Sub for Santa

So this is an unusual post for me. But I thought I would let whoever reads this blog know, that we have a neighbor who is in desperate need of gifts for her kids this year for Christmas. I think it's too late for her to sign up for Angel Tree or any Salvation Army charities, but her kids needs some things, and she can't provide for them. We're on a tight budget ourselves this year, but we know she really wants her kids to have some kind of Christmas. If anybody wants to help us out, in providing something for them, let me know. I have sizes and a want list. Email me, or comment to let me know, if you're willing to help...even a little.

Fall 2008

Not much to blog about, but wanted to post our Fall 2008 pictures courtesy Alder Photography.

Halloween 2008

Noelle's second Halloween is officially over. It was lots of fun. We went over to Lindsay and Adam's to paint pumpkins and then went to my parent's empty house and took her trick or treating. She only lasted a few houses, but I figured she really didn't need the candy anyway. It was a blast. She ran through the leaves to get to the doors and then tried to steal the whole bowl of candy. That's my daughter for you. I look forward to next year.

Witch's Night Out

So I was finally able to find the time and the event to allow a girl's night out. Lindsay and I went to Gardener Village to "Witch's Night Out", which was designed for women 18 and older to go out without their children to have a good time. Although we only wore witch's hats, there were many elaborate costumes, including the ones I've posted. Maybe we're the only ones that were excited to see "Glenda, the Good Witch", "Maleficent" and "The Snow White Queen", as well as many others. There was a soup bar there with some awesome soup in a bread bowl. We had fun waiting in line for fortune telling and dancing with all the other witches. I totally suggest it as a pre-activity for Halloween for women to ditch their children and husbands for a couple of hours. I think it's going to be a tradition for Lindsay and me. FINALLY!!! A girl's night out!!!


On another token, school is going mediocre. If possible. I'm finding myself in a mid-semester slump. It's hard to stay motivated and I'm looking forward to the end of this semester and a start of something new. I now know that this Philosophy of Religion class was not one to start with. I'm, of course, passing, but not getting what I want out of it. I should have started with something different. It's not an introductory class although it's presented as such. Which is frustrating to the professor and his whole class of 7. The 7 that didn't drop out. I'm the only girl left and feel the pressure to succeed. It's amazing how many people dropped out. Somehow, I need to show the remainder boys that I can make it. That I can finish this class.........and pass. So far, so good. However, I need you all the cross your fingers for me.

James is doing well, he hopes to get some tests done so he can finish applying for some police jobs. Ideally, he would love to be in the highway patrol, but we'll see. I support him in whatever he wants to do, as long as it doesn't harm himself or his family. I would love to see him follow through and become a great police officer. As I know he has the potential to become one.

He loves the fact the I've finally gone back to school and is so proud of me. It makes it all worth while.

He is so proud of his daughter as well. Noelle progresses at an astounding rate and we're both so excited to see all the new milestones she has reached. Everyday is amazing to us. Especially me. I get to see all the little things she does. She seems to perform just for me sometimes, which is frustrating and special at the same time. I love being the one she does things for, but I wish I could share these things with other people.

And to end, I would like share a little celebration. I officially weigh less than I've ever have in my adult life. I lost all the baby weight and how. It's very exciting for me, as I've worked very hard for this. It's such self-esteem booster and a relief to get this done.

Now, to finish my other goals...............

Surgery

Noelle's most favorite toy came to the age of retirement. "Ducky" had seen better days. Especially in a big basket with other cheap Easter specialty items. Her leg was almost severed, after seeing many hard days at work. So I did what any good mom would do....surgery. It was a gruesome process, but it was worth it in order to save my daughter's favorite cuddling buddy. Now all I need, is a new nickname for this amputee. "Stump", anyone?

The Oaks

Argh...so tired!! Here I am waiting for Noelle to fall back to sleep after a two hour bout. Hopefully, she's down for good this time. She always seems to find the times James is at work. Frick!! Anyway, I thought I would blog real quick like while I am waiting. Today, Noelle and I went to my annual trip to "The Oaks" with my friend Jamie and her mom Gale. It's a restaurant up in Ogden Canyon, on the way to Huntsville/Pineview. We go during color change and it's a lot of fun to sit next to the river and wait hours for food every year. Hate the food and the service, but love the trip. Only these last two years, was I able to bring a new person along, Paul McCartney. Noelle loved it this year. Last year, she was a tad young. Lots of fun, more pics to come. (Jamie has most of them) As word of warning, we have lots of fun things planned this October to blog about... So keep an eye open!!

