friends...

nora makes a habit of holding her juice while eathing breakfast... like i might take it away.... on friday david was off, and nora decided to help him write his paper! (not sure she was a whole lot of help!!) and in case we haven't mentioned, our 50 pound black lab thinks she is a lap dog! david sat down to read to nora, and sadie climbed right on into his lap!! poor girl was afraid she would miss something!!

we love our friend, jeffrey. nora got to play with jeffrey and his mom on tuesday when i had a doctor's appointment. nora made herself at home on the doggy bed and tried to share her snacks. on the flipside, we got to play with jeffrey while his mom went out. the kids read with david while i cooked dinner. the kids were entertained with baby einstein while we ate (don't worry, i did make them back up from the tv screen!!!). i did feel better that mine wasn't the only kid obsessed with baby einstein!!

the kids could be an ad for sippy cups... we didn't plan to use the same ones! but, great moms think alike!! and, we caught nora with my cell phone this week... scary that she apparently knows how to text! she runs and hides with the phone, however, because she knows that she's not allowed to have it!

nora can say a lot of things now. as shown in the video, she found her hop on pop book, sat down and started saying "hop pop hop pop". it was cute! the phone rang the other day, and i said "oh it's mom-mom". so nora replied, "bub-bub" (her version of mom-mom). she can say "car-car".

on the flip side, she definitely knows how to tell us when she DOESN'T like something... today, she was crying because she couldn't have something. she stalked into her room, we heard a brief stop in the crying, and saw her head peek around the corner, like, "doesn't anyone care that i am upset???"

thankfully, she really only shows her attitude to us. she stays in the nursery on tuesdays and thursdays while i have bible study, and every time i go to pick her up, they want to know what i do to make my daughter so enjoyable! everyone else will cry, and she just plays. she can see the older kids outside, and just wants to go play with them!! my cute, big girl!!

a lot of pics!!

alright... a lot of pics, and a few videos! nora learned how to say "uh oh", and i think i already mentioned that... but here is the video!

and quite a few pictures from our time in cleveland and ohio! i am working on the album to email out! it's coming... enjoy these... we loved the fall weather and the family. it was hard to come back from sweater weather to 102* and sunny! i am ready for a little colder... but i can't complain too much! so, there you go...

homecoming and OH... IO!!!

i realized today that it is october. it's fun to be sitting in the rain, i mean in cleveland, in the fall. the leaves, it's not 90* outside, there's rain... classic fall. but i also realized that i would never want to give up what i have (read san diego, palm trees, no rain, the ocean, the mountains, predictable weather...) to have a few leaves change on the trees. i love my home, my life, my friends (not that i don't love all of you not from san diego...). it's a good life!

wow, it's october! september just FLEW by... and if we are being honest, so did august! between having my parents in town, getting ready for bible study to start, bible study starting, moving from two naps to one nap a day and then leaving to go to chicago-cleveland, it's been busy! we have a nice little routine. tuesdays and thursdays are bible study mornings. so, those days are shot, because by the time we get home, nora has usually fallen asleep in the car and sleeps all afternoon. "life moves pretty fast. if you don't stop and look around once an awhile, you could miss it." -ferris bueller's day off

so, nora. on friday, we flew to chicago for my 5 year college reunion. there was a breakfast, a block party, a game... it was a lot of fun, except that i was the ONLY one at the breakfast! a bunch of my parents friends were there, and when we told them i was the only one to show, they all said... "no one comes to the five year, anyway"! that would have been great info BEFORE i bought my plane ticket!!! it was fun, however, to be with the fam. alyssa is looking at my alma mater, and it was fun to see all that they had done with north park! so, back to nora... it's the first time we have flown since nora could walk. she definitely wasn't loving being cramped up for the first three hour flight. but, she napped for some of it. our second flight, however, was FIRST CLASS!! it was so nice. there was so much room. and, i didn't have to worry about nora kicking the seat or the person next to me!!! she couldn't reach any of them!! and, bean shows were a lifesaver (baby einstein dvds!!!).

on the plane, she discovered she could say "uh oh". it's SO CUTE!!! i will try to get a video. but, she just says it constantly! she has also learned that she can bite. not fun. so, i smack her mouth when she does it. now, she will go to bite you, remember that it's not okay, and kiss you instead! she has also gotten very good about waiting to hold your hand when in public, or when she is trying to go up or down stairs. it's so precious to see this little hand and sweet face looking up at you!

also, she loves her book "nora's room". that's the book i am reading in the video. she will do motions to that, or to itsy bitsy spider, and many other things! we don't even need the book nora's room anymore... we can all quote the ENTIRE thing!!! one less thing to pack for the plane!!

more pics to come!!!

nora... and lots of her!

