Fun Times At Gladwin!

Wednesday morning Noelle and I woke up a bit early and started our drive up to Gladwin. The three hour drive is really not bad at all, since we are used to the five hour drive up to Petoskey! Noelle was very good in the car, even though she does not have the luxury of any DVD players, poor Noelle! She is so used to making trips that she just sits in her car seat and watches the scenery, and sometimes falls asleep! I couldn't resist snapping this picture of her sleeping, while I was driving. Notice the kitty cat and "night-night" grasped tightly in each arm!

We arrived in Gladwin around noon. Beautiful warm, sunny weather welcomed us. My little brother was staying with my Aunt so we were able to spend time with him as well. Noelle loved looking outside at the lake saying "wa-wa" over and over. We finally took her down to the water and Uncle Alex took her for a swim. She has never been in water deeper than she is, so I was a bit apprehensive as to how she would enjoy it but being the water baby that she is, she loved it! She kicked like a pro swimmer and submerged her little head under too!


When Noelle was covered in goosebumps and her lips started to turn a shade similar to a plum, it was time to get out of the "wa-wa". Of course we were met with some screaming opposition, but such is life! We let Noelle play with a bucket of slightly warmer water and some cups on the deck the rest of the day! After dinner we went up to a little local store for some ice cream. The Sugar Shack thinks of a single ice cream cone as a means to see how much ice cream they can possibly stack until it almost falls down! I can't even imagine the double! Noelle learned very quickly how to say "ice cream" and savored every spoonful I gave her. She had a better liking towards Uncle Alex's peanut butter chocolate than my raspberry sorbet, but for some odd reason Alex was not all about baby slobber all over his ice cream! What a poor sport!

Thursday, was a bit cooler and we stayed until about 1:30pm. In the morning we didn't do much outside, just enjoyed the beautiful condo and let Noelle play with Uncle Alex and Desmond. It was a wonderful quick get-a-way and I think we both wish Da-da was there with us! Maybe next time!

Morning Sickness and Not Much Else...

The past week has been pretty uneventful. I continue to have some pretty bad morning sickness, that usually hits in the evenings. I know it's a blessing in disguise, so I try my best to suck it up and focus on Noelle's beautiful face, knowing that I am creating another cutie!

Noelle reached the big 18 month mark on June 21st. I still can't believe that in another six months she is going to be 2! Her vocabulary keeps expanding and we have introduced the "potty". She tells us when she does do anything in her diaper so we decided to slowly try some potty training. Throughout the day she sits on the little toilet. She hasn't actually done anything yet but we hope it happens soon. The toilet we bought actually plays music when the child does use it and we are hoping that the excitement of that will entice her to go more. Ever since telling Noelle that mommy has a baby in her belly so loves to kiss my belly and point at it and say "baby". She also has taken a lot of interest in her baby dolls, wanting to wrap them up in blankets and feed them whatever food she is snacking on.

Tomorrow Noelle and I are heading up to Gladwin, Mi to visit my Aunt Judy at her condo. We are only staying for one night but it will be nice to be on a lake and just relax for a day. I promise to have lots of pictures from our visit. Until then here are some pics of Noelle:

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there. Here are a few quotes I found and liked!

"Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a DADDY!"

"To be a successful father . . . there's one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don't look at it for the first two years." -- Ernest Hemingway

"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope." ~Bill Cosby

"Father! - to God himself we cannot give a holier name." ~William Wordsworth

"A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again." ~Enid Bagnold

"A father carries pictures where his money used to be." ~Author Unknown

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. " ~Mark Twain, "Old Times on the Mississippi" Atlantic Monthly, 1874

"Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes." ~Gloria Naylor

"There's something like a line of gold thread running through a man's words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years it gets to be long enough for you to pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself." ~John Gregory Brown, Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery, 1994

"Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected." ~Red Buttons

"Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever." ~Author Unknown

Long Time

It's been a long time since I last posted and we have been pretty busy. We recently found out that we are expecting another little Roehrig to join our family!! My due date is January 20, 2008 and at my nine week appointment this past week the baby had a very strong heartbeat and everything looks wonderful! I have been a little more tired than usual and during the evenings very nauseated, but I welcome every pregnancy symptom because that is a good sign all is well. As many of you know we have been trying very hard for a while and we feel very blessed and extremely excited about this baby. I showed Noelle the picture of the ultrasound and told her that this is our new baby in my belly. She grabbed the picture and gave it a big kiss! Hopefully that is a good inclination that she is going to be a very loving and accepting older sister.

The first weekend in June we spent celebrating Grandpa Roehrig's 55th birthday. All of Tom's family got together and had a big BBQ. It was a lot of fun and we finally got to see our new little niece Macy Isabella Marie Roehrig, born in March, not to mention other family we haven't seen in a while. Noelle really enjoyed pointing at Macy and saying "baby" over and over. Surprisingly, she was very interested in her. Also, while we were there Tom was able to wash his car outside. For some odd reason it is something he really enjoys and looks forward to. Noelle, being an extreme water lover, had to be right in the middle helping out. We gave her a bucket and the hose and much fun was had. Here are some pictures to enjoy of the weekend!

