Hello 2011

Wow!! 2010 was an excellent year!! Noelle has brought an unbelievable amout of joy to our lives and we couldn't be more thankful. She is already almost 6 months old - it sure does go quickly! We just had a fantastic Christmas. Being with the family and just watching Noelle made it probably the best Christmas we have ever had. We're looking forward to seeing all of the other amazing things she'll do in 2011. Hope everyone has a blessed and happy year ahead!

Oh - and I know I don't write often anymore - but I am still updating pictures pretty regularly in our photo album. I'm also in the process of setting up a YouTube account so that you guys can see videos of Noelle as well. My username is "lorimcgrew" so I think if you search that, you should be able to see any videos we upload. But bare with me - I'm new at this!

Catching up

So I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've written. There's not much "spare" time these days to upload pics and update blogs since I've been back at work. Noelle is doing great and just seems to get happier every single day! She was actually on the Similac formula that just got recalled - so that could probably explain her fussiness last week but we have switched since then and she's such a calmer, happier baby!! Poor thing!! Her tummy must have been killing her! So we're glad we have that under control for now. She's still doing pretty well at night - typically she only wakes up once to eat and then goes right back to sleep. She's able to sit up now and hold her head up straight if we prop her up...she's so strong! We are truly enjoying every second of her!

Since my last post, Travis and I went to Houston for his birthday. We were able to go to the Colts vs. Texans game. We had great seats and really enjoyed the game, despite the Colts' loss. It was still a great experience and I'm sure we'll make it an annual event! Thanks Nana and Papa for watching Noelle - she loved spending time with y'all!

We've also been spending lots of time on preparing and planning the Footprints Forever 5K Fun Run/Walk. This is our first major event and we have lots to learn. We hope it all comes together and is a huge success. If you haven't registered yet, please do so soon so you can guarantee the size and availablity of your t-shirt!! You can register through our website at www.maddiesfootprints.org. We only have about 60 people signed up so far and our goal is 200 so please help us out!! And thanks to all of our sponsors - we have over $6,000 in just sponsorship money!! This is HUGE!! Thank you so much for your support!

I've uploaded some new pics of Noelle in the September 2010 folder. Because time is limited, I decided to do monthly folders instead of weekly - sorry. I'll try to upload as often as I can!

Sad day for Mommy

Today is the first day that I bring Noelle to the sitter aka "Mama Deaux." Don't get me wrong, I know she is in great hands and Mama Deaux is a sweet lady that has been doing this for a very long time. I'm just sad that I won't be with my baby girl all day. I start back to work full-time next week, so this week I'm bringing her to the sitter only part-time so that I can get used to it before I take her full-time. To top things off, Noelle gets her first shots on Friday. Poor baby.

I'm sure all will go well and smoothly - it's just sad - my baby is already growing up!! Haha!

Smiling and Cooing

We've had an eventful week with Noelle! She has already begun to coo and smile!! There is nothing better than seeing that huge smile and knowing it's not because of gas! Haha. I've tried to capture the huge smiles, but haven't been successful. There are a few "grin" pictures in her 5-week album, but hopefully I'll get a real big smile pic soon!

Getting bigger

Noelle had her 1-month doctor appointment this past Monday and she is already weighing in at 10lbs. 7oz and has grown an inch and a half! Both her height and weight put her in the 90th percentile....haha! She is a big, healthy baby girl! Everything else looks great as well.

We had a rough start to the week with Noelle being very gassy and extremely fussy...but then there was Mylicon! :) I love this drug and it seems to help her pretty quickly. Let's cross our fingers that it continues to work for her.

Great Weekend

We had a fantastic weekend! First of all, Noelle finally got to meet Uncle Dave, Aunt J and Mia and she absolutely LOVES them! :) Mia was so sweet with Noelle and gave her lots of kisses on the head. Mia is so adorable and is really growing up to be a big girl. We really enjoyed our visit with them. Thanks for coming in town!

We also baptized Noelle this weekend. The ceremony was very special to us as my grandfather, PopPop, was able to baptize Noelle - how amazing is that! :) Thanks to all of you who were able to come and share with us that special day. Noelle is so loved and we are so fortunate to have such great friends and family surrounding her. Also a special thanks to Noelle's Godparents - Uncle Dave and Nannie Annie. You are both such great people and we are honored for you guys to play such an important role in Noelle's life. We love you!!

And today was another great day. First, I was able to sleep for 5 hours straight last night!! This was a HUGE treat - as it was by far the longest I've slept in a row since Noelle's arrival. And then she even took a nap with me this afternoon. She really has been such a good baby and we are so fortunate. We're enjoying every second of her!

Noelle's first photoshoot

Noelle is now 3 weeks old and is doing absolutely wonderful! We don't have anything to compare her to, but we think she's a pretty good baby for the most part! We are absolutely loving every second of her and can't stop staring....who would have thought that newborns could be so interesting! haha.

So Noelle had her very first photoshoot last weekend. Eryn Laviolette with E Photography and Design did them and they turned out great! Check out her website at www.ephotographyanddesign.com I've posted the pics in our album. Noelle was quite the fussy baby that day and didn't really like that I was making her pose naked in several different positions...haha...but Eryn still managed to capture some great ones. Thanks Eryn for being so patient!