Noelani's First Christmas!!! HO HO HO!!

So the day after we got back from Grandma and Grandpa's in Oregon my Dad and Mom came home from Arizona!!  Noelani and I picked them up from the airport and we were thrilled to see them!  Grandma and Papa couldn't believe how big she's gotten since they saw her last in August. 


We can't believe how big she's gotten either...we weighed the little lady last week and she's a whopping 25 lbs!!I do have to brag a bit in case you didn't see our Christmas card...We took some pictures of Noelani (you can see them in our previous blog) and got Christmas cards made at Costco...when I went to pick up the cards I gave the lady my last name and she immediately knew which cards were ours...She said we had the cutest baby in the world and that we had won the annual award for the cutest baby Christmas card!!  I had my first proud Mommy moment!!  The cards were beyond cute!!  We do have a beautiful little girl!!

We picked up a Christmas tree and the lot we went to actually had live reindeer so Noelani got to see reindeer for her first time...I think it was Comet and Prancer but I'm not 100%. :)


The big news for Noelani this month is she started eating solid food!!  We started with rice cereal but she didn't really dig on that too much...I understood as it didn't tast like anything so we quickly moved on to bigger and better. 

She's now had Applesauce, Pears, Bananas, Peaches, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots and Pears & Raspberries...sweet potatoes and bananas seem to be her favorite at this point.  She eats better than any baby I've ever seen...no choking or spitting...she just bangs on the table for more!! 

We're having fun experimenting with new flavors and she's yet to not like anything...I'm sure that will come sooner or later.

We've had snow for the past 2 weeks here which is pretty rare for Seattle...It kind of put a damper on us being able to see the parents as we couldn't get anywhere for a few days due to the insane amount of snow.  The highlight of the snow is Noelani's first Christmas was a white one!! 

I know Noelani is only 6 months old and won't remember much about her first Christmas but we sure will!! 

I think I had the best night I've had since she was born on Christmas Eve...We left cookies and milk out for Santa and of course some carrots for his reindeer! 

Santa even left a note for Noelani...I loved every minute of it and can't wait for her to get older and understand more of what's actually going on during Christmas. 

Kea got a new winter jacket for Christmas as you'll see below...despite her look of discontent she actually loves it only she can't see much when the hood is over her eyes.




We woke up early on Christmas morning and checked our stockings and then began the task of opening up all the presents that Santa left for Noelani...she is one spoiled little girl but then again she should be....she's the cutest baby ever!!!


Noelani had so many presents to open she even had to take a nap during the process...Truth be known she would have rather ate the wrapping paper instead of open the presents but I guess that's par for the course this year!




Noelani scored lots of great gifts...her first laptop, laugh and learn Puppy and lots of books and clothes.


As you can see in the picture below...she's one happy little girl!!!

After we opened up all our presents we battled the weather and headed down to my parents in Auburn for part 2 of the Christmas celebration!! Noelani wore her 'Santa's Sidekick' T-shirt...

All in all there were 16 of us at my Dad and Mom's...the family just keeps getting bigger!! We always have a blast when we get together and this was definitely the case today! My Brother Steve proposed to his girlfriend Holly which was the big exciting news of the day!! (Congrats Steve & Holly!)
In the picture below is Kavan (My niece Jenny's youngest (15 months) as you can see Noelani is almost as tall as he is...she's going to rule on the Basketball court! ;)

We had a great time spending the day with family and were so happy my parents came home to spend the Christmas holiday with us...it wouldn't have been the same without them!!



The picture below if our 1st Christmas family shot...I love our little family!!

Being a parent and seeing your child's eyes light up at Christmas is really what it's all about!! I never knew it would be this fun...we can hardly wait for next year!!!
Merry Christmas to our entire family and thank you for everything!!! We love you!!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

So as everyone has informed me...I really need to update our blog!! Here goes one of many updates.

The second week of December we decided to hit the road and head down to Redmond, OR to surprise Ray's Dad for his Birthday. We left on Thursday afternoon and returned (despite all the snow) on Sunday morning.

We sure did surprise Grandpa...we drove quietly into the driveway and then left Noe on the porch to greet him.

