Noah's First Christmas

So much has happened since I last posted that I don't feel like I want to go through and write everything down. But this was Noah's first Christmas! Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the dude.

Here he is, opening his very first Christmas present ever. It was a laptop from Granny.

Check out the wooden train that Grandmama and Grandpapa got! It'll stay at their house as an heirloom piece (I don't think it'd quite fit in our luggage!). Also, Great-Grandma Tanner got Noah a really cute train conductor's outfit, and Grandpapa found an old conductor's hat that he pinned to make it small enough to fit on Noah's head. All of that made for a cute picture.

As Deborah was cleaning out her room and throwing some things away, she found an old plastic pirate sword. Nathan saw her throwing it away, and he said, "There is never a good reason to throw away a toy sword." Which is hilarious and just the epitome of Nathan, in some respects. Anyway, so we put the sword in Noah's toy pile, and of course it was the first thing he picked out. He wielded that sword for days. He is definitely all boy.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and celebrated the Lord's birth!

More Snow

So two days after I posted that last post, it snowed a lot more. Here are pics of that. I meant to get these up on the blog before we left on vacation, but it just didn't happen. Anyway, isn't it beautiful?


That picture with the lamppost reminds me of Narnia. :)

Sledding!

Before we moved to New England, I had never been sledding. Actually, before we moved to our current apartment in the suburbs (where there are more parks and hills), I had never been sledding.

The only time we've gone sledding was when all we had was a crazy little thin foam thing we bought at a discount store for like $2 after Christmas, and needless to say, it did not pad our little fannies very much at all. Add to that the fact that the snow at that time was really hard--it had snowed a ton, warmed up just enough to let it melt a bit, then it froze again. So the snow actually had a nice layer of hard, slick ice on top. Anyway, sliding down that on a really thin pad was not the best of conditions, yet we had the best time.

Last year, my parents gave Nathan a nice sled for Christmas. We didn't ever have the chance to use it last winter, because at first I was pregnant, then we had a little baby and I was going through postpartum recovery, and Nathan didn't think it sounded like too much fun to go sledding by himself. So Nathan comforted himself with the thought that he could take Noah sledding this winter, because he'd be big enough.

All of that to say that today has been a long time in coming!

So we pulled out the nifty red sled, bundled up (it hasn't gotten out of the teens today), and headed out. Nathan even pulled Noah and me down the street on our sled. It was fun to be pulled--a lot more fun than walking through 12"-deep snow, let me tell you. That is a serious workout! Especially when, like me, you decide that running through it is actually easier because you get some momentum going, doing those knee-high steps.

Once we got to the park, we sat Noah in the snow while we kind of worked things out. Here he is in his little snow seat.

Here's a shot of all the neighborhood kids who came out to sled. Doesn't it look like a winter wonderland? If the sky were blue, it'd make a good postcard. :)

Here's a little video of one of our trips down the hill:


And here's the three of us. I like the snow-covered tree in the background.

Anatomy of a Snowstorm

Right now, Nathan and I are sitting at our kitchen table having some hot tea, buttered toast, and McVitie's dark chocolate digestives. It is the perfect snack for today, considering that we are having a snowstorm! How exciting!

Well, hopefully it will NOT be exciting on Monday morning, when we are supposed to fly to Houston.

But for today, I love snow, and I'm so glad it is finally here! We did have a little dusting a few weeks ago, but nothing like the 10-12" we're supposed to get in Boston today. Lori's area in Connecticut is supposed to get the most snow, at 12-14". That is a lot!

Because it is miserable and dangerous to try to drive in all that snow, I went to the grocery store to pick up just a few items to last us until we leave town. Wow. It was amazing. It reminded me of Home Depot in Houston before a hurricane. I think the grocery store should consider letting only a few people in at a time, like Home Depot, because it was ca-razy. The lines at the registers were so long that they backed up into the aisles.

