Memorial Day, AN 18 MONTH OLD, and G2!!!

What a beautiful weekend for Memorial Day!  We honestly could not have asked for better weather...what a blessing!  It was a wonderful weekend around the Giedd household!  We got A LOT of yard work done...digging up old flower beds to plant grass, got our garden planted, mowed the lawn, weed-wacked, cleaned up some landscaping in the front of the house...it is finally starting to look nice!  Next up....our back deck!!!

Our new Cub Cadet zero turn lawn mower!  Works wonderfully and Mike enjoys using it :)

Front Steps!

Cleaned out rock bed and dug up flower bed to plant grass!

Garden is planted!

Our beautiful tree has bloomed!

So Pretty!

Guess What!!!  WE HAVE AN 18 MONTH OLD!  I don't know where the time is going, but it is flying!  It is funny, because I haven't paid as close attention to the months now that we are past the first year, so it seems like this 18th month of Noell's life snuck up on me!  We got her pictures taken by Kaylyn Halama during her apple orchard sessions, so we are looking forward to seeing those!  Here are some updates over the past two weeks of our growing gal :)

Updates for Noell over the past couple of weeks....

New Words:  car, tractor, star.

Noell's newest discovery:  WHAT WE USE TO HEAR!!! We were sitting with Noell and Mike had his ear phones plugged into his cell phone and had something on, so the noise was coming through the ear pieces.  Noell would hold the ear piece up to her ear, take it away and look at it, then put it back up to her ear!  She did this for a while, and then she held them up to momma and dada's ears....even Katie's ears!  It was fun to watch her make that discovery :)

Favorite Toys:  Slides!  Noell loves slides...big or small, feet first or head first...she loves them and has no fear!

Next: G2 Update-- 17 & 18 Weeks

Growing Baby:  Size of a bell pepper!  He or she is about 5 1/2 inches long and about 7 ounces.  The blood vessels are visible through the thin skin, and ears are now in their final position. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around the baby's nerves.

Memorable Moments: In my last post, I had stated that I had felt the baby move a couple times...well at the end of this past week I was getting a little nervous as I still had only felt the baby move here and there...not very much (I know its normal...).  So I went back to my previous posts to see when Noell moved and I felt her move for the first time at 18 weeks and Mike felt her at 20 weeks...so I was just getting myself all worked up that something was wrong.  Well, the baby must have sense that because like clock work, he or she is moving quite a bit as I put Noell to bed and rest my body for the day and today it has been moving like crazy!  Keep it up little one...Momma likes it :)

We also had our 16 week appointment last Friday (May 16).  It took a while for my midwife to find the heartbeat which was a little scary since we heard it immediately at 12 weeks.  We could hear it faintly in a couple spots and then finally on the left side of my stomach we heard it beating clear and strong!  Of course we were both relieved that I never asked and she never told me the bmp.

Cravings:  Nothing really...whatever sounds good :)

Missing Anything:  I could have really went for a cold beer by the campfire tonight...but I think I enjoyed the movement in my belly a little more!!!

Changes:  More movement...finally :)

Looking Forward To:  We have the ultrasound set for Thursday, June 12!!!  I can't wait to finally see G2!!!  I thought of the the MOST AMAZING gender reveal that I have never, ever seen before....I'm almost wanting to find out the gender just to do the reveal...but I really don't want to know what G2 to is until delivery....ah, decisions ;)

Below are pictures for 17 & 18 weeks...I just noticed that I have been wearing a lot of blue for the pictures...coincidence???

Noell, G2, and Mother's Day

Well Mother's Day has been a wonderful day!  I cannot explain how full my heart is having such great role models for what a great mother is, and how blessed I am to be a mother to a beautiful little girl and my fur baby!  Mother's Day looked a little like this:  breakfast in bed from my hubby and Noell, church, had a lunch with my mom, dad, Grandma Carol, Papa Roger, and aunts and uncles, a long nap, planted some flowers and did a little landscaping in the front of our house, spent some time with my Grandma Mary.  Below are some pictures of my little Noell and I on Mother's Day 2014 with our newly planted flowers (yes, I did it all by myself...never thought the day would come)!

