"Daddy, you know that big, giant fish that swallowed up Jonah? That's what I did to my toothpaste."

Noelle's 1st Pumpkin

We gutted a pumpkin today for some family fun. Noelle had never done this before, but she reacted just as we predicted she would. Just check out the video below.











She finally was willing to grab more pulp on her own after we bribed her. We told her she could hold the pumpkin top if she would grab more pulp, and she quickly stuck her hand in.

Hygiene by Noelle

Sarah: "I'm going to take a shower."

Noelle: "Daddy, do you need to take a shower too?"

Chris: "What do you think?"

Noelle: "Let me smell you."

(Noelle smells my ankle.)

Noelle: "You don't need a shower. You smell good."

Recent Noelle Quotes

"I have an itchy armpit. Daddy, do you want to video me scratching my itchy armpit?"

"Sometimes....when I go potty....I like to sit here and think about my day."

On the way to Walmart this afternoon, Noelle offered the following insight:

"Daddy, it's hard to go to the potty when you're sneezing!"

New Toy

Does anybody know the battery life on these things?

Deep Thoughts

I turned 30 yesterday, and this birthday was different than any before it. This milestone was bigger, and many friends and family members took note. I was bombarded with cards, emails, phone calls, and questions all day long (actually, this started several days leading up to my birthday) of how I felt about turning 30, being so old, etc. I normally am not the type to get very caught up in the meaning of a number, but this year things were different. I truly spent a lot of time contemplating my 3 decades and coming to grips with my age, and after several long, pensive days, there was one, overriding question that I just couldn't get out of my mind:

How old must my parents be to have a son that is 30?

Yes, my parents may be much older than I ever realized, but at least they are still able to maintain a sense of humor. I received many birthday cards this year, but the one from them below was the one that made me laugh the most.

Happy Birthday!

Hey everyone! Today is Chris' 30th birthday! Feel free to wish him a happy birthday (or leave a tacky comment about being old.) I filmed Noelle answering questions about Chris' birthday, but I couldn't get it to load on blogger. Urg. Anyway, Chris, I love you and hope you have a great 3-0!

Here's a look back at Noelle's b-day wishes from years past. It's fun to see how much she's grown!

2006
2007
2008

An Instructional Video

Recently, Noelle has been using her baby dolls to show us how she is going to hold Jared. She has been very loving and sweet...most of the time.





Despite our outbursts of laughter, we are doing our best not to reinforce this.

Growing Girl

For the second time this week, Noelle and I have eaten the same thing for a meal, and she's out-eaten me! And I'm pregnant & very hungry! I wasn't prepared for this to happen so early in her life.

It was me

Dear Readers,

I know that many of you have been waiting with anticipation to find out the answer to this post. I know that it is gross that I would actually tell Noelle to blow her nose into her dirty shirt. However, since the shirt was destined for the dirty clothes, there were no tissues nearby, and most of all, since I'm lazy, I did tell her that it was okay. Of course, I could say that I was trying to be "green" and save a kleenex whenever possible.

Yours truly,
Sarah

My Awesome Wife!

As many of you know, I have an awesome wife. There are many reasons that she is awesome, but one of the more recent examples of her awesomeness was that she gave me tickets to the A&M-Arkansas game at the new Cowboys Stadium for Father's Day. Despite the outcome of the game, we had an awesome time watching the Aggies and experiencing all that is Jerry Jones World.

** This was Jared's first time to attend an Aggie game; however, he had a somewhat obstructed view.

My brief thoughts on the game:

A&M lost 47-19, but I somehow didn't come away as discouraged as you might think. It's quite puzzling that A&M had more total yards, more first downs, more time of possession, and fewer turnovers yet lost by 28 points. I'd prefer to win the game rather than the statistics. Maybe we can work toward that for next week.

We got to spend some time with a good friend of ours from back home.

It's a long way down. Just ask Sarah what she thought about it.

Jerrod Johnson spent most of the game running for his life.

Moral victory: Our band was better.

Noelle's Version

Open Letter

Dear Readers,

Tonight as we were having Noelle get undressed for her bath, she took off her shirt and blew her nose into it. One parent quickly asked her what she was doing, but the other parent jumped in and said that he or she told Noelle that if her clothes were already dirty and about to be put in the laundry hamper, it was ok for her to blow her nose in them.

So that I don't have to mention any names, please leave a comment and tell me which parent you believe has instructed Noelle to use her clothing as a Kleenex. Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

The Other Parent