gratitude

This mother's day meant so much to me. Sometimes I wake up and I still can't believe that I have a daughter. But I thought a lot about how far Noelle has come over the last six months. I even found myself looking at her NICU pictures and comparing them with pictures of now. I felt so grateful for her in my life and so grateful for a husband who is so unconditionally kind and takes care of us in so many ways. Everything was perfect on Mother's Day because I got to be with my amazing husband Michael and sweet daughter Noelle. Not to mention I was with my family who I love with all of my heart. Who have done so much for us. I would not be the person I am today if it wasn't for the love and the examples that my parents, and family are to me. To top it off we got to talk to my sister, Alyson, who is on a mission in Spain. It made me realize how much I miss her but how grateful I am that she is serving the Lord. The only thing that was missing was us being able to see Michael's mom and the rest of the family. We miss you guys so much and love you!

I know it's late but Happy Mother's Day to my mom and mom-in-law! I love you both so much and am so grateful for all that you have done for me and my little family.

I wanted to put a picture on here of Noelle in the NICU and some pictures of now. Just to see how much she has grown and how far she has come. I'm so grateful for the many nurses and doctors that made it possible for Noelle to live. Seriously, she would not be here if it wasn't for the amazing medical technology that is available. I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father, as he is the one that made that amazing medical technology exist. My heart is very full of this gratitude and I can't even explain it in words.

I want my friends to know that have lost their own mothers (two in particular) that I thought of you a lot on Sunday. You are amazing people and my life has been changed because of you. I know other lives have been changed because of the example and joy you have been to them. Thank you for your wonderful examples of love and strength. I know your moms are watching you today with enormous gratitude of how far you have come in life and how strong you are.

Thank you everyone for who and what you are. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

pics of Noelle (as you probably can tell, I have a really hard time picking just one or two pictures-sorry about that)

Just one day old (i think)a few days old (this was the first time I held her)
A few weeks old6 months old with her crazy hairdo after her bathNoelle with her great-grandma Fullmer (she was soooo tired)Noelle has been really tired lately and we were playing on the floor and she just fell asleep.

For those of you interested in watching a video of Noelle talking and trying to laugh :), here ya go:

Noelle's Blessing Day

Well it finally happened, Noelle was blessed last Sunday, May 3rd. Because we haven't been able to take Noelle to church we didn't bless her until now. It was the first time she came to church and she did so well. We did go to my parent's ward and my mom took care of her for most of the time, but all in all she did great. She was one of the bigger babies I've seen getting blessed, but it didn't matter. It was such a good day. The spirit was there and it was so neat hearing those words come out of Michael's mouth. I know that the spirit was speaking through him. I'm so grateful for the priesthood. It was also cool to see all our family members in the circle. I have such an amazing family, immediate and extended. We are so close to my side and Michael's and I'm so grateful for everyone and their support. Her blessing day marked such a milestone in our lives. Noelle has come so far and I can tell that she is such an amazing and strong girl. She has been such a blessing in our lives in so many ways. This last year has been hard and she has been such a joy in so many people's lives. We love her so much and feel so blessed that she is a part of our family. I don't really like this picture, but it's one of the only ones we have of the three of us. I know I've been bad at family pictures, I'll try to do better. Don't you love how Noelle's tights are huge on her :).Happy baby girlWe bought this dress all white and my mom glued in some pink beads inside the little white flowers. We wanted it to have a little color.

6th months and going strong

Happy 6 months Noelle! You've come so far and we love you so much!

Noelle had her 6th month appointment this week. She is doing so good. She weighed in at 15lbs 8oz and is 25 1/2 inches long. Here were the percentiles:

Weight: 34%

Length: 42%
Head cir: 88%

It's so hard to imagine her as a 2lb 15oz, 16 inch long baby. She is doing so well and has been so healthy this winter. We're so grateful for that. Especially as I have just gotten over a cold and the flu. Someone is really watching over her.

On another note we started Noelle on cereal this week. Since she is a preemie the doctor told us to wait until she was 6 months instead of 4. We thought she was ready earlier but we listened. The first couple of tries were interesting. But after that she really seemed to like it. Her sleeping has been crazy lately. Before we started the cereal she would wake up every 3-4 hours again to eat. Her bottle would just not last her throughout the night, she would get too hungry. The doctor told us to put in 1 tsp of cereal to every 2 oz of formula. We tried this last night and she slept almost 8 hours straight. It was wonderful. I'm hoping this will be an every night thing. I'm happy she's on the cereal and I think she is too!

Great Idea!!

