July 2005 Archives

Saturday was Christina's 29th birthday! I'm happy to report that since she's hit the low-carb diet, she looks better than she did on her last birthday! My parents came down to surprise her at dinner on Friday night and we ate at the Eagle Ranch House. Their prime rib was positively great! My cousin Amanda and her daughter Reagan were also there. Afterward, we headed over to the Gode abode for some ice cream sundaes. The men folk played some Ladder Golf (soon to be unveiled at J-Fest 3) in the backyard while the women did what they do best: cackle and chatter. All in all it was a great end to a fun night.

Little Noah was living the dream last night. He was having a hard time getting to sleep, so Chris put his refridgerator IN HIS BED!!! As you can see, he gorged himself on pretend food and passed out soon thereafter. I think tonight I'll pretend that I can't sleep so I can get this kind of set up.

Noah has been taking steps for a couple of weeks now, but we've never really been able to capture it on tape. Today, he was practicing walking and so I ran to get the camera. This time, he was Mr. Clutch. He walked and walked for us, all the while, the camera was rolling. Click on the picture to watch the video of Big Bad Noah steppin' out.

We took some nice snaps of the kids the last couple of days, but not enough for an album. So, we've decided to give you a SUPER-SIZED edition of Photos of the Week. Enjoy!

Well, since I can't remember how to post over on the Gode Blog, I'm just going to throw this one up over here. Cranky little Hannah needed a bit of help going to sleep today. Auntie Chris was happy to oblige.

So, we're a little late posting Noah's first birthday party pictures but ... it's daddy's fault.

Noah's party was a blast! There was good ribs, yummy cake and great guests. For those of you who missed out, you missed out on a good one. Lucky for you, we have an new album put together so that you can dream about being there. For those of you who were there, please feel free to enjoy the album also.

Thanks, everyone, for making Noah's first birthday special.

Click here to Noah's First Birthday album.

Uncle Ricky and Aunt Doo-Doo got a fancy new camera that takes underwater pics. We helped them christen it in the pool. Here's Noah's submarine imitation. Chris swears that he likes it, but I'm not so sure. Judge for yourself.

Today we had a very special visitor. Alexander Orion Kao (and parents) took the long drive from McKinney to visit us for the afternoon. Alex was born June 15 while we were in Colorado. It seems like every time we would plan a trip to meet him, something would come up. Well, I guess little Alex got tired of waiting to meet us and talked his parents into coming here. Thanks, Alex!

When Brenda and Leon pulled into the driveway, Myra was the first to greet them. "Did y'all bring y'all's baby?" were the first words out of her mouth. Noah, on the other hand, wasn't too interested in Alex or Alex being in Mommy and Daddy's arms. Maybe the next time we see the Kao family Noah won't be so protective.

Welcome Alexander! It was nice to finally meet you.

(This one was just too sweet not to post.)

So here I am in a tie on a Saturday afternoon. Why? You ask. Because I'm going to a wedding. Who would that be? I have no idea either! Uncle Ricky has talked me into joining the Cake Video Productions team. I've already edited a few weddings for him, but tonight, I'm going to go to my first one in years to learn the ins and outs of shooting a ceremony and reception. Last night, I tagged along with him at the rehearsal and practiced with his camera while he spit out tip after tip in rapid succession. I was a little overwhelmed. Hopefully some of it will sink in with me tonight. Whatever the case, I hope they have some good food!

Since Noah's birth, he's been through jaundice, thrush, yeast infection after yeast infection, and countless fevers. What could possibly be next? How about a rash ALL OVER his body?

I took him to the doctor today. Turns out Noah has developed sensitive skin overnight ... literally. We put him to bed his usual soft skin self and he wakes up like the above. We don't know exactly what caused it. The doctor said to start eliminating fragrances from soaps, detergents and wipes. He also gave me some lotion samples to try (if it works, it's $7 for a small bottle - yikes) and to apply hydrocortisone twice a day for the next two weeks. Hopefully, he'll clear up soon.

Some good news...

I'm sure I never did this but...

Myra has decided that she's going to live off of hot dogs ("not the juicy ones"), plain bread, and cereal with marshmellows for the rest of her life. She's also decided that she's going to eat when she feels like it and not when it's time. The perfect example follows.

First... Aunt DooDoo I want to apologize for being quick at blaming Noah's sickies on you (I'm sorry). He's still not quite himself (not sleeping very well) but I've decided that it's NOT what you had. What makes me think that?

(1) He's eating and keeping it down. There are certain things that he used to eat but now he just spits them out.

