Teething and sickness :(

You just feel miserable :(

You have been teething since the end of October, and this morning when you woke up I went to get you and you threw up all over me. It was fantastic.. I think that it was just from all of your nasal dranage- you’ve had a cold for a few days now.

You just don’t feel well at all. You have one tooth coming in, and you are NOT a good teether at all. You just want to be with me all day. You want me to hold you and never ever put you down. I’m trying to remind myself to cherish this time, but it’s hard sometimes!

I hope you feel better soon sweetie!

On a positive note, you did find your shadow yesterday! It was so fun watching your amazement, and how you would play with it! Daddy thought it was pretty hilarious too.

You also really like the tile. You will roll over to it and then lick it. Grandma Culp is disgusted by it, but I think it is pretty funny!

(Giving the tile a nice kiss)

Finally, you also learned how to play “peek a boo” with your shirt. You kept looking down your shirt and back up. It entertained you for a good ten minutes!

Love you always!

Love, Mama

A walk in the park

Daddy and I decided to take you down to the park today that is just South of our house- Heritage Park. We hadn’t taken you there before, and the weather was just perfect so we thought we would go!

There were lots of people there having family pictures taken, and we were able to get a picture taken of the three of us!

Hopefully when you are older we will be able to go more often, and you can play on the playground there.

You also got your first experience with leaves today! You just wanted to eat them- which made the photo ops not that great. You got quite a few in your mouth- ugh.

Here are some of the pictures we took. It was so nice to get outside! You have quite the facial expressions Noelle!

Love you always!

Love, Mama

Happy Halloween!

I’m going to admit that I am way behind on posting these, but I am going to do my best to get caught up before I get so behind that I quit. :)

You had a really good time for your first Halloween. We ended up going up to Parkville to spend Halloween with Todd, Steph, and the twins. Jack and Sheryl came up and also brought your Great-Grandma Culp! I was so glad that you were able to see her again. She’s 88 years old, and I want you get spend as much time with her as possible.

During Halloween Day you wore the cutest pumpkin shirt with an orange tutu. I bought the shirt for you last year before you were even born, right after Halloween so it was super cheap. I was worried it wasn’t going to fit you, but it did! :)

You looked absolutely adorable. You loved playing with the tulle on your tutu. You sucked on it until it was literally dripping wet with spit- yummy.

Grandma and Grandpa Culp sent you a little puppy for a Halloween gift. We named her Lucy, and you love her. (Especially her tag. You love love LOVE to suck on Lucy’s tag)

We went trick or treating with Todd and Steph Douma and the twins. I can’t wait until you are actually old enough to play with them. It will be so much fun! You didn’t get the concept of trick or treating obviously, but it was still nice to get out with family and walk around. I loved seeing all the costumes. Overall we had a great time! Great Uncle Jack even played with you for a long time!!

Love you always sweet baby!

Love, Mama

The First Grandchild…

Miss Noelle Marie, you are the first grandchild on both sides of the family. Grandma and Grandpa Culp are trying to see you each month for the first year of your life. :) They came down this weekend to see you. We had a LOT of fun!

We (unsuccessfully) cheered for the Cyclones against Oklahoma State. You already know who to cheer for!

We also went to the OP Arboretum. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and the weather was perfect to be outside. You tried to eat all of the flowers!

 

Spending some time with Grandpa Culp!

This is your new “ugly face” you breathe in and out really loudly through your nose as you make this face. You think you are so funny.

Cheering on the Cyclones!!

You liked sitting in the little wooden tree stump chairs. You really wanted to take your socks off and eat the chair… oh well!

Dear Naughty Baby…

Dear Naughty Baby,

Please sleep. Mama is exhausted, and so are you. This waking up every 1.5-2 hours around the clock thing has got to stop. You aren’t getting enough sleep, I’m not getting enough sleep, and it is making me very cranky. I don’t want to be a cranky mama.

Thank you!

Love, Mama.

Whiney spurt?

You’ve been SUPER whiney lately little one. Like, obnoxiously so. You whine all.the.time.

You are also fighting naps. I think you are getting closer to crawling, because you like to “swim” on your tummy and kick your arms and legs a lot.

It can be so frustrating, because I know you are tired, and you refuse to sleep. I wish I could figure out what to do, but until then… let the whining continue? I hope not for long.