This week my good friend Stacy Zbytowski and her son, Jacob, came to stay with us. We stayed busy during the week visiting a local petting zoo, shopping, going to the water park in Dundee, and playing together! We have discovered this summer that our little girl is a complete water baby. She loves to dunk her head in water and stay in any pool or sprinkler until her little body is shaking from the cold and her lips are bright purple. While we were at the indoor water park, she played in the kiddie pool continuously and her little body was so cold she could barely stand without visibly shaking! I kept taking her out and warming her up, but she wanted right back in! Also we learned that Noelle doesn't know how to share very well so I spent a lot of the week trying to stop her from ripping toys out of Jacob's hand! By the end of the week the children were playing together pretty well. Here are some more pictures to enjoy:

Well, that has been our June so far. I promise to update more frequently!

Holiday Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday weekend. We braved the traffic and headed Up North. Fortunately, both Noelle and Zeus are seasoned travelers and had no problem with the drive. Tom was able to leave work early on Friday which helped us to avoid much of the heavy traffic. The weekend was spent with family and friends enjoying the beautiful weather and wonderful company.

My good friend, Stacy, who was in Japan and moved back in May to Alpena to have her second baby came over on Saturday. She has a son, Jacob, who is one year old and Noelle loved playing with him. They discovered the wonders of a trampoline. There were times when Noelle did not want to get off that trampoline, but there were many people around including Grandpa and Uncle Alex that were happy to oblige Noelle's new found love. In my haste to pack everything I forgot the camera, Stacy did bring hers and this a great picture of Jacob and Noelle.

We traveled back to the flat south on Sunday so that we would be able to take Monday and relax before Tom had to go back to work.

Tuesday I took Zeus to the vet for his four month appointment. He weighed in at a whopping 50 lbs. He gained 15 lbs. in three weeks! He is going to be a big boy!! Noelle is still his best friend, although his size is not realized yet and sometimes knocks her down without realizing it. One of Noelle's new things to do with Zeus is walk him. She just holds onto the leash for only about five seconds but it's very cute!

There is no question that summer has come to Michigan. The weather has been very warm and outside is one word that gets a very excited reaction from both Zeus and Noelle. We spend most of our waking time outside, covered from head to toe in sunscreen! Last summer Noelle was learning to crawl, this summer she is not a baby any more, but a little girl who has a mind of her own!

Wonderful Long Weekend!

Having Tom home Friday and Monday made for a wonderful extended Birthday and Mother's Day weekend.

Friday we went during the day and bought Noelle a much needed sand and water table. It has become a new fixture on our deck and something that Noelle loves to play in. We had our new favorite babysitter (besides family) come over Friday evening while we went out to dinner. After dinner we planned on stopping by Lowe's and buying a PUSH mower for the yard. Well, the shinny appeal of a big new tractor was too much to handle and there was no way we were walking out of the store with a lowly push mower. So, we bought a new lawn tractor!

Saturday morning I was greeted with an awful migraine that made it difficult to enjoy the beautiful weather. Luckily, Tom was able to help out with Noelle. The new tractor was delivered in the morning and held both Tom's and Noelle's attention for awhile. Of course, Tom had to mow the lawn and play around on his new toy, as Noelle watched and yelled out the window "Vroom, Vroom, Hi Dada!" She was very enthralled and just wanted to sit on it and touch every part of this new interesting machine.

The rest of the weekend went by too quickly. We spent a lot of time outside and just doing things as a family. When Tuesday morning came it was really hard to say goodbye to Tom. Noelle woke up and instantly went to every room calling for her daddy!

This weekend I get to see my sister, brother and Dad!! Charlotte is going to take Noelle for the night on Friday while Tom and I attend a Tigers game. Saturday, we will meet them at Alex's hockey game and cheer on our favorite hockey player! It will be really great to see them and Noelle will have a lot of fun spending the night at Aunt Charlotte's apartment. We love that Alex does get some opportunities to play hockey in the Detroit area and we are able to see him.

Thank you all for reading what is going on in our house!!

First One

This is my first attempt at creating a blog. I thought that it would be nice to let family and friends know what is going on around our Roehrig household.

Noelle will be seventeen months old on May 21st. We are constantly struggling with her lack of interest in food, but that is a very minor problem. Her vocabulary seems to grow leaps and bounds on a daily basis. Now that the weather is warmer we are always outside playing in the sand and with the slide and each activity we do she picks on the new words.

Noelle's favorite playmate is Zeus, who is wonderful with her even though he is now double her weight! Zeus has become a wonderful addition to the family and we all enjoy having him around. Tom and Zeus butt heads a bit because he doesn't listen to Tom well, but hopefully that changes as he gets older.

This weekend will be a celebration of Mother's Day and Tom's Birthday. He will be 28!! Tom is taking Friday and Monday off of work so that we can have a nice long weekend. If the weather stays warm and cooperates our landscaping will become our next project. Friday night Noelle will have a babysitter and we will go out for a much needed dinner to celebrate Tom's birthday! The rest of the weekend will be spent doing yard work outside.

I hope everyone will enjoy this new blog I have created. I will try and update it as frequently as possible.

Just a cute picture of Noelle dressed in all pink, as usual!