Our Puppies

We have debated this for months and we have finally come to a decision. This weekend, we will be surrendering our dogs to the Humane Society of Columbus so that they may bring joy (and a bit of craziness) to someone else's life for a while. With us having moved so far away and needing to travel a bit more to catch up with friends and family, it is just not fair for the dogs to have to stay home by themselves for so long. We are very sad that we have to do this but know that in the long run it is going to be the best decision for them and for us. While it breaks my heart to give them up, I am very much looking forward to having a clean house (well, just not dog hair infested), company over (which always stressed me out with our crazy dogs), and a freedom to just pack up and leave when we want to. It will be good. There will be tears and heartache for a while. We have had both Lady and Roscoe for more than 2 years. I will miss Lady's sweetness and loyalty and ability to drag me on a 3 mile run. I will miss Roscoe's sweet face and lazy, snuggly personality. I will miss having them next to me in bed keeping me warm. Whoever adopts these dogs will be blessed with much laughter in their lives. It's hard but it's what has to be done.

In other news, nap bootcamp failed the first time. We had to employ a new strategy. For some reason, napping on Mom and Dad's bed is not as traumatic for Noah. So, this is where he is napping now. It's a win, win situation because Noah is getting a good nap and mommy is getting some time to do what she needs to get done. Don't get me wrong, he's eventually going to be napping in his crib, but for now, he is not napping in his swing or in his mother's arms so I consider that a victory. Night time is hit or miss. Some nights he sleeps for 8-10 hours straight and some nights he's up every 3-4 hours. I will say he is getting better though.

Last night, the Rogers had dinner with some new friends from our new church. We were very excited to get out of the house and have other people to talk to besides each other. Hooray for new friends!!!

Alright, that's all I have for now. Say a prayer for us as we give our dogs up this weekend. It's going to be hard.

6 Months Old

Last week, Noah turned 6 months old. To commemorate the occasion, Mom and Dad decided it was time to institute new sleeping rules. From now on, bedtime is at 7:00 pm and there is to be at least 2 naps a day in the crib. Well, bedtime is going well, naptime not so much. He tends to be a fighter when it comes to naptime but we're working on it. Mom is bound and determined she is going to win this battle. It's exhausting for both of us, but will pay off in the end. As I type this, he is screaming loudly from his crib in protest of naptime but I will not cave.

Yesterday was his 6 month checkup. He is weighing in at a whopping 15lbs. 8 oz. and is 25 inches long. He ranks around the 15th and 20th percentiles for both. Stuart and I both think it's hilarious that we produced a child that is below average on the weight side of things. Oh, God does have a sense of humor.

Noah is mostly sitting up on his own now and prefers to do everything that way. He has even fallen asleep sitting up a couple of times. It's pretty funny. Another fun thing that Noah gets to do now that he's 6 months old is eat food. So far we have tried bananas, avocados, and sweet potatoes. He seems to have enjoyed all of them. He is really coming into his personality and we've found that he likes things best when he thinks he's in control (thus the protesting of naptime). He eats the best when he gets to hold the spoon. Yesterday I finally gave him his own spoon and that seemed to work out pretty well.

In other news, Cameron continues to be enthusiastic about life in general. He is all signed up to play soccer in the spring (his idea, not ours). He said he would also like to give baseball a try.

The Rogers family has also found a church that we feel is the best fit for us right now. It had been recommended to us by several people from our old church in Franklin. We tried it out when we first moved here but decided to shop around a bit before we decided. Stuart and I discussed it over our Christmas vacation and we both agreed that Alum Creek Church of Christ was the place we had felt most comfortable. Hooray for that!!!

This weekend, Stuart has a Boy Scout Leader function to go to so it will just be me and the boys hanging out. We'll for sure be cheering on our Indianapolis Colts on Sunday as they are playing for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Go Horse!!!

That's it from our end of the world. Have a great week!!!

Happy 2010

Long time no posting huh? I'll make up for it here and hopefully get some pics posted too. Our Christmas holiday was great and our New Year didn't quite get off to a great start but we are happy to report that we are now all back together again in good ol' Columbus, OH.

We left here on the afternoon of the 22nd and spent the night at Aunt Karen and Uncle Mike's house. It was a great time and Noah was spoiled by both of them while showing off his new rolling over skills. Noah even had an encounter with Santa who was happy to pose for a few pics.





On the 23rd, we got one of the best Christmas presents of all when Stuart received a clean bill of health from his orthopedic oncologist. He is one year post surgery and doing great. We were so thankful to receive that good news.

Then it was off to Aunt Stacey and Uncle Mohamed's for the Christmas celebration. Noah was spoiled as usual and we all had a wonderful time. We attended Christmas eve service together and then awoke on Christmas morning to wait for Cameron to arrive so we could open our gifts.






After all the gifts were opened, it was time to play. This year the highlights were Cameron's night vision goggles from Aunt Karen and Uncle Mike and Uncle Mohamed's new Cabela's Big Game Hunt Game for the Wii.






Christmas night it was off to Washington for the Smeltzer family Christmas and all the craziness that brings. With 6 kids ages 7 and under, it's always a chaotic good time. This year was extra special because Aunty Pam was here from New Zealand.






After that day, it was meant to be one more week of R&R and hanging with the family. It was just that until New Year's Eve. Noah decided he'd ring in the new year by contracting a case of RSV. I think that stands for respiratory synctial virus and is pretty common in babies. If an adult gets that virus, it appears as a common cold. However, when a baby gets it, it's way more dangerous. They sent us home from the ER with a nebulizer and lots of instructions. The next day, we were back in the ER as he was showing signs of getting worse. They kept us in the hospital for 2 days and then let us go. Since Noah was in no shape to make the journey back to Columbus, Stuart and Cameron came back while Noah and I stayed in Washington so he could recover a little more. While it was nice to have that extra time with my family, I'd have loved if it was under different circumstances. We are all back in Columbus together now and Noah is recovering nicely. He's still not back to 100% but at least he's smiley and happy. Needless to say, our plans to begin sleep bootcamp have been postponed until he's completely recovered. Because he was held and spoiled so much last week, he is sort of rebelling against his normal routine. Therefore, no one is getting much sleep around here. I'm sure it will improve as he continues to feel better.
Cam is back at school and is thrilled to be there. He had a great Christmas and was spoiled by all of our family. Some of his favorite gifts were his Lego Star Wars DS game and his Lego Indiana Jones game for the Wii. These games came just in time as we are all sort of housebound with all the snow we've had and how cold it's been.
We are sad the holiday season is over but are now looking forward to really settling here in Columbus. We have no plans to travel anytime soon and can now focus on establishing a better sleep routine for Noah as well as finding a church family. I hope you all had a great holiday season. Here's praying for a much healthier, happier, less stressful 2010.