apple cider doughnuts before, and I'm glad they only seem to exist in remote areas, because I could've devoured that whole box. Thankfully I had three boys to fight over them with, so I only had two. :)

The whole day was awesome. Definitely worth it. And the apples were way better than store bought. Even the guys had to admit it.

Our church recently had a big "Family Fun Day". We didn't get to go last year, because it was all rainy and Brad had to work. So I was really excited about this year. They have an enormous field for soccer, relay games, etc. Noah's obviously a little too small for all that, but they had some big blow up slides and bouncy houses for the little guys.
Any time we go anywhere crowded, I usually put Noah's autism shirt on him. It's amazing how people are immediately so sweet and patient with him once they see it. The girl at the top of the slide helped coach him up the stairs, and in order to get him to go down the slide, she counted down 3-2-1-GO. Worked every time.

He's getting so so good at waiting in line (which he really doesn't like), taking turns, and learning to be patient. He still gets annoyed when he has to do it, but he does it regardless. I'm so proud of how far he's come even in just the last couple of months. And no, I didn't hold him in line the whole time. lol. Just long enough to help him wait and go over the whole "First her turn, then Noah's turn" routine.

I usually come prepared with snacks for Noah at events like this, since I know he won't eat meals like BBQ or mac n cheese. However, when the three of us adults went through the line separately, we all grabbed Noah a bag of his favorite chips, not realizing the others did too. Yeah, he's not spoiled at all.

 

I love seeing how Noah handles himself now when there's too much sensory input for him to deal with. Instead of having a meltdown, he calmly finds a spot to chill for a little bit. Some days he's all about being in the middle of the action and plays with the other kids, and other days he needs to just hang out on the sidelines.

As long as he's having fun, that's all I care about. :)

Happy Monday!