We had so much fun at the swimming pool in July… check out our pics…
“Mommy and me!”
“We are family!”
The Pond sistas!
“Daddy loves to rock the boat and put me right to sleep!”
“And Grandpapa knows how to keep me a dreamin’…”
“My buddy Hudson came over to take a dip with me…”
“Even though I don’t look it (haha), I really was excited to see Toria and Bekah, and Mommy was especially happy they helped us move last week! Thanks girls!!!”
“And I’m out again!”
Hey guys,
We are right in the middle of the big move… send up some prayers for our strength and safety – so far we have made really great progress. We have until the end of the month but hopefully we will be finished sooner. We are just moving across town, but you know how moves go – they are hard! Noelle’s pink nursery looks so cute after a near disaster with a color that was “oh so wrong pepto” pink. We toned it down to a light pastel pink… can’t wait to post pictures! Mom is coming down the last week in July, and we are going to make Noelle’s bedding together. Tomorrow Mike and I are headed to Jacksonville to bring some special furniture my Gran wanted us to have from her home. Noelle is staying with Mama Kay and Grandpapa. Just a little update to let you all know what’s going on in the Pond household and ask for your thoughts and prayers!
Thanks and with love,
Mike, Melissa, and Noelle
I usually give an “Ahh, that’s so sad” to moms who talk about how hard it is to take their babies to get their shots, but dang! It is so sad and so hard… I didn’t realize they give four huge shots, two in each leg, all in one visit – I guess I’m new to all this baby stuff. Noelle is such a trooper, and I didn’t even cry, but it was really really sad… I’m just glad her next shots aren’t until Sept. 5! Here’s Noelle enjoying her Tylenol, she loved it before she threw up… oh well, we made it!
Mike and I took Noelle’s one month photos at home and after trying for several nights (honestly), we feel like we finally got some great shots. Man, it’s hard posing a baby. I was just clickin’ away and some of the pics landed in our favor! (:
Noelle is pretty subdued at bath times… I think she likes the calm of the water.
Nothing puts a baby to sleep like some good ole rockin’ by the great grandmother. Thanks Mattie Ruth!
Hi to all of our friends who check our blog… we love sharing our pics and fun with you! We were looking at our site meter and discovered some readers from REALLY random places. This would be explainable by Google, except that we took our info off so we wouldn’t have random visitors. Anyway, if you are checking our blog from Hawaii, Atlanta, Indiana, Toronto, Barbados, who in the world are you???
Aunt Joe, we saw your hit from Paris and thought that was pretty cool. Hope all is well and we miss you so much!!! Also, Tomomi, we’ve been watching your hits all the way from Japan. Thanks for keeping up with us!
June 23-26, Mike, Noelle, and I traveled deep into the heart of East Texas for Noelle’s first visit to Jacksonville. This picture was taken in my back yard… it is amazingly green!
My dad is an “avid outdoorsman” and has been working night and day on saving the Neches River by creating a National Wildlife Refuge. Dad really wanted to dip Noelle’s toes in the water of the Neches, why?, I’m not really sure… but we went along with it because it was really cute.
For those of you who don’t know, my dad is a dentist. One of the reasons we went home was to have our teeth cleaned. Here is a picture of Noelle with my mom, dad, and Meredith. The office is really cool because it is built on top of a creek; the creek runs under the building. The lush greenery you can see through the window in this picture is the canopy of the creek below.
Noelle turned 7 weeks old this weekend. Granted, 7 is one of my very favorite numbers, but really, Mom just wanted us to have a fun desert for lunch, so we made a party out of it! Ha… that’s how you make up fun in East Texas! Every day is something to celebrate!!!
One of my high school friends, Courtney, came by for a visit with her adorable daughter, Kourtlynn. She played with Noelle and is such a sweeet little friend already. In this picture, she was shaking the happy apple for Noelle and saying, “Little Well, it’s apple time!”
Noelle’s first down home country meal, well, her first place setting at the sacred Banks family dinner table. My dad grilled steaks, made french fries from scratch, and not to forget his famous home made blackberry cobbler (berries fresh from the field). Even the salad had tomatoes from our back yard. My parents could run an incredible bed and breakfast, but they say with all of us kids, they already do!
This is a blanket Mom pulled out that was mine when I was a baby. Noelle’s outfit looked so pretty with it. I love when pictures are just meant to be. She’s our honey!
Thanks for a great weekend Mom and Dad! More pics here…
Before Mo had Noelle, she counseled at the Arlington Pregnancy Center. She took Noelle to the center on Monday to meet all of her special friends. Becky Hyde, director of APC, is holding Noelle in the top picture. Behind her are Vickie Adams and Margie Mayes. In the picture directly above, Sally Morris is holding Noelle by the sono machine – Sally took the best photos of Noelle in utero!
Noelle bug came to visit me at work after visiting the center. Debbie had her “baby radar” going and sensed Noelle had entered the building – she was loving on her in no time. Matt, the guy holding Noelle, was the best encouragement to us during the pregnancy. He has a one year old named Matthew.
Special friends came by this week to visit – here are the pictures from week 5, June 4-8
This past weekend, we had a wonderful time at the Banks’ family reunion at Uncle Jon and Aunt Mary’s. Uncle Jon fired up the grill and Mary worked her magic in the kitchen. Thank you so much for having us over to celebrate our country together!
Noelle’s first Fourth of July!
Sometimes ya just gotta cry it out…
Grand Rosie and Poppa Doc with Noelley!
John Boy, Mojo, and Chele posing for a sibling pic…
Today, June 10, I had my first real bath!
Dad is the best; thanks for getting me squeaky clean! Aren’t my houseshoes cute?
Uncle Andy and Aunt Michele came through town on their way to Mexico… Uncle Andy was a natural – he put me right to sleep!
See? I’m out!!!