so, there are a WHOLE lot of pictures! but, they are fun. nora is getting so big and it's so fun to watch her grow and change. she LOVES her daddy. i think i say that every time. we were watching some old videos today and she saw her daddy. she started whining for him. unfortunately, he is at work! she is in the nursery on tuesday and thursday mornings when i teach bible study, and every week they tell me that she was the best baby! one girl told me this week that nora was better behaved than her daughter (the girl is the nursery worker and her daughter is in there with her!!).

nora LOVES to read. it's the first thing she wants to do when she wakes up and she doesn't stop all day. she will read on her own, or bring you stories to read. she does that sign avidly!! and, since we can quote most of her favorite books, if we start quoting it, she will go get the book and bring it to you to read!

she watches her "bean shows" with rapt attention. it's hard to get her to do anything else! i am hoping that they will be my savior on the plane on friday!! here's to hoping!

she loves to snuggle onto you. if you are laying anywhere, especially on the floor, she will come and lay on top of you. she gives GREAT hugs, but will sometimes shake her head "no" if you ask for kisses! she LOVES her stuffed animals and has just learned the sign for "baby"! it's so cute to watch. and, she can point to her head, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, belly and toes. and, she will sometimes point to mine if i ask. when i have her point to my belly, i tell her to say hi to the baby. she will pat my belly, and last night, she laid her head down on my belly, like "i love you baby!!!" i know she doesn't understand, but it was cute!!

alright, i'll stop telling you how cute my baby is now. i guess you will have to just come visit and experience her for yourself!!! what a fun girl!

a fun weekend...

sometimes, especially at night when i am laying in bed, i write blog posts in my head (and i totally didn't mean for that to rhyme!!!). but i do. i think about what i want to put on my next post and how i should phrase it. except, i forget what i want to write by the time i actually sit down to do it, so i just write.

for example, i know there was something in my lastest pre-post about how awesome my husband is, and how much i love God's timing in bringing us together, our story, how it all worked out and how much i love him! (and God, too...) but i can't remember.

i may have wanted to talk about the fact that we keep forgetting i am pregnant. i guess i don't forget so much as not dwell on it like i did with nora. but david all out forgets! poor second children!!! however, i did already start a baby book for #2. and, #2 gets to sleep in the walk-in closet just like nora did! you can't say we're not fair!!!

just a little comic update on our houdini-dog. we have zip-tied, carabeenered, attached to wood, and reshaped the crate that sadie stays in when we are gone. and she STILL escapes! so, david is working on a new method now. we'll see.

lastly... the VIDEO!!! last night, nora just wanted to get david's finger (unfortunately for one of them, it happened to be during the browns/steelers game and nora didn't want me, despite all of my efforts...). she just wanted him to walk around with her. she would stop and look at something, but never seemed to be headed anywhere with a purpose! it was so cute to watch. she did the same thing to me today, but only because i was the only one home.

also, a new syllable to add to her repertoire... coco. as you can imagine, it makes others a little jealous that stef's plan worked to get a nickname that would be nora's first! it does sound quite like "gog" as she says it, so one could argue that it's not really new!!!

coloring and fountains!!!

yesterday, we drove up to see some friends who are staying in escondido (about a 40 minute drive). we had so much fun! my parents drove up there with nora on sunday, while david and i were out of town for our ann'y. they told me that nora LOVED the spray yard. so, i anticipated a very excited reaction. nora wasn't as thrilled with them as i was told, but eventually she played and played. she just didn't want to get wet! she loved the bucket and little funny ball you can see in her hands!

today, we tried coloring. i was under no illusions that nora would color a masterpiece, or even color much. i anticipated much crayon chewing. or at least attempted chewing. so, i set her up in her high chair. i handed her a crayon and showed her what to do. she mostly rubbed the paper of the crayon on the paper. when she tried to put a crayon in her mouth, i stopped her and told her no. not harshly or yelling. but when i said no, her eyes welled up with tears. it was the saddest thing i have ever seen. her lower lip stuck out and she burst into tears. not fake, i don't want to be told no tears (even though she HATES being told no), but real tears, like i had hurt her feelings. it was so sad. don't worry, i cuddled her, then put her down for a nap. she is sleeping like a baby!!! i LOVE the look on her face in the first coloring pic!

another week...

what an eventful few weeks... nora discovered the phone, and loves to walk around the house with it held up to her ear!! (i think this scares her daddy a little bit...)

i loved this one of nora and her daddy... what a big girl! and she LOVES her daddy!!

we saw great-grandma and grandpa presley at the fish market this weekend! it was so much fun! also, one of mommy's high school friends happened to be in san diego and we got to visit with him! we had so much fun!

we even got to capture a bit of the sunset!!!

a few videos... the first one is LONG (and i really mean it this time... i think like 3 minutes!), so don't feel like you have to watch all of it! but, it's a day in our life... nora just playing! and talking to the baby in the mirror!the second video is MUCH shorter... it's of nora's new favorite song!! so cute...