Beth and Frank

Growing Up So Fast!

2011-08-18T18:41:00.001-07:00

We are two months away from ending our first year with Noah. I cannot believe it! The time has gone by so quickly. As I start planning birthday party themes, first haircuts, and first trips away overnight (for me!!), I can’t help but get a little emotional. It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that we had our first night in the hospital together the three of us. I stayed up, holding and looking at Noah all night with Frank asking me every hour or so, “do you want to go to sleep now?” I’ve never been one to sleep through something exciting – and this was the greatest miracle I had ever witnessed!

I can't believe that this little guy is going to be 10 months this Saturday! Here are some pictures of the progression:

Birth Day (10/20/2010, 8:02PM, 8 lbs 8 oz, 20 3/4 inches)

1 Week

2 Weeks

3 Weeks (The week Aunt Kathy came to visit)

1 Month (13 lbs 8oz, 22 3/4 inches)

6 Weeks (Thanksgiving with Nana Shepherd)

2 Months (14 lbs 8 oz, 24 1/2 inches, Christmas in NJ at Grammy & Grandpa Simpson’s)

3 Months

4 Months (17lbs 3oz, 26 1/2 inches)

5 Months (Started sleeping through the night at the end of this month)

6 Months (19lbs 5oz, 27 1/2 inches; started rice cereal and oatmeal)

7 Months (Sitting on his own)

8 Months

9 Months (20lbs 10oz, 29 1/2 inches; pushes himself up to sitting and “army” crawls, first tooth pushed through on the bottom right)

Happy Birthday Nana Jan!

2011-02-13T04:49:00.000-08:00

Noah loved seeing his Nana for her birthday and to celebrate a (belated) Christmas. Nana got him the book "The Sweet Smell of Christmas" which we all enjoy scratching and sniffing. That book brought back some memories! He even got some special time with Nana so his mommy could (finally!) get her hair done (not seen in this picture...) Mommy was really grateful to Nana for this!! We had a great time celebrating and catching up. Noah also showed off for Nana how well he's doing in his Bumbo seat!

Happy Birthday Nana!

Noah Meets Aunt Carole & Uncle Robb

2011-02-13T04:37:00.001-08:00

We were so fortunate to be able to see Aunt Carole and Uncle Robb on their way back up to Michigan from Florida. They brought him the cutest little plaid shirt and blue pants outfit, and a cow that hangs from his play gym which quickly became his new favorite toy! Oh, and of course, Uncle Robb had to try out the play gym to see what Noah found so interesting! (Frank was quick to catch this on camera!!)

Thanks for stopping in Uncle Robb and Aunt Carole! We loved seeing you!

Christmas 2010 Road Trip!

2011-02-13T03:37:00.000-08:00

Before Noah arrived, everyone kept telling us "it's best to travel with a newborn because they sleep all the time..." However, our little newborn has enjoyed proving this statement wrong! It made our road trip to New Jersey for Christmas pretty interesting - and stressful! But it was so worth it to be with the family including Grammy and Gramps, my sister Kathy, brother-in-law Greg, and little cousin Matthew, my grandmother (Noah's G.G., for Great Grandma) and Uncle Dan.

We tried to get a few pictures with the cousins. Most of the ones we got were Matthew staring at Noah as if to say "why did you put me next to him!?" It was hilarious! Here is a good one of the two of them. (Matthew discovered Noah's puppy dog Robeez shoes!)

Noah loved talking with Uncle Dan! He really lit up when Uncle Dan played with him, and couldn't stop chatting!

He also met his GG for the first time!

And met his Uncle Greg...

Christmas can really wear a guy out!

Talking with Gramps!

Merry Christmas 2010! We hope your Christmas was as joy-filled as ours.

Love, The Shepherds - Frank, Beth, & Noah

Firsts

2010-12-17T06:03:00.000-08:00

Time is already moving so quickly since Noah arrived. There have been many "firsts" that I have wanted to take in and savor, so as not to miss the little moments that only happen once. I'll never forget the day we brought Noah home from the hospital. It had so many firsts! The first time in his car seat. The first time in the car. It seemed as if every car was too close to us! Or driving too fast!! I sat in the back seat while Frank drove so carefully and watched every movement he made. The first time home. Frank and I walked him around the house, showed him where everything was, and welcomed him home. The first night home. I don't think Frank and I will ever forget it! He cried and screamed all night long, and it seemed as if he had an insatiable hunger and just wanted to eat constantly! That was the most difficult first.

The funniest first was the first time Frank changed Noah's diaper. Noah did NOT let him off easy! I remember it was a FULL diaper, and it turned into a huge mess because he kept going AS Frank was changing him... way to break Daddy in Noah!

My favorite first so far is probably the first time Noah truly smiled. Noah has been a sensitive baby. We have had a lot of tummy problems, and especially sleeping problems. Some days he will only take as little as an hour nap. He's had stretches of being up for 7 hours straight. One day I worked really hard to watch for when his window of tiredness was to get him to sleep, and we finally had some great naps. That night Noah had good 3 hour back to back stretches of sleep. The next morning, Noah woke up for the first time without crying. When I walked into his nursery and leaned over the crib to say "good morning" to him, I was greeted with three big smiles. When you have a baby who seems to be upset or in pain often, that is a first you'll never forget.

Here are some other great firsts:

His first visit to Winston:
Noah's first time meeting Nanny:
His first Halloween and his first Thanksgiving:
His first "real" bath:

Play Time!

2010-11-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

It amazes me how alert this little guy is when he is awake! I read somewhere that when a baby goes past their due date, they often skip the "honeymoon" period of constant sleep. That seems to be somewhat true for Noah. He definitely spends more time awake than I expected.

