Chocolate Cake

Noelle is days away from turning 3, and she has never had chocolate cake -- until tonight. Neither the cake nor the icing had milk or soy, so she got to dig in. She loved it; however, she did not enjoy getting her face and hands messy (nothing new about that). She actually almost chose to quit eating after several bites because of the mess that she was making. Daddy came to the rescue and fed her the rest.



I told her that before she got up from the table she had to smile for the camera. She would smile really big, and then right before the flash change her smile to a frown. I finally got the smile on the third attempt.


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Feeding ducks with Mima

In case you were wondering, yes, it's too hot to feed ducks even at 9:30 in the morning.

Elbow Update #2

We just got back from our follow-up appointment with the orthopedist. Noelle had two more x-rays on her elbow. After careful examination, the doctor decided that we need to put Noelle in a full body cast for the next month or two. That should ensure proper healing of her elbow.

Actually, he said that she was doing very well. She doesn't have to wear the splint at all unless she is complaining of pain or is around a bunch of other kids and might get shoved down. (If the latter happens, I guarantee you I will find out about it, hunt that kid down, and make him pay!)

Thank you for praying for Noelle's elbow. We are very pleased with the report and so thankful that she never had to wear a hard cast.

Noelle's New Love

According to Noelle, this is handsatizer. It takes the place of washing hands with soap. She loves it. Feel free to ask her about it. She'll give you step-by-step instructions on how to use it.

Bathroom Entertainment

Noelle often gets bored when she is sitting on the potty. Recently she has decided to amuse herself by throwing her panties against the wall. To her great surprise and amazement her panties actually stuck to the wall one time. Since then, she always throws them hoping that they will stick. Tonight was the 4th or 5th time they've stuck. Noelle was very proud of herself! Has anyone else ever tried this?

May Farms Petting Zoo

Sarah, Noelle, and many of their MOPS friends went to a petting zoo this morning.

Sonogram #4

Sarah's appointment went well again today. Thank you for continuing to pray for us. We'll go back to the doctor in about 2 and a half weeks. We got to see the baby wave at us again today. In the first sonogram you can see an arm, leg, and a foot. The second one is a profile view.

Noelle's Favorite Way to Sing

Elbow Update

Noelle had an appointment with the orthopedist this afternoon. They took 2 more x-rays of her elbow, and the orthopedist could not see any fractures on the x-rays; however, he said that with elbow injuries in children, you pretty much consider it a fracture until you can prove otherwise. Her elbow is still swollen, and when he examined her she cried a lot, said her elbow hurt, and refused/couldn't do the movements he asked her to do. So, we are back in a splint wrapped in an ace bandage. We will see him again next Wednesday. If she seems like she is not in pain and doing well, then she won't have to wear anything. If she still can't do the movements and is in pain, she will likely have to wear a hard cast for 3 weeks.

So, you can pray that she will heal quickly and that we won't have to get a hard cast when we return next week. I'll keep you updated. Thank you for praying.

The Injury

Thursday night Noelle fell on her arm. She had 3 x-rays on Friday morning, but they couldn't tell if she had fractured her elbow or not because of the swelling. For the time being, she is wearing a splint and a sling as a precaution. We will meet with an orthopedist sometime in the next week to determine what to do. She might need a full cast, or she could just have to continue to wear the splint and sling for a little while longer. If she is doing well and they don't see a fracture on follow-up x-rays, she might not have to wear anything and be able to resume normal activities. She is doing very well and isn't complaining of pain much at all. Please pray that she heals quickly. We'll keep you posted.

Noelle didn't want me to take her picture, but I did it anyway. That's why she's crying. Notice the difference in her sling though. This is one of many examples of what an incredible mother Sarah is. She sewed on the fabric of Noelle's choice to make her sling cool. What a great idea!

Not only did Sarah make Noelle's sling cool, she made a cool sling for Baby Madeline.

Old Pictures

Here are some pictures of Noelle spending time with Gram and Baba in early April.

Sonogram #3

We had another sonogram yesterday afternoon, and everything continues to look great. Sarah is 10 weeks now. You can see the baby waving at us in the sonogram below. He/she was very active yesterday. It was fun to see the baby move around so much at just 10 weeks.

Also, Noelle now knows that Sarah is pregnant. She is very excited about being a big sister. Right now her favorite phrase is, "I'm going to have a baby!"

Plan A...Plan B

What we planned to do today: Go swimming at the pool.

What actually happened: I cleaned out my closet (probably a 3 hour job) in 15 minutes because we were anticipating a possible tornado warning for our city.

Thankfully now it looks now as if there won't be a tornado, but I really wish we could have gone to the pool.

:-)

Sonogram #2

We had another sonogram this morning, and everything continues to look great. The baby is growing as he/she should. Sarah is 9 weeks along today. Our doctor said we will schedule delivery for sometime between Christmas and New Year's (and he even mentioned that he is on call that week). We will have weekly sonograms until the end of the first trimester, so it will be fun to be able to see the baby grow from week to week.

We still haven't told Noelle yet and probably won't for a little while longer. Therefore, please do your best to refrain from screaming words like: baby, pregnancy, maternity, ultrasound, bun, oven, etc. around Noelle. Thanks!

Thought for the day

Noelle: "Hey, Daddy. You know what? In Spring we don't have to wear pants."

One of Noelle's new favorite songs