Four Years Ago

Four years ago, I woke up in a corner suite in Stevens Hospital at 6 am. It was 10 days past my due date, I had already been laboring for 3 days and I felt certain this baby would never come out. But I labored all day, determined to have a November baby. Finally, at 11:26 pm, with 34 minutes to spare in the month of November, Noah James Linhart was born. His daddy said, "It's a boy...wait, that's the umbilical cord. Oh! It is a boy!" And as if to prove it, Noah promptly peed on the doctor.

My baby is growing up. He is a pre-schooler, a little boy, the most perfect short person on the planet. I am so proud of him and so thankful that God chose me to be his mother. Today, on his birthday, I will tell him over and over again how much I love him...how pleased I am with him...and how much I will always cherish four years ago.

 

Snow

Here is how I feel about snow: I don't mind us going to the snow. But I really dislike snow coming to us. It's the third day of school closures because of snow and icy road conditions. This means that Geary has been home for a week straight (since the start of Thanksgiving break). This means that we are starting to feel cramped and cabin feverish in our small apartment. This means that I have banished him to Starbucks for the next few hours. Snow, snow, go away...stay in the mountains all your other days...*sigh*

Gifts & Thank Yous

We've gotten to know our mail carrier this month because we keep getting packages!

Papa (Jeana's Grandpa in California) sent Noah these great construction trucks for his birthday. Noah really enjoys playing with them and so far he's found lots of items (like toy cars, measuring cups, markers, etc) to load up and dump out with them. Thank you, Papa! We love you!


Grandma Vera (Jeana's grandmother, also from California) sent this awesome train to Noah for his birthday. It came with a huge track and it really blows steam! Thank you so much, Grandma Vera! We love you!


My friend Julie made these gorgeous stockings for Noah and the new baby. I cannot praise her work enough and these pictures do not do them justice--they are just beautiful!

Julie also made these adorable layettes for the baby. One in navy blue and one in burgundy. They are incredibly well made and so soft and luxurious feeling. I appreciate that she chose neutral colors that are not yellow or green. Our baby will look so precious wearing these things! Thank you, Julie--you are a blessing to us!

And my friend Danielle sent this cute little puppy outfit along with a bottle warmer, bottles, and bottle brush, and a special magna doodle for Noah. It's been so exciting to already receive gifts for this baby. I feel that by sharing the baby with everyone so early on and asking for prayer, everyone already has a special place in their hearts for this little one. It really is "our" baby. Thanks, Dani--you are a true friend and I'm so thankful to have you in my life!

New Stuff

I'm really grateful for the technology of blogging. I like that my friends and family get to peek into our life and stay updated. I like that I get to peek into the lives of my friends and family. But I also like that as blogging grows in popularity, I get to make connections with people I've lost touch with or strangers who make me think. Sometimes I randomly click on the links of my friends' blogs and find long lost friends or people about whom I've been wondering, "Whatever happened to [insert name here]."

I recently had the thought that our old short little blogroll titled "Friends & Family" might be a dead end to people who are also looking for long lost friends. So, I've added to the list some of the lives we peek into. There are some blogs I didn't include because they've asked to have some level of anonymity on the web. And there are some of you I may have missed. Please let us know if you would like the link to your blog removed from our list. And please, please let us know if we somehow overlooked your blog or if you haven't let us know that you even one--we'd love to add you to the list. Who knows? Maybe your long lost friend will find you through Linhart Live!

Turkey Baby

I have a friend, Danielle Drennan, who is a very cool artist. She drew this insanely cute picture for me and I've asked her to draw me something Christmassy that I can use for Christmas cards this year. So you'll get to enjoy even more of her artwork! Enjoy!

Giving Thanks

"Dear King Jesus, thank you for my mom and dad. And for my new baby who will crack out of mommy's tummy. Thank you for my larrymobile. Thank you for noses. You made a lot of stuff. ALL the stuff, I mean. Thanks for making stuff. Thank you for King Jesus. Amen"

--Noah James Linhart (1 week before his 4th birthday)

Holding It.

