4 months! and other stuff

My little Michael is 4 months. On the one hand I can't believe it's gone by so fast, on the other it feels like he has been a member of our family for so much longer :). Before I go on to other updates here are the percentiles:

17lbs 6 oz - 90-95%
26 inches - 90%
Head Circumference 75%

Yep, my big, tall boy. I'm thinking just like his daddy. Once Noelle got out of her preemie stage she also was in the 90% for length. Definitely not this early. Our little Michael is such a joy in our lives and he's changing so much.

He's such a happy boy. But when he is concerned about something his little brow furrows and it's so cute.
He rolled over for the first time a week or so ago. You can tell he just wants to move.
When the doctor saw him she said he was pretty strong. He's definitely not a flimsy baby, is what she said. She said he was pretty sturdy too :).
He's so alert and curious about everything. And he has the most bright blue eyes. We're trying to get a good sleep schedule going because he would stay up forever if we let him, he seems to hate missing out on anything.
Noelle is so sweet with him. She's always hugging him and saying things like "It will be okay baby Michael" or "Good job bud."
Michael and Noelle look so much alike. And some days he looks exactly like his daddy.
He's starting to love putting things in his mouth.
He loves it when I sing to him.
Today we tried rice cereal and he LOVED it. Besides getting just a little messy he swallowed every bit of it. He is eating a lot lately so I was pretty excited to start the cereal. I think he will love baby food.
He loves to sit up (with our help still) and whenever he is lying down he does "crunches" to try to sit up himself.
His favorite toy is a burp rag. He's so happy holding one and just brings it right to his mouth.
He doesn't take a binkie, although Noelle still tries to give him one every once in a while.
Sometimes he sucks his thumb.
He's sleeping a lot better lately.
I know I said this already but he is just happy and content with things. I'm not saying he doesn't get fussy once in a while but his whole demeanor is just happiness. He certainly makes our lives happier and I just can't picture it without him.

Other stuff:

Thanksgiving was great. My dad's side of the family got together this year at a church. There is TONS of food and afterward we just have fun and hang out. Oh and play dodge ball. I didn't play this year which I kind of regret but no big deal. I do regret not taking any pictures but oh well. Noelle didn't eat a whole lot, no surprise there. Damin (Noelle's Grandma Fullmer) was there and during meal time she didn't care about anything else except being with her. Noelle had lots of fun. This day is always so exhausting but it was great also. I also made some very yummy sweet potatoes, eggnog pumpkin pie, and pumpkin cheesecake. That night Noelle went to bed pretty early and I headed over to my parents to look at the ads for black Friday. To make a long story short I actually stayed the night at their house and my sister Taylor and I watched a couple episodes of Walking Dead. Yep I stayed up all night and totally regretted it the next morning. But I got some pretty good deals so I guess it was worth it. It was fun to go with my sisters. I came home and even though Michael (husband) had a rough night with the kids he let me sleep about four hours uninterrupted. He is my favorite. Rebecca, Michael's sister also came up from Provo and stayed with us for a few nights. It was fun to have her here and Noelle LOVED it!

Noelle is doing pretty good. Just growing up so much. She has kind of been pretty clingy and has been following me all over the apartment. I think it's sweet sometimes, but other times I really wish she would just play by herself. She got really good at playing by herself then it changed. I think it's still a little bit of "I'm not the baby anymore and I want mom's attention." I think some Christmas presents will help with some independent playing. She doesn't nap very well lately but she still needs them. Even without a nap we still have quiet time. Usually it's me making her sit on the couch to watch a movie so I can rest or get stuff done. Sometimes she falls asleep on the couch. But the no nap transition hasn't been too bad. When she doesn't take a nap I put her down earlier for bed, so that's nice. She is a sweetheart but has certainly shown some attitude in the recent months. Sometimes she doesn't hesitate to hit me right in the face if she doesn't like something or just because. I don't like this so much. It's getting better I think. She remembers everything lately so we have to really be aware of what we say around her ;). She came up to me today and (without any prompting from anyone) said "Thanks for being my mommy." This was accompanied with a big hug and kiss. It just melted my heart. She kept saying it. And I would reply by saying "You're welcome. Thanks for being my daughter." Moments like those make me forget all about the hitting in the face moments. Oh my Noelle. We love her.

