video 5, dancing and flying to the moon!!

okay, the video numbers... i was going through my old posts and realized that some of my videos didn't post. so, i posted them... but then realized that they posted when they were first put up. so, they are listed video 1-5... if you want to go see them!!
nora is here in her cute new shoes... she was enjoying wearing them. however, someone thought her shoe was coming off, because of the way her foot was twisted around. but, that's just the way she walks. sometimes, her feet don't face all the way forward! we'll have to work on that.


nora went to a friend's house and got to drive the car this weekend! she had so much fun! we got cool new glasses as a party favor on saturday and nora begged to try them on!!!

she loves to show how big she is!! and, if you look closely in the fourth pic, you can see all six of her teeth... at least that was the goal!






nora thinks her daddy is about the funniest thing in the world. it's so fun to watch them interact... i came home the other day from running errands, and the "mamma mia" soundtrack was playing in the background. and there was my sweet husband, dancing with my daughter! it was the most precious thing! i used to dance with my dad, so it touched my heart to see david and nora doing this!

this weekend, we went to see a shakespeare show at the old globe in balboa park. it was so fun! it was outdoors and we snuggled up under a blanket. saturday, nora slept in until 8:40 am! (and i woke her up then...) we went to a party (see the video of the roller coaster) and had a blast.

sunday was a "Celebration of God and Country" at church. it is the 4th celebration service. it was such a moving service... talking about freedom, honoring our military, and celebrating the fact that we live in an amazing country! it was such a refreshing and moving day! nice to remember that we do have a fabulous life in america! and, that i am proud to be an american!!!

then, i took a little drive to pasadena, ca. a dear, dear friend (jennnie keller skinner) was in a show up there. it was so fun to see her, and to see her act. the show was incredible! and moving... i cried! it was about sisters and life. it was also the second thing this weekend that made me remember that we aren't guaranteed tomorrow. the other was a fire in san diego. it was at the kansas city bbq (where the sleezy bar scene from top gun was filmed, and where there is a bunch of movie props left). i drove by there on wednesday and pointed it out to a friend. i even said, i need to go there soon! then, on thursday, it burned down!

back to my drive... i hadn't done a drive like that by myself in a LONG time! i plugged in my ipod and rocked out! it was so great... i listened to songs that i hadn't in awhile. and the songs all made me think of different points in my life. then, talking to jennie and her new husband about life, marriage and babies, made me remember what an AWESOME life i have and how thankful i am for the amazing man i married and the adorable daughter i have! we also talked a lot about God's timing and God's plan. so often i think i have everything planned out and see how it would work perfectly... then God does what He does, and sometimes i even get angry that my plan isn't working. but, looking back, it's so wonderful to see that God had something even better than i could have imagine planned all along!!!

so, have a great day! that's all i have to say for now!

video 4

our little marathon runner... can you see how fast she is moving? she needs one of these toys! she loved being able to roam all around!!! maybe she'll take after auntie coco and be a runner!!

video 1... roller coaster

we went to a super fun birthday party on saturday... it had all little tykes/step 2 type toys. nora had a blast on this roller coaster! she rode it over and over and never stopped loving it! (david and i got tired, however!!) more videos to come...

manolos and stroller strides

so, last night, i got to be my friend's date to a party. it was the graduation party for the residents that i worked with... it was also a very special night for me. it was the first night i got to wear my very fun Manolo Blahniks. I wasn't sure if they went with the dress, but denise and i decided that carrie would wear them! so, i did! they were so fun and got so many compliments!!! (for those of you that don't know, they were a very special gift!!! thanks so much)...

today after stroller strides, we were just hanging out in the park. as an aside, i don't love our carpet. i used to try to put blankets down so nora would play on something "clean"! it didn't work. everythink that wasn't on the blanket was so much more fun! so, at the park, i set nora on one of the blankets the moms were sitting on. nora went to one side, picked up a piece of leaves, then crawled over to the other side. she crawled back and forth on the blanket, like she was on an island, for probably a good ten minutes! it was so funny to watch... (and abnormal, because usually she LOVES grass! in fact, we were at a friend's house who has fake grass and turf in their play area, and she wouldn't even play there because it wasn't real!!!)

ps... this is from an earlier stroller strides... today it was probably close to 100*... that day it might have been 70*!!

i say a little prayer for you...

nora after a visit to the pool... we went to a pool on base that had a baby pool... it was about a foot and a half deep and she was able to stand and play. she loved it! (then she realized that there was a step and she had more fun climbing out of the pool!)

when i started feeding nora "real" food, i tried to make sure that we prayed before each meal. i would grab her hands and say a little prayer. about two weeks ago, i realized that she was doing it by herself (maybe in an effort to get food faster?!?!) but here is a video of her praying! she is so precious! if you say "let's pray", she will fold her hands! it just touches a mom's heart!

