Goble Christmas Greetings

Dearest Family and Friends,

What an exciting year it has been for us! The year started off with much excitement and the end of Deaira's pregnancy. Overall Deaira had an easy and uncomfortable pregnancy. We spent the early part of the year anticipating and preparing for the birth of our baby Boy.

Jeriah Daniel Goble was born on April 18, 2010. He was a skinny little peanut who immediately stole our hearts as all babies do! We adjusted to the roles of Mommy and Daddy pretty easily, then we adjusted to being married to a Mommy and a Daddy that was a little more challenging. Today Jeriah is 8 months old and we can't believe it! He's HUGE! Everyone tells you how fast kids grow but you don't believe it til you witness it with your own eyes. Jeriah has decided rolling around the living room is more effective than crawling(for now). He loves to laugh and feed himself bananas. He's just started sitting up and using us as jungle gyms. We marvel on a regular basis at how much we love this little man God blessed us with.

Deaira quit her job when Jeriah was born. We couldn't bear the idea of anyone taking care of our sweet boy other than his Mommy. Deaira feels called to stay at home and raise our children. Its been a challenge but we know that God provides and He has proved it to us over and over and over again. Deaira has had opportunity to make many new wonderful friends in Mommy groups. In September she took a class in Lactation and Breastfeeding education and is anxious to pursue that area of interest more. For now she does some work with a new global movement called "Eats on Feets" which is a network that assists women with sharing breast milk.

Steve continues to work at Charter Cable and though his work is often stressful and frustrating he perseveres to provide for our family. He loves playing with Jeriah and making funny voices. Steve also continues to enjoy video games in his spare time. Steve is a wonderful husband and father who selflessly provides and protects our family.

We have no idea what the Lord has in store for us in 2011 but we trust that His plan is perfect and not ours. We do hope to move into a larger home so Jeriah has room to play and grow. We pray that God will provide us with a work opportunity for Deaira that will still allow her to be with Jeriah at home. God has blessed us so so mightily in every way and we are humbled by his mercy, grace and provision in our lives. We are not worthy of the gift given to us in a manger and then nailed to the cross to pay for our sins!

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas filled with all the joy the season holds and We wish you a blessed New Year!

Much Love,

Steve, Deaira and Jeriah

Ode to a Kitchen-aid

O Kitchen-aid O Kitchen-aid how lovely are your baked goods.
So sweet and savory every one I'll eat them all to the last crumb.
O Kitchen-aid, O Kitchen-aid how lovely are your baked goods.

O Kitchen-aid O Kitchen-aid How lovely are your pastries.
So light and airy sweet and fresh it all turns out the very best!
O Kitchen-aid O Kitchen-aid How lovey are your pastries!

O Kitchen-aid O Kitchen-aid you've done so many good things...
Cakes and breads and cookies too... Frostings, pretzels to name a few...
O Kitchen-aid O Kitchen-aid you've done so many good things...


O Kitchen-aid O Kitchen-aid you really are the greatest
The time has come for us to part & I'll miss you with all my heart
O Kitchen-aid O Kitchen-aid you really are the greatest!

O Kitchen-aid O Kitchen-aid you don't know how I'll miss you...
Someday I'll have my very own, and none will take you from my home.
O Kitchen-aid O Kitchen-aid you don't know how I'll miss you...

Dear Royce,
Thanks for the loan *sniffle*
I was good to her. She was good to me, bad to my waistline.
Love, Dea
P.S. Steve is now convinced buying me a Kitchen-aid will be the best gift he ever bought himself. Thank you! :)

Reflections....

Oh sweet little Joy of mine! It makes me sad to think almost 5 months of your life have passed and I have hardly recorded a thing but now when I sit down to do so all I can come up with are brief descriptions and random thoughts...

-The first month of your life.... you slept and ate pretty standard baby behavior. I adored you and loved feeling your tiny snuggly body against me. - The second month of your life you slept and ate and smiled... I had to remind myself you were supposed to get bigger that no matter how badly I wished you could be tiny and snuggly forever you would grow and be a greater joy to me for it.
-The third month of your life you woke up a little more you realized there were lights and colors and sounds and you wanted to see all of it! I called this the age of awareness...We learned to play!
- The fourth month of your life... you stopped sleeping and you started teething. 2 weeks without a REAL nap unless you were cuddled up with me... I didn't mind that but I sure missed getting things done. You laughed for the first time and I cried!
-Your nicknames are Bug, Bug-a-roo, Dude-a-roo, Jeriah-roo and Buggy


-I love reading to you, I never expected I would... I told myself "its important that you read to him" and dreaded the actual task... I was sooo thrilled to find out I enjoyed it!

-You love to play games and when Mommy sings her Jeriah songs to you!

-In the last month you've discovered what a fun guy Daddy is and he cracks you up! He introduced you to your orange Dr Seuss friend Mr. Melvin.

-You're becoming quite the little Chatterbox. Babbling on about so many little things. You have to put your 2 cents in especially when we go to Mommy's group! I think you're telling all the other babies how good life is!

