Oh NoJo!

Noella let us all have a great family day today. If many of you have not heard from me in a while, there's a good reason: Noella. Or shall I say Pheeny. I have decided that Pheeny is her alter ego name, kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I fear we may have a wee little colicky one on our hands. We are able to calm her cries for the most part, but the trouble is..... I don't get to do anything all day. It's a great day if I get a shower and maybe lunch. I guess I do get to go on a daily walk with her, as she really loves her carrier. Which is why Adam and I got to get out for a while today.

We all went on a lovely hike on the Washington side of the river. The Syncline Trail gives great views and on a beautiful day, those views make up for all the crying and fussing in the world. We got to hike for two hours and then we even got to go out for pizza afterwards. Oh, Noella you spoiled us today!

Parenting has turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. It really gives me a lot of respect for our parents and parents everywhere. I tip my hat to all of you who have raised children; especially any that were particularly demanding of your attention!

This is what Noella thinks of that:

Another high note is she is starting to sleep better at night. This is a good thing, as she really doesn't like to sleep much during the day (despite her two hour snooze on the hike today). Sleep deprivation does take its toll. For example, at about 3am during one of the feeding/changing sessions last night, Adam asked me whether or not we should put on a cloth diaper or an "instant" diaper. I don't know why this was so hilarious. I guess word finding abilities are somewhat lacking at that point during the night. She also had gotten milk in her hair last night and had a "There's Something About Mary" hair-gel moment. We had to giggle pretty hard about that. If you don't know the movie part, I won't take the time to explain. But trust me, it was pretty funny!

Here is a shot from our hike today. Happy weekend to all!

Our Itsy-Bitsy, Teeny-Weeny Darling Little Ella-Pheeny

You can imagine all the songs that we sing to her with her dozens of nicknames that have already surfaced. The title is one of them of course.

So by now you all (or most of you at least) have heard the long exciting story about the week up until Noella's birth. The car trouble, the unfortunate theft, the subsequent visit to the hospital due to me going into semi-labor b/c of the hysterics that ensued once I figured out the thieves took our hospital bags, camera and baby stuff..... Oh, and the drive back home in the snow storm. The continued snow fall the two days after we got back home, and of course just making it to the hospital just in the nick of time to welcome our baby girl into the world. But, I won't retell the story or anything :)

After some unexpected events due to Noella's aspirating of fluid on her way out, she had to stay in the NICU for 48 hours to be kept under observation and to get her breathing on track. Since sunday, we've been home and everything is great. She's feeding like a superstar, sleeping like a newborn and only cries when she's hungry or when daddy has to change her little tiny diaper.

I can't even express how happy the three of us are. Just when I'm so exhausted, have finally gotten her down to sleep and can sit for a moment, I immediately miss her and must go look at her again. We're slowly getting adjusted and trying to figure out a schedule, but are loving every minute of this tiny, precious daughter of ours.

Little girls like Noella are only born once in a blue moon. :)

Noella Josephine Holt

Born: 12/31/09

Weight: 6 # 15 oz.

Length: 20 and 1/8 in.

Cuteness Factor: Off the charts!

Anxiously Waiting....

For Santa to bring us something special....

I wonder how many cookies we should leave out for him to make sure we get what we want? :)

Things I'm Thankful For....

Thanksgiving, of course.

Morning walks on the Katy Trail with Matt and Maggie.

All of the Noelkers.

Grammy Holt and Aunt Maggie (you like that?)

Paw-paw Tracy and Uncle Matt.

Hikes in the woods

This little creature.

And, last but most certainly not least - this guy. I'm thankful for you more everyday!

Let Them Eat Cake....

Adam and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this weekend. Technically, its the friday after Thanksgiving (and it's technically not our "official" anniversary) - but we'll be in Wash, MO that weekend and busy, so we decided to celebrate a little early.

It was a humble celebration - a nice dinner out and cake. I asked Adam friday evening what kind of cake he'd like as his gift. As I scrolled through the food blog I read regularly, he spotted a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake recipe. This is what he picked. "Are you SURE?" I asked as I read the ingredients and steps involved. "Yep". Well, let me tell you it was worth every ounce of energy and every last calorie.

First of all, credit where credit is due. Smitten Kitchen puts out some fabulous recipes. Find this cake here.

I'm kind of new to double layer cakes and frosting and all that jazz, so its definitely not as pretty as I'd hoped, but DO NOT BE FOOLED! It is the most amazing cake that will ever pass your lips! Behold:

The chocolate deliciousness on top is a layer of ganache. It is almost too much. Almost.

How do we keep our slim figures while eating stuff like this? Well, me - I don't think I'm keeping my slim figure these days. But Adam continues to do his cyclocross racing. Here are some nice shots from today. I guess I could possibly work off like one of those tiny crumbs on the plate by running around taking pictures of Adam racing his bike.

It looks like somebody ate that cake a little too fast.... Oh, wait its just mud.

Apples and Salmon and Pumpkins - Oh My!

I know. It's been a while. But there's a very good excuse: missing camera cord. I have several blogs worth of pictures and stories to share, but I think I'm just going to condense the last month for you all.

The first story includes our venture to the Heirloom Apple Festival in the Mt. Hood Valley. It was filled with a delightful barbeque lunch, a demonstration cooking of apple butter in a huge cooper kettle and, of course, apple tasting. This sounded like a harmless, even healthful activity for myself to enjoy. Well, let's just say after about 15 out of 80 varieties were tasted, I couldn't really feel my tongue anymore, much less taste apples. Oh, and it's not so great on the tummy either. However, it was very interesting to read about and see that many varieties of hundreds of years old apples. We bought many many pounds and, of course, MADE STUFF (applesauce) with them.

Next on our adventure list is a nice hike through Eagle Creek (another worthy Gorge hike listed in our handy-dandy Curious Gorge book). We thought we were just going to stretch our legs and hike a couple of hours, but we were pleasantly surprised that there was an incredible salmon run going on up the creek. I have never seen anything like this before.... This was definitely the last stop for these salmon. It was very eerie, but interesting!

Punchbowl Falls

Eight months here. The turkey timer is saying it's almost time!

In other worthy news, David Ruether came and visited us over Halloween weekend. It was quite a treat to have a visitor! He was very good company, and we definitely won over our street with he and Adam's pumpkin carving skills. I must brag that our jack-o-lanterns were the very best on the block. Good work guys. Also on all-hallows-eve, the boys made another batch of home brew. Adam went with an Irish Chocolate Stout this time, as his English Style Porter is almost gone now. This should be ready to go right about the time the baby is here.  I made sure I put my two cents in on what kind it would be since it's ME who hasn't gotten to partake in any libations recently (or for 8 months actually). Needless to say, I'm excited to have a drink every once in a while again.

Aren't those guys handsome?

We also got to do some exploring out of Horsethief Butte - great views!

Looking out over the Columbia into Oregon.

Fall

Why is fall so lovely?

Pumpkin Patches

Red Beans and Rice Cooking on the Stove
(click on the link for recipe)

Ginger Pear Pie 
(click on the link for recipe)

Cyclocross Races

And of course, getting closer to the baby's arrival. Here we were comparing pumpkins to my belly.

Even though my babycenter.com's weekly newsletter tells me the baby is more the weight of a head of cauliflower, my belly is definitely more like the size of a pumpkin. Why do they always compare the baby to a piece of produce? I don't know. Anyway, it was a lovely fall weekend here. I hope it was for you too.