15 Months and growing

Noelle is 15 months old! I can't believe she has been in the family for 15 months. It feels like she has always been part of the family, but at the same time, I also feel like I just brought her home. Where does the time go?

I took her to the doctor yesterday. Here are her stats:

Weight: 19 pounds, 6 ounces (she gained 2 pounds! way to go Noelle!!!) Noelle is officially back on the "chart" that she had fallen off of before her 4 month visit. She is only in the 5%, but that's ON the chart! Woo Hoo

Height: 30-1/2" She is about average for her height. :o)

Head: 18-1/2" (apparently she has a big noggin, but I haven't noticed. I guess she just has a big brain!)

Noelle's Likes:

Food: Graham Crackers, Blueberries!, Pasta, Blueberries, Tacos, Blueberries! (sense a pattern)

Toys: Dress up clothes, She drawing pad, anything her sister will play with her

Books: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Danny the Duck, Red Fish, Blue Fish, 5 Little Monkeys

Activities: Digging in the dirt, Painting with finger paints (especially if it's edible), Dress up!

Favorite People: Melanie, Daddy, Mommy, And now... Grandparents!!! woo hoo! (this is a new development!)

Favorite Words: "Da-Da", "Mommy", "Boo" (while chasing birds), and "Ha ha ha".

This morning, Brandon put Noelle in my bed to "wake me up". She came over, gave me kisses, and snuggled me. She is truly the sweetest little thing ever. I love you Noelle!

Sleeping Arrangements...

The sleeping arrangements in Melanie's room have become a little crazy lately. Apparently the toys have protested, and kicked her out of her bed (they weren't IN her bed when I put her to sleep).

I'm just glad it was her camping out on the floor and not me. :o) Thankfully, the toys haven't made it to our room.

A Very Happy "Unbirthday" to Us!

It was a very happy "Unbirthday" to us on Wednesday when we met up with a bunch of our favorite people at the park. We made mad hatter hats, and then had a "tea" party (complete with Kool Aid and treats).

The hats were made from large white paper bags (an idea I stole from the Arizona Museum for Youth). I had originally planned a way to decorate them that involved paint and bubbles, but after testing it out with Melanie, found it wouldn't work. Thank goodness I brought colors and stickers as well!

Okay, this little boy is the son of my friend Jennifer, and I just LOVE this face, ha ha!

Here they are enjoying their treats after all the hard work went into their hats (not all the kids actually wanted to WEAR their hats, but that's okay, it was still fun and yummy)

Here are my little nephews. Aren't they studs?

And Chloe (Jennifer's little girl) She is just too adorable.

Baby Lacey even made an appearance!

After the "tea party" it was a free for all at the park. I love this park. It's over looked by people because it's not in a neighborhood, and you can't see it from any main roads. I think it's perfect.

The tire swing was a huge hit.

And then it was time for everyone to go. This was, of course, when I realized I had lost my keys and wouldn't be going ANYWHERE. *sigh*. I never found them. I suppose someone will find them while digging for gold. It may be their buried treasure. Luckily it was my spare and didn't have all my miscellaneous keys on it (like the mailbox key), but it did have my pass to the Arizona Museum for Youth. Perhaps that it was I get for stealing their craft ideas. ha ha!

Well, all in all, it was a really fun time. I hope everyone had a very happy "Unbirthday".

Natural Sciences Experiment: Day 1

Here are my little scientists.

We want to answer this question:

Do Flowers that aren't growing in the ground still drink water?

Our If/Then statement:

If flowers that aren't growing in the ground still drink water, and we put color in the water, then the flowers will drink the colored water and change colors.

The test subjects:

Vase 1 = red, Vase 2 = blue, Vase 3 = yellow, and Vase 4 = purple.

My little scientists are eagerly awaiting any change. As of day one, the obeservation is that the flowers are still white.

Family Pictures

Apparently my torture of my family extends to pictures as well. I'm sure there is something not right about a mom cutting up her children's' portraits, but I must say, it was fun putting them back together again.

And proof that I'm an equal opportunity torturer (not quite sure that "torturer" is a real word, but apparently it has made it's way into my vocabulary)... here is a picture of Brandon and myself.

I'm thinking I am going to frame them and hang them up. Yes, I'm that crazy, but the kids love them.

Little Red

I got some cute pictures of Little Red Hiding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf while we were at the museum with Grandma Traci this weekend.

Little Red is sneaking up on Wolf

Wolf spots her and starts to growl.

"Oh No!"

Little Red manages to escape (This one is my favorite)

And then there were two little reds... and one REALLY BIG, REALLY BAD wolf. :o)

Carrot Harvest

We finally harvested the rest of our carrots. We had planted "Thumb Carrots", which were only suppose to be about the size of a thumb. (Think baby carrots). But... we left them in the ground for a little longer than the packaging suggested.

Now for the Awards...

The award for the biggest carrots goes to:

Big Orange (pictured here with a typical sized carrot)

(And on the top of the pack)
And the award for weirdest looking carrot goes to:

Crazy Witch Finger (this is the best picture I took)

Piano

Sometimes in life we are asked to play solo (like last Sunday, when I, very last minute, decided to play a piano solo is Sacrement meeting... I'm still questioning my sanity).

But then sometimes we are required to play a duet.

Here's to hoping your partner is as special as these two are.

How I Love Noelle

Boy do I love my little Ms. Noelle. She is really quite the personality. She is sassy (boy howdy), sweet, and everything in between. She is also very independant. I believe she is on always on a mission, and doesn't let things like... mom... stand in her way. :o) I have taken a bunch of pictures of her recently that I want to share.

I finally got some pig tails in her hair. :o)

Is that an elephant nose? or a Trumpet? It was hard to tell what sound she was making through it.
But mom... I thought you said I needed a bath?

Don't worry daddy, I'll make your tummy feel all better... *smack!*

And her favorite thing to do... play dress up!

(No costume is truely complete without a cape)

Noelle, I love you so much. Thank you for making me smile!

Love,

Mom!

Playing Dress up At AMY

To celebrate one of my favorite cousin's birthday (Liz!), we decided to meet at the Arizona Museum for Youth (AMY) to play with the new exhibit (Fairy Tails, Frogs, and Fables). I have to say, so far I have liked all the other exhibits, but this one is by far my favorite! My girls LOVE to play dress up!!! And Friday, they had a lot of opportunities. So, here are a few pictures.

Noelle, as Alice (from Alice in Wonderland)

Three "Little Red Hiding Hoods" (no one wanted to be the big bad wolf)
Morgan

Noelle

And Melanie!

Noelle is a fairy princess

So is Melanie...

They made paper frogs and fairs. It was a fun craft.

Then Morgan decided she wanted to be a fairy too.

Queen Melanie

Queen Morgan

Princess Noelle

Princess Noelle turned into a PIG!!! Oh NO!

And so did Queen Melanie!!!

They had so much fun, they were so sad when he had to leave. The exhibit will be leaving soon, so we will have to check it out a few more times, and SOON!

Thank you Liz for having a birthday so that we had an excuse to go play! I hope you had a wonderful birthday!