My friend Brittany started a blog called The Young Mother's Club. She started it because (like a lot of you reading this right now) she is a young mother with questions. I know I have questions. I'm constantly asking my mom or others for help or suggestions on what to do in different situations. I just thought I would share this website. It's new and she is just starting to post. Spread the word if you can, to anyone. Even those who are experienced mothers or grandmothers. I think this is a great way to help each other out. So if you have questions or would like to help mothers with questions please visit the site!

Here's the link: http://youngmothersclub.blogspot.com/

I love Monsters!

So this last Saturday night my parents volunteered to watch Noelle while Michael and I went to a movie. I hadn't really thought about it but we hadn't been on a date in a while. We really needed it and had a fun time. There is nothing more grown-up than being in a movie theater with mostly kids and their parents and watching Monsters vs Aliens with 3D glasses on. Awesome huh? Well it really was. I thought the movie was hilarious. For some reason I love watching movies in 3D. Me and my sister Taylor have seen The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline in 3D. And the thought of going to see another one just got me excited. It made me laugh a lot and some of my favorite actors and actresses were the voices for the characters in the movie: Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland, and Rainn Wilson. So if you're in the mood to laugh and want to feel like a kid, go see this movie! (that's my opinion anyway). I can't wait until I can actually take my kids to these movies and enjoy it with them.

Some photos:Noelle's great grandma Fullmer gave her this little bunny for easter. She loves it for some reason and will just stare at it forever. It has a weight in it and won't fall over and she is just fascinated by it. I love her little hands. Her wrists look like they have rubber bands around them. :) Our little girl is growing so much.

Easter Sunday

I had a really good Easter Sunday. Despite the fact that my cold was still pretty bad. As RSV season in Utah is still not technically over we haven't taken Noelle to church yet. So because of that it was my turn to go to church. I'm glad I did. Our ward did an Easter program with the choir and primary singing. I loved it and really felt the spirit. It was something that I really needed. It's nice to be reminded about what the Savior did for us and really helps me to put in perspective what is truly important.

We didn't go to an Easter egg hunt this year because Noelle is still too little. Next year will be super fun though. We still had a great Easter. Here are the top 10 things I enjoyed doing on Easter (not in any particular order):

1. Spending time with Michael and Noelle.
2. Visiting Michael's grandma and other relatives.
3. Visiting my family.
4. Eating a honey glaze ham.
5. Enjoying my very favorite Cadbury mini eggs.
6. Relaxing a little.
7. Watching Nina and Tanner play with Noelle.
8. The beautiful weather.
9. The Easter program at church.
10. Talking with my mom.

We just happened to have a cute little Easter dress for Noelle. A couple days earlier I took some pictures of her in it. Again she's not smiling a whole lot because she's too preoccupied with the camera.I love her little stare and those big bright eyes! I don't know what she is looking at here.I love this one! She couldn't put her dress down and wanted to eat it.Again with the dress. What a pretty girl!She's learned how to suck on her thumb and fingers. It's actually a small blessing as she DOESN'T take a pacifier at all.

I just have to say that I love being a mom. It's the funnest, hardest, most rewarding thing I have ever done. Noelle is the joy of my life and makes me smile constantly. I am so grateful I have a wonderful husband to share this whole experience with. Noelle is such a blessing in our lives!

Silly Faces

Noelle has some very funny faces. I tried to do my own little photo shoot with her but she just would not smile. She just looks at me with these big bright eyes and stares. As if she totally knows what I'm about to do and what I want from her. Even with these silly faces she is still so cute! She has the funnest personality and sometimes shows her stubborn side.The "I'm distracted and you WON'T get my attention right now" face. She's finally grabbing on to things. The green one is her cold teething toy.The "What the heck are you doing mom and why are you talking to me like that" face. These overalls are my new favorite purchase. I love them. I finally started putting headbands and bows in her hair. Some of you may be wondering what took me so long. I just figured since we had to stay inside all the time that we didn't need to bother with the bows. Well I should have started this earlier, they are way too cute.The "I'm trying to sit up, but I can't yet and I'm getting frustrated" face. This was during my home photo shoot. I tried so many things to get her to smile and she just wouldn't. Of course she smiles when I'm not taking pictures. Grandma Fullmer bought her this cute little dress.The "I'm so tired, but I don't want to go to sleep" face. She does not take very many naps and when she does they aren't very long. She just wants to be part of all the action. Have I said that she's a little stubborn yet? She usually crashes around 10:00pm. (not always though)The "You are not getting me to smile while you have that camera in front of me" face. I just love this one. I love her pretty dark blue eyes!The "I'm concentrating hard and I'm kind of confused" face. Her eyebrows furrow like that whenever she is looking at something new and is deciding whether she likes it or not.