-You're on the super speedway to milestone land... already rolling over tummy to back and you're so so close to going back to tummy! You're a great supported sitter and you LOVE to stand! You have a ton of strength in your legs and love to jump in the jumperoo. You'll fuss to get out but you keep jumping its the oddest thing... Like you're trying to suck every second of fun out of it.
Please don't grow too fast Bug! Every day you seem bigger especially your baby Flintstone feet! I'm so excited for the future to see you walk and talk to feed you real food! I do wish sometimes tho that I could stunt your growth for another year or so and just enjoy who you are right now today. I don't think its possible that I can ever remember all of the many many things that make up the wonderful boy you are!

30

I never really remember my birthdays very well. It seems sad to not remember a birthday especially a BIG birthday like your *GULP* 30th!

So for posterity sake here is a (hopefully brief) account of my interesting, rough , pretty stressful 30th birthday. Ok that might be a slight exaggeration but it wasn't really a "Happy" birthday tho it's had good memorable moments.

Birthday regret #1: Steve took me for sushi on Monday. It had been a year since I had sushi. It was fun and I did get to show Jeriah sushi and describe the joy of raw tuna on rice. Monday night I was kicking myself for wanting sushi for spending that $50 we'd carefully saved on something that I was then wishing I could throw up and put an end to my misery. I dunno if the sushi was bad i dunno if my post pregnant body can't eat sushi but i thought about going to the hospital i felt so bad and the only thing that stopped me was i didn't think i could drag myself off the bed to get dressed and wake my baby up and get him ready to go with me. Thankfully i made it through the night and my mom (ever my hero) came over Tuesday to help me with my baby.

Birthday regret#2: This is more Jeriah's regret than mine... Jeriah regrets Mommy's sushi dinner as well and he spent Tuesday night and all day Wednesday making sure Mommy knew it. My sweet happy baby who coos and squeals and smiles and flirts spent most of the day looking at me with a boo boo lip or screaming. I tried everything i could to make that boo boo lip go away. Even more sad is he'll probably spend tomorrow at it too. Baby Mylicon drops do work.... sometimes. Jeriah wishes Mommy had wanted pizza or steak for her dinner out with Daddy.

Birthday Lesson #1: No more sushi until I'm only eating for me and since I believe in extended breastfeeding this could be quite sometime but after Monday night... I don't think I'll mind.

Birthday THANKS #1: Charel Thank you for scooping up your nephew and making him eat his toes, folding him in half and riding the bicycle! You helped him and me. Thanks for new clothes to sissy I need them! :)

Memorable Birthday Moment #1: Jeriah did have about an hour of calm where I wrapped him in the Moby wrap strapped him to my chest and we baked my birthday cake together. It was the sweetest thing to me. I wish someone could've taken a picture of us, although if someone else had been here they probably would've been holding my boy. Teaching my babies to cook and to enjoy it to love and appreciate food is so important to me. Baking my birthday cake with my sweetest boy strapped to my chest was priceless and perfect! I hope I can do it every year!

Birthday THANKS #2: I'm very thankful my family came over. I was so grateful to see someone else by the time my mom and Steve got there I cried! My Mommy bought me some new (very needed) nursing clothes, mixing bowls and replaced my old rolling pin (a bottle of wine) with a brand new REAL rolling pin. We ate delicious red velvet cake too!

Memorable Birthday Moment #2: After Charel worked her tummy magic on my baby I gave him a bath and for the first time all day I got to see my sweet little boy. He smiled and he played. He splashed and he was himself. Jeriah loves bath time. He loves being in the water so much I'm afraid if I put him in a real swimming pool he'd swim away from me. He likes water just like his momma. After bath time we did our bedtime routine we snuggled and nursed and said prayers.

Birthday wish #1: All day long I wished for a cool swimming pool. I wanted to feel the cool water envelope me and watch the water sparkle blue above my head... *sigh*

Birthday THANKS #3: a sweet sleeping baby!

Birthday Lesson #2: My husband wants to buy me a KITCHEN-AID!!! HOLY MOLY!! Sooo excited what a wonderful husband I have! When he told me his plan he added on. If i buy this it will be your birthday/Christmas/Anniversary present etc... (like I'd care I'd have a freaking kitchenaid!!!) I was on cloud 9! Then he told me he could buy me all the extra accessories for my kitchen aid until I was 40. I paused there aren't THAT many accessories. Then... I realized I'm 30 and 40 is only 10 years away and there are THAT many accessories. Then I felt old.

Birthday Thanks #4: My husband helped me not feel too old by reminding me what its like to makeout like a teenager :)

At the end of the day I still wish for a swimming pool but not to escape more to refresh and renew to rinse away and relax after the day... I did find an alternative however in another piece of cake and a glass of my OLD rolling pin.

Hooray for Boobies!

