a little update

I have been a major slacker in taking pictures lately, with me being super exhausted and just not remembering to take pictures. But Noelle is growing so much and is such a smart and cute little girl. Here are some updates with her:

~She talks so much and is repeating everything.
~She loves nursery.
~She is so good at somersaults.
~She is starting to love watching this show called Caillou, which we are grateful for because this means not as much Sesame Street.
~She is continually so helpful.
~She is showing much more interest in potty training. And she even picked out her own potty. Hopefully that will start soon when I get back a little more energy.
~She loves to say "hi" to everyone.
~In the morning when we get her up she says "see you" because sometimes we say to her "it's good to see you"
~She is obsessed with wearing her belt with everything.
~She is also obsessed with band-aids and puts them on herself and her doll. She also will kiss everyone's "owies."
~She loves her stuffed animals more than ever. She has this one doggy she has named "ricky." That's my parents dog's name. Most of her dogs she calls Ricky.
~She loves playing with stamps and stickers.
~She also loves playing with play food.
~She has a major sweet tooth.
~She is still good about taking one 2 hour nap a day. Thank goodness.
~She is very very stubborn and likes to say "mine" about everything.
~She can count to ten and sometimes skips the number seven.
~She is very good at identifying colors.
~She can also identify a lot of the letters in the alphabet. And she surprised us one day a little while ago when she started telling us the letters out of nowhere.
~She loves to be outside no matter the temperature.
~She is much less picky about food lately.
I can't even keep up with all the things Noelle is learning and doing. She certainly keeps me on my toes.

Pregnancy Update
A few weeks ago we had a scare and I had to go to the hospital. I had a threatened miscarriage and so I took it easy for a little while. Today I am 13 weeks and feeling less nervous. Although I'm a worrier so it never seems to stop. My blood pressure has been pretty stable. I'm going to the doctor's this week and will ask her some other things I can do to keep it down. I really want to make it to 35 weeks or more this time. I'm trying hard to not stress over things that I have no control over. And even not stress over things I can control. This is going to be a huge goal for me and something I really need to get under control. All in all I feel optimistic and more than ever right now I know that everything is in Heavenly Father's hands.

Here are a few pictures that I actually managed to take:

Noelle really likes her toothbrush

It was snowing one day and Noelle really enjoyed watching it outside and wanted to touch it

Noelle did this with her animals. I love how much she loves animals. I can't wait until it is warmer so we can go to the zoo.

Snuggling with daddy one night

There is this other fast food place with a little playground called Arctic Circle. Noelle loved it there. Without me even asking her she will finish most of her food before playing. Here she is enjoying her mini ice cream cone. She was in heaven.

happiness quote

"Happiness comes from unselfish service. And happy homes are only those where there is daily striving to make sacrifices for each other's happiness."

Harold B. Lee

I read this quote on facebook and it really touched me and was what I needed today. I haven't been feeling the greatest over the last week and Michael has really helped me to feel better and made me smile. I definitely don't say it enough but "Michael, I appreciate you more than you know."

March for Babies Walk 2011

I know it's a ways off but I thought that I would get an early start on it this time around. I'm walking again for March for Babies this year. This will be my second year doing this and it really has a special meaning for me and my family. It's not until May 14th but I'm hoping that by posting early people can have advanced notice if they would like to donate. Last year I reached my goal of over $200 and it really meant a lot to me and my family. Thank you everyone so much for donating and to those who thought of us. Here is my personal page if you would like to donate and make a difference Team: Inspired by Noelle or you can just go to the right side of my blog and click on the "Sponsor Me" icon. Every little bit helps. You can also walk with me if you're interested in that. I'm not going to write Noelle's story because most of you already know it. But if you want to read it from the very beginning go here and then read the posts following that. Every day I thank my Heavenly Father for Noelle being in my life. She has changed me from the moment she came in to this world and she is our little miracle. I know that without the help and support of March of Dimes/March for Babies my little girl wouldn't be where she is today. Noelle is the light of my life and I can't wait for her to be a big sister. I'm hoping that I won't have a premature birth this time around but if I do I feel very blessed and confident knowing that they are in good hands.

