HAPPY NEW YEAR - UPDATES

It has been several weeks since our last blog update and while Noah is sleeping, I figure that I'd start a new blog to update everyone on what has been happening in our lives.

(8 hours later)

OK - This blog may take longer than I'd imagined! LOL.

Noah is now almost 7 weeks old! Can you believe it?

Noah had his one month checkup two weeks ago and weighed in at a whopping 9 lb. 9 oz. He ranks in the 50th percentile for length and weight and in the 25th percentile for his head size ;) Not bad for a preemie! Our next appointment will be the week after next when he will be 2 months old. Bless his little heart - it will also be his first round of vaccinations :( Let's hope mommy can hold it together as he screams in pain.

On December 14th, Jonathan and I were invited to my former company's (Outstanding Productions) holiday party at Jeff's house. This was the first time that we left Noah home alone - granted it was with Grandma - but still it was hard. We had such a great time! I miss my team. There was a tacky Christmas sweater contest and a White Elephant exchange, in which Jonathan and I received a Best Buy gift card and a Wal Mart gift card! YEAH!

December 19th was my 32nd birthday and would be the second time for both of us to leave Noah - still there was anxiety. The good part was that we were leaving him with my mom, so we had no concerns to his safety and well-being.

We went to Silver Fox Restaurant in Grapevine. This is one of my favorite steakhouses in Dallas! We had a great time and had a great conversation with one of the owners of the restaurant who also has a little boy at home :) The food was AMAZING! The dessert - CHOCOLATEY! Then we walked around Downtown Grapevine. It was a great birthday alone with my amazing husband!

I think that the best present that I received on my birthday, though, was Noah's first smile!

I also received this AWESOME video of my nephew Adrian singing Happy Birthday to me - It was great!

Our Christmas was great. We had our first Christmas snow in decades and our little man got to experience it :) Well....by experience, we mean that we took him out in his carseat and took some pictures!

Marquis in the Snow

We had our first Christmas celebration on the 21st, when Dad drove in from Houston - the whole family back together (except for Sarah and the boys who celebrated in Ohio). It was such a great time - and great food! I must say that it is nice to be rid of the Gestational Diabetes and splurge on food once again!!!!!

Thanks Camille for this onesie!

Leslie, Melanie, Dad and Angela

On Christmas Eve, we were planning on going over to Grandma Kay's house (Jonathan's mom). We actually made it about halfway there before the blizzard started to ice over the windshield and antenna as we drove. We decided that it was probably best to turn around and head back home since our puppies would be stranded without anyone to take care of them. Interestingly enough, the overpass from George Bush over to 183, in which we came in on - had been shut down upon our return due to ice on the bridge. Quite scary. We noticed, though, that Jonathan's passenger headlight and high beam lights were out - Weird!

Once we returned home, we decided to celebrate our very 1st Christmas as a family that evening. It was very special and it was definitely a blessed Christmas to remember!

1st Family Christmas

Daddy and Sandy

Jonathan received a guitar and all accessories from me and I received a fantastic new macro lens for my camera, a pair of Converse and an AMAZING frame from Jonathan (pictured below):

Noah received a play gym from us :)

The next morning - Christmas morning - we woke up to a blanket of snow (well - it is a blanket for Texas).

Grandma (Melanie's mom), Leslie and Angela (Two of Melanie's sisters) were supposed to come over that morning, but were delayed until the afternoon due to ice on the roads. Once they arrived, we had a nice family Christmas :) Noah received a ton of gifts:

I think my sister Angela had the BEST Christmas shirt EVER on - I want one!

Angela

Here are some other Christmas Day pictures:

Angela and Noah

Leslie and Noah

Grandma and Noah

On Saturday, we drove to Burleson to have a Christmas dinner with Johnny (Jonathan's Dad) at Cracker Barrel....mmmmmm.......Cracker Barrel. Actually - let's back up - we were ABOUT to drive to Burleson when Jonathan's truck went dead. Dead? There were no lights on or anything. Jonathan tried to jumpstart the truck with my battery to no avail. That is when I noticed a plastic bag on the left side of the car.....along with what looked like hay and leaves! A critter of some sort had built a nest in the engine to keep warm....and decided to eat all the wiring while he was in there!!!!! Nice start to the day.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were able to spend time with Johnny, Layna and David, Kaytlynn and Chloe, Jared and Patrick - it was so nice. It was also Noah's first time "exposed" to the public. We had gone to a couple of stores but had kept him completely covered up - yes - Mommy the germophobe!

Noah, Daddy and Grandpa Johnny

Afterwards, we headed over to see David and Layna's new home. Absolutely beautiful. The boys were immediately put to work - hauling a couch to the bonus room and transporting their hot tub from the old house to the new one. I'm sure this was a riot!

Moving the Couch

Melanie, Chloe and Noah

Noah and Kaytlynn

Chloe

We left their house and had our final Christmas celebration with Grandma Kay (and Maggie). We were all very spoiled by Grandma Kay, especially Noah, who received an interactive rocking horse and lots of toys!

Noah and Grandma Kay

Maggie

Christmas is now over and I write to you on the Eve of 2010. What an amazing year it has been! We skiied in Utah and spent time with Azure & Doug - some of our GREAT friends - We travelled to West Palm Beach to see Luqui (Melanie's grandmother) and celebrate a milestone birthday with her and the entire Cano family.

* We became blessed with the conception of Noah

* And then became the proud parents of Noah on November 16th

We are looking forward to Noah's first year and all of the wonders that his eyes will see and all of the adventures that he will experience. I am blessed to be able to stay at home with him to enjoy all of his "firsts."

Here are a couple of other firsts of Noah's:

First time in a Baby Bjorn - Which he LOVES:

First time to take a nap in his Crib:

First time to wear a bib:

Other cute 2010 Christmas pictures of Noah:

(This is what my new lens can do)

(This too!)

Noah's 1st Christmas Ornament

Noah's First Christmas Outfit - Man! He's cute!

And on New Years Eve, this is how our baby boy enjoyed it:

In 2010, we hope to travel back to Florida to visit family and introduce Noah and I hope to make some new friends that can share in the wonders of our new little man, as well as become closer to God and stronger in my faith.

May Peace find all of you in the new Year.

Love,

Melanie, Jonathan and Noah....and Marquis....and Sandy :)