Milestones

Okay, okay... at the request of Grammy, we need to put more pictures up. I knew I was getting a little bit lazy, but come on...I'm 19 weeks pregnant and chasing around an 11 month old!

Noa really has been on the move lately. Just this week she has started to take a few steps which is sooo exciting! Her bottom two front teeth are in and she's working very hard on her top two teeth. She definitely loves saying "Dada" or "Ada" as Russ now answers to. She also says "Mama" and "nana" for banana and various clucking noises - not sure where she picked those up. And even though she's still sucking her thumb like crazy, every time I look at her I just feel like she's no longer a baby and already a kid! How time flies. But she really is an excellent baby. She's always happy and smiling and has such a great personality already. :)

We've had a lot of people come through town lately. Kris, Jenn, and Alissa came all the way from Oklahoma! Before they left they gave her an early birthday present - some really cute books - although I think Noa was more interested in the tissue paper (as usual)...



And we finally found a great deal on a 2003 Honda Odysee! Yay! My sweet husband is so good to me! This isn't a very good picture but I wanted to take one before he took it to work today.

Party time!!!!

Our neighbor and Noa's BFF Evie turned one last week! On Sunday afternoon we walked over for a fun party. First we got all cleaned up and ready... (Side note: Noa is still obsessed with bath time. She squeals every time we bring her into the bathroom and start to run the water for the tub - loves it)



Then we put on our pretty party dress. I'm amazed that Noa looks so good in yellow as it is definitely a color I avoid at all costs. But she always looks so sweet in pastels. I was finally able to get a bow in her hair too - and it stayed for a long time!!

Shelley was nice enough to watch Noa for a little bit so I could have a break. Keeping a 10 month old busy for even 30 minutes is quite a task - but a few hours?!! She enjoyed playing outside with the other kids though, even if she didn't like stepping on the crunchy grass. Shelley said she kept reaching for her if she happened to step off the blanket. Meanwhile fearless Evie was rolling around in it!! Funny... We have more pictures but they're all on Russ' camera. We'll have to download some more - it was a very nice party!!

On the go!

This girl is definitely getting around. She's cruising around the furniture and occasionally balances all by herself. I need to take more pictures and get them up, but wanted to post one of my favorites. We just love this little chick!!

Russ

Have I ever told you how much I love you? It's a whole lot. It's more than I can type. It's more than I can express. It wouldn't even fit in the back of a really big truck. Definitely doesn't fit in our Sentra. You're my babe and I love you.

Be My Valentine!

Valentine's Day is so fun! Noa spent the night at Mimi & Pops' house last night and Russ and I were able to sleep in and go out to breakfast. Of course we were ready to see her when we picked her up. Noa gave Russ a cute card (see below) and she was given way too many things! Her favorites were a Minnie Mouse balloon from Daddy, and a purse full of Valentines (which she carried around everywhere and chewed on) from Grammy.



Here's Noa's card. **You can double click on the pictures to make them bigger if you can't read what they say.**





Russ gave me a pair of slippers that I've been wanting (and needing) and a dozen pink roses. What a sweet husband! :)

Windowsill Photo Shoot

One of Noa's favorite spots is by the window in our bedroom. She usually has her cell phone in tote and puts it on the ledge, then on the floor, then on the ledge, then on the floor, then on the ledge, and so on... The light is pretty good in our room though, so it makes for some good pictures. Check out the Chicken-Chicks!!









More news: The other day we stopped at Firehouse Subs (yummy!) after my doctor's appointment and she was getting pretty wiggly while we were trying to eat. We didn't have any puffs on hand (her favorite), so I let her suck on the pickle that came with my sandwich. I thought she would be totally disgusted, but she loved it! She was fairly content the rest of the lunch and the only annoying part was the pickle juice running down her arms. Oh well. It was totally worth it.

And here's the biggest news of all: Yesterday she said "Momma" over and over again!!! Today she's back on a "Dadda" kick, but at least I had my moment!

Baby #2 news: Had another appointment this week and I'm 13 weeks along now. The doctor said everything looked great and Noa and I heard the heartbeat loud and clear. 158 beats/minute. Hmmm...fast... Maybe it's another girl. ???

Noa Withdrawals?

Sorry I have been so sporadic with my posts. We've all been sick here and my camera was also freaking out, so I couldn't download any pictures. Finally I figured out what the problem was, but realized I hadn't even taken that many pictures because it was all screwed up! So, if you're having Noa withdrawals, I'll try to remind myself to take some more pictures... Here's a few to hold you over...

Noa's been wearing pants so often because of the cold weather and because it is easier for her to crawl around in them. I miss seeing her in little dresses! One day last week when it was a little bit warmer outside I put this little dress on her and thought she looked so cute. Unfortunately, I felt bad that night when her knees were all red and worn. Back to pants for a while...


By the way... Noa's first tooth is finally coming through and her second tooth is on the way too (bottom front teeth)! I think she likes 'em. :) She's also really been into sucking her thumb lately. It came out of nowhere. She's never even like pacifiers and all the sudden a few weeks ago it was thumb, thumb, thumb. I know it might be a pain later, but we sure think it's cute now! She had a doctor's appointment last week and she's still in the 90th percentile for weight and 97th for height. She actually went down since her 6 month appointment though - so I'm sure it is all evening out. We don't want it to even out for a while though - we definitely love those rolls!!!