Merry Christmas

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Praise God for His perfect plans to give us hope and a future through his son, Jesus Christ! We are so thankful for the plans God had in store for us in the year of 2012.

We found out in January that we were expecting our first baby and we were so excited to share the news with family and friends! God blessed us with a healthy pregnancy and quick labor/birth. Sariah Faith Nobile was born on September 17th and she has filled our lives with joy and laughter. Our little girl is growing fast and likes to spend time sucking on her tongue or hands, chatting and smiling, rolling over and listening to music. We pray that Sariah will continue to grow, eager to follow God’s plans for her life!

Danielly loves mommyhood and feels blessed to be able to spend lots of time with Sariah. She is still adapting to a slower pace of life and is very grateful for baby carriers! Life as a new mom can be quite challenging at times and Danielly is thankful for the moms we met in our birth class and is looking to build relationships with other mommies in Bellingham. While pregnant, Danielly made the hard decision to turn down the opportunity to photograph several weddings but she is looking forward to continue pursuing photography in 2013. If you would like to see some of her work, visit: DaniellyNobile.com
 
John is having more and more fun with Sariah now that she spends more time awake and he loves to make her smile by taking her on ‘flights’ around our home! John is still excited about work and feels blessed to have so many opportunities to grow as a Software Developer at Logos Bible Software. He is thankful God has provided a job that not only supports our family financially, but also has eternal kingdom value. John is also enjoying leading a bible study for college-age guys through Cornwall Church. He is passionate bout leading young men through the transition to adulthood and God has continued to provide opportunities for him to pursue this passion.

We feel blessed to have family and friends who have been a great source of support and encouragement this past year as we faced many changes in life. We ask that you keep us in your prayers as we strive to follow God’s plans as new parents!

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and we wish you the best for 2013!

All our love,
John, Danielly and Sariah Nobile
Bellingham, WA

Turning Garbage into Music

Life with a Baby: Diaper Rash

Sariah had her first diaper rash a week ago and I had no idea what to do.

I had been using cloth diapers on her during the day and disposables at night or when we went out. I only use disposable wipes when we are out, otherwise I use cloth wipes and water with a bit of witch hazel.

She had never had a reaction to anything before.

After reading everything I could find on how to deal with diaper rashes, I decided to give Sariah a bath in the morning right after she pooped. I added about 1/2 a cup of baking powder to her bath water and let her splash around. I then put a hospital pad on her floor mat, turned on a room heater and let her play naked. She absolutely loved every minute of her play time!

I rubbed coconut oil on her constantly, but the redness was not looking any better.

I stripped all the cloth diapers (processing of removing any chemical build up on diapers) and cloth wipes.

While the cloth diapers were bring stripped, I used disposable diapers - but I used cornstarch as baby powder to absorb any moisture that could cause the rash to get worse.

While trying to find other solutions to the diaper rash problem, I read that lanolin was great at healing rashes...and I decided to give it a try.

Right before bedtime, I rubbed a little bit of lanolin on Sariah and used a disposable diaper. To my surprise, the diaper rash was 80% better in the morning!! I used the lanolin a few more times during the day (with disposable diapers because I didn't want the cream to make the cloth diapers water repellent) and the diaper rash was completely gone by bedtime.

I will definitely use lanolin as a diaper rash cream from now on!

Three Months Old

Sariah...

• Slept for 10 hours straight at night for the first time after Thanksgiving.
• Loves to smile and chat.
• Likes to grab and pull mommy's hair.
• Got shots for the first time anf cried like she was dying. She proceeded to get really sore thighs, but felt much better the next day.
• Started sleeping in her own room, in her crib (instead of the pack and play).
• Loves music and cannot stop looking at mommy when she is singing.
• Examines her hands every day and is starting to play with toys.
• Started boycotting bottles...so we are working on getting her used to taking a bottle again.
• Learned to use her legs to scoot around. We imagine she will soon get a bald spot on the back of her head.
• Had her first diaper rash which led to cloth diaper stripping, naked play time and lots of coconut oil and cornstarch.
• Rolled over from tummy to back four times in a row like it was no big deal.

Life with a Baby: Cradle Cap

A few weeks ago, I noticed that Sariah's scalp was looking very dry and flaky. I wanted to act quickly to avoid cradle cap. Thanks to the Internet, I found a simple and natural treatment that took care of the dry scalp in one wash:

Wash baby's head with baking soda and water, and then olive oil. For best results do this every other day until cradle cap is gone.

 

***I decided to do this while Sariah was taking a bath and she was all oily by the end. It would have been much better if I had applied the olive oil and rinsed it by washing her head in the sink.

Vulnerability

I listened to a talk on TED this morning that really made me think about the areas of life I need to be working on. I highly encourage you to take 20 minutes to listen to Brené Brown talk about the power of vulnerability.



I was somewhat shocked to hear Brené talk about how we cannot select which emotions we want to experience. When we are trying hard to hide or numb an emotion, we are also stopping ourselves from experiencing all kinds of emotions that are good and life-giving.

I am taking some time to examine my heart and find what is keeping me from living a vulnerable life. I hope you do the same!

Proverbs

I decided today that I am going to read through Proverbs for the next 30 days, one chapter a day. Why Proverbs? Well, keep reading...

Purpose and Theme

1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

² for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
³ for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
⁴ for giving prudence to those who are simple,^[a]
knowledge and discretion to the young—
⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
⁶ for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.^[b]

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools^[c] despise wisdom and instruction."

 

I am reading Proverbs because I don't want to be a fool. I want to live a life that brings glory to my Father in heaven. I am not very good at being wise...so I have a lot to learn!

Free Session Giveaway

My favorite month is here and I am celebrating by giving away two free portrait sessions! Check out my website for more info and feel free to share this opportunity with family and friends: http://daniellynobile.com/2012/12/free-session-giveaway/