Snapshots of Last Week

Playing with my aquarium friends, who I've now started gibber-gabbering with.


My very first golf club! Thanks Gigi!


Playing on my belly after my bath. I love bath time!


Meeting cousins Crystal and Rachel


Just hanging out with Mommy

Noah's First Easter and Reaching Another Milestone

Noah had a great first Easter. Because he's now more than 6 weeks old and cold/flu season is behind us (the doctor advised us to keep him at home for at least 6 weeks), we were able to take Noah to church for the first time. He did great during the service and slept about 99% of the time. He woke up after all of the songs, so I think he really enjoyed the music. After church we went home, took some pictures, made sausage & biscuits, did Noah's first Easter basket, then relaxed on the couch for some college basketball. It was a great day. And Noah set a new personal record for number of outfits worn in a day at 4...as he was on top of his "pee and/or spit-up on Mommy/Daddy/myself" game.

Noah is really starting to show his personality more and more and is smiling a lot. He's starting to really watch us closely and will always turn his head when we're walking around the room or talking to him. His new favorite lullabye is (and I'm not kidding), a slowed down version of the UT Alma Mater. It's like magic and puts him to sleep or calms him almost instantly when I'm holding him.

In another piece of breaking news... Noah rolled over by himself for the first time on Saturday night (Mar. 22). He was lying next to me in our bed sucking on his paci and it kept falling out and he was getting frustrated. He uses a paci very rarely, so when it falls out, I usually put it right back in to appease him. But after a few times, I wanted to see what he'd do if I didn't retrieve it right away when it fell out. He kept moving his mouth toward the paci trying to reach it and was wiggling his arms and legs frantically. After a few seconds, he made it to his left side and then, plop..rolled over on his belly. Tyra and I were both watching him and it was awesome. We tried the same paci trick two more times and sure enough, he rolled over both times. Of course, we gave him a standing ovation.

Noah also had fun watching the Tennessee/Butler game with Uncle Andrew and me yesterday afternoon as the VOLS scored a 76-71 overtime victory and advance to the Sweet 16!

Watching March Madness...what we did all weekend!


Mommy and Noah before church...it was in the 30s on Easter morning, so Noah's Easter outfit had to be "winter-ized"


Sleep Boy during church







Noah's First Easter Basket




Ready for a nap after a busy day.....


2 Minutes Later

Meeting More Family and New Pictures

Noah got to meet great-grandmother Momette, Aunt Amy, and cousins Leah and Benjamin this week. Leah made him and Gabi homemade blankets, which we love. We're glad they got to stop by on their way to Gatlinburg for spring break. Here are a few more pictures from this week. As you can tell, he's becoming a camera-HAM!

Noah Loves March Madness

See how happy he is that March Madness is here? Go VOLS!

No Pinches For Noah Today!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Noah's First Month - in video, picture, and song

I made this video using I-Movie. It was a lot of fun to make. Hope you enjoy...

Weekend Fun

Noah had an eventful weekend. We finally got around to testing out the breastpump on Saturday, so Noah enjoyed his first ever bottle feeding. It was fun for me to get to feed him, but we made a bit of a mess.

Then, later in the day, Noah took his first bath in his baby tub. We'd been just giving him good sponge baths, but he liked this way better.

We also set up his aquarium play mat, which he loved! It's got a blinky light thing that plays music that captivated his attention for about an hour straight. Here's a picture and brief video. This bought us some relaxing dinner time, which was nice!



Noah also got to watch (on TV with Mommy, while Dad went to the game) the VOLS cut down the nets after winning the 2008 SEC regular season championship. This is the first time since 1967 that we've won the SEC outright (we've tied for it a few times since then), so it was exciting. It was also Senior Day - the last home game for departing seniors Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith, and Jordan Howell. Before I left for the game, Noah and I had a pregame pep rally and we sang all of the UT fight songs, so needless to say, Noah had his game face on!

4 Weeks Old Today

Today is Noah's 4-week birthday, and it seems like it's flown by. Over the past week or so, he's changed so much and is so alert now. We're so blessed and have loved watching him grow (a lot!) during this past month. His personality is starting to appear, and almost all of the time, he's a happy, very observant, and talkative (i.e. grunting) little boy. Some other things we've learned about him:

- he loves to nap on his tummy while Mom or Dad holds him
-he loves being held where he can look at your face..not a big fan of being cradled unless he's eating
-he loves to eat!
- he loves his bear mobile on his pack n' play...but he's as equally frustrated as Dad that the mobile doesn't move on its own
-he has a cowlick on the back of his head
-when he wears Orange on UT gamedays...we win!
-his eyes are still a dark grayish-blue and have yet to start changing much
-he's a big fan of the TV
-he loves to have his hair washed

Anyway, these are just a few tidbits.