Michael and I have been pretty good. Michael is pretty busy these days. The semester ends soon so that will be nice. He could really use a little break. I could use him home during the nights also. But I'm so grateful to him for sacrificing his time and relaxation to better himself and our family. We're excited for Christmas and Noelle loves the tree. Her and I will just sit in front of it and we'll talk about the different ornaments. Since three years ago we started this tradition where we get an ornament for each child every Christmas, also an ornament for the family. And this year Noelle knows which ornaments are hers and she loves it. We also played The First Noel and she realized they were saying her name and she just lit up.

I'm taking more pictures these days with my new phone then with our camera (because it's so much more convenient) so most of these are from my phone. I have some cute videos that are on my phone but haven't figured out how to post them yet.

cuddling with mommy

Go BYU!

Michael was getting his picture taken, so of course Noelle had to as well.

The cutest kids ever! Uh, yeah, they are obviously siblings. They look EXACTLY the same.

our little Christmas tree. Every year there is just less and less space for it.

Go UTES!

Enjoying his bumbo

trying rice cereal for the first time

unleashing my creativity

All of sudden I feel crafty. Maybe it's because I have a friend who wants to do crafts with me. Maybe it's because I haven't created something in a while. Who knows. But today I felt I needed to change a little element in my bathroom. Now I really don't have anything that coordinates. One day I will. But there was this 90's looking frame in my bathroom that I kind of hated. Now it had a good message but I hated it in there. I found it at the thrift store and just put it up and never liked it, ever. So I found something I wanted to use it for. Which was inspired by my crafty friend mentioned above. I love all her ideas so I hope she's not annoyed by me copying her or getting the idea from her. I turned this frame/whatever it was into something really cute I think. My camera is not the highest quality (especially in the first photo) but it shows what I did. So here's the before and after:

Before

After

This doesn't quite fit all the bows I have for Noelle but for now it's just great and really brightens up the bathroom.

Thank You Very Much!

I've added a new little list to the side of my blog. My project to-do list. Things I am doing or want to do in the future. Right now the ones I have up seem pretty doable. Some of the ideas I got from this boutique I went to today with my friend. I'm excited to do them. I enjoy doing these things more than I thought I would and it takes my mind off of the stresses of the day.

I'm currently working on something like this for my daughter for Christmas. It's coming together and I'm so excited for it to be done. Noelle will love it I think.

Princess Felt Mat

And I want to do these in the near future:

I Spy Bag
Cookie Sheet Magnet Board
Yarn and Felt Wreath

puts a smile on my face

A couple of nights ago before bedtime I asked Noelle what she wanted to watch. She said "Harry Potter!" I didn't know if I heard her correctly. I kept asking "Are you sure you want to?" With a smile on her face she would say "Yes!" We've been having a rough couple of weeks with some disobeying and defiance and sometimes I feel like I'm not on her good side. But she knows I love Harry Potter and it's almost as if she was saying in her own way "Mommy I know you love Harry Potter, so I want to watch it to make you happy." She watched a good 20 minutes. The next morning she asked to watch it again and then again tonight before bed. Hmmmm....Is this the start of a new favorite movie trend? Whatever it is, it puts a smile on my face :). At the beginning part of HP 1, when you first see his lightning scar Noelle looks at me and says "He has an owie mommy." She looked concerned for him. For the last little while we have been playing with her and we've taught her to point a "wand" and say "wingardium leviosa" and "stupify," and those are just a couple of the many spells she has learned. So today when we watched the part when they were learning the spell "wingardium leviosa" she said it out loud and quite clearly I might add. She was so proud and so was her mama!

