Christmas

Just wanted to take a separate post to write/remember Noah's first Christmas. It was such a special time with our sweet baby boy. We had our Christmas Eve service Saturday night and made the interesting decision to sit near the front with Noah. Eric had some speaking time during the service and we thought it'd be doable for a short service with mostly music...we thought wrong. Noah had not taken a good 2nd nap that day and so the over tired kicked in and he was borderline a wild man...trying to fight his sleepiness. He ended up at my feet being semi content to go through his diaper bag and inspect/remove everything and anything in it. I was okay with this because it was literally the ONLY thing keeping him quiet and not distractive. After trying crackers, sippy cup, his monkey max, toys, phone....the floor seemed like a great idea haha. It was a wonderful service though and thankfully we have a sweet church that loves Noah and were quick to not mind his crazy man behavior for the night :). Noah has had his first little cold and actually had to go on antibiotics on the 22nd. He's still stuffy and we're believing God's going to continue to heal our little buddy from this silly cold. Noah woke up to all his presents Sunday morning and acted like he knew exactly what was going on. He went straight to the biggest gift and with mommy's help shredded through the paper to explore his new toys. We had such a sweet morning just the 3 of us going through his gifts and watching him investigate everything. My parents came over around lunch time and showered Noah with even more gifts...he was more than happy to go through tearing into packages again :). They got him so great things, two of them being a type of walker that he can hold onto and stroll with. At first he wasn't quite sure about the mechanics of it all...that only lasted for a little while though before the boy was off. He LOVES these toys! We were all so surprised at how quickly he picked it up and has started walking with his walker like a pro. It's hilarious to watch because the entire time he's walking with it he has the biggest goofy smile plastered on his sweet little face. He's so proud of himself! We could just eat him up!! We all had a great day with a wonderful meal. So very thankful for my parents coming over and loving our sweet little man like they do. Noah adores his Nannie and Pawpaw and is always sure to let them know it. Yet again we were humbled and overwhelmed thinking of Noah and what this season is really all about with the birth of Jesus. I cannot begin to imagine the holiness of that night as a young Mary held her baby that would one day become our Savior. We are so very thankful for a God who loved/loves us enough to send his son in human flesh to be born so that one day he might die to save us all. Thank you Jesus for that night, for your life, for your death, your resurrection, and our salvation. Merry Christmas!!

10 months old

Noah Everett Sebastian, you are getting way to close to 1 year old little mr!! This has been another wonderful month with our sweet boy. Noah had his first thanksgiving full of parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great-great grandmother, 2nd cousins, and of course yummy food :). He got so much lovin from everybody and it was so much fun to be able to share him with my cousins who I'm very close with. We were definitely missing my sister and her fam who had to stay out in California! Noah would have loved being able to be around his cousins to keep him even more entertained. We have a tradition in our family of going to a Christmas tree farm every year to pick out "the tree" for my parents house. Noah got to experience this for the first time this year and he loved it. The weather was warm and perfect the day we went and we couldn't have asked for a better time with the whole fam. Noah also had a couple firsts on this trip including standing on his own for a second or two. He was very proud of himself and loved having everybody clap saying "yay Noah". He also discovered his groove on this trip and is now a little dancing machine. When I say dancing I use the term loosely :) It's more like bouncing up and down to any music while smiling/cheesing like a goober. Even still it is quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life...that's right in my life. His personality is just the cutest and we are soaking up this sweet stage he's in. It's so funny the connection a mommy and her little boy have, I swear we have some inside jokes to where we'll catch each others glance and both of us will get tickled and be laughing for no apparent reason. It's one of my favorite things. He really is our best little buddy. I've seen flashes this month of our baby boy becoming a pre-toddler/toddler. He holds his own sippy cup and drinks like a champ, he feeds himself, is eating anything and everything we eat, is standing, FULL of personality, and is just the sweetest thing there is. We are in love with our sweet silly boy and cannot even believe we are only 2 months away from helping him blow his candles out for his 1st birthday. Noah we love you with all our hearts baby!!

Noah this month you:

- got your 5th and 6th tooth

- had your 1st thanksgiving

- tried standing on your own

- started dancing to any music with a good beat :)

- wearing size 4 diapers

- wearing 12-18 month clothes and even a few 24mo

- waving byebye when you're asked

- on 100% table food

- drinking from a sippy cup for your water

- understands the word "no" even though you don't always mind your mommy & daddy :)

