She Gets It

Noelle has become especially keen at noticing facial expressions. She often comments on them if she thinks they aren't appropriate for the situation. This happened again recently when we were reading the Bible as a family the other night. We were reading the Easter story, and there was a picture of Mary crying at the cross.

Noelle: "Why does she have a sad face?"

Sarah: "She's sad that Jesus died."

Noelle: "But she should be happy! He died on the cross for our sins."


That was a really cool moment for me. I've replayed that conversation in my head many times over the last few days. Yes, Noelle. She should be happy. Thank you, Lord, for allowing her to understand that.

3 Months Old

Jared turned 3 months old today! As he gets older, it is so fun seeing more of his personality. Here are some pictures and highlights of this month.

• Jared is still waking up at night. We've moved his bedtime earlier (to about 8pm), and then his last feeding of the night is usually around 10pm. He almost always wakes up between 3 and 4am, and then again at 6:30 or 7am. Thankfully, he eats and goes right back to sleep, but I'm anxiously awaiting when he'll drop that 3am feeding!
• Yesterday he rolled over from his back to his tummy. Our whole family was in the room and got to see it! It's so fun to show Noelle all of these milestones that she was doing not so long ago.
• He pretty much slept through his first trip to the zoo (3/9):
  
• He's doing great about lifting his head up when he's on his tummy. He doesn't seem to particularly love "tummy time," but he doesn't totally hate it either.
• His hair is laying down a little more, although there is a patch in the back that never stays down. I don't think he's quite ready for a haircut yet, but it won't be long!
• We bought a miracle blanket & love it! He isn't able to get out of the swaddle with this thing. (Click on the link above to see one.) I would definitely recommend this to anyone with a newborn!
• We think that this may be the little green elf that threatened to pinch Noelle on St. Patrick's day.
• We got out the bumbo today and he seemed to like it pretty well:
• He has a really sweet personality...always smiling and making happy noises. Noelle loves doting on him and making him smile:
• He still spits up a ton! (Notice his leg):
• A few more pics:

In the beginning (by Noelle)

"God said, 'let there be light,' and there was light. God said, 'let there be people,' and there were people. There was only one tree they could not eat out of...because it had a rattlesnake in it."

On the way home from church

Daddy: "Did you have a good time at Sunday School?"

Noelle: "Yes. Why weren't Mr. & Mrs. Wilson (her SS teachers) there today?"

Daddy: "I'm not sure why they weren't there today."

Noelle: "Maybe it wasn't Sunday at their house."

Great Moms Walk

I've learned firsthand over the last 3 years that motherhood is very rewarding but also very challenging! One way I've been supported as a mom is through the MOPS organization. I've been a member of a local MOPS group for 2 years and have benefited greatly from our bi-monthly meetings.

On April 17th, our local MOPS group will be participating in the Great Moms Walk to raise awareness about MOPS. It will also serve as our yearly fundraiser to offset childcare costs and to provide scholarships to other moms.

Please check out my fundraising page, www.firstgiving.com/yellowcake5, to find out more information about the event.

For all of my local friends, I'll sweeten the fundraising deal for you. :-) If you donate at least $15, I'll give you a dozen cupcakes (your choice of flavor) decorated by yours truly! If you don't live here, I'm sorry I can't deliver cupcakes to you....but I would still love your donations!

Over the next month, I'll write a couple of posts about specific ways MOPS has blessed and encouraged me, so stay tuned!

Thanks again for your support!!

Saturday Quotes

*** Noelle trips and falls in the living room and begins crying ***

Daddy: "I'm sorry you tripped, Noelle."

Noelle: "I didn't trip. I bent my leg...and I almost broke it!"


A few hours later...

Daddy: "Noelle, do you want to get on the couch and cuddle with Daddy?"

Noelle: "Why don't you cuddle yourself!"

Noelle's Kids

A few weeks ago Noelle informed us that she has 3 children: Chloe, Emma, and Sean. It gave us a chuckle, but we didn't think too much of it. We now think about them often...since we hear about them often...like every 4 minutes. Here are some things we know about Noelle's children:

• All 3 of them are five years old, yet none of them are twins. Emma is having a birthday today (or tomorrow.) She'll be 70.
  