Here is a picture of Noelle enjoying her Harry Potter

Noelle's Birthday and Halloween 2011

First I love that Noelle's birthday is around Halloween. It will make for some very fun future birthday parties and events. Second I don't think I will ever throw a three year old birthday party and invite kids to it again. Unless maybe there were only three of them. But there were eleven. Quite the event. And not super fun in a little apartment. But I think the kids had fun and I know Noelle did, so that's all that matters right? Plus they got to all dress up in their Halloween costumes. See what I mean by some very fun future parties? Anyway. We did the party the day before her birthday and then Thursday the 27th was the big day. I can't believe I have a 3 year old. It was a very fun day and she totally understood that it was her day. She got some very fun things as well. Here are some things that she is doing now:

She talks and talks and talks.
She asks a lot of questions.
She helps a lot with her baby brother and is very sweet with him.
She also whacked him in the head the other day for no reason.
She's getting quite the imagination.
She still has a sweet personality but she is showing lots of her attitude.
She pushes other kids sometimes. I'm trying to have patience with that. I HATE when she does it and she knows it. Maybe that's one of the reason's she does it so much.
She loves to hold hands with friends.
She is much more outgoing.
She still loves the outdoors.
She'll wipe away my tears if I am crying.
She still isn't potty trained.
She is very sensitive and moody sometimes. Poor daddy has to deal with two sensitive women now.
She loves Tangled.
She loves to dance and sing.
She is still taking one nap a day. But I think that is going to end soon.
And she is still one of the lights of my life, even when I get frustrated and could scream at times.

So we had a very fun Halloween. Noelle LOVED it this year. She really understood trick-or treating and had a blast doing it. We go to my parent's neighborhood. We also enjoyed my mom's delicious cheese soup in bread bowls-it's a tradition ever since I can remember. And we very much missed everyone who wasn't there (Tanner, Nina, Eric, and Alyson). Noelle was Jessie from Toy Story and Michael was a frog. Some people called him Kermit.

Enjoy some photos!

She wanted pancakes for her birthday breakfast and she devoured them.

Thanks to my friend I had a princess castle cake mold that I used for her birthday cake. With such a busy week I needed something simple but also cute. I really like how it turned out.

She has been asking for scissors for her birthday and she got them. So she gave them a hug.Princess pjs

Cute girl in her Halloween shirt

She LOVED the makeup I put on her to be Jessie. I used liquid blush, brown eye liner (for the freckles) and lip gloss.
With Aunt Taylor, the witch
our cute Jessie. Don't you love the pumpkins? Taylor has an obsession with U2 and Bono. Top: U2. Middle: Bono with sunglasses. Bottom: Bono(heart)
p.s. My mom made her awesome chaps.darling cowgirl. Some people thought she was a cowboy.

My cute little froggy. He slept the whole time in the stroller while we trick-or-treated with Noelle.

smiley Michael in his pjs
Silly Noelle in her pjs

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

I love this day. I love it even more now that I have a 3 year old to enjoy it. I kind of wish I would have done something fun for breakfast or lunch on the "Halloween" theme. But I didn't oh well. I did put my kids in Halloween shirts and pjs though. I'm so festive. But we are very excited for our trick-or-treating tonight. Should be funner than last year, since it won't be raining and ice cold. Have a Happy Halloween!

Crazy Week

This coming week is kind of a crazy one for me. I have lots to do. I'm excited for parts of it, like Noelle waking up on her birthday with the family room decorated and eating her Rapunzel cake that I am going to attempt to make. But other parts I'm kind of stressed over. I'll let you know how it goes and hopefully I will put up some new pictures soon.

weekly (almost daily) tradition

My very favorite drink is Dr. Pepper, but as I've been trying to eat healthier lately I've discovered Diet Dr. Pepper. It's taken me a little bit to like it, but now I do and it's kind of a treat for me. I didn't really want to try this drink cause at first it tasted completely different than the original. However when our friends invited us to go on a walk to a gas station around the corner I decided to get some. And now I'm hooked :). Probably not the best thing, but sometimes it's the one thing that keeps me going during the day. We've gone on more walks lately with our friends and it's been a lot of fun. The mom's get their drinks, the little girls get a sucker, and the little boys just lay happily in the stroller (not always happily). We sometimes get a red box or two as well. And we usually go more than once a week. We only have the one car right now and I just get so crazy staying inside all day. So this is something I look forward to every week. And it's fun to talk and hang out with our friends. I'm going to be very sad when it gets too cold outside to walk. I'm sure we'll find some way to get there though. Anyway, one day last week my friend wasn't able to go on our walk. But I still wanted to go. It was a very cold day but I bundled the kids up and we went anyway. I took pictures and thought that I would share. Noelle got to push her own little stroller with her dolly in it as well and she really liked that. I wish I had a picture of it.

