Noelle's First Field Trip

This is going to have to be a third-person perspective post, as I was not there today. People had warned me that the farm the preschool was going to was not exactly the best environment for someone in her third trimester. :(

Noelle has told me the highlights she'd like me to mention.

There was a pig in a pen as they walked in. She really liked this little guy. They had a huge sandbox themed area, but instead of sand it was filled with corn kernels. The kids had to take their shoes off to get in. Noelle did "corn angels". (Wonder if I'm going to find stray kernels at bathtime tonight...)

Among all the assorted farm animals one would expect, they also had kittens and puppies for the kids to play with. One little puppy kept going after the tassels on Noelle's sweater sleeve and trying to take her for a walk.

She said her favorite part of the whole trip was the hayride. She was excited that they kind of had to hunt for the pumpkins, looking under the leaves. The last place we visited that had pumpkins, they were all in huge piles and you just chose the one you wanted. This was much more authentic.

Thank you, John, for the awesome pics!

Noelle absolutely fell in love with this Bassett Hound and tried hard to catch him so she could pick him up. Good luck with that, honey.

This must have felt so cool under their little feet!

What is a farm without hay? Noelle and Lilly look like they are having a blast.

Two best friends enjoying an autumn hayride.

Yum! Creamsicles! Good thing the day finally warmed up.

These guys went easy on John and picked small pumpkins for him to carry back to the car. Aw, shucks! ;)

3-D/4-D Ultrasound

Well, these are going to be old pictures to some of you. John posted them on Facebook the other day. So this post is for those of you with no access (or who can't remember their passwords ;) ) to Facebook.

We went to a place in Bellevue to have this ultrasound done. They don't get into the diagnostic side, so I was disappointed that she wouldn't tell me how much he weighed and if my due date had changed at all. Oh, well... guess we'll find out soon enough.

Having Noelle with us made this a very different experience than when we had this done with her. We were amazed to find that the baby responds to her voice. She stood beside me and his head turned whenever she spoke to him. It was the sweetest thing!

Twice, during the procedure, he brought his foot up to his mouth and sucked on his toes. So cute!

I'm so glad we got this early chance to meet our little guy. It makes me that much more anxious to meet him in person. (Geez, tearing up like a fool right now...)

He had the umbilical cord right over his nose for the longest time. We had to capture good pictures as quickly as possible.

The technician thought he looked just like Noelle. That's the best compliment we could receive.

I thought this profile shot was very sweet.

This is John's favorite photo. Baby is on his knees with his butt up in the air. Uh... proud father moment I guess. I can't really relate. ;)

More Noelleisms

Well, it's getting closer to the birth of the baby and I'm sure I will be updating the blog with an overabundance of baby pictures. I wanted to get in a Noelle-centric post before then.

She is having a ball with this pregnancy. She sings to my belly and reads books to her little brother. She giggles hysterically when the baby kicks at her hand. The other day she was talking to him, asking if he could hear her. I said he could. Then she started tickling my belly. I asked what she was doing and she said "He can feel me tickle him, right? I'm tickling his little feet." If he's being quiet (which I am normally grateful for) she goes "Let's wake him up!" Gotta nip *that* one in the bud right now!

Last night I was heading to bed and Noelle was still awake. She called me into her room and asked when she was going to lose a tooth. I told her probably not for another two or three years. She frowned and folded her arms over her chest. "But I want to lose a tooth now!" Our little princess... so anxious to grow up. :(

And here are a few Noelleisms that I promised:

A head ick - a headache.

"Mommy, I just stumped my toe."

When entering a parking garage in the minivan - "Ah! Daddy, tell the car to dunk!"

Breakstast - modified from 'breastest' (can't wait to tease her about that one when she gets older) : meaning breakfast

Upcoming post:
We have a 4-D ultrasound on Thursday. Should get some very clear pictures of Gabriel to be able to scan in. Sure can't wait to meet our little guy!

First Day of Preschool

Our baby is growing up! Believe it or not, we got through the morning with no tears (from either Noelle or myself). She was super excited to go to school.

The teachers were amazed that the day went so smoothly. Usually someone has a meltdown and they said this was the first year that all the kids were calm.

Noelle's teacher noted that she stayed behind and was an extra help cleaning up all the toys in the playroom. Figures. She won't do that at home.

Her two favorite things to mention: snack time and outdoor time.

Oh, and later that afternoon she lined up all her teddy bears and she was the teacher - organizing circle time and teaching her bears the two new songs she had learned at school. She read to them for a long time, too. So cute!

I'm so happy that she's really enjoying herself. With the baby coming, it's good that Noelle has something major in her life that is just for her. Lots of new friends and new experiences. Yay!

"Mommy, I did it all by myself!" Noelle in her upside down sweater, all ready for school.

Don't let the pink rain boots fool you... it was an absolutely beautiful sunny day. Noelle thought they matched her outfit best, was all.

Class is held in a modular classroom while they work on new classrooms in the main building. It's brand new and very cute inside.

Noelle and Lilly, very excited to get inside and start their first day of preschool.

We were barely in the door before she'd scoped out a spot at the coloring table and got busy on her first art project. I got the bum's rush out the door right after this.

Evergreen State Fair

We had a beautiful day for the fair, yesterday. Though we are dogsitting Mr. Titus, we left the doggies home to entertain each other and enjoyed a few hours out.

Noelle loved the petting corral and the kiddie rides - though she ogled the big kid rides and conned Daddy into taking her on a couple of those.

Daddy loved that there was a cat exhibit and we were just in time for the costume contest. He voted for the Siamese, naturally.

I loved that I wasn't on a diet, this year, and could eat gyros and ice cream. Yum!

We had a great time and managed to get out of there without spending too much money. Here are some pics to commemorate the day.

Baby Gabriel's first time at the fair. I'm thinking it was a little too dark to see, still. And why did Daddy feel the need to chop my head off???

Ice cream break. The strawberry matches her sweatshirt.

Our little motorcycle mama. Forget the girlie stuff... Noelle knows what she wants.

You could hear her above everyone else - on every ride - screaming for the fun of it!

Dragging Daddy through the Haunted Pirate House. Noelle helped him be brave.

Ah, the requisite head cutout. Noelle can find them anywhere. What an alien has to do with an agricultural fair, I have no idea.

Who doesn't love a baby calf?

Enjoying a drive on a sunny afternoon.

Uh oh! We were afraid Noelle was going to insist we take this chicken home with us. She named it and held it for the longest time.

Daddy and Noelle chillin' at the fair.