Moving Right Along

Here I am....another four weeks has already past...I better do an update!

Noell.  We sure do have a smart little girl on our hands.  First shapes and now numbers and letters!!!  We do a lot of reading and some of Noell's favorite books are numbers and letters.  She also has a couple apps on the IPad, my phone, and my mom's phone where she will just sit and go over numbers and letters again and again!  We also do a lot of counting on our fingers, so the girl is definitely exposed to it all, but it is so fun to see her make the connection and be able to verbalize her knowledge at such a young age!

Last week at my friend Krista's baby shower was when she outputted the knowledge for the first time with her numbers.  There were huge blocks that had the different numbers in the basement of the church and she just started naming them to Mike.  So this week, I wrote down different numbers, and used our large magnetic letters in the kitchen and she is able to tell me most of them, but can identify all of them through 9.  (Numbers she can verbalize: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 / Numbers she can point to identify: 1-9)

As for letters, she has been able to tell us O and E for a while.  She picked up on the letter C and S when I had our "Cosco" step stool in the kitchen for cleaning and she kept pointing at those letters.  She picked up on the B and T with the foam bath letters in the bathtub.  A and M....I have no idea...she just knows them :) (Letters she can verbalize: a, b, c, e, m, p, s, t / Letters she can point to identify in addition to the ones she can verbalize: n, h, j, k, l)

New Words/sign language:  

• clock (sounds more like cock as she has a hard time getting the L sound in there...but at least she points to the clocks when she says it :)  
• She also signs "please" in her own way.  Please is with one hand in a circular motion, but she uses two hands and rubs her chest once in an outward motion (hard to explain).  We all know what she means!  
• She will finally say cow again with no hesitation!
• Says AMEN after we pray at dinner or when going to bed!  So sweet!

"Big Girl" Bed Transition:  We finally transitioned Noell into the toddler bed.  She has always been a good sleeper, but you never know how they will do when the time finally comes to switch to a bed from a crib!  Last night (the first night) went well.  We put her down and she laid in bed awake for about 20 minutes before falling asleep, but never got out.  When I woke up at 6 I went to check on her and found her laying on the floor...haha.  Then I heard her at 8am and went to check on her and she had climbed back into bed and was laying there!  For nap time today she did great and slept the whole time in her bed (not getting up once).  And so far tonight she laid in bed for about 20 minutes again but has been sleeping IN her bed!  We can only hope and pray that this continues :)

Our little sweetie right before we turned out the lights!

How I found her at 6am!!!

This was Noell at 8am...once she saw momma, she started to climb out of bed!

Gymnastics:  Noell had her last gymnastics class for the summer this past Tuesday and guess what?!  NO MELTDOWNS!!!  It was her best class yet!  She is so fun to watch in the gym and has made so many gains.  I am sad that we cannot fit it into our schedule to take her this fall, but plan to again this spring!

She loves the wedge.  She walks up on the one side and does a somersault down the other side!

She loves running on the long trampoline for the vault.  We are still working on jumping with two feet at the same time!

G2 is growing...momma is growing!  His/her movements are getting much stronger and I can actually feel the baby's body while it is just hanging out!  It is hard to believe that I am in the third trimester already.  Only 11 more weeks to go!

Last Doctor's Appointment:  The most recent doctor's appointment was for my 28 week check up.  This check up included the glucose test and other blood work and I am happy to say that all test results came back NORMAL!!!  I also got the Tdap vaccine.  It is recommended for everyone every ten years, but for pregnant women it is recommended with every pregnancy because of the pertussis vaccine that is part of it.  That will help protect the baby from getting it since they cannot get the vaccination right away (and pertussis can be deadly for infants).  Also at this doctor's appointment I shared that the baby hadn't moved in a couple days (except for a very small amount the night before the appointment).  The midwife also had a hard time picking up a strong heartbeat with the doppler...  So they hooked me up to the Non-Stress Test for 20 minutes to monitor the baby's heart rate and movement.  After about 10 minutes the baby starting moving like its normal self and the heartbeat sounded great.  I took a picture, but do you think I would have thought to take a video of that beautiful sound...of course not.  But it was music to my ears for those 20 minutes as I got to sit in the recliner just relaxing with my baby.

