Random Pictures

Once again, not much going on. We're planning two major bedroom overhauls - Noelle is getting a new 'big girl' bed and is moving into the bedroom at the end of the hall. She is very excited to help me paint her new room purple. We've bought the bedding and now we're just waiting for the bed... which happened to be on back order. Once her room is done we'll concentrate on the nursery. This one I'm looking forward to, as we couldn't do much to Noelle's nursery in our old apartment.

So when those rooms are complete I'll have some before and after shots to share. Also coming up, another ultrasound on Aug. 5th. The last one, though the technician could tell it was a boy, didn't come with the best pictures. Hopefully he'll show up nice and clear this next time around. Everyone cross your fingers!

And now for the random pictures. No particular order... just... random.

We've got the Microsoft Company Picnic on Saturday. Wow - an actual event to document! I'll try to update on Sunday.

Until then...

Noelle came to me, distraught, because she needed a "marcher's hat", as she put it. I dug through my old preschool teacher memory banks and came up with this. She was thrilled. I was giggling. ;)
Just a pretty sign of summer. The previous owner of the house told me she took a class on roses. We got lucky and inherited a no-maintenance beautiful yard.
I'm nervous about posting this pregnancy photo... so you all have to promise that you notice my stomach is WAY bigger than normal. Noelle kisses my belly, sings to her brother and reads him stories. She gets disappointed when he doesn't say 'hi' back. And when I mention that he kicks, she suggests he go on a time out. Already trying to get him in trouble...

Visiting Grammie and the Gang

Well, we've been lucky up until this trip. This was the first time we have had to deal with flight delays and cancellations as parents. Not fun! It will be quite a while before this family flies the friendly skies again.

But the trip was fun. Noelle got to see Grammie and her aunts and cousins. We had beautiful weather, for the most part. I got pretty red just sitting out on the deck for a morning. It's a nice tan, now, though!

We usually make the trip around Thanksgiving or Christmas, so it was great to be able to visit while all the beach shops and amusement park/zoo were open. Noelle and her cousin, Emily, had a blast at the zoo. They got to pet a snake and ride on an elephant. Noelle spent some time playing at her cousin, Charlie's, house. She thinks he's got some really cool outdoor toys.

It was a really nice time and we were happy to be able to see everyone. Julie and Emily came all the way out from Vermont. Uncle Ernie came down from Bass Harbor to treat us all to lunch. We talked to Gram Helen on the phone a couple of times. It was great to catch up with all the relatives.

I think we dragged the camera out about halfway through the trip. Isn't that awful? So here are a few of the pictures we did manage to get.

Noelle beat out Grammie right until the last frame... where they ended up in a tie. Too funny!

Noelle and Grammie on the last day of our visit. Noelle has been talking nonstop about her since.

Charlie had to be bribed to sit this close to his cousin. You should have seen him when she gave him a goodbye kiss and a hug. ;)

Julie, Emily and Noelle got to ride an elephant at the zoo. They wouldn't let me get too close so this was the best picture I could get.

The girls bought some food for the goats. These guys weren't as greedy as the deer, who would knock your hand away from the food dispenser and help themselves once the money was paid.

This was a play-'til-you-win game. We were here for a while...

Sorry I cut your head off a little, Em! The girls had so much fun hanging out together.

No News Is Good News

Okay, so it's been a while since I posted. I've given up on John scanning those ultrasound pics so we'll just abandon that post. Everyone who reads this already knows we're having another baby in November. I will post one funny "we're pregnant" picture and leave it at that.

Not much has been going on here. Morning sickness, or rather evening sickness, has kept me pretty miserable since about week seven. I'm now almost 13 weeks and it's starting to taper off. Thank goodness! The baby still doesn't let me drink coffee or eat more than a bite of chocolate. I still prefer fruit to anything too sweet. Guess I should be grateful. ;)

We had a mini-heatwave this weekend. While John won't agree with me, I think the high temps and sunny weather were a welcome change to the 50 degree temps and drizzle. Noelle is finally able to enjoy the sandbox we bought her ages ago. My lilacs are blooming and smell delicious! Give me a little sunshine and I'm a happy camper.

Anyway, here are a few random pictures of no particular event - just a way to get them off the camera.

Noelle "reading" the home pregnancy test.

Noelle's best friend, Lilly, had a Blues Clues birthday party at the end of March.
One of many teddy bear picnics
I love this jumper.
Gizmo follows Noelle everywhere. He loves her so much.
Noelle's new career choice: a rock star. I think she already looks the part.

Birthday Trip to Leavenworth

Saturday birthdays are so rare that I wanted to do something special for this one. Leavenworth is a little Bavarian village just two hours from Bothell. You have to drive over the mountain to get to it and the views are just breathtaking.

We woke up to snow and Noelle suggested we celebrate Christmas, again, instead. :P We were worried about getting over the pass w/o traction tires, but the roads were pretty clear. It snowed on and off through the weekend and made for very bizarre April weather.

There were lots of shops to explore and we found a few treasures to take home. Daddy and Noelle took me out for a yummy filet mignon dinner on Saturday night. We all had a great time. Noelle was very excited to sleep in her own 'big girl bed'.

Thank you to Hannah for taking such good care of Gizmo. He's still a little miffed that he got left behind. Poor guy!

Here are a few photos (taken with John's cell phone as we forgot the digital camera). Oops! My apologies for how tiny they turned out... hopefully they show up larger when clicked on.

Noelle and I on the way to check in... this is more of a fluffy hail than snow... so weird!
A view of the mountains from the hotel parking lot. Gorgeous!
Noelle posing with some friends outside a doll shop. She said they weren't babies, they were kids.
I found my body double in a shop window. Ain't she a looker!
"Bug Girl" trying on hats in the hat shop.

Happy Easter!

Saturday morning we went to the Bothell Community Egg Hunt. They had this huge field marked off in sections so they could separate kids by age groups. The gross part about it was that there were pieces of foil wrapped chocolates tossed on the ground amongst the plastic eggs. The funny part was that the kids had the entire field cleared in exactly three minutes!

This morning Noelle managed to stay in bed until almost 7am. It had started pouring so the Easter Bunny didn't get to hide his eggs outside. Noelle was pretty excited about her loot. Because of the rain, the Easter Bunny was feeling pretty lazy... and had to wait until Noelle took a nap to hide the eggs inside. We can't wait for a yummy Easter dinner.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Noelle gave the Easter Bunny hugs at the egg hunt.
Someone got a little cranky that she had to wait behind the pink line until the whistle sounded. Then she went straight for all the icky chocolates on the bare ground. She didn't even try to get the plastic eggs. The other kids raced. Noelle was very methodical.
Noelle was quite impressed with the fact that the Easter Bunny seemed to know exactly the things she enjoyed most. What a smart rabbit!
With Mommy and Daddy's help she found all of the eggs. She had to stop and eat something out of each one before she put it in her basket and moved on. And, yes, she picked out her own outfit today. ;)