Take that Mr Pediatrician! I haven't told many people this but at Jeriah's 2 week well baby check up I was advised by the pediatrician that he was underweight and it was suggested that I supplement with Formula. Jeriah weighed 1/2 an ounce less than the dr would have liked him to! I politely smiled and nodded knowing full well I wasn't going to give my baby a drop of it unless it became absolutely necessary. EVERYTHING I had observed from my baby showed me he was getting enough to eat. Sometimes it seemed like he could eat forever and he was going thru plenty of diapers! I knew a half an ounce could easily be made up for its 2 tablespoons for pete's sake. Jeriah was only 2 weeks old my Milk had only been in for a few days and I had a clogged milk duct to contend with I decided to keep doing what I was doing and wait and see how he grew I kept reading and researching and found some evidence and studies to support why Jeriah weighed a little less than he should and I just kept right on doing what I was doing feeding him whenever he wanted as long as he wanted. I even failed to tell my husband about the dr's advice. (he forgave me and understood why i'd held back!) I was so thrilled today when at 2 months old he weighed 10lbs 14 oz!!!

Jeriah is a wonderful little eater and has been since he was born and I love feeding him! I love snuggling him and I love the way he's so eager to eat! He flirts with me when I feed him he makes me laugh and nothing is better than a big baby smile when obstructed by a nipple and a dribble of milk on the chin! I'm so thankful that this time Mommy knew best and that he GREW and is of average height and weight! If the Dr had used the F word again at this appointment I was gonna have to find a new pediatrician! :)

God's creation of a Mommy is a perfect complete one that does miraculous things!

Summer Salads... What Goble's Gobble!

Steve and I eat salad for dinner at least once a week and I don't mean a small salad next to our main dish. We eat SALAD for dinner. Big lucious fancy dinner salads like you buy at restaurants. We love salad around here and have found its pretty easy to come up with different delicious variations. Lettuce is kind of a blank canvas afterall.

Here are some of our favorite variations... All of them start with a big pile of your favorite lettuce, some kind of protein and lots of other exciting toppings you love! Combined together you get a big bowl full of exciting texture flavor and fun!

Taco Salad:

Make seasoned ground beef like you would for tacos.

Add tortilla chips, olives, chopped tomatoes, canned kidney,black or pinto beans, chopped cilanto, green onion, grated cheese, you could even SPICE it up with some jalapeno slices.

Dress with salsa, sour cream, guacamole... whatever you like we like 1000 island.

Chinese Chicken Salad: (pictured)

Grilled or shredded Chicken

Add Cucumber, mandarin oranges, thinly sliced red onion(I use my potato peeler)or chopped green onion, broccoli florets, beans sprouts, bell pepper, shredded carrots, chow mein noodles and almond slivers

Dress with a bottled toasted sesame salad dressing you like.

Italian Steak salad:

I buy a small inexpensive steak marinate it in some balsamic viniagrette and grill it on my counter top grill. Once cooked I slice it thin and toss it in the salad

Add cherry tomato, sliced cucumer, red onion, fresh basil and chunks of fresh mozzarella.

Dress with an Italian dressing or a nice viniagrette.

Greek Salad:

Start with cooked Chicken or Steak:

Add greek olives, red pepper, cucumber, tomato, pepperoncinis, red onion and the all important feta cheese(if you're me)

Dress with a Greek viniagrette.

Chef Salad:

Your favorite lunch meat ham, turkey, salami etc cut in strips and some of your favorite cheese.

Add tomato, black olives, cucumber, bell pepper, broccoli and/or cauliflower, any fresh veggie that you love! Don't forget some chopped hard boiled egg!

Dress with your favorite dressing!

Summer is here and for me that means I wanna eat light and fresh food. Salad always fits the bill. These are light fresh and exciting but still filling and satisfying.

Mommy Lessons... Selfishness

I don't think anything in life (even marriage) has shown me quite so vividly how selfish I am as this little person that now consumes my days, my nights and my heart. It happens every night around 3-4am Jeriah wakes up and I dutifully sit up grab him from his bassinet and soothe and satiate all of Jeriah's little needs... all the while counting the seconds through blurry eyes struggling to stay awake watching the silly TV I never wanted to put in our bedroom and now CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT cuz it keeps me awake for the 1 or 2 or 3 hours it takes me to feed my little bug and get him back to sleep! Every night he wakes up and I pick him up and love him I feed him and kiss and snuggle him its really the sweetest thing being his mommy and yet even tho I know "the formula" required to put him back to sleep I inevitably ignore a step in my selfish hurry to go back to sleep. Jeriah likes to eat from both sides... twice and each side can take him about 20-30 min ( That kid loves to eat!) he must have a clean diaper and he must be swaddled! Sometimes tho I seem to think that if he conks out after eating that I can just put him back in his bassinet... and I can but it will only last about 15 min and then I have to wake up and do whatever it is I didn't do in my selfish hurry to get back to sleep! When i obey the formula i can usually be back to sleep in about an hour! :)

Despite my selfishness however the sweet little bug decided to try sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old :) 7 whole hours. It's too bad I woke up 3 times to make sure he was ok and didn't get 7 uninterrupted hours of sleep myself. I'm absolutely in love with my fancy bassinet that vibrates, has a mobile, music and a night light! He's a happy baby in the morning when he wakes up and he can and will coo peacefully in his bassinet as long as the mobile is running. I can usually squeak out another hour of sleep doing this interrupted only by having to restart the mobile :)

He's a pretty chill little dude this bug of mine!