- nursing 4 times a day

- sleeping 12 hours at night

- taking 2 naps a day

9 months

It has been an eventful month for our little NINE MONTH OLD. Ok this whole growing up thing can officially stop...saying 9 months sounds so big to me!! Noah is seriously so so much fun and I swear I've said it at every month, but I think this age is yet again my favorite :). Noah is so interactive, funny, busy, cuddly. I could go on but I'll hold back haha. We got to go visit my sister and her family in California this month. I was a little concerned with how Noah would do on the over 5 hour flight, the 3 hour time change, going back to sleeping in a pack n play. But he did as close to perfect as he could've possibly done! I made sure to nurse him as much as he possibly would do on the flights and we just crossed our fingers he would nap at some point. Noah made lots of friends on the plane as he learned for the first time (on his own) to wave at people passing by. We were in the very last row on the plane (which helped with nursing/napping) and people were walking past to stretch their legs or to use the bathroom...Noah decided this was really about ppl coming back there to see him. As people would pass by Noah would wave wave wave...if they happen to not notice him he would then begin grunting/growling until they did and then...he would wave wave wave. Haha. He had the back several rows and a couple sweet stewardesses entertained. He absolutely loved time with his sweet cousins and was definitely not without plenty of loving from his California fam. We went to Disney Land while we were there and Noah was able to ride a few rides, take pictures with a few characters, watch the parade. He loved all of it and was absolutely exhausted when we left!! We threw the "schedule" out the window on this trip and tried our best to adjust to the time change (that was so much harder than I thought it'd be) and our little man really did a great job with all those changes! We also had some family pics taken this month. It was so nice actually being IN the pics instead of the one taking them all. We are using one of the pics as our christmas card. They turned out great thanks to Chelsea Patricia Photography. We'll be using her wonderful talents again for his 1 year pics sometime next year. Noah you are JOY in every sense of the word and we could not be more proud of you our little man. Thank you for such a sweet little buddy!

Noah this month you:

- Started "cruising" on the furniture

- started waving hello and bye bye

- 3rd and 4th teeth have pooped through

- eating a lot more solids

- wearing 12-18 month clothes

- around 21-22 ish pounds

- 31 inches tall

- Nursing 5 times a day

- taking 2 naps a day

- sleeping 12 hrs a night

8 months

Our sweet baby boy is 8 months old...what the heck? Noah is growing and developing like crazy. He is getting faster and faster at crawling everywhere and is so cute at it :). Eric's birthday was this month so we had fun making him a little canvas with Noah's hand print on it. It turned out so very cute. I know it'll be a keepsake for us both. Getting Noah to keep his hand flat enough do the hand print took about 15 times of doing and redoing to get it right...but we did eventually get it even if we did both end up with paint all over us both :). Eric loved the gift from his little man. I had some photo sessions in birmingham this month so Eric and I had my parents keep Noah for us to have a date while we were over there. Noah had a great time...didn't miss us at all :). Noah moved to his own bed and room this month as well. This was more of a milestone for me rather than him lol...but seriously :). I'm sure I asked Eric 100 times that night "You think he's ok up there all by himself?". Haha. He's done great and I am very thankful for a) our video monitor and b) that his room is right up the stairs by our room. He's loved stretching out on his big comfy mattress, looks like such a big boy. Another incredible event this month was Noah's dedication. We were so blessed to have both of our parents come in for Noah's dedication and it was a wonderful weekend because of it. The dedication itself was such a surreal and special moment for us. Eric played guitar that morning for worship service and as I was back stage with Noah, my parents, and Erics parents the realization of the sweetness of what was about to take place really set in. Looking out to the stage and seeing my husband/my best friend worship the Lord while holding our son together who we're publicly giving back to the Lord and then having both of our parents who love us and our son so much was a special moment and memory I'll keep forever. The prayer that our pastor prayed over Noah was an incredibly powerful one. He spoke already of the joy that Noah has on his life and continued to pray for protection and calling over his life as he would fall in love with Jesus at the youngest age. Eric and I were both to tears as we watched our little wiggle worm be prayed over by our Pastor, parents, and congregation. We echo the prayers prayed that day and are continually humbled and overwhelmed at the gift God has given us in our sweet baby boy. Noah we love you so very much and thank God for the incredible joy of being your mommy and daddy!!

Noah this month you are:

- very good at crawling

- thinking everything is hilarious

- started to protest/getting a little bit of an attitude lol but still sweet about it :)

- pulled yourself up on one of your toys!!