Baby G's growth:

26 Weeks- Friday, July 18

26 Weeks- Baby is the size of a scallion:  about 2 pounds and 14 inches long.  Baby is now opening his/her eyes.  The baby is very sensitive to light and sound.

27 Weeks- Friday, July 25

27 Weeks- Baby is the size of a head of cauliflower :  approximately 15 inches and just over 2 pounds.  The baby's has the most tastebuds that he/she will ever have.  I hope they are enjoying all of the yummy foods mom is eating ;)  He or she is hiccuping A LOT!  

28 Weeks- Friday, August 1, 2014

 28 Weeks- Baby is the size of an eggplant:  approximately 16 inches and 2 1/2 pounds.  The baby can now blink his/her eyes.  This also allows baby to start entering REM sleep...which includes dreaming!  His/her mommy is also having some crazy/vivid dreams!

29 Weeks- Friday, August 8, 2014

 29 Weeks- Baby is the size of a butternut squash:  17 inches and 3 pounds.  The baby is approximately 3 inches short of what he/she will be at birth, but the body weight will double or even possibly triple (I sure hope not) by birth.  I would be TOTALLY okay if the baby weighed around the same as Noell (6lb 10oz)!!!

Mike & Kelly

We celebrated our 3rd anniversary last week.  We went to Fuji as neither of us have been there before (we have been to restaurants similar but never there).  It was amazing!  It is hard to believe how quickly time goes.  The past three years have had its ups and downs, rewards and challenges.  The best rewards would be our daughter, Noell, baby G2 on the way, our lovable pup, Katie, and our house!  Of course we could never forgot our family and friends who are always there as constant supports!

I, Kelly, just finished up my summer school classes, getting an A in both!  It was a lot of work and I'm glad that they are over!  Now enjoying a couple weeks with Noell, resting, and nesting before I get super busy until G2 comes.  Volleyball and inservice start the same week (aug. 18) and I still have A LOT to do to get my classroom ready.  School officially starts the Tuesday after labor day and so does another grad class!  I am hoping that G2 waits to make an appearance until at least October 16 as that is the JV girls' last game of the season (and that would be 38 1/2 weeks....which would be the time Noell was born) but preferably would like him/her to wait until the actual due date.  BUT of course I will be happy whenever he/she makes the arrival as long as everything goes well and he/she is healthy!!!

Mike is officially the BIG 3-0!!  We celebrated a couple weeks ago on his actual birthday at our house...utilizing our new deck and fire ring with family and friends!  It was a lot of fun...thanks again to everyone that helped celebrate with Mike :)

Noell and Weeks 22-23-24-25..A little Behind!

Well, this summer is pretty much anything but relaxing!  Toddler, homework, toddler, toddler, house, homework, homework, toddler, sleep, toddler, homework...etc, etc.

These two summer classes are kicking my butt and pretty much every time Noell takes a nap or if I have to stay up late/get up early is fulfilled with homework and reading.  Good news is, is that I only have two more weeks left :)



As for Noell....she is just a growing!  Here are some highlights over the last month:

Gymnastics:  Noell goes to gymnastics once a week for 45 minutes.  The first class was challenging as in Noell wanted to do her own thing and explore...but that sounds like a typical toddler who is over stimulated by a huge gym.  The second time went a little better and this third time (last week) was going WONDERFUL for about the first 30min.  She did the bear crawl on two mats, did a handstand while momma held her legs up, did backwards summersaults, and walked on the different balance beams!!!  That wonderful-ness lasted until a little slide was included on the "bars" rotation.  She stood next to the slide, crossed her arms, and was telling the other children "no, no, no" as they went down, and then when it was time to move to the trampoline she had the biggest screaming tantrum EVER.  Seriously, I was like, is this really my child...she has never, ever done this before.  So, I took her outside to cool off.  We managed to make it back in to take two turns on the trampoline.  Then of course she had another tantrum because she didn't want to be done on the trampoline...but good thing that was the end of class!  haha!  It will only continue to get better, right??