Tyra and I took Noah in to the doctor for his 4-week checkup today and he's still growing very well and healthy as can be. He weighs 12 lbs, 3 oz and is about 22 1/4 inches long. He's gained almost 2 lbs since his last appointment two weeks ago. He does so great at the doctor visits, and has never been fussy or cried at all when being checked. At his next appointment in one month, he'll get his 2 month old shots.

Getting ready for the TN basketball game

Having fun on the changing table

All ready to go for his One-Month CheckupWhat 'chu lookin at?!

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Fun with Grandmas

Noah has enjoyed being spoiled by his grandmas for the past several days. JenMommy (Eric's mom) came and stayed a week and Gigi (Tyra's mom) flew in to Knoxville from Florida last night and will stay until next Wednesday. It's been so nice to have them at our house to help with the middle of the night diaper changings, cooking meals, cleaning, you name it! Tyra says it's like having a "personal assistant." It's been really great to know that Tyra's had help around the house with Noah since I started back at work, and I'm sure Noah doesn't mind the frequent rocking and singing from his JenMommy and Gigi!

A Great Weekend

The basketball VOLS beat Memphis on Saturday to become the #1 team in the nation. Noah slept through the entire game, which was a big accomplsihment with all the yelling I was doing. Here are a few pictures we took this weekend:

Playing with Gabi

Getting Sleepy!

Dreaming of Football

A Picture or Two

Two-Week Doctor Visit

Noah went in for his two-week old pediatrician visit this morning. They say by two weeks, babies should be back to their birth weight. Noah weighed 9 lbs, 9 oz at birth and 9 lbs, 1 oz when we left the hospital, so we were curious as to what the scales would read today. He's been eating great and pooping and peeing a lot, so we had a pretty good idea that he was getting enough milk. Turns out, we were right, as he weighed in at 10 lbs, 6 oz today. Everything checked out great, which is a great praise and answer to prayers. I'm back at work now, so Tyra and JenMommy (my mom) accompanied Noah on the visit to Dr. Shults' office. After the visit, Noah celebrated his accomplishments with a delicious meal of breastmilk. Yay Noah!

Noah and his Hiccups

Hope you enjoy this video of Noah trying to get rid of his hiccups. (Video shot on 2/17/08)

Sweeter than Candy!

Our little Valentine...

One week old

Today (Valentine's Day) is Noah's 1 week old birthday. He's had a great week and Tyra, Gabi, and I have loved bonding with him this week. It's been such a blessing being able to be at home all week, and I don't go back to work until Feb. 20. We learn more about him each day and he's sleeping and eating (and peeing and pooping) very good! We've had some ymmuy meals brought to us by friends and neighbors, and tonight we're going to get take-out from Macaroni Grill (thanks for the gift cards Mom!) for our Valentine's Day dinner at home.
Noah is becoming more alert each day and it is so neat when he looks at us (sometimes with a gassy grin on his face). He loves for us to sing to him and I think I've written about 57 new songs with made up words about him. It seems to calm him down when he gets fussy. Here are some pictures from this week:

Noah watching the Vols beat Arkansas (Feb. 13)

Noah with Connor, Shawn, Melissa, and Houston McKay

Noah napping with Uncle Charles

Napping with Aunt Amy

Cousin Malachi and Gabi

Hospital Picture

You can see Noah's official hospital picture by going to this site.

Noah's First Day at Home

We came home on Saturday (Feb. 9), and so far it's been great. There's no way to prepare for how much attention that a newborn requires, but I think we're doing pretty good so far. We're getting decent amounts of sleep, but not much, which is to be expected. Noah is eating great and I've (Eric) already changed 3 dirty (poop, not pee!) diapers all by myself...which are the 1st 3 that I've ever changed in my life. Gabi (our dog) was so funny when we brought Noah home. She sniffed him and was so curious about every sound he made. She really enjoys lying with Tyra as she nurses Noah. I think she thinks she's being a good helper!
Also, thanks to EVERYONE who has called, emailed, and posted comments on the blog. I promise we will respond personally soon! We are so blessed to have the best friends and family. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
Anyway, enjoy the pictures:

Ready to go home:


In my carseat!


Meeting my big sister Gabi:


My first nap in my bouncer seat! I loved it!