Sweet Potato Pancakes....

She ate 3/4 of a pancake after eating her baby food.

Although quite a bit ended up in her hair.

Oink! Oink!

Funny Noelle-isims: She was trying to draw 'Daddy' last night and the pen stopped working. She put her arm up in the air, started shaking it around and yelling:

"This wretched, wretched, wretched pen!"

Maybe we should lay off 101 Dalmatians for a couple of weeks.

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She asked to listen to Daddy's Ipod this morning but the speakers are broken. Her response:

"Well, we need to get Daddy a new one. Do we go to Costco or Vons to get it?"

Where do we shop all the time?

Video Memory

I've been spending the last hour reading old blog posts and almost freaking out over how fast life changes.

I just had to post these two old videos of Noelle. We were camping for Mother's Day 2008. I think I must be OUT OF MY MIND because I want that little hellion back!

Do I love or hate that she is intentionally spewing milk out of her mouth?

I can say that I love it when she makes certain facial expressions her eyes kind of disappear and turn into little half moons.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Oh, Dear...

The older Noelle gets the more we see how much Noelle and her Daddy are alike.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

If you don't personally know Aaron, it's sufficient to say that, 'He's very particular about a lot of things.' He has his system and don't mess with it.

Daddy worked late last night so Noelle & I were eating dinner alone and she said:

"Mommy, Daddy needs to eat noodles with us. But first he has to change his clothes. He's gotta change his clothes first, OK? Then he has to put on his red shorts, OK? He has to put on his red shorts."

Can you tell what Aaron does everyday when he comes home from work?

I think I'm in for it.

Marin's 70.3 Mile Journey!

I was so excited to have the opportunity to go with Auntie and Unc to Sonoma this weekend to cheer on my cousin Marin while she competed in a Half Ironman Triathlon. So awesome! We arrived at the Start @ 6:00am and Madeleine was enthralled with all the people, she could feel the energy and knew something big was happening.

I made Madeleine this shirt. It was a pain in the neck but worth it because Auntie M LOVED it!

Her start time was 6:54am...they were in the water and off for the 1.2 mile swim.

The crowd waiting for the swimmers to come out of the water was huge and this little baby was a hit. Honestly, you'd thought no one had ever seen a baby before! I, of course, agree with all of them but I was so flattered with how much they loved her.

She was out of the water around 7:40, a few minutes longer than she'd hoped.

Next leg was the 56 mile bike ride through some gorgeous vineyards...don't let that fool you. She was hoping to make it in 3-4 hours. Unfortunately, there were some serious obstacles to overcome. A tree fell on the course (actually falling on three riders, seriously injuring one of them) which caused a big mess. Then, she had THREE flat tires (on her back tire!) after she used her extra two tubes she had to keep stopping to pump it up. She finally made it back after 5.5 hours. It was miserable for everyone involved!





By the time she transitioned for her 13.1 mile run the sun was blazing and it was 95 degrees out. The course for the run provided NO shade. Luckily, her friend Tim was able to join her and was a great support. After that bike ride and the heat she was spent. Horrible cramps kept her walking most of the time.

The heat was oppressive and this little baby was amazing!

I don't know why in the middle of all that beautiful country the venue they used was this high school field. It was like being on a baking stone.

Finally, the MC announced that he saw her number coming down the shoot and started playing "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey and everyone was on their feet crying. There were no words.

MMM...MMM...MMM

I think Noelle would give me the Mom of the Day award for this breakfast. She ate all the yogurt out of the container, then I filled it up with chunks of Nectarine & Strawberries with a blast of left over whipped cream on top. She thought she'd died and gone to heaven.

It's the simple things!

When Daddy Changes Your Diaper...

Be Careful!

You might end up with your shorts on your head!

I do the collages with: http://picasa.google.com/

Exhausted

A Day of Firsts

Madeleine wore her very first pony tail to church on Sunday.

So cute!

And after we were all up from our naps we enjoyed Otter Pops. Well, Madeleine just enjoyed the plastic wrapper. She was so into it that I doubt having some Popsicle would have made a difference!

Happy Birthday Uncle Jo-Jo

Don't think our ghetto homemade sign is a reflection of how much we LOVE you!