New Words/Phrases/Sign Language:  Has started to say and sign the word please!  Says cow occasionally.  There are more, but it is so easy to forget if I don't write it down!

Toddler Attitude:  Crossing her arms and saying, "no, no, no, no."  I honestly don't know who she learned that from.  I will tell her no, but I don't cross my arms.

Funny/Exciting Stories:

• Noell went with me to my latest doctor appointment.  She was crying when I went up on the table.  Once we heard the heartbeat on the doppler, she stopped crying to listen, and then she started crying again until I got down.  But it was cute that she stopped for a little bit to listen!

• Noell has started "reading" her books.  She picks them up, quickly turns to a page, and shoves her face right in the book and moves her head like she is reading the words.  She will then say, "Momma" and point to the words and say something in gibberish like she is reading to me...so darn cute! 

• We got Noell a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal that talks for Easter and she was scared of him back then.  Well just a couple weeks ago she was finally interested and now they are like best buds!

• Learned how to fall down on purpose!  Grandpa Todd always says, "BaDaDomp" when she falls down and will sometimes fall down on purpose to make her laugh after she falls down and is sad.  So, Noell started doing it on purpose because she thinks it is funny!

• Our peanut loves to sing and dance to "If You're Happy and You Know It" and will have momma sing while she does the actions.  We sang/danced in Target the other day for about 10minutes!!

• When Noell walks on the balance beam at gymnastics or our wood balance beam we made her at home she will say, "Tip toe, tip toe" all the way across.

• Noell stacked 11 little letter blocks all by herself!

• If potty training meant "going poop in the tub" then Noell has got it down!  She never used to do that until we started talking about the potty and she was getting interested....I think she is a little confused. lol.  Anyway, I was going to start, but now I am going to wait a little longer as she doesn't like to sit on the potty, so I am waiting because I don't want it to be a bad experience for her.

• She enjoyed the fireworks again this year!  We went to Blair fireworks on the 3rd and watched Dad, Grandpa Todd, and Butch Halama shoot off the Mondovi fireworks on the 4th.  We also got to enjoy playing on our new back deck!!

• Noell loved going to the Northern Wisconsin State Fair.  She really like the chickens, horses, and cows (from a distance).  She was a little scared of the pigs still.  She fed goats and LOVED it.  She also enjoyed going down the big slide and was mad when we couldn't go anymore!  Noell was not a fan of the carousel (see her worried look below and that was just sitting on the bench).

• Noell enjoyed her first time at the beach this summer at Lake Wazee in Black River Falls.  She especially enjoyed playing in the sand...I guess we will have to get a sandbox!  In the picture with momma, she came over and said "cheese"....maybe I will get her to like taking pictures after all!

• Noell loves to paint and enjoyed painting on a rainy Friday!

Baby G2 is continuing to grow and move!  I have not only been feeling our little one move, but I have been able to watch him or her for the last few weeks as he/she punches, kicks, and rolls around!  I just love that feeling!  I also felt the little hiccups for the first time a few days ago as well :)

I have been feeling like I am a LOT bigger this pregnancy.  I only gained 25 pounds total with Noell and I have already gained 20 pounds with this baby.  Granted I started 10 pounds lighter with this pregnancy.  I have been working out.  I bought a pregnancy workout video with Summer Sanders.  It has a different workout for each trimester and works a lot on legs, arms, butt, and a little tummy to build the core!  I try and do it every other day and then Noell, Katie, and I get out for a walk almost every day!  Now, I just need to eat a little better!  With working out/walking, I have been drinking more water!!

I had my first baby dream last night (25 weeks) that Baby G2 is a boy.  In my dream I had him 5 weeks early but he was very healthy and he had a lot of blonde hair!!!  In the dream we were deciding through three names.  We ruled out one because he didn't look like that name but couldn't decide between the other two.  The crazy thing is, is the two names in the dream are our two top names right now...I wish I would have made the decision in my dream!!!  Right before we found out what Noell is, I had three dreams I was having a girl...it will be interesting to see if I have any more dreams and if they are boy/girl!

