February in Pictures

Catch up for February 2011

Twilight night with the girls. We absolutely needed Twilight themed cake pops for the occasion!

Noah and I took what is becoming our annual winter trip to Florida in February. Grams took us to a strawberry farm, and Noah had a great time. It was a beautiful day for doing such things.

We rode a tracker to the fields...

Noah carried the buckets that we filled with strawberries.

We always have to visit Boca Raton Plaza (because it is a really really good mall!), and the last few times Grams has given Noah money to throw in the fountain. I love how he's standing in this picture. So cute!

 What a sweet face.

The highlight of this particular trip was our visit to Disney World. GG was able to get us in for free and she was a trooper as we dragged her around til after dark! To get the day started though, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

 Walking in...

 Riding the tram...

 Riding another tram...

 Riding the train Pops promised him (with his conductor hat of course!).

 Noah's first look at the magical castle!

 We waited in lots of lines!

 Can't go to Disney without taking this classic photo.

 Celebration Parade: I think Noah was over-stimulated. He loved it, couldn't tear his eyes away, but stayed entirely silent the whole time.

 One of the big highlights...seeing Woody!

 More lines...

 Grams rented a stroller for Noah and this is how he like to sit in it.

 Pirates of the Caribbean ride: Noah said it was a little scary, but he did great!

 And he got a Jack Sparrow sword.

 Riding with grandma on the Alladin ride.

 We found the cast of characters putting on a show. Noah had a great view from Pops shoulders.

 The castle turned purple!

 "To infinity and beyond!" Noah's favorite cartoon character!

 He was getting so tired, he laid down on Pops shoe.

 Our crew.

 Grams bought Noah a Buzz Lightyear toy on our way out of The Magic Kingdom.

 So tired!

 Back at GG's the next day...

 Chatting with Missy the Moo Cow.

 Riding the tracker with Pops...

Noah snapped this picture of Pawpaw.

and gave him a kiss.

Gary and Lorrell drove over to GG's to see us for a bit.

(Picture is out of order) Noah was saying hello to Missy.

 

Pops had to wash off all the bugs from our road trip and he needed some help from his buddy.

 

This is Noah after helping Pops wash the car.

Going on a bike ride with Grams. Grams said he said hello to neighbors and dogs and sang as they rode around.

Beach time!

Ikea time! Only Noah could get his Grams to do this! (We did end up buying this tent.)

It's so hard to say goodbye!

(Out of order picture.) Pops and Noah hanging out before we had to leave for the airport.

At the end of February, we had a family photo shoot with Erica.

February 2011 - (I am 3-4 months pregnant with baby girl in these photos.)

Big Boy Bed

Last week, we bought Noah a "big boy bed." I scoured the web for the style I thought I wanted, but we ended up finding a bed on Craigslist that did the job. The first night we brought it home, it was too late to put it up, and Noah was pretty sad he wasn't sleeping in his big boy bed. A couple nights later though, he helped daddy put it together. He used his screw driver...super helpful! ;) We didn't get side rails, so we stuffed the perimeter of the bed with pillows, but he didn't fall out once! And he didn't get up in the night at all either. He did however pitter-patter his way to our bedroom at 4:45AM, where he slept for two more hours. I decided that morning that that sort of behavior could not continue, or else we'd have a habit on our hands. It was awfully sweet though. So now I'm in the middle of training him to stay in bed until 7:00. Which is a bit of a challenge, but I think he's doing pretty well. I've just ordered the OK to Wake alarm clock (recommended to us by Sarah) which lights up when the alarm goes off rather than making noise. Hopefully this will help him learn when he can get up. "Look for the light Noah, look for the light." This is what I will tell him. I'm sure it will work like magic...fingers crossed!

The biggest challenge with this new change is bed time. We're continuing our bed time routine of reading, singing, praying, but now after all is supposedly said and done, he sticks his head out of the door, and yells, "I need to go poop!" or "Good night mommy, good night daddy!" or "I love you Dad/Mom." or "I'm not getting out of my bed!" or "I'm getting in my bed now."  It's quite the little show, and I'm stumped as to how to stop it from happening. Hilarious sometimes, and frustrating at others.  We've also started "tucking" him in. Tonight after I tucked him in, he pulled his arm out and said, "Mom,  I broke the tuck, can you fix it?" Stinking adorable is what that is! I remember my parents tucking me in at night; dad always had the tightest tuck, and I loved it...looked forward to it. Felt in some way it was an extension of their love, which retrospectively, that's exactly what it was.  I love passing on special things like that to Noah, and one day to this little baby girl.

I'll add pictures to this post when I upload them. I've reached my all time worst at uploading and organizing photos. I don't really understand why I'm not keeping up. One of my goals before this baby comes is to get Noah's baby book in order, so hopefully I'll get my act together soon. Just wanted to at least get some of this in writing.

January in Pictures

Playing in the snow at home.

"Fixin'" things with friend, Morgan.

Sledding with Mom and Dad...mostly Dad!

Watching water skiing on youtube, and wanting to do it too! Couldn't have made his Daddy any happier if he tried! (Using swords for skis, and a lanyard for a rope.)

Saying goodbye to our friends the Matlocks.

  Sarah's sweet baby shower for Diesel.

Baby Girl

We found out yesterday that this little sprout growing inside of me is a girl! As most know, I was a little desperate for this news...I've wanted a girl so badly. Up until the moment the ultra sound tech said the words, I was praying for contentment and joy if the gender were boy instead. And I trust that the Lord would have given me such love and happiness for him, were he a him. For months I prayed over and over for this, and God gave me several verses that comforted me as I needlessly stressed over something I had no control over: "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord..." "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you..." and "The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." He also showed me how small my own ideas are compared to His. I realized that this little ones life is already in God's will and ultimate plan, and how could I possibly be disappointed in something God had already so purposefully ordained? A friend confirmed this, and so I began to feel a little better, yet continued to pray for a genuine desire to desire the things of God, rather than my own ideas of what would be perfect for my life.

So after all of this worry, the moment the tech said, "how about a girl?" (her exact words), I cried, as absolutely expected. I think I said, "really?" through my tears and then asked if she was 100% sure. She said, "how about 99.9%?" and I was quite satisfied with that answer! After the ultra sound, I rushed to the bathroom and alone in the stall, sobbed for a couple of minutes while praising God for answering my prayers. I wanted a girl for various reasons, ranging from how fun it will be to buy girl clothes, to having a balanced family without pressure to have a third, to the adult relationship I wish to have with her once she is grown up with her own family. Oh, such joy!

This amazing joy was clouded a bit by our doctor's news of a Choroid Plexus Cyst on the baby's brain. He assured us that he had never seen anything come of one of these, but he needed to disclose it to us. He downplayed it so much, I honestly didn't worry much at all about it at the time. However, come to find out later that day, Matt was worrying enough for both of us. He looked it up online and of course learned the worst case scenarios. After a bit more research together that night, we were both comforted that truly is there rarely anything abnormal that comes from a CPC, and that God is in control nonetheless. The doctor wants to continue to keep an eye on it, and so we will probably have several more ultra sounds before the birth. 1 our of 100 babies have this, and so it is not a rare diagnosis. We will continue to keep it in prayer, but are trying not to worry much about it.

Baby girl, I can't wait to hold you and kiss you and know you. I am so thankful that you get to be mine, and I will love you unconditionally no matter what. Thank you God for this blessing!