Bunny goes hop hop hop

Real quickly. I wanted to show you how I was showing Noelle why we change diapers. I used the "bunny goes hop hop hop" as an example. You may find that the "bunny goes hop hop hop" needs a size 5 diaper rather than a 4. Fat.

No point of crying over lost hair.

So I did it. I was pushed over the edge by my lovely sister-in-law Nicole into deciding to cut Noelle's bangs. It was so hard to do. I've wanted to do it for it so long, or at least something, because I can't do her hair everyday. It's just too hard. So I finally did it. I cried when the first cut was made and James fell over crying from laughing so hard. It was so bad. I did my best to fix it the best I could. I hope it looks semi-decent until it grows a bit, so I can get it re-cut. My daughter's first hair cut, and I cried like a baby. It's so bad!!! Don't humor me...I know it's bad...my poor baby. She looks as if she has a mullet.

Food with sticks

If you know our Noelle at all, you know she likes sticks. I would say the food on it, but typically that's not true. The only exception is an ice cream bar that her grandparents give her on occasion. (Or every time we're there *Wink*Wink*) I just wanted to share a photo of Noelle's love of sticks. Yummy! Oh by the way, for all of you who know...I FINALLY met my neighbor! She had a baby so I had an excuse to bring her something and meet them. Come to find out, she was my visiting teacher. What a slacker! Ha ha! It was nice to finally meet the family that has been living next to us for a year and a half now. Props for me!! Yea!!

Free Ikea Advertising

I know, I know, I'm a slacker. I have been distracted and stressed to a degree I've never known before. But I thought I would at least add some pictures and some updates. These pictures are from today. We bought some butcher paper for Noelle and inner artistic tendencies. (At least, I think so) We taped the paper to the floor and let her go wild. Unfortunately, she was less interested in drawing as she was in basically everything else. I added a photo of the final drawing, which obviously includes some of my own stick figure-esque drawings for the upcoming holiday. Also, I've included some photos of Noelle's room. As some of you might know, she didn't have her own room up until a couple of months ago. It's finally done and this is what it looks like, at least for now. Just consider this your Ikea catalog. Although the "Love Sac" is from my previous life as swinging single. She has since inherited it. It's ok, they're overrated anyway. If you haven't noticed, the room has a common theme, "bugs". I wish I could show you the sign for it. Noelle tries to do it, but is too uncoordinated. The sign is your thumb on your nose with the two fingers standing up (as if they were antennae) and then you extending and then clenching your pointer and middle finger a couple of times. I can't think of a better way to explain than that. Hopefully you can get a visual. Other than the usual, nothing is really going on in our lives. Sometimes I wish I had more to talk than Noelle, James and my family, but my world revolves around them.

"More"

I just thought I would share something I found cute. Noelle has officially learned her first sign. (as in ASL, we've been watching "Signing Time") She says and signs "more". It's so cute!!! She does it while I'm feeding her. (of course) I've been trying to get her to say "more" for a long time, but it finally stuck, along with the new sign. I've found learning some ASL has been a lot of fun for me. As an English major, I'm supposed to take a foreign language. So, I'm thinking I'm going to take ASL. Who knew it was a foreign language? (meant to be hypothetical) Also, yesterday, at my parents' house, Noelle started saying "sit, sit". She yells at the family dog, Caesar. At first, we weren't completely sure if she was swearing or what. It took us a while, but we figured it out. What a smart girl, already understanding to yell at the "dumb dog".

Another update

So let's see...it's been awhile since I've been on. Let me try and catch everyone up. On the 24th of July, also known in Utah as "Pioneer Day", James and I took our first over night away from Noelle. Thanks to my gracious mother who took her for the night, we were allowed uninhibited fun. So we chose to go the Heber Valley Railroad for their "Fiddlers and Fireworks" event. (I know, so rebellious) It was actually some of the most fun we've had in a very long time. Everything was perfect. Perfect weather, perfect setting, perfect activity. We might have to make it a tradition. I am not sure when we'll be able to have another night away from our precious yet restricting baby girl, so I'm glad we took advantage of it. There are many nights that I wish I could escape for just a moment. So I'm glad there was moral, ethical, and legal opportunity for me to fulfill that wish.


