Packing for Utah!!

This was our street :)

SNOW!!

Here we are last Christmas in Park City

We can't wait for our trip up to Salt Lake City. It is always filled with hot wassail, and homemade caramels, playing in the snow and playing games like Apples to Apples and Poker with the whole family. We love going to movies at Jordan Commons, visiting Gardener Village, Trolley Square and other shops. Taking our traditional drive up to Park City stopping of course at the outlet shops and then eating at Bandits. Sledding on bunny hill is always fun and our random trips to ShopKo. Who can forget our many many stops at Starbucks of course watching Christmas classics. Not to mention we get to be surrounded by at least 25 family members of all ages! Being a "zonie" we love the snow and waking up to the streets covered in white still gets me all excited!

So anyway I am trying to get some packing done since we will be leaving early the day after Christmas. The thing is... I don't know how to pack for Gracelyn. I am afraid to pack to little or like me way too much :) Anyone taken a baby to the snow before or are lucky enough to live in the snow... I could use some advice/ideas :)

THanks!!
Sincerely,
Mom who doesn't know how to pack for her baby :)

Christmas Brunch with the Evans'

My Grandma has started a wonderful tradition many many years back. The whole family meets for brunch and then takes part in a gift exchange. This exchange however is very different from your average secret santa. Each person draws a name and without spending a penny finds a gift to give. Along with the gift we must write a poem about it. Some are serious and sentimental and others are quite humorous. Some gifts are ridiculous and others are practical. For the last 5 or six years we have been blessed beyond belief to dine in the terrace room at the Ritz Carleton. We have been very thankful for the service they have provided and have become good friends with the people there. We realize that this may not always be our plans for Christmas but we will continue to treasure the laughs and memories made at our Christmas brunches. It doesn't matter where we have our brunch or what we eat while we are there. The only thing that matters is that we all remain close to our loved ones and family.

One thing that was so special this time was with the arrival of our Gracelyn... she made 5 generations present at this brunch. Gracelyn got to meet her great great great aunt. Such an amazing moment we got to share with her.

6 Weeks old !

Here is Gracelyn all dressed up for an evening walk with mommy and daddy. We bundled her up with a hat and mittens to go around the neighborhood and see the lights :)

David and I can't believe our little girl is six weeks old already! We were looking back to the day she was born and were are amazed at how much she has changed!

She sleeps so well... although if she sleeps a lot during the day (normally she is awake for most of the day) she will be awake at 4 am so we come downstairs and surf the net :) I know I am starting her young! While I am catching up on friends blogs she falls asleep and then I can put her down.

She loves her play mat that our friends gave us to borrow. She loves kicking the rings and moving them... though she hasn't figured out how to grab them quite yet. We moved her from the papasan swing into the sitting upright swing.. she loves it! She would much rather be sitting up and watching everything that is going on. She loves her baths now... I knew it was only a matter of time.

My new hobby... making her big hair bows. I was wrapping presents with big ribbon and tried something.. turns out I can make them :) It is so simple.. and I can't wait to go to the craft store and have some fun with them!!!

Well I have to go make dinner now!
Thanks for reading!!

P.S. thank you for your encouragement and prayers. Both David and Gracelyn are doing much better and are almost over their colds.

LOVE AND PRAYERS ,
The Noland Three :)

Sick baby girl :(

Poor little Gracelyn is sick. She had a low grade fever which wasn't a big deal but the hard thing is she can't breathe out of her little nosey. I am sure you can imagine how feedings are going... they are not! She can't get enough air to keep eating so she stops frequently, which prolongs the feedings for many many minutes. Though I have to admit I do like that she is very clingly and snuggly. She always wants to be held and wants to sleep in my arms or on my chest... thankfully I have been able to put her in the metro wrap and she can sleep there while I have my hands free and can get some things done.
She is so big growing longer and longer every day. We knew that she grew out of her newborn diapers and clothes a few weeks back but now her little legs are almost too long for her 3 month footed jammies and clothes. It is funny though because she has a tiny little body still so the 3 month clothes are big on her :)
I just love all the time we have had as a family. Sometimes we just all snuggle on the couch watching a Christmas movie, other times we just sit in the dark lit by the tree and listen to music focusing on the true meaning on Christmas.

