Today is my mom's birthday - and there is no better way to say "Happy Birthday" to her than to put new pictures up on the blog. So have a very happy birthday mom - we love you and can't wait to see you again :) Here are some of the best and brightest from vacation. There was a serious lack of any photos of anyone but her...but that isn't all that surprising!
First Beach Encounter: I'm not so sure about this beach thing...
True to form, she rejected the beach on the first visit.
Day 2: You know this isn't so bad...I got my shades and my grandma. Life is good.
Aunt Meagan and Uncle Jason were cheering me on to enjoy the beach - even though Uncle J is NOT a fan himself.
I discovered that sand was confusing but also very tasty.
And the beach makes your hair lots of fun!
And I just loved walking along the shore!
Grandpa let me swing in the waves - and that was a blast!
It is awfully bright though. Where did those sunglasses go?
I discovered that salt water was also quite tasty...especially for washing down the sand.
Then we tried the pool....her response was "ahhhhhhhhhhhh"! Literally.
But by far, Noelle's favorite place was the POOL!
LOOK AT THIS POOL BUNNY!!!!!!!!
Too cute for her own good.
Wanting to get in on the camera action.
goofing off with Grandpa on our last morning...
I'm ok with leaving the beach Mama - as long as we can go to another pool back home.
It's been a while! Life has been busy or full of vacation time. It was fun, Noelle had a blast, and she changed so much over the vacation! She was certainly the star of the whole week. I think some of our favorite memories will be all the funny things she did on vacation. It was great getting to spend a week just playing with her - and she is getting more and more of a personality every day! Part of this personality involves lot of chatty talk. Some of them are actual words, some of them are noises she learns fro her Daddy. And then some of them we don't know what they are at all. The most mysterious of these communications is what we call "Pachee"! She started doing it a bit before vacation, but then did it ALOT on the plane ride (to complete strangers of course). Now that we are back, she continues to do it, and responds to our promptings of "pachee". Basically she takes one hand, holds the wrist of her other hand, looks at you with those big blue eyes and mutters, "pachee" - although on occasion it can sound more like "bajee". Take a look for yourself...
So she wasn't doing it in the clearest fashion, but I think you get the point. And you also get a glimpse into her clearer "thank you" - which had started by a very distinct "dah doo" a couple weeks ago.
If you think you have the mystery solved on "pachee" please let us know. She talks about "pachee" everywhere. At meal time, in the carseat, in the bath, walking around the house. We've even tried other words to see if we say them and it prompts more "pachee" and therefore solves the mystery. No dice.
Maybe someday we will know... Until then, "pachee" to you and yours.
Tomorrow morning, Noelle will wake up, and the first part of breakfast will not be from Mama. We've been getting closer and closer to being fully weaned. By her first birthday we were down to only the morning feed, and lunch and dinner were successfully transitioned to whole milk after her meals. I've been looking forward to this change and dreading it all at the same time. I think she is ready though, and I think I am ready too. When I had Noelle, I decided to try to breastfeed for 6 months and re-evaluate once I hit that mark. It was really clear at 6 months that breastfeeding was one of her favorite things in the whole world, and there was no way we were ready to quit. After that 6 month mark, breast feeding just got easier and easier. It was also free and extremely good for Noelle - so I decided to keep going until she was ready. For months I got teary thinking about the end of this part of our bond, but I'm not on the verge of tears thinking about it now. She's ready as much as she can be, and it's just a little step of her growing up more and more. I've convinced myself that for each sweet baby thing she stops doing, she starts doing 2 new fun kid things that I love just as much. Even so, I will never forget how special those moments have been with her. Her little "boob laugh" as we called it when she would get so excited to eat...the early days when she would fall into a complete milk coma halfway through eating...and her extremely fidgety final days where it was like she was trying to walk/crawl/eat all at the same time. She would even just stop eating from time to time and pause to give me a huge grin - just a little way of her saying "Thanks Mama!" The good news is I still get those grins...when I go to get her out of her carseat or when I just take a minute to get her attention while she is playing with her toys. We are so blessed and fortunate to know and love this precious girl. I hope this transition is barely noticed by my girl!! We had an accidental trial day of it, when I woke up late for work on Monday. So I am hopeful that she will go on unaffected. After this process, we will work on dropping the bottles...for whatever reason she won't drink milk out of anything other than a bottle. If it's not one thing it's another, right? We'll get there...eventually!
We have been adjusting to a new life and schedule this week! Picture Friday may turn into a different day, but I'm not ready to commit to anything at the moment :) We DID get to go play at the Evans' pool this past Tuesday though, and I though you all might enjoy images of Noelle's first pool swim!!
It's like a big bath!!
Sophie loved showing Noelle how fun swimming can be.
Sophie and Kennedy had lots of questions about Noelle
The squirting polar bear was a hit
She loved it!
She also loved the starfish
And wanted me to enjoy it too!
Noelle said "thanks for taking me to the pool Mama!"
And of course it was all followed by a long and cozy nap that started in the car ride home :)
You may recall my Goals post of January...where I laid out my goals for the year. One of those goals was to do something about my job. I don't talk about my job on here much because...it's just my job. Nothing exciting, nothing much to share. I have worked for the same boss (but not done the same job) since I got out of college 8 years ago. That's pretty rare in this day and age to work for the same employer for so long!! But 2 weeks ago, I put in my resignation. And this monday - I start a NEW job! I am very pleased to announce that I am now employed by Marshall Pediatric Therapy! I will be doing some general office administration for the company and I am so excited about this transition. It's more flexibility for our family and I get to do something so positive that is helpful to so many kids and families in the Lexington area. I will miss lots of my coworkers at my old job - but I do get to keep in touch with them thanks to some minimal contract work I will do once a week for my old boss. And I am so unbelievably grateful for the steady and dependable job I have had for the last 8 years when the economy was all over the place. I am also so ready for the next though, and for all the excitement this transition will be! Pray for me - I haven't had a new job in a LONG time!! I hope they like me :)