Some growth updates about G2 over the past few weeks:

22 Weeks- Baby is about 11 inches and almost 1 pound.  Baby's lips and eyelids are more distinct and he/she is developing tiny little tooth buds.  The lanugo is covering the baby's wrinkly skin.  The pancreas is developing steadily.

23 Weeks- Baby can feel momma dance...or workout in my case!  Baby is now just over a pound.  He/she can hear loud noises.  The blood vessels are developing in the lungs.

24 Weeks- G2 is 1 1/3 pounds and is a FOOT LONG!  Taste buds are developing.  The lungs are developing the "branches" of the "respiratory tree."

25 Weeks- Head to heels Baby G2 is 13 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 pounds...the size of a rutabaga.  He/she is exchanging the lean look for some baby fat...grow baby grow!!  The baby is also starting to grow hair....I wonder if it will be a lot like Noell had?!?!

We had a doctor's appointment this past Thursday.  I am measuring at 24 weeks (which at the appointment I was 24 weeks 6 days).  The heartbeat was approximately 150 bpm.

Also, tonight (July 12) there is the supermoon!  I just had to catch a photo!!!

G2 Ultrasound and Father's Day

It has been a busy week.  The Giedd's are getting ready for G2 and have been working hard at clearing out the office...our house still looks like a disaster!  It is hard to find new places for things, re-organizing other places of a smaller house without a finished basement, and decide what things to sell/donate/get rid of.  It is a slow process but we are getting closer.  We moved our small desk into our bedroom (which I am not a fan of but will work for now...as long as I keep it looking nice).

School is officially out BUT summer school (grad classes) has officially started and wow was that a lot of work for week one....only six more weeks to go!!!  Below are a couple pictures of my classroom....its starting to come together.  I haven't been in there for a week now, but need to at some point!

View from my desk area!

Carpet squares.

View from door/hallway to back of room!

View from door/hallway to my desk/library/front of room.

It was father's day today and it was a great day!  Noell and I were up early making our father's day gifts (last minute, I know, I know...I did much better last year) and making breakfast for dada in bed!  Noell and I headed to church, while daddy stayed home and relaxed with some "me" time.  Then we headed to my parents for some lunch, followed by a lOOOONG nap taken by all three of us (well 3 1/2).  After nap time, we headed to Whitehall to visit Grandma Mary and took a little walk to visit Grandpa Quinn's grave site.  Our last stop of the day was to visit Papa Roger and Grandma Carol.  We ended the day by giving Noell a much needed bath!  Below are some pictures for this wonderful day!  I am so thankful for the wonderful fathers/grandfathers in my life!

Noell's hard work and Father's Day Masterpieces!

Speaking of our little Noell!  I have a couple updates!

New Words:  open (actually sounds like open...used to sound like apple), applesauce (tries hard...Noell's version), and a bunch of other words that we don't know yet!

Songs she likes to sing:  Rock-A-Bye-Baby!  She loves to listen and sing this song...so sweet!

Potty Training:  We haven't officially started, but are trying to get her excited to start soon!  This may sound weird, so skip this part if you aren't interested...I guess more for me to remember as this blog is pretty much her baby book!  

• likes to stand next to the toilet and wave and say bye-bye to everything that is flushed down the toilet.  She even tries to take toilet paper off the roll just to be able to flush it down.  We are trying to have her learn/understand that she needs to go potty in the toilet in order to get toilet paper and to flush. 
• The past couple of nights she has started to poop in the tub, so I grab her quick and she poops in the potty (cries while this is happening) but of course she is excited to watch it flush down the drain...too funny!  Then we definitely get practice in washing our hands ;)
• I'm thinking soon we will officially start...when I am physically ready as I believe this process will cause me to be more tired than I already am!