Sometimes when Noah has to go potty, he holds his crotch. Sometimes he holds his crotch when he doesn't have to go potty. I usually ask, "Noah, do you need to go potty?" just to make sure we don't have any accidents.

On Saturday we went to the Science Center and after being there for several hours I realized that while I had made several bathroom stops, Noah had not made one. He wasn't showing any signs that he had to go (eg. crotch holding, potty dance, worried look) and he kept insisting that he didn't need to.

Eventually, we found ourselves in the exact middle of a packed Imax Theater. I just knew that Noah was going to announce his need for a bathroom and that we would have to climb over a billion people in the dark. But he didn't.

When the movie ended I asked one more time, "Noah? Do you have to go potty?"

He scrunched up his face and shouted (in the middle of the crowded Imax Theater), "Mom! I'm NOT touching my peepee!!!"

The Games We Play

What's the best way to get a chore done? Make it into a game!

Jeana: Hey, Noah! Let's play "Clean Your Room" and "Haircut Bee" today.

Noah: Okay! But first, let's play "Crush the Spider" and "Make Noah Some Lunch"!!

Boy Name Update

Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions! A few names stuck out and are now in the running. Also, we haven't completely eliminated Bible names. For instance, we are considering Asher. But we have completely eliminated names beginning with 'L'. Sorry, Bob...Lance Linhart? It just makes me think of Lex Luther. I agree that Lance Joseph sounds very nice, but it's not working for me with our last name.

I bought a couple of baby name books at Half Price Books yesterday and went through one highlighting possible names. The other one is called The Baby Name Wizard and it gives suggestions for brother and sister names. Here's what it says about Noah:

Sisters: Hannah, Maya, Chloe, Abigail
Brothers: Jonah, Ethan, Caleb, Owen, Eli

Maya is really close to Mia and if you look up Mia in the girl section it suggests Noah as a brother so...there you go. We passed the Wizard Test for our girl name.

As far as the suggested brother names. I already mentioned that we like Ethan but are questioning its popularity. There has been a surge of baby Jonah's from our Multnomah classmates. I do like Caleb but I feel like there are a lot of little boys named Caleb. However, I haven't met any babies named Caleb in a few years, so it's a possibility. And I love Eli, but I have several friends who have picked that name (or similar sounding) for their babies and they would be so perfect so I want them to have it. Owen does nothing for me.

I looked up each of the suggested brother names to see what their suggested brother names are and came up with Cole (which we've already discussed), Ian (which I really like and probably because I know an amazing man of God who's spiritual gift is friendship named Ian), Gabriel (which I also really like but has the same 'L' problem as Cole. However, going by Gabe would solve that issue), and lastly, Atticus (which--awesome!! To Kill a Mockingbird! But what nicknames? And, are we setting him up to be teased?).

I'm not sure why it's so hard this time around! Choosing the name Noah was like divine inspiriation. It drifted from heaven into our minds and we heard angelic choirs and when we uttered the name, drops of honey fell from our lips. Okay, so it wasn't really like that, but it was easy!

20 Weeks

I just got back from my 20 week OB appointment and everything still looks good! My doctor had the ultrasound report and said the baby was measuring great and it looks like I'll get to have another shot at seeing the gender in about 3 weeks time. At the last ultrasound the baby was moving around so much that they couldn't get a clear picture of the heart. So I'm going back in a few weeks so they can look again. Also, they found some small cysts on the brain but I guess that is pretty common and according to the report "has no clinical significance." But I would really appreciate your prayers on both those issues (heart and brain)--that this baby will be healthy and strong.

Today the baby's heartbeat was 160 bpm and I learned these other facts about baby's development: (Just using "she" right now to avoid using "it")

• She weighs about 10 1/2 ounces, and her length from head to rump is seven inches
• Baby has begun her main project for the rest of this pregnancy: putting on weight.
• She regularly drinks amniotic fluid for hydration and nutrition, urinates in the fluid, and breathes it in and out. Fortunately, the fluid pool is constantly changing and refreshing itself every three hours.
• Her eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. Her eyelids are still sealed, but her eyes are active.
• Taste buds are forming on her tongue.
  

Boy Names

Help! We cannot agree on any boy names for this baby. We have a girl name that we LOVE and are set on. But for some reason all the boy names are falling flat for us.

