Noelie's 3... and other developments

NOELIE AND THE FREYS WAITING FOR ENTRANCE INTO THE BOUNCE ROOM

WHERE THE CHAOS TOOK PLACE
NOELIE AND AUBRIE GETTING READY TO JOIN THE FUN
PACKED INTO THE PARTY ROOM

This past weekend was a chaotic one. We started the Memorial weekend with Noelie's 3rd Bday party (we had it a week early because my logic is the sooner the better with my due date getting closer). We rented out one of those big warehouses with all the inflatable moonwalks and obstacle courses, and let me tell ya, we packed a bunch of folks into that big place! We had a lot of family come in from Orange to join the celebration and a lot of friends from Houston join us. This was the first year we invited Noelie's class and a bunch of those guys showed up as well! It was a blast but whew, was I one pooped preggie once everyone left! We knew all of the little ones would have fun but most of the adults couldn't resist the temptation to join in on the fun which from my standpoint - sitting on the sidelines - proved quite entertaining:)Pictures to come soon once MiMi gets back into town with her camera.

Later that week was my regular Eli checkup where all the doctor could say when measuring me is, "Wow, that's one big boy!" (My Grandma Sanders insists this is due to eating too much bread. A little late for that...) This statement makes me a little nervous as I have to get that big boy outta there eventually. All I can say is I'll be calling the hospital when I'm in labor and on my way there and tell them to start hooking up the epidural so I can just be wheeled in and start the tap flowing (those that know my last predicament with the epidural know the humor of this - when it took the night shift guy 8 times of stabbing me in the back before shift change came and the next guy got it on the first try). There's so much to be said for all those brave women out there that go the no drug route, but my philosophy is there are no medals given for that and having gone the epidural route before, I highly recommend it.

In other production news... Jason is proud to report he has a bumper tomato crop this year. He tells me you never know from year to year. He and Noelie have had many a bonding moment picking them out of the garden and eating them together at the kitchen table. It's quite sweet. Mommy is a little more high maintenance and cannot eat them in the raw like the rest of the family but I'm sure I have strengths elsewhere...maybe.

We have also slowly but surely been preparing for Eli's arrival. His nursery is pretty much done and the clothes are all washed and ready-to-wear. I was afraid to do this before as I thought I would jinx things and he'd come out a girl, but after the last ultrasound where 'things' were much more 'developed' there's no mistaking it's a boy! Noelie is starting to be a little more curious and with that a little more dramatic about things as she sees baby things being set up throughout the house. In the midst of this trama we're trying to potty train her which isn't exactly going as smoothly as we anticipated...probably a little resistance due to her thinking she should be the only baby... but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. And if that doesn't work we'll just buy some stock in Pampers because I'm sure we'll be keeping that company in the black with all the business we'll be giving them.