Back to work.

It's time. I go back to work tomorrow after 10 short weeks at home :) Noelle will be going to a small in-home daycare in Newburgh called Empty Nest Daycare. Daddy will be dropping her off the first week.... Mommy doesn't think she can handle it. We are very happy she will get to start being around other kids and interacting with them (eventually). I will say, I have been very fortunate to be able to stay home with her for the length of time that I have. It has been the best, and most challenging 10 weeks of our life thus far. We've learned so much!

She's taught us:
#1 To have more patience
#2 The dirty dishes can wait
#3 You can function on no sleep
#4 You can get a good workout from rocking a baby to sleep
#5 You can never catch up on dirty laundry
#6 Always keep babies behinds covered or you'll regret it
#7 Don't always assume a baby is in deep sleep
#8 Every baby doesn't get soothed by car rides :)
#9 Value your free time and make the most out of it!
#10 Those tooting sounds you hear aren't necessarily daddy's anymore!!!!

Noelle is doing much better sleeping in her crib these days. We went through a spell where she did NOT like sleeping on her back. That made it pretty tough for her to sleep in her crib as she was getting NO sleep because she kept waking up fussing. I slept with her on the couch for a couple weeks and daddy slept with her one night... after that one night.... he demanded we put her back in her crib!!! ha! ha! Needless to say, getting a good nights sleep on the couch just isn't possible :) She has been doing just fine in her crib since putting her back in it. The problem now is her paci falls out of her mouth and she doesn't like that! So daddy and I make several trips to her crib each night putting the thing back in her mouth. I really want to come up with a device where paci's will NOT fall out of babies mouths. I could possibly become a billionaire if I come up with JUST the right thing!!!!

Noelle's 1st Thanksgiving was exciting. She met her four cousins, two Aunt's, two Uncle's, Great Grandma & Great Aunt for the first time! They were all excited to meet her as well. Aunt Donna traced her hand then painted it, Ty sang to her a lot, Emily was a big help with keeping the paci in her mouth and grandma was good at putting her to sleep. We are so blessed to have a family that loves her so much. And, after returning home from her big weekend, she slept for FIVE hours straight during the night. Horray!!!! Mommy & Daddy got some much needed rest as well. We were all happy campers :)

Daddy has updated her website with pictures from weeks 6-10/November.
(There are some pictures from her 1st Halloween as well).
Check it out when you can!

www.noellemariekirkpatrick.com

It's all coming together :)

Well after being home for 8 weeks with a baby... it's all starting to come together! She's becoming more predictable these days. For the first several weeks when she was fussy, she was either hungry, had a poopy diaper or had gas. Welllll, now these days, those things are usually already taken care of, so we realize it's usually because she's sleepy! If she's awake for more than an hour and she starts getting fussy.... it's because she's TIRED. Luckily, she's a pretty good self soother. It's generally never a problem getting her to sleep... just like her mommy :)

She had her eight week check-up today and her first round of SHOTS!! I thought I was going to have to leave the room and let daddy stay in the room ... but I decided to not be a baby and suck it up :) She was a perfectly content baby as the nurse prepared to give her the shots. Then BAM.... AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! She didn't like them to say the least. But we will give it to her... she only screamed bloody murder for MAYBE 5 minutes .... then she was done. She was a trooper! She is in the 95th percentile for her weight & length. Our pediatrician said... "She's a healthy little girl!" Hearing that always makes a parent proud.

She is so much fun these days. We love when she's awake and makes all sorts of sounds. She smiles SO MUCH! I mean.... daddy and I KNOW we're funny people and all.... so maybe that's why she smiles? Ha! Ha! I sing the ABC's to her a lot. I think she's catching on.... hopefully she'll be saying them by Thanksgiving so she can show the family how smart she is :)

I started singing Christmas songs to her the other night to get her in the Christmas spirit ... and she liked it for about 5 minutes then ... well.... she didn't :) The fussiness kicked in. I was a bit confused? MY mom and dad always told me I had a good singing voice growing up.... looks like Noelle proved that wrong!!! Ha! Ha!

I go back to work in two weeks ... Monday, Nov. 30th to be exact. Not really looking forward to it to say the least ... but I guess the bills don't pay themselves now do they!!! I will say, it has helped out SO MUCH that Ryan has been at the house. He usually works upstairs every morning to help me out a bit.... then moves to his office in the basement for the afternoon. I don't know what I would have done without him. I have loved spending everyday home with her, seeing all the new things she does each day. She is such a fun little girl. We ARE looking forward to the lady that will be taking care of her. We know she'll be in good hands and that's very reassuring.

So precious :)


So Happy!


Going on a walk!


Talking to Mommy!


Snoozin with Daddy!

Is it really November already?!?

It's true... when you have a child.... time sure does fly by! Noelle is 6 weeks, and growing like a weed. Let's put it this way... she doesn't miss any meals :) She smiled for us for the first time this past weekend at Grandma & Grandpa Land's house. (Well, I didn't see it... but daddy and gma did). I saw her first smile yesterday.... it was great!!! I kept making silly sounds hoping she'd do it again but it didn't work. She is making more and more different sounds these days. Daddy and I talk to her all the time and she'll reply back with one of her sounds. She is awake a lot more during the day now too, which we like, because we can interact with her more.

Noelle's favorite things to do.....
#1 Rock in the Cradle Swing
#2 Be carried around in the Baby Bjorn
#3 Go on walks in the neighborhood
#4 Listen to the Baby Einstein CD
#5 Snooze on daddy's chest
#6 Lay on the Baby Einstein Gym
#7 Enjoy all the visitors
#8 Be bounced around by mommy or daddy
#9 Go on car rides
#10 EAT!!!

I have found a new hobby - scrapbooking! I have been working on Noelle's baby album vigorously (she has two)... and enjoy it thoroughly. I should have been taking a nap (when Noelle was taking a nap) the other night, but I continued to work on her album. It's coming along nicely and we can't wait to show it off to family & friends.

Noelle was a little kitty cat for her 1st Halloween. (Picture below). Of course she was super adorable! The outfit was nice and warm to say the least.... we think she got a little too warm so we didn't keep her in it too long. She is warm natured.... so we put her in short sleeved onesie a lot. We've tried putting her in a flannel onesie when we put her to bed.... but the poor thing sweats in them! So we're laying off those until it gets really cold out.

And.... we are happy to announce that Noelle will have a GIRL cousin coming this March!!! Amanda & Sean found out yesterday they'll be seeing PINK-PINK-PINK!!!!. We are all so excited for them!!!

Daddy & our little cat!




Another festive outfit!


Mommy & Noelle relaxing


One of our favorite pictures of her :)