This was when you hadn’t slept in over 7 hours. It was your “oh but mama I’m still oh so cute and innocent even though I am completely exhausted but refuse to sleep”face.

At the same time you can be so incredibly sweet.. see?

You are into EVERYTHING. You want to explore, explore, explore. You especially want to explore anything you know you shouldn’t be in to. It’s so much fun! :) Actually, I love watching how you are growing and learning every day. You are so smart!

“Mama, what’s in this package?”

“Hairbows AND Diapers Mama?! How YUMMY!”

You don’t mess with your hair bows when I put them on you. That’s quite the miracle, because as soon as I put socks or tights on your feet it is your one and only mission to get them off. You have never tried that with your bows though. :)

I can’t leave you for a second without you getting into something. We’ve installed a gate at the top of the stairs to keep you from rolling down them. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back and I didn’t see you right away. I freaked out for a second, and then I found you.

You had rolled under your Step & Play Piano and were playing with the keys. You were so happy and content. You could have cared less where I was, you were just so content. I love that you can play by yourself, but at the same time I don’t want you to grow up too fast.

You were so happy! (Really, you were)

I love you sweet princess. You are my love.

Love always,

Mama

Picky, Picky, Picky

You are a picky little eater!

We’ve tried quite a few foods with you, and so far you only really like bananas.

Here's the list so far:

1. Sweet Potatoes- you can stomach them, but you are definitely not a fan.

2. Avocado- hate. You refused to eat more than 2 bites

3. Banana- Yummy! You love these.

4. Carrots- you hate these as well. You gag every time you take a bite, and then again when you have the aftertaste.

5. Peas- We just tried these tonight for the first time, but you aren’t too keen on them either. You stomached them better than the carrots, but you kept spitting them up later throughout the evening. You gagged while eating these too.

It looks like you are taking after your Mama. We’re going to try pears soon, and I think you’ll like those. You definitely have liked the bananas more than any fruit we have tried so far. I tried to take some pictures of you when you were eating the carrots, but it was hard to capture the disgust that you had for them. You kept looking at us with a “what is this crap you are feeding me” face. I want to try them again, but I do feel bad making you eat something you obviously hate.

Here are some pics!

I love you baby girl!!

Love, Mama

The Things You Do

Miss Noelle…

You have started to explore. And by explore I mean you get into everything you possibly can. ALL.THE.TIME.

It’s funny now, because you have to roll and rotate to get what you want… but I am sure you will become a handful when you can crawl. As Grandma Culp says, you are “always busy”.

Here are some of the latest adventures in the life of my favorite sweet baby girl….

1. The Dresser Challenge…

Those cedar balls must have looked REALLY yummy.

I love your “What?? What did I do??” face… stinker!

You were quite content to stay under there.. and not too happy when I pulled you out.

2. Splish Splash…

You finally learned that you can PLAY in the bathtub. You love to kick… and eat the soap.

This is FUN Mama!!

Bubbles… yum…

3. The Backyard

You love being outside. You love the wind, you love the trees..

…but you mostly want to eat the grass!

You also have a new “crinkle face” where you crinkle up your nose. It’s funny.. but not so cute.. :)

Perfect demonstration of your “crinkle face”.

I love you Noelle!

Love, Mama

Just For One Moment

We had family pictures taken today. This was the first time since you were born (well… since Mommy and Daddy’s wedding) that we actually had a family portrait taken.

I am big on pictures. I love them. I love scrapbooking, but the thing that I love the most about pictures is how they can capture a moment, a point in our lives, so perfectly. Daddy is always wanting you to have the “perfect” picture- without your hands in your mouth, without any other distractions. However, in my opinion, that would be taking YOU out of the picture.

In even a year from now you won’t always have your hands in your mouth. You won’t have your new crinkly face, you won’t have your mohawk (I hope!)… and you probably won’t have your WIDE OPEN mouth smile. I love that smile. I love when a photographer can capture you- how you are now. Just as you are.

You don’t have to have the perfect smile, or have your hand placed by your side… I want to remember what it was like now. I want to remember my precious first-born. My itty-bitty. My boogie. (Aren’t you going to love all these nicknames when you are older!)

The pictures turned out great. I love our little family. I want to continue getting these pictures taken each year… because you change so quickly. I don’t want these precious moments to go by without being frozen in time, if just for one moment.

I love you sweet baby girl.

Love,

Mama