At the same time, his activeness is not all that surprising. This kiddo was so active during my pregnancy! It was not difficult to catch a foot or an elbow moving around on the surface of my belly. And there were even a few nights that his acrobatics kept me awake.

Here's a video of some play time with him. He loves his play yard that he got from Uncle Greg, Aunt Kathy, and cousin Matthew! Greg, I know he isn't technically smiling and laughing... I know, I know, it's gas - but I sure enjoy watching him and listening to his sweet voice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esBoSvH7NYo

...and Noah

2010-11-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

We never have quite gotten the hang of blogging, but maybe now that our new little man is here we'll be better about keeping everyone updated. I certainly have noticed myself being a lot more reflective since his arrival. For now, though, here are the stats:

Noah Charles Shepherd arrived on Wednesday, October 20th at 8:02pm (that's 20:02 military time - Frank loves the symmetry), weighing 8 lbs 8 ounces and measuring 20 3/4 inches long. He definitely has his daddy's eyes, and his nose and mouth look a bit like my baby pictures. He was born with quite a bit of medium brown hair that has thinned and lightened a little in the last two weeks.

We are enjoying every second with him and are so grateful to God that we have been given the gift of raising this precious boy. What an amazing and humbling responsibility. Our prayer is that Noah would grow up knowing God's incredible love for him.

Welcome 2010

2010-01-03T07:10:00.000-08:00

2009 was an amazing year, filled with more lessons about our limits and abilities than we could have ever imagined. We lost my father in April, moved across the country, found new jobs, and welcomed two new babies into our families. We got to drive from Denver to NC-- twice!-- and spend lots of time planning, working, and dreaming together.

I'm thankful for the hard work of 2009 and the opportunities for growth. I will continue to pray that this year is filled with opportunities for revealing our character as individuals and as a family.

Steamboat Springs

2009-07-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

As a kickoff to the July 4th Holiday, we were able to get out of town to Steamboat Springs, a beautiful Rocky Mountain town. The drive took us west from Denver on I-70 Frisco/Silverthorne area. From here we took a two lane highway northwest to the Yampa Valley. We had rain on our drive into the ski town and there were bicyclists along the road on our way, which made for a white-knuckled drive in.

Steamboat is probably my favorite mountain destination that we have visited in Colorado thus far. The city has an actual downtown area that felt very different from the villages of other destinations. It seemed to have a larger variety of people and the stores were more accessible. During our one night stay the city was having a "First Friday Art Walk" (much like Denver's), and the Rodeo was also in town. I tried to talk Frank into buying some straw hats and chaps, and attending the event in full gear, but failed to convince him! I wish I had some pictures of our hat shopping adventure to share.

We had excellent food while we were in town including some amazing Mexican at a place called "Cantina" on the main drag. We agreed this was the best Mexican we have ever had; and we were glad we skipped the Rio there, as we have access to this in Denver. We also tried a Barbecue joint for lunch (Frank's choice) complete with buckets of peanuts and rolls of paper towels on the tables. The Steamboat Smokehouse had a great atmosphere and even better food. The sweet potato fries were tasty!

Although there was a storm brewing on the edges of the valley, we managed to get a Gondola ride in to the top of the mountain. Many people took their mountain bikes up to the top to ride the slopes down. You could even rent bikes to take down. The way up gave us a good view of some beautiful houses, and allowed us a panoramic view of the whole valley. The entire area was much bigger and more spread that I had realized. As we rode to the top, we were able to map out the ski runs, and both agreed it would be a great place to return to in the winter.

At the top of the mountain a wedding party was being assembled. We watched metal containers passing us on the Gondola ride back down probably carrying food and supplies. Later that evening, the glow of the reception could be seen back down at our hotel. What a beautiful setting for such an event. I cannot imagine how magical it would be to take a Gondola ride down the mountain after wedding in the dark, the stars lighting the way.

The next day we traveled back to Denver and, sans rain, were able to much better enjoy the two lane drive. The only hassle was arguing over who would get to drive around the fast winding mountain curves... Frank won.

Thanksgiving 2006

2006-12-21T18:10:00.000-08:00

We really enjoyed having Beth's parents, sister, aunt, uncles, and grandmother out to Denver for Christmas. This was our first time hosting family and we really enjoyed sharing our humble apartment with everyone (no, they didn't spend the night in our one-bedroom)... but dinner and enjoying company was cozy! Thanks Meghan, Jen and Maria for joining us. It was wonderful to have family and friends together for the holiday.

Thank you to everyone for making it out here to see us! It meant so much to us to have you here. We love you! Here are some photos from our time together...

Uncle Robb, Uncle Dan, Dad, and Frank (back row)
Aunt Carole, Grandma, Mom, Kath, and Beth (front row)

The whole crew around the table (minus Frank as photographer)

Megs and Kath

Jen and Maria

Uncle Dan and Dad look on while Kathy navigates the Mac

Beth and Mom hard at work in the kitchen

Grandma and Uncle Robb enjoying some company before the meal

Welcome from Snowy Denver!

2006-12-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

While Frank and I have been stranded inside for almost two days in Denver's 4th worst snow storm ever recorded, I guess you could say we've had a little too much time on our hands. As a result, I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog so that we can send updates to friends and family as they happen.

So, here goes...

We received about 2 feet of snow in Littleton, CO, just southwest of Denver. Frank spent time going outside completely geared up for the snow to uncover the Jeep. He was able to back up and get us out of our parking spot in 4wd... thank God for that!

Enjoy the pictures below recounting our two days of being snowed in...

Our red Jeep Cherokee yesterday as the snow still furiously falls

The building across from us in the middle of the storm on the first day

Our patio chair and table covered from the blowing snow, day 2

Frank all bundled up and ready to go outside