- moved to your own room upstairs

- tried cheese, crackers, and a few other finger foods

- gotten your pincer grasp

- growling and thinking it's hilarious

- had a bout of what the Dr. thinks could've been eczema

- weighing around 20 ish pounds

- nursing 5 times a day

- sleeping 12 hrs a night

- taking 2 some time 2 1/2 naps a day

7 months

Okay at this point I think I'm going to say just about every post how fast time is flying by. To say that we have a 7 month old seriously seems like I'm fibbing. Life with this little boy is SO much fun!! I am overjoyed that I get the blessing of staying at home with him and getting to watch all the details of his little personality unfold. Thank God for an amazing husband who allows me the opportunity to be a stay at home wife and mom. Noah is ACTIVE at 7 months!! I had a beach reunion with all of my best friends from college last week and Noah was in tow for all the fun. Two of my best friends also brought their little ones and Noah had such a fun time getting to hang out with his buddies!! I had been praying that Noah would hold off on crawling until after the beach trip...there were too many stairs and way too much sand for all that. Thankfully, God was sweet enough to answer that prayer...literally the second we got home and I put him down on the floor Noah was crawling everywhere!! Granted it's still an awkward crawl as he nails down the mechanics but still it is a crawl. We have one determined little boy and can see that as he gets to anything he wants haha. The beach trip was a blast and Noah did absolutely great on it!! He loved the ocean and the pool, we definitely have a water baby. It was so fun to be able to have him around all of my dear friends and to watch them interact with the biggest joy in mine and Erics life. Also on this trip I had a big milestone of leaving him with a babysitter who was not a dear friend or family. Up until now Noah has only been babysat by my parents and then a time or two for less than an hour by dear friends. So this was a milestone for this momma, especially since I had never even met the babysitter this time. One of my friends sat up the babysitter so that we could go out one night while at the beach and have a true girls night out. The sitter sits for a friend of hers and is a full time nanny as well, she was wonderful. We all had our little ones in the bed and sound asleep when she got there to insure an easy night for her...and me :). I was nervous to leave him for the first "real" time haha and like a goober shed a few tears pulling off. Thankfully I had 5 of my best friends to hold my hand lol and we had the best night of the trip. We laughed nonstop and had the best time acting just about how we did in college. Noah did great, never knew mommy was gone and slept the whole time :). I'm so glad that we did it!! We are slowly but surely settling into the new house and now that Noah is crawling baby proofing is about to become my life!! We are actually home the rest of September and the whole month of October...this is the first time in a very long time I can say that...and I love it!! Noah at 7 months you are:

- The happiest baby with constant smiles (melts your mommy's heart)

- Very ticklish on your belly and ribs

- Thinking peek a boo is fun

- Love story time

- Love listening/watching your daddy play guitar

- Crawling (awkwardly :)) everywhere

- Can sit yourself up from any position (you love doing this...especially during naptime)

- Nursing 5x a day

- baby food 3x a day with 1 afternoon snack

- Love bath time

- Wearing size 3 diapers

- Wearing mostly 9-12 mo clothes

- Love snuggling with mommy and daddy

- Trying to pull yourself up to standing

- Babbling all the time

- Said "dada" very distinctively one morning as daddy walked into the room (9/12)

- Try to sing along with mommy when she sings

- Just starting to reach for mommy and daddy

- Being not so great of a napper this week

- Went to the beach and played with your buddies Jack & Ellie

- Had to get your 2nd haircut b/c your hair grows like weeds

- LOVE music

Sweet Noah you are getting so big so fast and becoming one busy little man. Mommy and daddy love you so very very much and cannot believe you're already 7 months old!! Thank you for being such a joy in our lives. God is using you to show mommy and daddy how much he loves His children. We could hug & kiss on you all day long buddy...and somedays we try to :). You are the sweetest buddy and we couldn't be more happy to be yours. We love you with all our hearts baby boy.

pictures to come :)

6 months...really late

Okay so I might as well just combine Noah's 6 & 7 month posts but for organization sake I'll go ahead and do them separately. Life has been crazier than ever in the months of August and September...because we moved!! We bought a great house that we are so excited to be in and is a great place for Noah to have all sorts of milestones :). Because of the move we've been unpacking & internetless up until last week. Noah had a great 6mo appointment and is thankfully on track with everything, thank you Jesus. He did great with his shots and only cried for a minute or so. I cannot CANNOT believe that Noah is already 6 months old!!! I mean seriously it's gone by so fast, and then on the other hand we cannot remember not knowing our sweet Noah. In just another 6months we will have a 1 year old....WHAT?!! Oh my goodness I can feel the tears coming! We can already see our little baby morphing into a very active and very busy boy. We have loved every single day with him...even through sleepless nights and messy diapers we are completely in love with our sweet baby boy. Noah at 6 mo you are:

- Rocking on all fours and face planting ALL the time haha getting ready to crawl!!

- Still nursing 5 times a day & eating baby food 3x a day as well as 1 afternoon snack (yogurt)

- Wearing size 3 diapers

- Clothes are mostly 9-12mo clothes

- Moved into your new house and you love it!!

