Empty Arms

We had a wonderful trip this weekend and introduced Noelle to a lot of her family. No one liked it when she had to leave, though. One of Chris’ grandmothers, Mimi, commented that her arms are now “cold & empty”.

Noelle traveled really well in the car and slept well in her pack-n-play. The change of scenery didn’t seem to faze her. She is such a good baby!

She is 6 weeks old as of yesterday, and she is doing great. When we weighed her this weekend, she was about 10 pounds.

We hope you enjoy the photos of our trip!

Here is Noelle with her great-great-grandmother, who is 96!

Back Row: Great-Aunt Cindy, Great-Grandma, Chris, Sarah, Baba, Uncle Scott

Front Row: Great-Grandpa, Noelle, Gram

Noelle with Mimi & Ted (Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa)

Noelle with Sarah, Grandma & Nana (Great-Grandma)

Wal-Mart

Well...Up to this point, Chris has really been the one posting all of the blogs, so I'm going to try my hand at it.

I wanted everyone to know that I made my first trip solo to Wal-Mart with Noelle yesterday. I used to HATE HATE HATE going there. Now I find that it is much more pleasant for 4 reasons:

1) I can go during the day--which means smaller crowds & not as many weirdos

2) I don't run the risk of running into former students unless they are truant or have dropped out (both real possibilities)

3) I'm not pregnant anymore and can bend down to get stuff on the bottom shelf & I don't get sick to my stomach from all of the smells

4) I have a really cute baby to keep me company--although yesterday she slept the whole time :-)

Anyway, I just strapped Noelle into her "frontpack" and we both made it just fine! I'm starting to feel more like a human now that I can get out of the house more. :-) I hope you enjoy the pictures!

--Sarah

Meeting the family

Tomorrow Sarah and I will take Noelle on her first long car ride. We're going to Carrollton and Athens to spend time with both sides of our family. We'll be back in Abilene late Monday night. At last count, Noelle will get to see her great-great-grandmother, 3 great-grandmothers, 2 great-grandfathers, 3 great-aunts, 2 great-uncles, 2 grandmothers, 2 grandfathers, an uncle, a second cousin, 4 dachshunds, a beagle, a yellow lab, and a partridge in a pear tree!

We'll post an update and some pictures after we get back. We appreciate your prayers as we travel and spend time with family.

All Dressed Up

Here are some pictures of Noelle wearing her first dress. Thankfully she has not introduced Ralph to this outfit yet.

My New Toys

More pictures

Cash, Check, or Credit Cards

We are now accepting donations for bills incurred from Noelle's chiropractor.

8 pounds, 2 ounces...Finally!

Well, it has been a crazy week and a half for us! When we went for Noelle's 2 week appointment last Monday, she had lost an ounce, and the doctor was concerned. Over the next day she was lethargic, difficult to wake up, and wasn't eating well. So, we ended up going to the hospital last Tuesday night about 8:00. The doctor thought it was one of two things: she was dehydrated and thus not getting enough calories when she ate or she had an infection and that's why she wasn't eating well. They did lots of tests, bloodwork, and x-rays Tuesday night, but they all came back fine. The doctor said that everything looked good, so she must just be dehydrated. He wanted us to stay in the hospital until Noelle was consistently eating well. We were able to leave Thursday afternoon, but he wanted to see us again on Tuesday to check her weight. Noelle ate great those next 5 days, but when we checked her weight again she had only gained two ounces when she needed to gain five. That was a really frustrating point for both of us because we thought she was doing great and expected to get a good report. Since she hadn't gained enough weight we had to cancel our weekend trip and come back 3 days later for yet another weight check. We just came home from that appointment, and we finally have good news to report. Noelle gained seven ounces over the past three days and now weighs 8 pounds, 2 ounces. She is one ounce over her birth weight and is doing great. Thank you so much for praying for the three of us.