It occurred to me that it might be fun to post pictures of the different stages of the storm. It's fun to watch the snow get progressively deeper and to watch the world turn progressively whiter.


Here is our street at 2:00, just as it was beginning to snow. It's just a simple, gray day.

Here's our street at 3:00. The snow has really been coming down, as you can see!

Here is a little video I took at 3:00. I'm warning you, my narration is kind of retarded. Nathan teased me and asked me if I was really going to embarrass myself by posting this, but I don't care. I know y'all will still love me. :)


Here we are at 4:00. As you can see, it's beginning to get dark. I think sunset these days is around 4:15, as close as we are to the winter solstice. But you can definitely tell that the snow is getting deeper! I had to make this trip to the front porch a little shorter, because the wind was not so friendly, driving snow into my face like it was.

It's 6:00 now. Check out how the snow has gotten thicker on that minivan parked on the street.
Rather than showing you what our street looks like at 8:30, I thought the amount of snow piled on the trash cans would be more illustrative of what is going on:
Here is the result, as of 9:00am. As you can see, the snow plows haven't made it down our street yet, which is unusual.
Here are my feet. Well, actually, you can't see my feet. But they're down there. :) The snow is about a foot deep.
And here's Nathan, about to start shoveling. Believe it or not, there are stairs underneath that little hill of snow in front of him.

Later today we're planning to take Noah sledding! I'll post pics!

Ramen Noodles with Tomato Sauce and Greens

So today I was scouring the pantry for something to make for lunch, and all I found was Ramen Noodles. You know, that dirt cheap chicken-flavored noodle soup that you can buy in packs of like 6 for $1.00. Well, let me tell you something. I know what to do with Ramen Noodles.

Back in college, Sarah Fuselier (my roomie/best friend) and I made Ramen with Tomato Sauce all the time, usually alongside a grilled cheese sandwich. Granted, it's not the most healthy thing in the world, but it fit well in a college student's budget. Plus, it sort of makes you feel like you're actually cooking, which was kind of a novelty for two girls who hadn't done much cooking before then. I think this recipe originates with Sarah's mom, although I have attempted to healthify it a little bit with some frozen kale. I've also been known to throw in some sauteed carrot. It is actually pretty good (if you like salt, especially!), and it's great to have on hand for when you desperately need to go to the grocery store or are looking to save some money.

Ramen Noodles with Tomato Sauce and Greens

1 package Ramen Noodles noodle soup mix, chicken flavor
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1-3/4 cups water
1-2 Tbsp. frozen chopped spinach or kale
*optional: a few drops Tabasco sauce

Combine the tomato sauce and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add frozen greens. Prepare noodles according to package instructions (usually you boil them for 3 minutes then add the seasoning). You're done!

Trendsetters

This was my Facebook status a couple of days ago:
Lauren is annoyed that "Noah" is the 7th most popular boy's name for 2008.

Before our Noah, neither Nathan nor I knew anybody whose name or whose child's name was Noah. We thought we were being all unique, and all of a sudden, everywhere we go there is a kid named Noah. In fact, in my mom's group, populated by a whole ten women, three of us have sons named Noah. Seriously!

Mmmm-ma

Noah is picking up a lot these days. For one thing, even though he is not saying a lot of words yet, he does understand quite a few.

When I asked him where the kitty cat was yesterday, he looked around to find her. When I ask him if he wants to read a book, he looks around to find one. He is finally learning what I mean when I tell him to be "gentle" with the cats. And when I ask him to turn the page, he usually does it. Also, he usually does come when I say, "Come here, Noah!" Oh, and he is beginning to understand that all-important word, "No."

As far as words that he actually speaks, it's pretty limited to Mama and Dada. But, lest you think that represents only a few words, let me quickly correct you. There are actually several versions of "Mama." Here they are:

Ma
Mom
Ama
Mama
and my personal favorite, Mmmm-ma, spoken as if it's two syllables.

Pretty soon he'll be reciting Shakespeare. . . . Or maybe Seuss. :)