- Taking 2 2hr naps a day and 1 45 min nap (you finally starting napping like a champ around 5 1/2 months)

- Sleeping 12 hours a night

- Weighing in at 18lb

- Measuring 28"

- You think mommy is very funny (mommy gets you giggling very hard)

- You think daddy is so much fun (extra jumps and goofy smiles whenever you're with him)

- You do not nap very good in the car

- You love to swing outside with mommy and daddy

- You try very hard to watch tv....mommy and daddy wont let you :)

- Can sit up all by yourself

- Have 2 bottom teeth and your dr says you're working on your top teeth

- Watched your first bama game

- Are very very VERY silly!!

Noah Everett Sebastian we love you with all of our hearts. You are God's biggest earthly blessing to your mommy and daddy. We are thankful and overwhelmed everyday that we get to be your parents. We pray over you everyday to grow in the love of Christ and to one day fall in love with your Savior just as we have. You are a JOY in absolutely every single way and we could not be more in love with our precious baby boy!! Thank you Jesus for the gift of our sweet baby!!

pictures to come...I promise :)

5 months...a little late.

So I'm definitely a little late on Noah's 5 month post. This summer has been crazy!! To sum it up: we've been in 5 states in the past month...yes FIVE with a FIVE month old. Haha it's been an adjustment but overall such a fun summer with our little guy. Those five states: Florida (family vacation), New York (fun stop before our mission trip), Connecticut (mission trip), Alabama (family visit), and back home to Georgia. Noah really did amazingly well with all the travel and has been the best travel buddy :). Noah has ridden on his first plane ride and gone on his first mission trip in this past month. Along with those firsts Noah has gotten his first tooth, eating baby food regularly, and started sitting by himself with his hands propping him up.

Just a note about Noah's first family vacation. We went to Orlando after a stop on the way to see Eric's family. We stayed at a wonderful hotel down there that had everything we needed to just stay and relax. The pool area had a lazy river around the property that Noah loved!! We got him a shaded baby float (police car:)) and he was more than happy to float around with mom and dad while splashing his chunky little toes in the water!! We had such a wonderful time just the 3 of us :). We stayed lounged out around the pool during the day, ate by the pool, floated in the lazy river...ahhh take me back now :). At night we went to downtown disney, did a little shopping, and ate out. It was heavenly :). We had so much fun watching Noah in the float and were so very thankful to be able to get away as a family and soak up all that wonderful time as "we three".

Now that we are back home and life as youth pastors has settled down for the moment we are on to our next big thing....MOVING/HOMEOWNERS!! That's right tape, packing, big brown boxes, and uhaul trucks here we come! We are so excited and so grateful to God that we will be homeowners the first of September. This house was such a huge blessing in our lives and we really are blown away. We've been looking on and off for about a year and God just allowed everything fall into place with this home. We cannot wait to move in and watch Noah have so many special milestones in this house....crawling, walking, talking, playing in the yard, and one day bringing him home a baby brother or sister. Thank you Jesus for the gift of this home and your neverending provision for our family. We are grateful beyond words!!

So that my friends is a snapshot of our sweet baby Noah from 4-5 1/2 months. We are so very in love with Noah and are humbled to be his mommy and daddy...what a precious gift from God. Noah, you are without out a doubt Gods biggest earthly blessing in our lives and we are continually overwhelmed with the love we have for you. We pray you would continue to thrive and that you are daily surrounded with the evident love of God and by parents that strive to love you as He loved us. Noah at 5 1/2 months you are:

- The happiest baby ever...ppl are always so tickled at just how much you smile...all the time

- Sitting up by yourself (this just started 8/11)

- You now have 2 teeth...the 2nd one just poked through a couple nights ago

- Sleeping 12 hrs consistently (you had a rough time right at 5mo with teething but have come back to being a great night sleeper)

- Taking 3 naps a day. You've become such a better napper as of late. Now taking 2 2hr naps and 1 1hr nap.

- Eating 3 meals a day...you love pears & sweet potatoes, you like apples, & you tolerate squash

- Getting on all fours and rocking back and forth...hilarious to watch haha

- Think meco is funny

- Very ticklish on your ribs

- Got your first haircut!! made mommy sad but that crazy hair of yours had to be tames :)

- Nursing every 3 hrs (5x a day)

- Babble all the time & try your hardest to sing along with mommy & daddy

Here's a ton of pics of our sweet baby boy

Headed to Downtown Disney

Poolside with mommy

Lazy River time :)

Happy Vacation baby :)

How I'm sleeping...booty in the air haha

My first tooth

"What is this funny elephant"

5 months old

First plane ride!!

Outside Plaza Hotel in NYC

FAO Schwartz NYC

Central Park NYC

Holding my bottle like a big boy in Central Park

Lovin on my daddy at Camp Hope Conneticut

Baby Blue Eyes

Daddy's home from work :)

Picnic with mommy outside