• Noelle initially told us she doesn't have a husband. She just lives with her kids. Then after about a week she said she did have a husband, Bob. After a couple of days of hearing Noelle say, "My husband and I..." we informed her that she no longer has a husband.
  
• Her kids are very tiny and fit/live in her shoe.
• When Sarah was sewing, Noelle said that all of her kids were on a pin cushion. She then proceeded to swing them around, but they all had seat belts so they were safe.
  
• They all share a room and a bed, but each one has his/her own TV in the room.
• She said that when her kids were little they had a humongous crib and lived in an even "humongouser" house.
  
• They frequently talk in their bed and keep Noelle awake at night or wake her up early in the morning.
• They usually behave well, but sometimes she has to spank them or put them in the corner.
• They like to eat "bananas, fruits, fruit snacks, vegetables, and carrots." None of them seem to suffer from food allergies, and often eat things Noelle can't.
• For dinner, her kids had cupcakes, ice cream, lettuce, watermelon, and cake.
  
• Noelle also has 1 cat (Pepper) and 2 dogs (Cherry Cherry and Juicy Juicy).
• Recently, Noelle informed us that she also had twins (Zoe and Bobtail).
• Yesterday, Noelle and her kids drove to heaven.
  
• Just now Noelle told us, "I have so many kids I can't keep track!"
• Recently when Noelle was praying, she said, "I pray for our family." At the end of the prayer, Chris thanked her for praying for us. She said, "No...I wasn't praying for you. I was praying for me and my kids."
  

St. Patrick's Day

Jared's First Zoo Trip

Pre-Chuch Bible Story

As we were getting ready for church this morning, Noelle told us this Bible story:

"Saul was very furious. He wanted to beat up all the people in the temple, but a guy from heaven came down and told him, 'Saul, don't beat up all the people in the temple!' Saul did not listen to Jesus. He was very furious."

Thinking Ahead

"Daddy, maybe for next Christmas I could...I don't even have anything like...a computer. Next Christmas I want a computer. I could check my email."

Weird Hair Day

Noelle has had many bad hair days, but recently she had a weird hair day. She wanted 3 braids, and since we weren't going out in public, I obliged her.

Noelle's First Pudding -- Sort Of

Earlier this week, I learned that pudding mix does not have any of Noelle's allergens in it. I was really excited & we made it with rice milk. Normally rice milk is a pretty good substitute in cooking. Unfortunately, in this case it didn't work, and the pudding didn't set correctly. It had the consistency of really thick chocolate milk. Noelle was so excited about the pudding, though, and so we let her drink a little bit of it in a cup. It was messy!

February 30th

Jared's two-month birthday is February 30th, but there's no such thing as February 30th. Does that mean he won't ever be two months old?





Here are some highlights of the month, mainly so I'll remember them later.

--Stats: 11 pounds, 6 oz.; 22 3/4 inches long (both 50%)
--He got his shots today and screamed quite a bit, and bled a lot too! He needed 3 band-aids for one of his legs. Yikes!
--During the day he is still eating every 2 to 3 hours, but he'll go longer at night.
--He is sleeping better at night. It takes him a while to go to sleep after his last feeding, but then he'll sleep between 4 and 6 hours.
--He still loves his bouncer and spends plenty of time in it. :-)
--He also loves being in his sling and in my home-made Moby wrap. He almost always goes to sleep within a few minutes of being put in them & I love "baby wearing." I wish I had done it with Noelle, too. It's so nice to be able to hold him and still have 2 hands free.
--He spits up A TON! He's happy and gaining weight well, so his doctor doesn't see a need to treat him for reflux. But we go through a ton of burp cloths & clothes each day. It's a major victory if I can get through a feeding without getting spit up on me.
--Earlier this month (weeks 5 & 6) he was crying a lot in the evenings...usually when we were ready to go to sleep for the night! It peaked about 6 weeks, and has gotten much better. For a while, though, I was wondering what in the world we got ourselves into! I still wonder that sometimes, but not nearly as much.
--One of the most fun things about this month is that he's started smiling and making happy noises. (He started smiling when he was 7 weeks old, I think, and of course he smiled at Chris and Noelle before he smiled at me.)
--Noelle is continuing to do GREAT! She is an awesome big sis. Sometimes I think that she thinks she's a third parent. :-)