nora bean

i think my pop-pop is the funniest guy ever!!!



we went out to dinner (in the background is the water, then the cliffs of torrey pines... for all you golfers out there!) nora was tired and very snuggly!

camp putt-putt... nora did very well snuggled up to pop-pop...


look at me, i'm so cute!




she found a carrot... it was more entertaining to play with than to eat, i think!




cheering on uncle david while he played wii!!
watching the open with the davids!!



so, this is the picture of nora and benjamin holding hands....










snuggled with aunty kay-kay to keep warm!!


then, more of camp putt-putt!!

poolside bums! they are too cute...









feeding time for the masses! what cute and good babies! nora and i had a quick trip to the doctor today... she weighs 19lbs, 12oz and is 27 inches long! what a big girl! she is definitely getting longer and skinnier! and... there are three new teeth peeking through! that will give her a grand total of six!


it's hard to believe! my little girl is growing up! last night, david was putting nora in bed. she has a little routine for going to sleep. we sing her "it is well". when she is really tired, she will lunge for her bed and not let you finish the song. usually, we get through a verse and put her down. so, david put her in bed and noticed that she curled her leg up under her. so, he thought he would be helpful and straighten it out for her. she looked up at him, with a look of annoyance, and pulled her leg back up under her. ahh... my little snugglepuppy!

nora's out of the closet!!!

So, this is the only picture I could get to upload... Nora and I got pedis the other day!!!

Eight days before Nora's first birthday, she will be moving out of the closet! (Actually, David will come home from Maine in July and move us. Nora and I will continue gallavanting in the midwest while Daddy works hard!!! He has four nights to move us before he comes back to join us!) So, after nearly 12 months in the closet, Nora will get her own room! I couldn't be happier!! We found awesome renters for our place, and are moving five minutes up the road to a nice, two bedroom apartment. (Actually, there is a walk-in closet, so for all intents and purposes, it could be a three bedroom!)





Mom-mom, Pop-pop and Uncle David have been here this week. Uncle David and DYH got to go to the US Open practice round, courtesy of a good friend, Eric, who wasn't able to make one of the practice rounds. Then, on Sunday night, he also offered David and David tickets to Monday. We all fought over them! So, they had fun watching Tiger win! (David said he could have reached out and touched him on the 7th- sudden death- hole!) Other than that, we enjoyed family time this week! We played "Camp Putt-putt"... a Presley tradition of picking a week and playing putt-putt every night! Nora chilled out in her new jogging stroller and we had a great time!





Nora has three new teeth just peeking through. These have definitely been the most miserable! She will just write in pain! I gave her teething tablets (chamomille) just to try it, and within a few minutes, she was a different girl... on the floor, playing and laughing! Before the bad teething, when mom was her favorite, she wouldn't leave Uncle David's arms for anything but food. It was precious to watch!





Alright, a lot on this post... sorry it's been so long! We babysat for a friend last week... Benjamin is about 13 months older than Nora. However, they are about the same size!!! He was so cute with her, crawling on the floor with her, playing with her, and holding her hands. They were both in their chairs, eating a snack, when Benjamin said he was done. He got down, and I turned to Nora and said "What about you, little monkey, are you done?" Without missing a beat, Benjamin walked over and said, "Come on little monkey, are you done? Aren't you full? Are you done, little monkey?" It was so precious!!! What a fun boy!





Lastly, we had some friends over to the hotel for a swim day... Nora and her boys. We had a great time! We all took a vote, and decided that my parents should move to that hotel! Thanks mom and dad for a great weekend!

whirlwind weekends and lots of fun!!

lobsters for daddy's birthday! we had so much fun...













then, we hung out with friends (kayden, jace and their parents!!) it was a fun memorial day/daddy's birthday!











we went to ohio, and nora fell in love... with grapefruit! she went to town!

















we went to the johnson's and nora loved the chicks and sheep.













we had breakfast with the swanson family... it was a BUSY weekend! there were graduations, partys and families galore!










but nora still managed smiles all over.


















before we left, we went to visit my old work. nora was a big help to auntie evelyn. and a huge hit!!











in honor of daddy's birthday weekend, we went to a baseball game.... nora's first! she had a ball! she seemed to LOVE people watching! and there is a park in the park that we played at!















i think david loved that nora enjoyed the game so much.


















however, it tuckered nora out! she slept like a baby!

we have had a busy and fabulous last few weeks. it was so fun to be in ohio and with family. nora transitioned well and traveled like a champ. i figured it out the other day... nora has been on 22 different airplanes. and she charms the other passengers on each one! what a sweet baby... i hope that she keeps traveling this well!

i had to laugh on one of our flights. this young girl (okay, early twenties) sat down next to me and we both pulled out our magazines. hers was people and mine was a mom's mag!

alright... more to come!