Noelle with Daddy in the N.I.C.U.

2 year old Noelle with Daddy

*I know I post a lot pictures of how Noelle has changed since she was born but I'm very proud of her and have a lot of gratitude in my heart.
*If you will be in Utah on May 14th and would like to walk with me and our team and help raise money there is an icon for that too on my page . Michael and Noelle are the only ones so far that will be walking with me in case you were wondering :).

1st appointment and update

Yesterday we went in for my first doctor's appointment. I was a little nervous because I was going to a new doctor but I was pretty excited too. Turns out I really like our new doctor and she is really comfortable to be around. She seems to care a lot about my concerns and addresses them. My blood pressure was a little high so she really wants to catch that early and hopefully not have a repeat of my last pregnancy. The goal is 35 weeks but I'm still hoping for longer than that, we'll see. We went and had a little ultrasound too and I was really happy about that. I didn't have an ultrasound with my last pregnancy until I was about 20 weeks so this was great. The little baby was even moving and the heartbeat was great. It made it real for me and I was just beaming. I'm right on track to what the estimated due date was, which is August 8. So I'm 10.5 weeks along. I'm looking forward to getting out of the first trimester because maybe this exhaustion will lessen a little. I've been so very tired lately.

kid friendly recipes please

I know that Noelle is just in a picky food stage right now but I'm really in need of some kid friendly recipes. Besides the hotdog, mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets stuff. Noelle tends to try something when Michael does and doesn't always do it for me. Plus I'm just looking for new recipes anyway that maybe Michael and I will enjoy too. I am not a picky eater usually and neither is Michael. I would just like Noelle to enjoy her meals, is that too much to ask? So any ideas, recipes, websites, whatever would be very much appreciated! Thanks friends and family!

Indiana Christmas

*Just to warn you this is a long post with lots of pictures

We just got back from Indiana, where we spent Christmas and New Years with Michael's side of the family. We haven't been back since our reception about three years ago and obviously have never taken Noelle, so it was about time we went. We had so much fun! Here are some of our adventures...

Let's start out with the plane ride to Indiana. All I'm going to say is that it didn't go as well as I hoped but it could have been a lot worse. I can tell you one thing Noelle does not like to sit and she didn't watch the dvd player much at all. Oh and going through security they found a pocket knife in our diaper bag. Yes, it was ours and yes, I completely forgot about it. Luckily we didn't get in trouble and we even mailed it home.

Michael letting Noelle get some energy out before we got on the plane

in her airplane seat

We got in to Indiana on Thursday (dec. 23) night. We were all pretty tired but very excited to be there! Christmas Eve we made food, relaxed and just spent time together. Noelle warmed up to everyone and just loves to be the center of attention. She is also very helpful and loves to show everyone her new discoveries. She loved their dog, Sandy and Grandpa's fish. We had an delicious dinner and ate around mom's formal, dining room table. Teandra (sister-in-law) is an excellent cook and everything was amazing. We then got to open some presents and read the Christmas story. We felt so much at home there. And we LOVE their house!

Noelle trying on Grandpa Pfeil's shoes

Christmas morning started around 8:00am for us. Noelle actually slept until then. Then we all sat in a circle and opened presents. Noelle loved opening presents this year. She wanted to do it herself and loved unwrapping. She got so many fun things. Some presents we had to keep in Utah as well. And we did an early Christmas with my parents before we left. She is kind of spoiled and she currently is the only grandchild on both sides of the family. However that will change this year. Michael and I also got very blessed from both sides with some things that we both needed and wanted. Thank you so much everyone!!