Noell blowing kisses!

Kisses for Momma!

Next: G2 Update-- 16 Weeks (trying a new format)

Growing Baby:  Size of an avacado (4 1/2 inches long and 3 1/2 ounces).  The baby's eyes are moving more to the front of the head and the ears are almost in their final position.  G2's heart is pumping approximately 25quarts of blood each day.  AND, he/she is starting to grow toenails!!!

Memorable Moments:  I have started to feel baby G2 move over the past week or so.  It is very small movements that of course make me question if it really is the baby, but I know that it is AND I am starting to feel those movements more regularly just over the weekend!

Cravings:  I am craving a lot of random things.  I will crave them for a few days or a week and then move on to something new!  Lately it has been salads (not a bad craving to have) and tacos!

Missing Anything:  I of course miss the occasional glass of wine…especially when I see people posting pictures enjoying a glass at a beautiful vineyard!

Changes:  Just getting a bigger belly at this point.  I can still wear my wedding ring (which I did through my whole pregnancy with Noell).  I wear maternity pants…they are so much more comfortable at this point so why not!  I am still wearing regular shirts!

Looking Forward To:  I am looking forward to our appointment on Friday!  I am excited to hear baby's heartbeat again!  I will also be scheduling our ultrasound appointment as well...time is flying!

Noell Update-- 17 1/2 months.  Noell is growing so much everyday...it is unbelievable!

New Words / Phrases / sign language:  ducky, shoe, up, stop it, wow, puppy, baby, got it, starting to work on signing for water...she picked it up after I showed her one time...it was fun to watch her do it (although to anyone that knows the sign for water would have no idea at this point that is what she is saying...we will keep working on it)!

Fun News:  Noell has started carrying around her two babies (one as a gift and one that is my old, favorite doll).  The one that used to be mine is more real like and so it took her a little longer to get comfortable playing with that one.  She likes to rock them, carry them, kiss and hug them, give the babies high fives, and more!  She even hit the one on the forehead, and I said you have to be nice, so she started petting the baby's head and then gave it a kiss!  She is also interacting better and more with the little 1 year old that goes to daycare with her!!!  I am starting to worry less about how she will do when G3 arrives!!! 

Favorite Toys:  Baby Wipes...she loves to carry them around, wipe things, fold and unfold.  Chalk.  Baby Dolls.  Slide (she stopped using it for a while so we put it away and just brought it back out so she has been playing on it a lot).  Crayons.  Q-tips/container.

Trips:  We went to Nora and Millie's birthday party last weekend and so we stayed in St. Paul with my parents at a hotel.  We got to take Noell swimming and of course she still loves it!  She has no fear in the water and kept trying to swim away...but she didn't have a life jacket so we couldn't let her go!  I am excited to continue to take her swimming and teacher her how to swim!  She also loved the hot tub...she sat on the top two stairs and just enjoyed her time!

We also take a daily trip, which is a little walk down our road to look at our neighbor's cows.  Noell will walk as well instead of her stroller since it is such a short distance...she will chat with the cows by saying, MOO!

Noell and one of her babies!

Natural Swimmer!

Hot Tub Fun!

Mike & Kelly Update:

I FINALLY finished my two spring semester classes and wow, does that feel amazing!  Now I can focus on the end of the school year and all that it entails!!!  We have two weeks left of 4K (including two field trips) and four weeks left with my Kindergarten kiddos!  Then it will be on to moving into the new building, organizing my 1st grade classroom, summer school, summer grad classes, volleyball, and my most FAVORITE....spending time with Noell!

Mike is busy working on some home projects!  We are getting rid of some flower beds that the previous owners had, redoing some landscape in the front of the house, getting ready to plant our veggie garden, and planting some grass.  He is also working on some furnace things, building some new shelves for our closets so we can better organize our space for when G2 gets here, and getting ready to build the deck for the back of the house!