I like Tobias, Toby for short. Geary says it makes him think of a tuba player.

I like Miles, but Geary knew a guy named Miles who was a jerk so it's a bad association for him.

Geary likes the names Ethan and Jacob but both have become really popular in the last two years (I'm not kidding--go check the social security baby name listings if you doubt me) and neither of us want our potential son to go by the name of Ethan L. in school. And I knew a couple Jacobs and they were both annoying so it's a bad association for me.

I'm not interested in any more Bible names (thank you to the legions who suggested Isaac. It's not gonna happen.) I have nothing against Bible names, I just don't want to be that family with all the Bible name kids. It's simply a matter of preference.

We don't love the trendy lawyer sounding names like Parker, Keegan, Hunter, Reagan. But at the same time we aren't interested in the classic boy names like John, Sam, David, Richard.

And no unisex names, please. Taylor, Kelly, Sean, Kerri, etc. are out.

Gah!! And it has to sound good with Linhart. For example, I think the name Cole is good. But Cole Linhart is awkward to say because of the double L sound at the end of Cole and beginning of Linhart. It also has to sound good with Noah. As in , "These are our sons, Noah and (insert name here)." And if we end up having a baby girl later the name has to sound good with our chosen girl name. "These are our children, Noah, (name), and Mia."

I think, "These are our children, "Noah, Toby, and Mia" sounds better than "Noah, Miles, and Mia." But I would still have to convince Geary of either of those names.

Oh, and also the middle name has to be Joseph because if this child is a boy we're naming him after my dad. Noah's middle name is James after Geary's dad.

So. Now you have our list of requirements. Any ideas??

We really just want to be prepared in case this baby is NOT a girl. I would hate to bring home "Baby Boy Linhart".

You asked for it...

You got it. Toyota. I mean...Gift Ideas for this Christmas. This time it's one stop shopping for ideas for both the Linharts and the Johnsons.

*Leaps into the air with one fist raised*

It's a...

Boy!!! or Girl!!!

Unfortunately we weren't able to find out the gender for this baby, either. But that's okay. Boy or Girl we're still super excited!

The ultrasound went great--baby was moving and wiggling all over the place! We got to see it sucking its fingers and at one point both hands were on the umbilical cord and it looked like baby was playing jump rope!

All the measurments were right on and the heartbeat was strong. Our baby already looks so beautiful. I am ecstatic all over again about this wonderful miracle!

Share Bear

Noah's preschool class has a teddy bear named Share Bear. Each week a different student gets to take Share Bear home with them and record their adventures with a camera. Then they can share their pictures with the class. Last week was Noah's turn. You can check out all of his adventures with Share Bear on our new web album. Enjoy!

First School Pictures!

(click pictures to enlarge)

Ultrasound Scheduled

So, apparently the problem with our last name goes far beyond junk mail. For the past couple of weeks I've been trying to schedule my ultrasound only to be told that my doctor had not faxed in the order yet. So then I would call the clinic and request for someone to re-fax the order and try again. Everytime I called the imaging place I would hear papers shuffling and the scheduler would say, "Nope, I'm not finding it..." Finally, I asked if there was any way the order could have been misfiled. Sure enough, she found 4 faxed ultrasound orders for Jeana Oinhart. Just another piece of evidence that doctors have the worst handwriting in the world.

So, hopefully on November 9th at 12:45 pm we'll be able to find out if this baby is a boy or girl! Noah was modest and kept his legs crossed over his boy parts so we forced to be surprised. A mass email will go out on Thursday afternoon with all the details and more ultrasound pictures! Are you so excited?!? I am!!

How Little Boys are Made

A few weeks ago we were watching a movie with a sword fight in it. Noah was enraptured. When the scene ended he sighed, "Wow...that was great!"

This past weekend Geary has been watching all of the Star Wars movies. I was reading in bed when Noah bounced in and exclaimed, "Mom! I just got to see another sword fight! And you'll never believe it--they used flashlights!"

Boxer Briefs

A commentary by Noah:

This kind of underwear is for mens and kids. Not mommies.