Camping and silliness

Last week we attempted going camping and that was a big adventure. This is a week long camp with my dad's side of the family and is quite the experience. Last year I tookNoelle by myself (cause Michael had to work) and she had her helmet on. It was fun, a little stressful and we only stayed two nights. This year we were so excited for it and Michael took the whole week off of work. We also found out like two days before, that we had to take a nebulizer up with us to help with Noelle's breathing. She had a viral infection of some sort and it really made it hard for her to breathe. The nebulizer helped a lot though. I really was confident at the beginning of the week that she would sleep well. Sunday night was horrible. She would just start crying and wouldn't stop for awhile until I put her on my chest to sleep. So there she stayed the whole night, me and Michael trading off. The next night she slept the whole time and we were very grateful. The next two nights were just like the first. Wednesday night was the worst. Let's just say that there were more people than just Michael and I who didn't get very much sleep. It almost seemed like she was scared and just couldn't calm down. So we decided that we needed to go home. Noelle's breathing was great but because she didn't get very much sleep and cried a lot she seemed to be getting a cold and a hoarse throat and just didn't seem herself. After making the decision to leave camp early we felt a lot less stressed. We came home Thursday night and Noelle slept like an angel and has since then. In fact she's also taken two naps a day that have lasted for two hours or more. She's been in a wonderful mood and so have we. A well rested toddler = a very happy and non-defiant toddler-and very happy parents. We're so glad that we went camping and don't regret any of it. We're going to try again in the years to come and hope Noelle will enjoy it, cause we do! Here are some things we did at camp:

- walked around the lake
- went swimming in the lake, it was so cold but Noelle liked it once she got used to it.
- had the best hot chocolate ever!
- Noelle played in the river
- Noelle played with her second cousins and in the sand
- me and Michael played cards and other games
- had delicious food
- got a ton of sun
- enjoyed everyone's help and company!

Noelle seems to be just growing so much every day. She seems to be growing taller and has got quite the little personality.

-It's so cute how she says "no" and she knows what it means but I think she thinks it means "yes" also. At least when she says it. We'll ask her if she wants to get down from her highchair and she'll say "no" but we know she means yes. It's silly really. It gets me confused sometimes :).
-When she does say yes she often says it backwards, like "sey."
-We've worked on please and thank you so much and she finally said "peas" last week. And she says "than" for thank you.
-She's talking like crazy and seems to have her own language
-She's learned to scoot on a bike (this happened at camp)
-She'll run towards us with arms wide open to give us a hug and we just love it
-She loves dogs and one day we'll get one of our own
-She has a better appetite
-She's loving the water and loves to splash
-She loves to tickle and gets such a kick out of it
-She says "pot" for potty although I don't know if she quite understands what it means. We're going to try potty training soon, maybe. And I have no idea what to look for or where to begin.

She brings so much joy into our home and makes us laugh constantly. We're so grateful for this little girl in our lives!!!

Don't you just love the water shoes and glasses?

We didn't get very many pictures at camp for some reason but here are a few:
Noelle fell asleep on the way to Payson lake. She was soooo tired!

Looks like she is posing for the camera :)

A little unsure about the lake, it was pretty cold

Getting used to the lake and having fun

with my sun glasses, she loves putting these on

She wanted to give everyone hugs there. She is hugging my cousin Jaycee. Noelle loved following her around and Jaycee was so cute with her.

She also wanted to give kisses to everyone.
Here she is giving kisses to her second cousin Taven.

on the way to a cave. It was a little scary for Noelle (and Michael having to hold her while crossing a river) and not worth the effort but oh well.

Cute picture of Noelle and Taylor

Falling asleep the second time to the lake. We took her out of the car and she didn't move for quite a while and we laid her down on this water mattress

Taven being curious about Noelle sleeping, it was so cute

Noelle helping me sweep the floor, she's so helpful ;)