Noah is so stinkin' CUTE!

Well, I still haven't made a new LO for Max - I am really leaning towards a bright colored LO with lots of sunny energy, but haven't gotten the right groove yet... I do have a couple of new kits I have acquired recently that may fit the bill though!

In other news, Noah is rapidly approaching 2. Grrrr. That means lots of screaming fits, and let me tell you - he is LOUD!!!! He also is refusing to take much needed naps ever since he learned how to climb out of his crib. That is the beginning of the latest cute story ;o) You've heard the expression that is something to the effect of "I've forgotten more in my lifetime than you have learned in yours"? That is starting to really hit me because I know there is so much I have forgotten about the kids growing up. They have done so many cute and sweet things, and I don't remember most of them. Well, here's to hoping I remember this one!

So, I put Noah to bed the other night, and within a few minutes he was out of his crib, standing at his door crying. No, make that screaming. I have been letting him cry for a little while every time I put him to bed in the hopes that he will fall asleep. However, after 10 minutes of fussing off and on, I give up and retrieve him. This is so hard for me, as I HATE the idea of making a baby "cry it out". Anyway, I went up to get him the other night, and when I opened the door, he was so happy to see me. He looked up at me with tear-stained cheeks and a sweet little smile, and said "Mommy!" Of course, that melted my heart, but I had to be strong. {Yeah. Gotta show those babies tough love lol!} So I kinda looked at him funny, tried to be stern with him, but couldn't say anything with him looking so pitiful. I looked at him for a few seconds, he looked down, shifted his weight from foot to foot a couple of times, paused, then looked up at me, and with a sheepish smile, arms down by his sides, he turned his palms out and sweetly said "Tadah!" OMGoodness! I fell out laughing, scooped him up, gave him the biggest hug ever, and brought him back downstairs! I am so in love with that boy!

In other cute Noah news, Adron has been trying to get him to say "I love you". However, when he would ask him to say it, Noah would make kissy sounds. Sweet, right? Well, now, he still won't say "I love you", but he has started trying to sign it! Yummy cute, huh!

Ellie is rapidly approaching 4, thank goodness, and has become a much happier, less screamy little girl than I have seen for the past year or so. I love, love, LOVE 4!!! She is so smart and funny and full of herself right now! Madeline is dealing with 10, which is such an awkward, in-between age, but is just the sweetest kid ever. Audrey is certainly a teenager, and is full of all the appropriate attitude and angst, and it's hillarious. I keep thinking that some day all the kids will get along beautifully, and then I wake up lol! They really do get along great, and the amount of bickering and fighting I have to deal with is much less than I remember when I was growing up and fighting with my brothers and sisters. I feel so blessed to have the wonderful family God has deemed me worthy of, and I think Him for the gift of these precious little souls! I am totally humbled that He saw fit to allow me to have four amazing children, and I pray that I am able to be a good mother to them.

Ooooooh! I lost 2.2 lbs this week!!! WOOOHOOO!!! I haven't lost in about a month, and with as stressful as June is for me, I was just hoping to have gained no more than 1 lb. this week. Not only did I not gain, I lost a significant amount!!! This week, I am going to try to get back on track and journal my eating. Heck, I suppose I could do that here, huh? Ok, so that is my goal for this week. I'm also planning to try the Wendie plan. That should be interesting - it makes perfect sense to me, and I should see results next week if it works right. The next plan would be to switch over to the Core plan, which has worked incredibly well for my baby sister. But I'm not sure how well it would work using it to feed the family. We'll just have to wait and see what happens... I suppose I should also refigure my daily Points allowance, since being a nursing mom gives me a whole lot more points than I would otherwise have. I am still breastfeeding Noah, of course, but now that he is down to a couple times a day, I have a suspicion that my nutritional needs aren't quite as great. Then again, I did lose this week eating ay my nursing level of Points. I think I'll try the Wendie plan, and if it doesn't give the desired results, I can try dropping my Points and see how it goes. But that is a problem for a different day ;o)