We took Noelle to the zoo recently. Although, it seemed to be bad timing for her, it still was a lot of fun for us. She seemed to be more interested in the fact that there was a "BA!" (ball) in the elephant habitat, than there were actual real life elephants. Also, the meerkats, were confused with "deggies" or "(insert panting noise)" AKA doggies. But this is a common misconception for Noelle, so nothing new. Nevertheless, a fun new experience for all of us.

James recently broke his hand. At first, they said there was a floating piece of bone in his hand and he needed a cast today. Although, when he went in for his appointment to get it, they wanted to do new x-rays and sent them to the radiologist. At this point and time, they're not sure what bone is broken. They want to wait another week to do more x-rays and see if they need to do surgery or just put on a cast. It wouldn't seem like it, but this has actually been more of a stressful experience to me, than it has been to James. So next week, I'll have to update once again.

As a reminder, mostly to myself, I start school on Wednesday. I'm actually more excited than nervous at this point. This is most likely to change, by the time I'm driving down to school on Wednesday morning. I'm officially starting my 7th year out of high school, so this seems very different and new to me. But I'm glad I'm starting later than never.

I'll keep you all updated.

We're back!

So after a short break without the Internet, we decided we couldn't survive without it. (OK well I couldn't survive). So we're back on, same old everything. Just quick to update everyone. I am officially registered for school and start next Wednesday. I found out last night the cancelled one of my classes, so I added another to the list. Now, I am taking Psychology and Philosophy of Religion. All the English classes were still closed. But I swear I am not going to put off registering for next semester like I did this time. I will register as early as possible and have an easier time at picking classes. That's all for now. I'll get back on later and do other updating.

Walking Noelle

I just wanted to quickly share the video and a picture of Noelle walking. (I finally got them!!)

Noelle's First Birthday

Well, I almost don't know how to start this one. Today was Noelle's first birthday. This time last year, she was only a couple of hours old. Bear with me as I reminisce for a little bit.

We were told a week earlier that I would have to be induced the following week if Noelle didn't come on her own. That would make me exactly 37 weeks. I had been anticipating this event for 9 months. I went in to my appointment on July 5th. After a procedure that was supposed to help me start (which I won't give the gruesome details) "worked too well" (as my OB told me) I was sent straight to the hospital. It was about 6 pm when I was admitted. They started the Pitocin and shortly after I had my epidural. They broke my water at about 8 pm. The night crawled while my anxiety level heightened. I was convinced that she would come by midnight. Well needless to say, about 7 pm the next night, and she still hadn't come. I was 90% effaced and still only at a 4 1/2. My OB suggested that I opt for a c-section, because I hadn't made any progress for hours, and my water had been broken for almost 24. (Which leaves you at a higher risk for infection) So, much to my dismay, I agreed to the c-section. After 26 hours of labor, they rolled me into the OR. I was shaking horribly because I was so nervous. And the worst part, I felt the incision, so they increased my epidural and gave me some oxygen. (At least I think it was oxygen, never did find out for sure) I almost fell asleep. After it was over, they showed me my baby and closed me up. I remember seeing her for the first time in the OR. Throughout my pregnancy, I felt like I grew to know my baby so well. For some reason, I thought this meant I would recognize her. It was strange when I looked at her and realized I didn't recognize her at all. She had pitch black hair and looked as if she had a tan. I had to force my eyes open when they were rolling me back to my room. Whatever the reason, I was exhausted and couldn't keep them open for the life of me. James remembers me snoring even though I was awake. They handed me Noelle. I couldn't understand how something so small and lightweight could be so big and heavy in utero. It was official, I was a mother. She was the most beautiful thing I've ever laid my eyes on. There IS such thing as love at first sight. I can testify of that, first hand. She was born July 6th, 2007. She was a whopping 8 lbs. 7 oz. and 20 in. even though she was 3 weeks early.

This year has been so incredible. It's been so life changing. I have felt stress, frustration, fear, wonderment, compassion and love on levels I've never felt before. I've decided to never have any more children. Then I decided that I would. I decided I couldn't wait to have another child. Then I decided I was going to wait several years. Then I came to a compromise with myself of somewhere in between. There were things I swore I would never do or things I swore I was going to do, on how I was going to raise my baby. Then I realized I had put my foot in my mouth. I can say without hesitation, that I'm a completely different person than I was a year ago. Noelle has taught me so much. I just hope I can teach her a few things too. As my delivery nurse told me right before I gave birth, "They survive in spite of us, not because of us". That line has helped me get through many tough days. It helped relieve some of the stress in hoping that I wouldn't screw her up with my mistakes as a learning mother.