(2) He has a very stuffy nose. He's drooling all over the place just trying to breathe. (Poor Baby)

Which leads me to my conclusion...

Noah has severe allergies. That's right, IT'S ALL MY FAULT! My miserable baby is miserable because he inherited my more severe than severe allergies.

He got his daddy's good looks and his mommy's allergies.

Chris snapped this cute pic of Noah this morning while he was sitting on the couch watching some Baby Einstein. He might look pathetic, but he's already feeling a lot better this afternoon.

Noah's birthday has come and gone but Aunt DooDoo's "bug" still carries on.

That is exactly what the doctor said about Noah this afternoon at his ONE YEAR check-up. Even the nurse at the front desk was in awe over how big he is. She pulled her own son's medical record to compare. I know, you're wanting to know "How big is he?"

Noah Donovan Davis is only 27 pounds (94%) and stands a tall 31.5 inches (92%). Josh and I honestly thought he was going to be heavier (about 30lbs). He was very good for the first nurse and for the doctor. He didn't mind the routine stuff (checking the ears, eyes, mouth and tummy) and he didn't even fuss when they pricked his finger for the blood work that needed to be done. He did, however, scream and cry for the second nurse who gave him three shots all over his little body. He received one in the left leg and then one in each arm.

Not a very happy birthday wish from the doctor's office if you ask me but it's for his own good. Someday, when having to go through this with his own babies a very very long time from now, he'll reallize how hard it is for Mommy and Daddy to "let this happen". It's all out of love.

July 3, 2004

11:00pm
Myra is sound asleep while Josh and I watch the clock, counting the minutes between contractions.

11:30pm
Josh and I head to Baylor All Saints Cityview Hospital.

July 4, 2004

10:30am
Mommy and Daddy are sent home without baby in arms. The contractions never got any closer than five minutes, they never got any stronger, and I never dialated more than 3cm. The doctors/nurses couldn't give me anything to "help the progress" because I was only 36 weeks along. (Three more days and I could have had a little something.)

5:00pm
I call the hospital because my contractions are still five minutes apart but they're getting too painful for me to handle (another back labor).

5:30pm
We're back at the hospital to stay (I was at 6cm).

7:15pm
I start pushing while Josh starts counting.

7:51pm
We are finally able to welcome Noah Donovan Davis to the world.

Happy Bithday, Little Man! I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. I love you.

After sorting through the last of the pictures that we took on our great trip to Colorado (and Oklahoma), I've finally put them together into album form and posted the last of them. There are three new ones to show off. Check them out here.

Yesterday was Noah's big 1st Birthday Bash The City of River Oaks also had their fireworks display last night. Being the funny parents that we are, we told Myra that all those pretty fireworks were in honor of Noah's birthday. She LOVED them (he did, too). Today, Myra told us that she can't wait for her birthday when they shoot off more fireworks. We spent the next five minutes trying to explain the 4th of July to her. She didn't seem to understand. Maybe we can convince the City to practice their 4th of July celebration next month?

Here are a few photos we snapped on our last day in Colorado. Some of them really turned out nice, I think.

This first one is of Noah helping out Uncle Bob in the kitchen. He must have done something right, because the meal turned out GREAT!

Here's a sweet one of Noah and Grandma sharing a moment right before going through security. BTW, they're SERIOUS about security there. Noah had to crawl through the metal detector all by himself!

In this last one, Noah and mom are checking out the plane that was going to fly us back to Texas

Twice in the last two weeks, I've been faced with a moral dilemna. At McDonald's, a cashier gave me 2 tens back when he should have just given me one. I noticed the error right away, and wanted to take advantage of it, but as he made my ice cream cone, I heard that little voice in the back of my head. It was saying, "Come on, Josh, you don't NEED that money. You're a bigger man than that!" I had a moment of deja-vu this morning at Wal-mart. This time, the girl tried to give me two twenties back when I was only owed one. Again, I noticed it right away, but I allowed myself to walk away from the register before that pesky conscience of mine brought me back. Both times, Chris and the kids had already walked away from the register and I would have been the only one to know. I'm sure that there was a time in my life when I would have quickly pocketed the cash and told no one. The look of grattitude and relief on both of the cashiers' faces was a nice little reward for doing the right thing. I am proud to say I took the high road.

When I was little, I remember looking through Highlights Magazine at the doctor's office and trying to figure out the "Eye Spy" pictures. For those of you who don't know how this works, here's one for you I did on my own.

Look carefully at the following picture. What do you see?