A little bit of everything

It's been a while since we've posted many new pictures on the blog, so here's about a month's worth of what's been going on with us.

One Saturday in September we went to Mineral Wells to see Sarah's dad run in a race. It started at 8:00 a.m. and ended at 4:00 p.m. The goal was to run as far as you could in 8 hours. It was 95 degrees that day, but Bill still managed to run nearly 38 miles and have a smile on his face when he finished! We were all very impressed.


Noelle enjoyed watching Gramps run while being held by Grandma.


The last weekend in September there was a hot air balloon festival in Abilene. Noelle enjoyed seeing all the balloons.






Sometimes Noelle enjoys relaxing in her highchair after a big meal.

When Chris comes home from work each day he usually takes his shoes and socks off right away. Noelle enjoys playing with his socks so much that she asks him to take them off if he doesn't get them off soon enough. Who knew a dirty pair of socks could be so much fun?

Noelle also discovered that shoes double as a nice cup holder.

Last weekend we went to Waco to visit Gram and Baba. They both had fun spending time with Noelle, though Gram will tell you that she had more fun.

October 12th

Noelle has a special message for Chris:

You Know You Are a Parent of a Small Child If...

....it's only 7:30 on Saturday morning, and you've been awake for an hour, and you're already washing the sheets on your bed because they have spit-up on them. (I thought Noelle was too old for that!!)

8 Random Facts

OK...normally I don't do tags, but it's 11:30pm and I can't sleep, so I'll go for it.

1) I like to sleep with my feet hanging over the end of the bed, but don't like to hang my arm over the side. I think I'm afraid some kind of bug will crawl on me or something. Why I think it won't get my feet, I don't know.

2) My very favorite cereal is Count Chocula, which I'm sad to say is also one of Dwight Schrute's favorites.

3) Speaking of which, I'm in the middle of watching all episodes of The Office in order. Gotta get ready for September 27th!! I'm about halfway through Season 3. I started this when I was sick and actually watched all of the episodes and bonus material (including all commentaries) for Season 1. Wow I feel cool.

4) I like the colors orange and brown, but only because I feel sorry for them because no one's favorite colors are ever orange or brown. (Although, I am getting to where I genuinely like brown.)

5) Favorite movies: Father of the Bride, Home Alone, and The Spanish Prisoner.

6) I love going to the beach. It's been more than 2 years since we've been and I think I'm having withdrawal issues.

7) My closet is always a wreck. I can spend hours organizing it and 3 days later it's trashed. Thank goodness Chris has his own closet because it would drive him crazy. (His shirts are even arranged by color!) It's ironic that my closet is technically the only room in our whole house that has all interior walls in case of a tornado.

8) When Chris and I were in college, we would actually hold hands while we rode our bikes. Ahhh, how sweet.

I won't tag anyone, but feel free to add your own 8 random facts to your blogs if you want!

I think it's time to pick this battle...

I've heard the advice that as parents you need to know when to pick your battles. At our house, there are definite "no-no's" like the remote controls and our floor lamp. One battle that I didn't really care about was Noelle touching the dog door. Our computer is close to the dog door, and frankly it gives her something to do while I'm checking blogs & email. :-) Well, the other day she got brave and made it all the way outside. We couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures before we rescued her. As soon as she realized that she was alone outside, she began to cry and sign "help" repeatedly. Chris opened the dog door so she could crawl back inside, but that actually made matters worse because it scared her. She went from crying to screaming. Chris quickly went outside and picked her up, and she was fine. She was only outside for about 15 seconds, but it was long enough to make her much more hesitant to touch the dog door now. Still, we may be adding another "no-no" to our list.

Now I Really Have to Baby Proof

For months people have told us that one day Noelle would just let go and walk across the room. Well, today was that day!! It's so funny...she looks like a little Frankenstein baby. She has been taking steps little by little for the last couple of weeks, but it was always to me or Chris. Today she got the courage up to walk across the middle of the room toward no particular person or thing. At one point, she walked from our bedroom to the living room!

The ironic thing was that Chris' mom was here for a weekend visit, and Noelle didn't start this until about an hour after she left. I think his mom wishes she stuck around a little longer now. Here's a video of the special moment!

My to-do list for tomorrow: Finish installing cabinet locks! (I only got 3 done when she started crawling.) :-)

One of Those Days

Sarah's back blogging...I have to tell you about my day yesterday. It's just proof that a woman's work is never done. :-) Thursdays I usually try to get my major housecleaning done. Usually I get quite a bit done, but yesterday I only managed to mop and clean the bathrooms. Still it was better than nothing. Anyway, less than an hour later at lunch, Noelle threw quite a bit of food on the floor along with her sippy cup that splattered. Then when I gave her a bath she tinkled on the floor before I got her into the tub. (Those two incidences almost put me over the edge because I HATE mopping.) Then after her bath I had to put her in her crib for a split second to go get diaper cream from the other room. You guessed it...she tinkled in the crib. Then as we were getting her ready for bed she squirmed so much that I didn't quite get her diaper centered correctly and she tinkled on me as I read her a Bible story. Urg!! At least she's well hydrated.

Then today as I was putting clothes up in her room, she decided to keep herself entertained by opening all of the drawers, pulling stuff out, and then taking the diapers out of her diaper stacker. I don't know how I manage to get anything done!!

Besides that, Chris and I have challenged each other to give up desserts and fast food until December. Exceptions: 1) We get 1 splurge a month...mine will be a Black Tie Mousse Cake at Olive Garden 2) We will eat what we're served at other people's houses or at church functions, even if it's fast food (like pizza, etc.) So if you invite us over, feel free to serve McDonalds. :-) Anyway, I can't tell you how badly I wanted a chocolate bar and a quarter pounder with cheese yesterday!!! But I perservered because I'm looking forward to my cheesecake!

A really fun thing about yesterday was that Noelle got haircut #4. This time, though, it was a "big girl" haircut complete with a blow dry and curling iron. It was too cute! I had it cut shorter so that we have the option of wearing it without a ponytail or pigtails. (She's getting to where she pulls bows and ponytails out sometimes.) Here are pictures, but don't expect her to look this cute, because I'm not brave enough to use a curling iron on her hair.

Also, here's a cute picture of her using her high chair as a walker. She's taken her official first steps, but still won't walk by herself unless it's to one of us.

OK...gotta go, Noelle is sticking her toys out the dog door!