This little Elmo was one of Noelle's favorites!

helping Grandpa open their gigantic present

trying to ride her little alphabet caterpillar. I think she's a little too big

Teandra, Noelle and Mark. Noelle LOVED playing with them and saying their names :)

Another activity we did was go to Lafayette and visit with some of the extended Pfeil side of the family. We've never done that. We went to Michael's Grandma's house and had really good food and company. It's about an hour drive from Fishers (which is the city Michael's family lives in).

Michael playing with the rubiks cube

playing with Grandma. She loved singing songs with Grandma too!

The ten days we were here were so much fun and so relaxing. We didn't really have a schedule and that was nice. We went to Steak -n- Shake which is one of Michael's favorites and they don't have those here in the west. It was yummy. Noelle played liked crazy with all of Grandma Pfeil's cool toys and books. She also met a neighbor's cat and loved it. (We're not cat people) Michael read his over 800 page book while we were there. I don't know how he does it, but he's a maniac when it comes to a book he likes. Michael absolutely loves playing games so he tried to get a lot of games going there. I enjoyed reading, cooking with Teandra and watching movies. We just had fun being there and around everyone. Michael's other brother Martin surprised the family and flew in from Austin, TX on Christmas day. He wanted it to be a surprise but most of us suspected it. This is the first time since our wedding that EVERYONE has been together and it was wonderful! We got family pictures taken also and we'll have those to share with everyone soon. We wish we would have gotten better sleep. Not one night did Noelle sleep all the way through. She even slept in our bed a few of those nights, which NEVER happens when we are at our home. This pregnancy has brought with it a LOT of exhaustion. I feel it more this time around. Thanks everyone for being patient with my moods and also with all the naps I took. It was just really therapeutic to be there and we're so grateful we got to go.

The Pfeil siblings: Martin, Michael, Mark and Rebecca

The brothers

Noelle watching a movie with the girls. Too bad it didn't last very long

Grandma playing some primary songs on the piano and singing for Noelle. Noelle loved this and kept asking for more.

sitting out in the cold
Noel and Noelle
The very friendly cat that Noelle loved

It seemed liked while we were there Noelle's vocabulary increased SO much and how she communicates. It's crazy how fast it happened. She is getting to be such a big girl. Without the details I'll say that Noelle was sick the last day we were there and our last night was pretty bad but she got a blessing and did great on the plane on the way home. She is still getting over it but hopefully it will end soon. We're so excited for her to be a big sister. She is so sweet and helpful and loves babies.

When we got home we rested for a bit and then went over to my parent's house. We were happily welcomed by everyone, mostly wanting to see Noelle ;). We are so blessed to have such amazing family. We wish we were closer to ALL OF THEM though. But we're hopefully going to make it out to Indiana more often than in the past. I know this post is kind of everywhere but a lot has happened since we left. We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and New Year. I'm excited for 2011. We have a lot of different things happening and some changes are coming. We're excited and anxious to see what else it brings!

We started this tradition where each Christmas you sew one or two things on your stocking that represent that year and what you did. I finally got caught up this year and I think they turned out really cute

Before we left for Indiana we went over to Michael's aunt and uncles house and some of their grandkids were over. So we did a little fhe where they did the nativity. I think Noelle was a shepherd.

Don't you love the big Elmo face right in the middle of her shepherd costume

News spreads fast...

So we were going to wait to announce this but word has gotten around to our extended family already. We thought through facebook that it would spread really fast and plus I'm getting anxious anyway. So...Noelle is going to be a big sister around August 8, 2011!!! Which means I'm only about 9 weeks along. So I'm really not that pregnant but I'm sure feeling the exhaustion and the morning sickness. More the exhaustion than anything else. I feel like I'm a mummy walking around sometimes. We're so excited and hoping that this pregnancy last a little longer than last time. But I actually feel really good about it.

p.s. We just got back from Indiana, where we spent Christmas and New Years with Michael's family. So that post to come soon :)