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.

Punked

Yep, we were successfully punked by my own Mother this weekend. That's right, my Mother. So, here is how it went:
All week my Mom had been telling me she was going to skype me on Saturday because all my nieces and nephews would be at her house decorating Christmas cookies. So, Saturday rolls around and I get two txt messages on my phone. The first was from my Aunty Pam asking if I was home so she could skype me, the second was from my Mom asking if I was home to skype. So, I text them both back and tell them that I have turned on the computer. My computer signals that someone is video calling me and I answer. It was my Aunty Pam. I thought it was kind of funny that she was up so early and I could have also sworn that when my computer signaled the call that it said Gill Smeltzer. So, the first words out of my mouth were "Why are you up so early?" Before she could even answer me I realized what was going on. The next words out of my mouth were "Why are you at my Mom's house?" Stuart, who was calmly working on his computer in the living room, dropped everything and ran to the computer. It was like we had all won the lottery. It was incredible!!! Mom and Dad had decided that Aunty Pam needed to be here with her family for Christmas and had decided to fly her over unbeknownst to everyone. They didn't tell a soul. Of course, with big surprises like that, comes a bit of stress when you live more than 5 hours away and need to rearrange Christmas plans. However, I don't mind that stress at all. We now have a plan to maximize our time in Washington so Aunty Pam will have plenty of time to snuggle and spoil Cam and Noah. This might be the best Christmas present I've ever gotten.

In other news, we leave today for our Christmas vacation and head west to Indy. We will be there for several days and then park ourselves in Washington for the remainder of the holidays. We feel so blessed that we have a large family to spend the Holiday season with. We can't wait!!!

Tomorrow is Stuart's one year follow-up with his orthopedic oncologist. So, tomorrow morning he goes in for a CT scan of his chest and an MRI of his shoulder. Then later in the morning we get the results. So, just say a few prayers that everything is clear and we can take a deep breath and fully enjoy our Christmas vacation. It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since the discovery of "the lump." So much has changed in such a short time but we are so thankful to God for the blessings he pours out upon us.

Noah has decided lately that he is okay with this rolling over thing. However, he only does it when I leave the room. Imagine my shock last week when I left the room for about 5 minutes, heard Noah fussing a little bit, walked back in to find him on his belly. He was grinning from ear to ear and looked so proud of himself. I was bummed and have been keeping him under surveillance ever since thinking there was no way I was going to miss that again. Yesterday, he did it again. Where was I? I was in the kitchen of course. He thinks it's like the funniest thing in the world (and truth be told, I think he's pretty darn funny myself). So, at some point when he decides, I will finally get to see him roll over. He's sitting up pretty well on his own these days and LOVES his exersaucer. His sleep habits need a bit of improving, thus I've dubbed January "sleep boot camp" at the Rogers house. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Cameron is at his Mom's until Christmas day. We have not told him yet that Aunty Pam is here. I cannot wait to see his face when he walks into Grandma and Grandpa's house on Friday night, only to find that Santa has left him a great big present!!! He is going to be pumped. That kid has an intuition about things. I remember when Stuart and I were struggling to have a baby. We never said a word to Cam about it but for some reason he would pray every night that he would get a baby. So, last week, he was talking to Aunty Pam and very matter of factly asked "well aren't you coming for Christmas?" She asked him how in the world she could do that and he just said "get on a plane." Little did we know.

Here's wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We'll post again after Christmas.

Multi-tasking

Noah likes to multi-task. He is simultaneously taking a bath and getting a workout in. Who needs a recumbent bike when you have a gigantic inflatable duck in your bathtub?

Big Weekend

This weekend was the annual baking weekend at Aunt Stacey's house. We're not sure when this became a tradition but it probably happened at some point in the last 4 years. Last year I was not present due to the fact that the very thought of baking anything made me want to toss my cookies. This year was so much fun. The menu this year was: white chocolate chex mix, oreo truffles, peanut butter balls, toffee, and butterscotch rice krispie treats. As you can tell from the pictures below, Cameron was not so into it this year. I think when you turn 7, it's not cool anymore to bake with your Grandma and Aunt. Noah didn't really care either but he provided some good comic relief posing in Cameron's chef hat.

This weekend was also Stuart's 30th birthday. We celebrated with all of Stuart's favorite snacks and desserts and a few of our closest friends. Noah and Cameron gave him a new Big Bang Theory T-shirt for his birthday and he also got several Dave Ramsey books (which his wife hopes he doesn't make her read) from Aunt Stacey and myself. It was such a good weekend and we were sad to leave. We will be back in Indy for the Christmas holiday though. Hooray!!!

Let the baking begin!!!



The cutest chef I've ever met


When you're 7, watching TV is way more fun than helping bake goodies


Two tables full of goodies made for 15 gift buckets



Noah and Daddy relaxing after a big weekend

Happy Birthday Husband!!!

This weekend marks Stuart's 30th birthday. I've only known him for a little more than 1/6th of this time but I am so thankful for the time we've had. He's a great father and husband and never ceases to amaze me with his positive outlook on life. He inspires me to be a better wife and mother. I love you babe and I hope you have a great birthday.

I also need to wish my best friend Laura a happy birthday as well as my baby sister Alisha. Who knew so many people who would impact my life so much would all be born on the same day? Crazy!!!

This weekend is a crazy crazy weekend. We are leaving tonight for Aunt Stacey's house. Tomorrow morning I am co-hosting a baby shower for my friend Carrie. In the afternoon we are holding the annual Aunt Stacey baking party. Then tomorrow night we are celebrating Stuart's birthday with some of our nearest and dearest. What a day. I think that I will probably collapse from exhaustion on Sunday.

Stay tuned for pictures of the weekend. I'll get them posted next week. Nothing else new around here except Noah is working on his sitting up skill. He still hasn't mastered the rolling over thing but is apparently bored with that and wants to get straight to sitting up. He does pretty well but topples occasionally. Alright that's all I've got for now. We'll get some new pics posted next week.

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Giggles

Check out this video. Cameron is definitely one of Noah's favorite people in the world.