My bundled up kids. Such good sports for helping me satisfy my addiction

I finally got one of Michael smiling. I love this picture of the two of them.

Michael holding his binky in. He likes his binky but isn't obsessed with it. It doesn't comfort him when he is really upset. Usually it only works when he is kind of tired. My kids just don't do the binky thing well I guess.

Halloween is coming

I just love Fall and Halloween. It's even getting funner as Noelle is getting older. And I love that Noelle's birthday is four days before Halloween. I hope as she get's older that she will continue to like it. I'm excited for her little party we are having. I put up some Halloween decorations today and Noelle has been running around with a bright smile saying "decorations!" It's so cute. Noelle is going to be Jessie from Toy Story for Halloween. She'll be a cute little cowgirl. I love dressing up. It's probably a good thing that my husband really has no desire to dress up. Or we might match every Halloween. We're going to dress little Michael up in something green. Green makes his red hair pop :)! I'm just excited and I always feel like a little kid around this time of year.

p.s. Today Noelle got her stitches out and was such a brave girl. She was just so happy afterward eating the popsicle that the nurse gave her. She also got a frosty afterward, which she totally attacked.

letter to food

As some of you may know, I'm really trying to eat healthy and lose weight right now. This time in my life it's been really hard. Harder than ever before. Maybe it's because I have two kids instead of none or one. Maybe it's because this time I feel like I really want to get rid of the weight for good. I don't know. But it's been hard but I'm not giving up. Today I wrote a letter to "food" because I thought it would help me to see why I'm trying to eat healthy. I shared it on our Fullmer family blog and on facebook and thought I'd put it here as well. Just to give me yet another reminder.

My Dearest Food,

I'm at a loss of what to say to you today. You've been one of my best friends for so long. You've comforted me when I've been so sad and stressed. You've helped me to not feel so alone. You've made all the fun and special occasions in my life that much more wonderful. But I think we've come to a crossroads. As much as I love you, our relationship needs to change. You can be so good for me at times. And I absolutely need you to survive. That's why it makes it so hard to say this. I need a break. A break from the parts of you that aren't good for me. A break from the sweetest parts of you, that are usually my favorite. A break from all the stuff that is so not good for my physical and mental health. I need something to change or else this body of mine is just not going to last as long as I would like it to. Although I'm not giving you up. And on those special occasions I know you will be right there. I'm just going to try to get to know the parts of you that are good for me.

I have a confession to make. I'm addicted to you. You're like a drug for me. And that's not good. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? I want our relationship to change forever. I know that I will fall sometimes and give in to your tempting ways but I cannot stay in that place or else my physical and mental health will be in jeopardy again. Please do not think I am intentionally using you. I'm just trying to get the good parts from you and not the bad. I love all your sides. I just need some of them in moderation. I have to break this bad habit that is you.

I am doing this not only for me but for my family as well. I want to be able to run around with my kids for a long time and if I continue on the path that I am now I won't be able to do that. As much as I love you, I love my family and my health more. I need you to stay healthy and to have energy. So thank you for that. Thank you for all the fun times we've had. Thank you for comforting me when nothing else would. Thank you for being my constant friend. But now it's time to say goodbye to our old relationship. I'm looking forward to our new one and know there will be some bumps along the way. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Please don't be sad. I'll miss you a lot.