I am not as apprehensive anymore. I am excited to see what the future holds for us. I am sure this year will be as amazing as the last. This time, next year, Noelle will be running around and throwing us some major sass. And then I'll swear off children again....and then I'll change my mind....again.

Today, we went to Castle Heights Park where our family and friends joined us for dinner. We thought it went really well and enjoyed everyone's company. We are so grateful for our family that has always gone beyond their callings and really have spoiled us. It was so much fun to celebrate this day with them. I am not sure this day could have been anymore perfect.

Noelle's first steps

I was chastised by my sister yesterday for not blogging enough. Fortunately, today was decently eventful. Noelle took her first steps. Sadly, James was unable to see her achieve this long awaited milestone. He was sleeping after another long night at work. Don't worry, I promptly woke him up to tell him. She unexpectedly stood up in the middle of the floor and took five steps to me....well, to the chocolate chip Rice Krispies treat that I was eating after lunch. She's so her father's daughter. Go figure she would be chasing some chocolate. You have to hand it to her, she knows what she wants. Unfortunately, we were quite unsuccessful trying to get her to do it again. Especially for the camera. She just wanted to eat it. (The camera, that is)

I guess that's it for the "eventful day". I struggled to get her to sleep tonight. So instead, we played around, like little girls at a slumber party. I was actually trying to get her to walk for the camera, but she just wanted to play.

This was me, showing Noelle how to take the obligatory self portrait for the Internet.

This was Noelle deciding that she didn't like the glasses on Mama.

This was Noelle trying to show Mama who she thinks should really be wearing the glasses.

This is Noelle, Master Diva. She knows who really looks the best with the glasses on. Oh well.

Her mama would like to apologize for the way we look. We WERE supposed to be sleeping at the time. Sometimes, I wonder who really is the parent in this relationship. It's obvious who is really in charge. No need to tell me how unflattering these pictures are, as I'm aware. I posted them against my better judgement. However, in my defense, it was really late. Sometimes, my judgement lapses during this late hour.

Well, hopefully we are able to record some of her first steps here soon. She walked several times during this late night, but by then, the camera battery had died. We'll keep trying. We're crossing our fingers for her to be walking, at least, semi-well for her first birthday on Sunday. Here's hoping...

Father's Day

Well Father's Day is officially over for us. I'm horrible with keeping gifts, so I gave James his last week sometime. I bought him a Jamie Oliver cookbook. He is his favorite. Did I mention James loves to cook? Yeah, I know...I'm pretty spoiled. I'm sure people wonder exactly what I do anyway. I am pretty good at heating up frozen dinners though. We went to James' parents on Sunday to celebrate Father's Day then. Pretty fun and pretty hot too. My nephews Malachi, Jeremiah and Bryson were running around being boys and being cute. The youngest, Elijah was just sitting on his Nanny's lap eating everything in sight. He's pretty cute. He always has the same look on his face. Good thing it's a cute one. Then tonight we celebrated with my family at the park. After my nieces played "Ring Around the Rosies" around Noelle and me for awhile, they went on a hunt for dinosaurs. Sydney tried to escape from her parents a few times, with no success. Bailee is apparently convinced there is a dinosaur growing in her tummy. I'll just have to take her word for it. Elyse was just being as cute and sweet as ever. Still too young to cause trouble. She's the prettiest baby and I just adore her.

It was James' first Father's Day. I'm so proud of him. I couldn't have asked for a better husband or father to my child. He makes having babies easy. He pulls way more than his share of the load. I know men like that are hard to come by. He absolutely takes pleasure in caring for his baby. He would do everything if I would let him. (It's actually pretty tempting.) I've never met anyone more selfless or pure-hearted. I'm lucky to even know him, let alone be married to him. I'm very grateful for him.

It's obvious that my Father-in-law, Steve, did an awesome job of raising him. He raised two of the most amiable, kindhearted, upstanding men I've ever met. He also raised 4 beautiful and incredible women. Steve is sweet, chivalrous and honorable. He loves his grand kids. I'm fortunate to have him as a Father-in-law.

I have an awesome Father, who was an example of the kind of man I should marry. He's generous, noble, loving and sweet. He's charismatic and people are just drawn to him. He can make friends with any random stranger. I'm truly blessed to call him my Dad. I wouldn't trade him for the world.

I love all the fathers in my life. I wouldn't be here without any of them. Noelle has yet to understand how lucky she is the have these men in her life. Especially in this day and age.