Memorial Day 2009

Last weekend Noel and I took another trek to Roanoke to visit Mom, Dad and Dana. I hadn't seen Dana since Christmas!!! So it was really nice to catch up finally. We headed out to Cabo Fish Taco in Blacksburg on Saturday night, and on Sunday we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma.

Grandpa was the same as ever - he was so excited to see Noel again. She was talking up a storm...so much so that I was concerned that she would disrupt some of the people there in the Veterans Care Center! We stayed there for awhile and talked with him and Clair.

Grandma however, is not doing very well right now. We went in to see her and she has changed SO much, just in two weeks. She has not been eating or drinking much, even though she has a "feeder" come and encourage her to eat. We're wondering if maybe they're not trying very hard though, because she DID eat (and drink) some when we tried.

Two weeks ago she smiled at Noel and even wanted to hold her. Some of her sentences even made sense. But for this visit, she was glaringly thin, and she could hardly respond to us at all. She did briefly smile at Noel and touch her chin, but it was only for a second, and then she closed her eyes, and put her hand on her head. We kept asking her if she was in pain, but she just wouldn't, or maybe couldn't respond.

It was very emotional for us to see her like that. I wish she could at least tell us WHAT was wrong. To me, it just seemed like she was in an extraordinary amount of pain. I'm sure if I didn't eat much for 2-4 weeks, I'd be in pain too!

Please keep her in your prayers - she sure needs them right now. I keep calling mom and asking for updates on her condition, and I just can't stop thinking about her.

Saturday afternoon we had a "cook-in" because the weather wasn't very nice - which by the way, what is up with the rain lately?? I specifically remember a wet summer back in 2003 - it seemed like it rained everyday for 3 months. Maybe this summer will be similar - but hey, I guess I shouldn't complain given the drought situation most of the state has been in for the past few years. I wonder if the water table has recovered yet?

In some VERY good news (maybe to offset the somber tone of the beginning of this blog entry) I have an interview set up for next Friday. YAYYYY! It'd be a perfect job for me, and I hope that I get it!

I wish I could continue to stay home with Noel of course, but since I HAVE to get a job, this one would work quite well :)

The hard part of finding any job of course, is to find reliable and TRUSTWORTHY daycare. Again, it sickens me to think of leaving my baby again--AND to someone that I don't really know. But it has to be done, so I'm trying not to think about it!

Here are some pictures from last weekend -

Noel was trying to "peek" around the camera to see Dana - hahahahaha!
To the right...

To the left...

BIG kisses to Grandpa

Giving herself kisses!!

Grandpa, Clair, and Noel

Grandma, Mom, and Noel

Rita, Carol and Noel

Oyster Party

I went over to Megan's house on Saturday for a Pearl/Oyster party, wahtever you want to call it. You "dive" for an oyster, open it, and get to keep the pearl. Then you can choose whatever type of setting you want for it - a ring, earrings, a pendant, etc.

It was just a few of us, but it was nice to get out of the house and socialize for awhile. Noel didn't sleep well that day, but I've just come to accept that she's not going to unless she's in a quiet, dark room, in a crib. And if we live our lives around her naps (which are very limiting considering she's such a light sleeper), then we'd never go anywhere or do anything! Some days she's just not going to get her full naps in!

I wish I had taken some pics while we were opening oysters! I ended up opening a saltwater oyster - I purposely picked the smallest most inconspicuous one I could find - thinking that surely the least suspecting oyster would hold the most beautiful pearl.

It ended up having TWO pearls in it - which is apparently doesn't happen too often. Megan and I were both lucky enough to find an oyster with two in there. Another friend of Megan's opened up an oyster that had a blue/green pearl - it was beautiful!

Here are some pics of Leah and Noel - it was REALLY difficult to get any with BOTH of them in there because they were all over the place.

Patty cake!

Last week we all went down to Roanoke to spend some time with family. Tim ended up coming home early (darn work!), but Noel and I stayed until Wednesday - it was SO nice to be "home". I hadn't been since Christmas!

For the most part, we just relaxed. We had a cookout on Sunday to celebrate Mothers Day, and Grandpa was able to come by and share it with us. We also saw Great Great Aunts Gay, Carol, and Great Great Uncle Clair. Wow, that sounds strange to me!

Anyway, I was slightly worried that the change in scenery would disrupt Noel's sleep, but surprisingly, she did really well! It was a little difficult to sleep in the same room as her, though, since she's such a light sleeper. The first couple of nights I could hardly sleep because even rolling over in bed, I was paranoid about waking her up!

This past weekend Noel has started to do her own little version of "patty cake". We are ALWAYS singing "Patty cake, Patty cake, Bakers Man. Roll em up Roll em up, throw em in the pan!"

So now when we say "Patty cake!" she start slapping/clapping her hands together - it's SO cute. She has also started giving me big slobbery kisses. I'll say "Noel, give mommy kisses!" and she'll plant one right on my cheek. Ugh, it melts the heart!!! Mom and Dad got a video of her doing her patty caking, but unfortunately I don't have it available to upload.

She is the sweetest and most even tempered baby!

We got to hang out with Katie, Isaac, Kafi, and even some of my old co-workers.

This weekend I'm going to try to get a bunch of our baby stuff sold - Her little jumping things are taking up like half of our living area, and she really won't stay in those anymore. She'll jump for maybe 5 minutes and want out. I guess crawling is more exciting to her!

Here are some pictures from this past week -

Great Great Aunt Carol

Noel and Great Grandpa
Noel with her Great Great Aunts!

Exploring the world!!! Or, just the gymnasium.

This morning Noel and I went to "playgroup" with Megan, Hannah, and Leah. It wasn't too far from the house, plus I figured it'd be good to meet more parents in this area. I put Noel down on the playmat area for babies, but she just wasn't having it. She decided she was going to explore the entire gymnasium herself, like a big girl!! Too funny!

When it was time to eat, I had to hold her in my lap so that she wouldn't't get into the other kids food.

Such a big girl!!

When I was over at Devon's house this week, we gave Noel a Gerber Graduate "Apple Wagon Wheel". They basically kind of dissolve in your mouth and it helps them learn how to "chew" foods. She loved them! So I got her some. Here are some pics this evening of her drinking from her sippy cup and eating her little finger foods!!

Quick Update

Thought I'd upload a few pics of Noel this afternoon - she was standing up on this box, but as soon as I got the camera out, she stopped doing it!

Check out that hair!