Saturday, January 30, 2010

Our first BIG snow .... with Noelle!!!

We got a bunch of snow overnight!!! 7" at our house to be exact. (The news said we were only supposed to get 1-3".... Ha!... WRONG!) It's soo pretty though. We thought long and hard about taking Noelle outside to make her FIRST snow angel... but then decided she may be a bit young to do that? :) Hmmmmm.

Noelle is now 4 months! She has outgrown the three month size and is in six month. She could wear three months, but she's too long for it. Six month length fits her perfectly, but is pretty big around the neck arms and belly area :) At her last doctor appointment, we found out she's in the 97th percentile for length and 70th percentile for weight. Sooo, she's long and skinny!!!! ha! ha!

She uses her hands a lot more these days..... and EVERYTHING goes in her mouth!!! She grabs her stuffed animals, goes in mouth, grabs her bib around her neck, goes in mouth, grabs mommy's hair, goes in mou ..... well ..... I usually stop her before it enters her mouth :) She gets a good daily leg work out too. When she's in her swing, on the changing table, or on her back staring at the baby Einstein gym..... those legs kick, swing, move, just pedal away!!!!! It's basically like she's riding a bike as fast as she possibly can .... in mid air!!!! It's so funny.

She has FINALLY decided that daddy and I ARE as funny as we thought they were from day one :) She smiles (and makes giggle noises) a lot. She loves it when daddy makes fart noises on her neck and belly. And she loves it when I make all sorts of funny faces and funny sounds two inches from her face. She's learning to use her voice more and more each day. She's not as quiet these days as she was, oh say a month ago. She LOVES to let you know she's in the room!

She still hasn't kicked the congestion :( It gets better... then it gets worse... then it gets better.... you get my drift.) Luckily, it's still pretty broken up, so we're thankful for that. It's just when she wakes herself up from coughing so much (and so hard) we feel awful for her!! We've given her infant Tylenol a couple times before she goes to bed to help her sleep a little better. It has really helped.

Noelle got baptized on Sunday, January 17th at the First United Methodist Church in Fairfield. Ryan and I both were so happy our family from close and afar were able to make it. The service was really nice and Noelle behaved wonderfully! (whew!) Ryan will post pictures from the service on her website.

Ryan plans to put up pictures from the month of January on her website tomorrow - Sunday 1.31 - so check it out!!!

www.noellemariekirkpatrick.com

Saturday, January 2, 2010

The start of a NEW DECADE!!!

Looking back on 2009 .... it was a great year for both Ryan and myself. Our daughter being born on September 21st was the single best day of our lives thus far. She has brought so much joy to our lives, in ways we truly can't describe. One thing we know that's certain .... life isn't about us anymore... it's all about her.... and it's a life changing adjustment that we're happy to experience, day in and day out.

I remember in the first few weeks of her life, I would freak out when she'd cry. (Ryan was more calm than I was :) I couldn't stand seeing her in "pain." Now three months later, I've realized SHE'S FINE, she's just being a baby, and that's what babies do!!! Well that's as long as she has a full belly and isn't overly tired :) When you're a first time mom and dad, you have NO IDEA what to expect and always think the worst... it's a feeling that WILL subside over time.

We also remember always wondering... will she EVER sleep longer than 2-3 hours at a time ... really??? Well, that answer is YES :) Ha! Ha! We just swore it would never happen! We thought she would only sleep 3 hours the rest of her life!!! Well not really .... but it sure seems like that after a while!!! She has always been a good sleeper and I think we took that for granted for a while. She now sleeps anywhere from 3-6 hours (at night) and it's nice :)

One saying we always like to keep in mind... "This too shall pass". Now there are some things we wish that didn't apply to, but I guess we can't have EVERYTHING our way ;)


We love to to see her smile!!! She's starting to make a little giggle when she laughs. Not all the time, but occasionally she will. Oddly enough, the laugh can turn to a cry in a matter of seconds... funny how easy that can happen :)

She's keeping her head up really well these days. It's still a bit wobbly, but much sturdier than even a few weeks ago. We put her in the bumbo seat the other night for the first time, and she did really well. Although, she gets tired in it really easy using her neck muscles to hold her head up, so we didn't keep her in it very long.

The congestion I mentioned in the previous blog is still going on. She's really been a trooper, in that she hasn't been over fussy. Luckily, it's still been pretty easy to put her to sleep, but the poor girl wakes herself up from coughing so hard. I took her to her pediatrician last week, and there's really nothing we can do about it. Dr. Marx was happy we have a humidifier in her room and said to keep that on to keep the congestion broken up. We're soo ready for her to get over this and be healthy again!!

Noelle had a great 1st Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa Lands. She met her cousins Colin and Landon for the first time, and Uncle Sean. Landon wasn't quite sure WHO she was and WHAT she was doing there, but he did great with her! Colin on the other hand knew who she was and would ask "Where's Baby Noelle?" It was so cute. She got a bunch of cute girly clothes, head bows, noise making toys, books and a little pull buggy thing mommy & daddy can push her in this summer when it's nice outside. Can't wait for that!

Being a mommy & daddy is the best thing we could ever be called.... and let me tell you... we've been called a lot of things!!!! Ha! Ha! No really, to this day, it's still sinking in that we are parents!! It's very surreal. She has brought so much joy and it can only get better.... or can it?

Check out the new pics daddy posted from the month of December!!

www.noellemariekirkpatrick.com