Love always, your devoted friend,

Lindsey

stitches

Saturday morning we went to our church building to help clean it. We got there and there wasn't much to do because a lot of people were there and so we both got to clean the chalk boards. Well we started our third room and Noelle started running around. There is not much for her to do when we clean except follow us around. She was running back and forth in the room and suddenly I hear her crying. I knew she had fallen but I didn't think much of it. Michael picked her up thinking the same thing that she just tripped, then came the blood. And then we saw the cut between her eyes, on the bridge of her nose. She was crying really hard but wasn't hysterical like I thought she would be. It was sad to see her so upset. So we called around and they told us because she is so young and it's on her nose that we needed to go to Primary Children's Hospital. So we did. They got us in right away and were trying to be really cute with Noelle. She was a little shy but responded well to the nurses and doctors. Then they told us she needed stitches and that she needed to be made unaware of it. This meant getting some drugs either through a nasal spray or through an iv. The doctor recommended the spray so that's what we did. They said 9 out of 10 kids that get it just become "drunk" and forget the whole procedure. They stay relatively calm and just act a little loopy. 1 out of 10 become what they called "an angry drunken pirate." Where they just flip out and scream and become really really angry. Lucky for us Noelle was not that. They did have to wrap her up in sheets and pin her down but it was just because she was a little scared. Michael was touching her leg the whole time so she knew he was there. One of the nurses kept trying to talk to her and distract her. It worked a little bit. She kept saying "we're all done," and "make Noelle's nose all feel better." It was so sweet and sad at the same time. They finished relatively quickly and ended up putting 5 stitches in. A little while later they gave her a cherry popsicle and she loved that. They also gave her a little bear that she has named "Bearsy." She came out really well from the medicine and we got to go home pretty soon afterward. Although we had to make sure that for the rest of the day she didn't walk on her own and take it a little easy. She has to wear a bandaid on her nose as much as possible to keep it moist, until it heals. They don't want it to dry out. And we need to put sunscreen on her nose every day for a year so that it won't get sunburned. If it gets sunburned during the first year it could make the scar look really white and stand out. Not a big deal to a toddler but it would be a big deal when she is a little older. The whole experience was a lot less traumatic than I thought it would be. I wasn't nearly as freaked out either and Noelle has been so good about everything. I'm just glad it wasn't something much worse.

sporting her shrek bandaid

holding her bear "bearsy" that she got at the hospital

2 months

Yes, that's right. My baby Michael is already two months. I can't believe it and he's getting quite the cute little personality.

Here is what we found out at his doctors appointment on Monday:

Weight: 13lbs 15oz - 95%
Height: 22.75 inches - 50%
Head Circumference - 50%

~He's been growing SO SO much lately that my guess for his weight was between 12 and 14 lbs. Well I was right. He just eats a lot and very much enjoys it. He must be my son :). He's on a pretty regular schedule as far as eating goes, every 3-4 hours.
~His sleeping is pretty good. He sleeps a good part of the day but is also awake a good part of the day. At night he is sleeping between 6 and 8 hours stretches which I am so grateful for. Last night it was 8 and was wonderful.
~He seems to love watching Noelle and I and gets so excited to see us. Me and Noelle sometimes dance around the family room and he seems to get excited when we do this, it's so cute.
~Michael is still sleeping in our room. Mostly because I don't know how to transition him and Noelle yet into sharing the same room. With Noelle she was in our room forever. But I learned my lesson and we would like to get him sharing a room soon. I fear that Noelle may try to get in bed with him or wake up all the time. We had to get rid of our old crib so I think as soon as we get a crib we'll do the transition I just don't know when that will be.
~Little Michael is a cuddler. I love it. He just cuddles in to you when you hold him and it's so sweet.
~He is obsessed with the wall behind our couch. There are a bunch of frames and other decorations and he could stare at them forever. This is helping him to hold his head up on his own as well.
~The smiles are starting to come and they are so so sweet.
~A lot of the faces he has look just like Noelle did. I'm still amazed how much they look alike sometimes.
~He still grunts but not nearly as much as he did at the beginning.
~Michael very much enjoys the walks that we take and he LOVES being outside. He's just so happy out there. It seems like both my kids love the outdoors. I'm hoping that he will enjoy camping more than Noelle. Well Noelle loves it just not the nights.
~Noelle loves her little brother. She always is showing everyone her little brother and saying how cute he is. When she gives him a hug he turns toward her and opens his mouth for a kiss. I think it's so sweet.