Hope your birthday is the best ever!

Madeleine had the best time out of anyone eating the sign...Noelle was a close second being in 'charge' of the sign and saying,

"No Madeleine! It's Uncle Jo-Jo's birthday party!"

Life Is Just A...

...Messy Bowl of Cherries!

Left the room for a few minutes and Noelle went to town on the cherries. She was covered in them as was the table, counter, floor and chair. They sure were yummy though! Good thing she didn't have on any clothes, they would have been ruined.

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Today's High: Noelle and Madeleine took naps at the same time today, thus, so did I.

Today's Low: Noelle's nap lasted until 7:30pm....it's gonna be a late night.

Rexburg July '09

Last Wednesday we left for Idaho to visit Aaron's family. We drove through the night and made awesome time. Given that we were so tired we just hung out around the house on Thursday; Noelle played with her cousin Macey and we played with Denise's twins, Cole & Carter, who were only a month old last time we saw them. They are so cute!

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The next day we woke up early to head out for a little adventure...Camping! Aaron's Dad and heard about these great fishing ponds where you could 'camp.' We woke up early to head out, the girls were still sleeping so when we stopped for breakfast they were still in their jammies. Fun! The drive there was kind of neat, we were driving through some one's huge cattle farm. At one point we had to stop and got to watch them move a huge heard. Real live cowboys! Ha!

When we arrived where you 'camp,' we were shocked. It literally was just an area of really tall grass, you pull up where ever you desire and set up camp. The terrible part was the grass was infested with mosquitoes. I was freaking out! We figured it out but to say the least I was regretting my decision to take my kids out in this mess. There were no mosquitoes where you fish, so Noelle & Daddy had a great time. Then huge thunderstorm moved in, rained like crazy, then moved out. Luckily, that took care of a lot of the blood suckers. We cooked foil dinners and cobbler...YUM! Noelle slept through all that, so we made s'mores for her.

The night was miserable, I literally got no sleep.

To say the least I was happy when it was over and we pulled out of that place!

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The next day was Independence Day. YEA! We rushed back to the house, showered, and headed off to the Rexburg Annual 4th of July parade. Noelle especially loved dancing to all the music but didn't really get into all the candy they throw out to you. When that was over we came home, hung out, (I took a much needed nap with Madeleine), and then BBQ'ed hamburgers. We then drove to Idaho Falls for fireworks. We had a blast playing games, the kids ran around after each other, throwing the little sapper-popper things at everyone.

Speaking of the little snapper-popper things (like my very technical term?) Noelle was addicted! I don't know who was giving them to her, probably strangers, but every time I looked up she was coming to me with a new box. If one didn't snap, she would just stomp on it! It was great.


For the second year in a row Noelle was NOT a fan of fireworks. They absolutely freak her out. I will say that we were directly underneath them and they were LOUD, but every other kid was fine! When they started it was, "Those are too scary for Noelle!" Then the tears started. Then she was sticking her head under my shirt while begging me to take her in the car. We settled on wrapping her sweater around her ears and she covered her eyes. She warmed up towards the end and cracked a couple of fingers over one eye so she could take a little peak.

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Sunday was quiet, we went to church, watched a movie, relaxed, and did our own fireworks that night. The kids, (including Aaron) loved being pyro-maniacs.

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Our last day was Monday, we had a slow morning, Daddy had fun with the girls on the quad. In typical Noelle fashion she wanted nothing to do with it for days and would not get on. I convinced her to get on to take a picture after Madeleine took a little ride in the driveway with Daddy. Soon Daddy took off and she was having the time of her life! She kept screaming, "Faster! Faster! Faster!" Good thing I was not around anymore. The we went with Denise and the kids to the park because the school district there gives out free lunches Monday-Friday. Can you believe that? It was super fun.

Lastly, we took the boat out in the afternoon. The weather was gorgeous! Kind of windy but it felt great. Once again my little girl about lost her mind when her Daddy went out on the tube. Soon she relaxed a little, let go of her death grip on me and I was able to go for a ride.

We left the next morning for out 1000 mile 14.5 hour drive home. Aaron had to be up at 5 the next morning for a meeting. Ugh. Thankfully I have great kids and we all made it home with our minds intact!