New Body Movements:  Spinning and rolling.  Yes, she could roll a long time ago and of course it was super exciting when she figured that out, but once babies start to crawl, walk, climb, run....they stop rolling!  So, she just figured out that it is fun to do and will yell, "ROLL, ROLL, ROLL" as she rolls around the floor!  She also figured out spinning this week, and will just stand and spin....stop and catch balance, and do it again.  Sometimes she will take off and try and run afterwards and that is just funny as she crashes to the floor!

Phoenix Park, Eau Claire!  Too cold to play in the water, but that wouldn't stop our little fish!!!

Noell loves her baby dolls!!!  And snuggling her momma!

Enjoying the beautiful land that God created on a walk down our coulee!!

G2 Ultrasound Pictures!!!

This past Thursday we finally got to see our littlest baby!  Everything is looking good so far...baby is growing how it should and is healthy!  We also found out that our peanut is very flexible!  Normally for the "profile" picture, you just see the head/chest...we our G2 had his/her feet way above its head with its knees touching the nose...I couldn't stop giggling in the ultrasound room...just loved it!  For many of you wondering...we did NOT find out the sex of the baby.  We had the tech turn the screen off while she check the lower area, so she is the only person that knows!!!  And, no, we didn't get anything put into an envelope either as that would be a temptation that I wouldn't want lying around!  But now thinking about it, it would be nice to have it for scrapbook pictures later on...or to see if the tech thought it was a different gender than it really is, etc!

Anywho.... the baby's heartrate was 147.  PERFECT!

Face!  Looks like a skeleton right now!

Profile picture of our very flexible child!  Knees are up by the nose.

Both feet together.

One foot.

Growing Baby:  At our ultrasound, the tech said the baby weighs approximately 14 ounces.  It is also about 10 1/2 inches long (about the size of a carrot).  All the measurements at the ultrasound were right on track varying from 20 weeks to 21 weeks!

Movement:  I am feeling tons of movement.  It keeps getting stronger and stronger!!!  Mike has felt baby move a number of times as well :)

Noell and Baby:  Lately, I have been asking Noell where is the baby and she will usually point to herself or go find one of her babies.  I have been pointing to my belly and saying baby.  Today, I asked her where the baby was and she patted herself and said, "baby", and then patted my belly and said, "baby".  Then she leaned down to give my belly a hug and said, "Awe!"  Super sweet!

Names:  Baby is still nameless if it is a boy or girl.  We are having a hard time deciding a name this time around.  I know it will be clear as day at some point, but until then we are still tossing in and out names.  The middle names are done...those were easy!!!

Next Appointment:  July 10.

JOY!!

Joy pretty much sums up how I feel about everything right now...my husband (most days...haha), Noell, G2, Katie, end of school year, moving into brand new school, and summer (most of it)!

I am going to start with Little Miss Noell.  I really don't know where to start, actually.  She has stolen my heart completely...I don't know how she can take more and more of it each day, but she manages to do it!  I love everything about this girl...her smiles, her giggles, her hugs and kisses, her energy, her love, her determination, her curiosity, her cuteness, and I could go on and on!  Here are just a couple stories over the past couple weeks that I will share:

• Tonight while getting ready for bed we were hanging out in momma and dada's room.  She snuggled up next to me and I started singing and she just snuggled, rubbing my hand, my arm, my belly, and just kept listening to me sing.  I was singing "this little light of mine" and started to tear up because she is just so perfect, the moment was just so perfect, and I can only hope that she allows her light and God's light to shine throughout her whole life!

• A night last week we were playing on our bed again and Mike was going to take Noell to put her to bed.  She said no and wanted to come back to me...so I took her.  She snuggled right up.  The minute Mike walked out the door, she turned to me and said, "Hi!"  It was so funny...Mike started laughing as he was still watching from the hallway...I guess she thinks that Mommy will let her get away with things...and little did she know, that I was then bringing her to bed!!!

• I have some lacing cards that use shoes laces.  Noell would put the lace through the hole and then I would pull it through.  She would then pull it back out while saying, "pull, pull."  Once the string would come out she would look at it with a confused look and say, "Huh??"  So funny!!!