Anyway. I just love my little guy and cannot imagine our lives without him.

His almost smile.

watching football with Grandpa Fullmer

Michael just laid him on a pillow one day and he fell asleep

Picture Overload

I haven't posted pictures in a while. And I kind of thought that was a little unfair to those certain people that are so far away who need to see updated pictures of our almost 8 week old and almost 3 year old. So here ya go :)... (the most recent are towards the bottom of this post)

Noelle and her second cousin Brookelynn

I just love the little faces he makes while he's sleeping.

She loves putting her sun glasses on in the car.

my sweet children

My little model posing for the camera

Just wait I have lots of these kind of pictures. I can't resist taking them. They are so cute.

my cute boy

I just love to watch him sleep.

Noelle will often lay down my Michael whenever he's on the floor. She is so sweet with him.

Just daddy sleeping this time. Aren't they both so handsome?

my michaels

Blessing day. Don't you love his hair? It seems to be getting redder and I love it.

ahhhh, how cute

Some tummy time

He's mad at me here for putting a girl big on him. I don't blame him. I'm kind of mad at myself every time the boy bibs run out and I have to put him in purple or pink.

Michael with my Grandma Fullmer

I just love this one. They look so much alike sometimes, it's crazy.

love his big blue eyes

More recent tummy time. He's getting to be quite the big guy. A friend of mine in our ward asked me if I was feeding him pure butter cause he's getting so big :).

sweet boy in the girl bouncer. One day he'll forgive me

And last but not least, another sleeping picture of the two men in my life.

Family Update

Little Michael is doing great. The last couple of nights he's only woken up once. It's like he is already starting to put himself on a good schedule. He eats every three to four hours. Always between 4oz and 6oz. He sure likes to let me know when he's hungry. He kind of scream/grunts is what I call it. He's still a little noisy. He's starting to give little smiles and it just melts my heart. He follows me around with his eyes wherever I go. He usually follows Noelle too. He tends to plan his nap around when daddy will be home. Because Michael has work and three out of five nights has school there isn't as much time to see him. And he's usually awake or ready to eat when daddy comes home. He always has his head to the right or left. He rarely lays his head in the straight, forward position. Hopefully this will not lead to us having another helmet situation. He gets so excited when we talk to him or kind of tickle him. He'll wave his arms and make grunting noises and it's so cute. He's been on a few walks with Noelle and I and has done great. We're so happy to have this addition in our family and we feel more complete.

Noelle is doing really well. She is playing with more friends and being more social which I'm happy about. She still loves nursery. She's still not potty trained. So I kind of hate changing so many diapers. She's so ready for it but up until today actually hasn't shown any interest. I think today she showed some interest because we had one of her friends over yesterday and she went potty in the toilet. So we'll see. I'm trying not to be discouraged about it, cause she is almost three. I just am out of ideas on how to motivate her without pushing too hard. Noelle is great with Michael. She is so sweet and always is concerned for him. She's sure got some attitude at times which results in her seeing the time-out corner more often. She's also a little emotional, probably gets that from me. She loves Toy Story and is going to be Jessie the cowgirl for Halloween. She loves dogs and I can't wait until one day when we can get one for her.

"Big" Michael is doing good. He's very busy working a full-time job and being a full-time student. This has been a big adjustment for all of us but it's been good as well. Even though he is completely exhausted he comes home happy and is so excited to play with his kids. He's a ward missionary and takes turns teaching the Gospel Principles class.

I am doing pretty good. My emotional rollercoaster is starting to come back to normal and that feels great. I've started working out and eating better although this week has been a hard and stressful one, but that's okay. I'll do better next week. I'm feeling pretty positive and good these days even when those stressful times come. I was released as Primary 1st counselor and am now compassionate service leader. So that's keeping me pretty busy.

Things are going great in the Pfeil home and we feel really blessed. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!