We had a great time with the parents as always.

We also got to see Auntie Crystal and Cousin Colby as you'll see in the pictures below. Noelani loves her cousin Colby...

I think it's the red hair...she just can't stop staring at him. :)

Noelani got to open up her first Christmas present ever...Elmo Live! She loves her Elmo but I think she loved eating the wrapping paper even more.


We got to decorate Mom and Dad's tree which was fun...Colby and I had a blast!!


Noelani loved to look at the Christmas tree and see all the sparkling lights!!

Tis the Season!!!

I can't even begin to express how excited Ray and I are for Christmas!! It's so fun knowing we're creating memories that will last a lifetime for Noelani just like our parents did for us!!

We took Noelani for her first pictures with Santa today and they turned out fabulous!! She didn't even shed a tear when she sat on his lap...I suppose that will come next year. I'm not sure if Ray and I had more fun than she did but either way we'll remember it forever!

We bought Noelani a Step & Play Piano for Christmas but I caved and we've given it to her early...this is the only year she won't know a difference between today and Christmas Day so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal. She loves her piano and is so proud of herself when she pounds on it makes music!!


On Thursday we're heading down to Bend, OR to visit Ray's parents and surprise Papa for his Birthday which is on Saturday.

Speaking of Grandparents...Noelani and I have been counting the days down on the calendar and it's 1 week until Papa and Grandma come home for the holidays from Arizona!!! I'd say time has flown but it hasn't...we can't wait to see them!

We also just found out today that Grandma and Grandpa Rentas are coming up from Arizona in January so Noelani is looking forward to spending some time getting to know them. With all these Grandparents this little girl is undoubtedly the most loved little girl I've ever seen!! How lucky she is to have so many Grandparents that love her so much!!! Now we just need to get Uncle Kevin up here so she can meet him too!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have not had a very good week at home this past week. Noelani came down with a bad cold this past Saturday and was up most of the night for 3 + nights...then low and behold both Ray and I caught it...let the good times roll. I didn't think it could get worse but it sure did...it's not fun tending to a sick baby when you can't even tend to yourself. Oh the joys of being parents! Everyone kept telling me 'Wait until she gets sick and then you get sick'...I believe it all now.

Thankfully Noelani got some sleep on Wednesday evening so we were able to still head up North to Jamie's house to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. We were doubtful there for a few days but we made it and it was actually nice to get out of the house we'd been in lock down in since Saturday. Jamie cooked the full blown turkey dinner and Ray and I even got to enjoy eating it together (Noelani picked a great time for a nap!). The entire Phelps family was up for the big day as you can see in the picture below. It reminded me of the good ole days when we were 14 only this time around we all have kids!! I can't believe we've known each other now for 20 years now!!! In the picture below are Jim and Heather and Danel with her little girl Taylor and Jamie with her two boys Jack and Jordan and Tamie with her little girl Hannah and of course Noelani and I.

Noelani is on the upswing now but still has a lingering cough. We take her to the doctor on Tuesday for her 6 month check up...I can't believe it's been 6 months since we brought our angel home!

Pictures from the McCoskery's

Scott took some pictures of Noelani the last time we all got together and I just have to post some of them here for you all to see. She's so beautiful!!!!
It's great having a photographer in the family!!

Time flies when you're having fun...

We've been so busy the past few weeks I haven't had any time to post any updates until tonight. I don't have much new to report on aside from Noelani getting her first tooth!! It's not all the way through yet but when it does poke through I'll be sure to post some pictures. I can't believe she'll be 6 months in just a few short weeks. Time really does fly when you're having fun.

Spencer came to stay the night with us two weekends ago. We had a fun time. He loves his cousin Noe and was a big helper. I'm enjoying seeing Noelani's and his relationship develop.

As you can see in the picture below Noelani loves giving her BFF, Teia, hugs...


Noelani enjoyed her first Halloween even though she almost missed it. It was way past her bedtime so she only got to hit one house and then she hit the bed.


Papa and Grandma sent a care package to Noelani and inside was her first Green Bay Packers hat and an Army Basketball t-shirt. She absolutely loves wearing her hat.
Thank you Papa and Grandma!!!