• Last weekend we were getting ready to eat breakfast.  We usually give Noell her food first or at least some fruit to keep her happy until the main part of breakfast is ready.  Once we are all sitting down we will pray.  Well, Mike and I sat down and started eating our breakfast and Noell stuck out her hand like she wanted something.  So, I started handing her a couple things and each time she said, "No."  Then I gave her my hand.  She took it and reached her hand out to Mike.  She was letting us know that she was ready to pray....seriously melt my heart!  I must be doing something right!!!

• Noell has really started to do things like Momma and Dada.  She has to "clean" my ears and her ears after her bath, she takes her fingernail clipper out of the drawer and will pretend to clip her toenails and my toenails, brush her hair, her tooth brushing has been going great (she now stands on the stool in the bathroom), helps wipe with a wet-wipe when I change her diaper, and will sit on her Mickey Mouse toilet (doesn't go potty in the toilet yet...just on the floor next to it...haha)!

Clipping her toenails!

Clipping momma's toenails!

Cleaning her ears after she cleaned daddy's!

New Words / Phrases:  Pull, roll, throw, I Pee, 

Attempts to Say (getting better each time): Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Daisy

Interesting things about her words:  She likes to add the long e sound to the end of words.  Flowy- (flower), haty (hat), shoey (shoe), and of course I can't think of the others right now!

Newest Animal Sounds:  "OOO" for monkey, "roar" for lion and tiger, "Grr" very girly like for a bear

Things she loves right now:  her new pillow that we put in her crib to help her transition into her toddler bed this summer, her crayons and notebook, her little piano again, being outside doing anything, dancing, her new mickey mouse books!

Below are Noell's 18 month photos taken by the wonderful Kaylyn Halama KM/H Photography during her apple orchard sessions!

Okay, now on to G2!!!  Week 19 and....20!  Halfway done cookin'!!!

Growing Baby:  The size of a banana...10 1/2 ounces and about 6 1/2 inches long!  The baby is working on swallowing and making meconium, which is that sticky, black substance that becomes the first poop!  Looking forward to seeing that again...lol ;)

Memorable Moments: More and more movements!  I was a little worried about all of the packing and moving I was going to be doing to get ready for the big move into the new school...b/c I didn't feel Noell move for almost a week after we moved out of our apartment when I was pregnant with her.  This little one doesn't mind apparently because the moment I sit or take a little break, he/she is letting me know that they are doing just fine!  MIKE got to feel the baby.  The other night the baby was moving more than it had been and so he asked if I thought he could feel it...I didn't think so but we tried anyway.  The baby stopped moving right away when he put his hand on my stomach (little stinker).  Once it started moving again I didn't say anything and he asked if that was the baby, and it was!  So, very little but he felt him/her :)

I started working on cleaning out the office/toy room/extra closet space for me.  Wow, we have more "stuff" than I thought.  I have done a lot of re-organizing into different areas of the house (Noell's closet, hallway closet, living room), thrown a lot away, and selling/donating many things!  I have to get ready by the end of the summer because once the middle of August is here, and it will come way too soon this year, I will have no time to prepare then!

Cravings:  Not really anything!  Chocolate...but I always crave chocolate :)

Missing Anything:  Sleeping on my stomach!  Only five more months to go!

Changes:  Feeling B I G

Looking Forward To:  Our ultrasound on Thursday....so excited to finally see G2!!!!

Well, we have been busy at school.  We have been packing to get ready for the big move into the new building.  The students helped move today and they ROCKED!  It was so fun to see all of the kids, Kindergarten through high school help out.  They were tired but they kept moving along, carrying little things and sometimes heavy/big things..taking multiple trips back and forth!  So proud of the students and the staff who have all just been amazing!  Friday was our last student day, then we have two teacher work days, and then summer!!  Although my summer will be busy with classes that start tomorrow-Monday (blah), some trainings, and volleyball...and somewhere in there I am going to work on my PDP, relaxing, changing the office into a nursery, transitioning Noell into a toddler bed and possibly potty training, taking Noell to her FIRST GYMNASTICS class in EC (her and I will go together), and of course the MOST important is spending time with my loves enjoying the beautiful weather :)

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???