We are so blessed this Christmas not only for our family but for the gift of salvation. His mercy and grace is more than we could ever deserve but He chose to love us with an unfailing love and we are forever grateful!

I pray the Lord blesses you and yours with warm winter blessings!!

The Nolands

Picture perfect!

Our Gift from God!

One month and sitting up :)

A big milestone today! Gracelyn is one month old today and we can't believe she is already sitting up! ( With the help of bumbo) we knew she could hold her head up but this is new!!! At first she didn't love the bumbo because it was too cold but then we put a blanket in it and she loved it!

Pictures with mom :)

Just hanging out with Mommy!

Check-up for Gracelyn!

We went to the Dr. for her one month.. well a few days early, and we had been asked to get Gracelyn back to her birth weight which was 8lbs 15 oz. To both our surprise she weighed in at 9lbs and 10 oz!!! Yikes she sure grew a lot in these last two weeks.

So glad that she made it, now I can start letting her sleep through the night without feeling guilty about starving her! Just kidding.. I know she would wake up if she was hungry. We consider ourselves very blessed for those wonderful 5-6 hours extra we get at night!

Black Friday Fun!

David, Gracelyn and I got up at 3:30 to go Black Friday shopping. After Gracie's 3:00 feeding we bundled her up, David made us some hot coffee and the three of us headed out into the day after Thanksgiving chaos. We decided against the stroller so I had her in my sling metrowrap. It worked out perfectly since she was warm and close to me and slept most of the time. First we had planned on getting to Wal-mart at 4:00 since the one by our house was a 24 hour store we planned to get the things we needed and then wait till it was 5 to check out. One thing that we got was actually one of David's Christmas presents. He wanted a Shop Vac regularly 50 we got it for 15. We had also planned on getting some DVD's that were on sale for 2 dollars so David grabbed a few. After walmart we headed over to Kohls. David ran in hoping to get it and go but the line was so long. I fed Gracelyn in the car and then went in and shopped for some winter clothes for her. By the time I found the things for her I joined David in line. We ended up waiting a hour and a half in line but it was so worth it... we love our new sheets!!! 600 thread count reg. 140 we got them for 40! After that David took us home so I could get some sleep before it was time to feed her again, and then he went on to Sears. He had asked for a Compound miter saw for Christmas and Sears had them for a great price! By the time he got home, it was time for Gracelyn and I to head out for the traditional Evans kiddos Black Friday shopping spree! Our favorite and first stop Old Navy! We got Pj's for all of us and our hubby's to wear Christmas Morning (yes we still meet up at my parents house wearing Jammies... it is so much fun) I got some jeans, long sleeved shirts, and a cute fleece sweatsuit for Gracie! After that I went to the car to feed gracelyn and my sisters and brother went to Paradise Bakery to get us all something to eat. After a quick snack and a diaper change on the tail gate we headed to Kohls (my second time) I got Gracie a baby toy that was half off! After that Ashlee and Ryan left and Alyssa and I continued on to Babystyle. She had to work and everyone wanted to see the baby so we went over there. We ended our adventure at Starbucks and headed home just in time for Gracelyn's feeding :)

Our night was completed with a mexican dinner at David's sister's house. Having all the family there was so nice and it was a great way to end our day!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving morning we brought Gracelyn into our bed and the three of us all snuggled up together watching the parade. Then I made some Green Bean Casserole and Pumpkin Cobbler while David got the baby ready. First we went to David's Aunt and Uncle's house for our first Thanksgiving meal. David's cousin also just recently had a baby so we had a lot of fun introducing Hugh to Gracelyn. Grandma Debby had bought the babies adorable Christmas outfits and we all enjoyed dressing them up and taking pictures of them.



After watching some of the Cowboys crush the Seahawks we headed to my parents house for another wonderful meal and more family time. We had the pleasure of having some good friends join us at our table. The little girl was so in love with Gracelyn and was very good with her! My grandma and cousins came over for dessert which was such a wonderful surprise! All in all we had so much fun! A most wonderful Thanksgiving!