Santa Barbara - cool, Dallas, WAY colder :) We even had to bundle up in the house before we figured our heater out :) A couple days of intermittent showers. But it's been so pretty... in a weird "winter" kind of way. Most of the trees have lost their leaves and the grass is brown. We're not used to that! One or two days we had teeny tiny snowflakes floating down. You could barely see them; they were so cute! Now, the weather has changed to be much warmer (like at least 10-15 degrees!) and we have strong gusts of wind.

We just got over the stomach flu. Noah still has a fever, but is doing well. Thankfully, Tristan and Kim got it first while they were visiting (not sure if I should be thankful for that, sorry!), so we knew what we were in for. Mike was out of commission the first day; I felt fine. The second day, I remained horizontal ALL day. Yuck. But, I'm so blessed that Mike felt better so he could care for Noah. Needless to say, she had a rather frustrating day since no one wanted to play with her and it was too cold to go outside.

Noah's personality is absolutely bubbling out at a rapidly increasing rate. She's consistently joyful yet very grumpy if you make any attempt to get between her and her exploration of the world :) Her favorite toys are her big stuffed horse (thanks, mama) which she bops along on as if they were galloping through green pastures (I'll post a video soon - she is very kind and takes special efforts to let both stuffed Bear-Bears and her Lion have turns riding with her) and a bible that our friend Keith gave her for Christmas. She loves to point out the illustrations of animals, especially the lion (at which she waits with a sly smile for us to "ROAR" and gobble her up like a lion), the "Dug-eeeh" (doggie), and lizard (she sticks her tongue in and out like a snake and makes a funny slurping sound). She has developed an 'everything' word, "Dah!" which, accompanied by a number of distinct gestures means, "Look over there" or "I want this" or "Let's go outside" or "Hey!" or "I want to eat that too!" Our Baby Einstein DVD set has been quite a worthwhile investment. She particularly enjoys the Baby Noah one with all its animals and the "Words Around the House" because it features her Bear Bear (she loves Teddy Bears and stuffies), a beach ball, a kitty, and, her favorite, a doggie. She also loves to organize like shaped objects like her DVDs, tealight candles, and pencils. She enjoys a Good Night Bear book and can always amaze me with her dexterity as she finds the page displaying an owl. She makes this uber adorable hooting sound which sounds more like "hmmm... hmmm" because she "Hoots" with her mouth closed. :)

Mike is interviewing with the Home Depot on Thursday. He's already met with the HR director and it seems very promising. We both feel strongly that God has said he'll work there. He missed his first interview because he was so graciously taking care of Noah and I in the middle of our flu.

Wow! That was quite longer than I intended! But, it's a good update! I

Chilly!

We've been bundled up and then added some more bundling! Here's a cute shot of Noah wearing mama's gloves while watching Baby Einstein in her new "big girl" chair. More updates to come soon!

Haha, what a crack up!

Hehe, Edward emailed this to me the other day :) I love PhotoShop!

"BTW....did we ever show you that wild and weird ornament we got for our tree this year!??

Check out the jpg!

-E"

(Click the image to ZOOM)