Six months old already! Time flies when you're having fun. Noelle had her half birthday on Friday, and we had her doctor visit today. She is off the charts - literally. Here are her stats:

Weight: 19 lbs, 5 oz
Height: 27 1/4 inches
Head Circumference: 44 1/2 cm

She still looks perfect head to toe, and she took her four shots (ouch) with only a small amount of tears.

Lately Noelle has been rolling over from back to front like a champ, and is getting better at rolling front to back. She has been using that lack of skill to her advantage and rolling over onto her stomach at the end of her nap, thereby getting "stuck" and making me come get her sooner. I don't usually mind, because she looks so cute on her tummy.

She is also eating a lot of sweet potatoes and bananas, and has learned what sound an elephant makes. Unfortunately, she chooses to make that sound while daddy is feeding her and gets her food all over him.

We are more in love with her than ever, and we enjoy watching her discover her world daily.

We all took a sick day yesterday, although that looks a lot different when your day job is taking care of a baby. There will never be another regular old "sick day" from work like I used to have. I have to get out of bed to feed, change, and entertain my daughter at least part of the day!

I was grateful to have Andy home with us, because he actually took care of her most of the day, and I could rest and get better. I was pretty out of it most of Sunday and yesterday, ending with a fever of 100.7 last night. I'm feeling much better today. Coughing, stuffy nose and all that are still here, but I can deal with that. Andy is back at work, too.

To entertain himself in his sick state yesterday, Andy decided to put Noelle in the laundry basket that I was trying to carry out to the garage. It was pretty cute. That's what I get for trying to do chores while we're sick.

So the whole Matthews household has the plague. If it gets any worse we're going to have to burn our bedding and make sure that any household rats don't get out into the general population.

Okay, okay. So it's not quite that bad, but I've got a stuffed up nose, sore throat and I'm tired, Jaime's miserable and just about useless from the drugs and Noelle won't sleep hardly at all (which just contributes to the general sickness around the house).

I used to the be the sort of person that would go into work no matter what, because I didn't want to be one of those people who stayed home because they "stubbed their toe" or something. But over the past few years I've recognized the value in staying home to both rest AND take myself out of circulation.

At ICGLink, my current job, my co-workers and I work in really close proximity to each other which means that anything I get, they'll get, and vice versa. So today, I stayed home for me and for them. That's right...ever so noble...that's me.

We went down to Tampa this past weekend to visit my parents. My dad hasn't seen Noelle in person since she was born, and it's been at least 3 months since my mom has seen her. Needless to say they were overjoyed and ecstatic for us to be down in Tampa. Not only did they get to spend time with the favorite only granddaughter, they got to show her off to everyone they knew...including the mailman (okay, not really but I was in the moment).

Also, while we were in Tampa, I got a chance to show Jaime some of my old haunts, the site of the Jahva coffeehouse in Lakeland, University Mall, and more. We also had a chance to spend time with some of my old friends: Suze & Scott Meredith (haven't seen either of them in over 10 years) and Heath & Rebecca Kruse. What a great time it was.

We also got to meet up with Jaime's mom's best friend Becky who lives in Lake Wales. The picture above was taken after eating dinner with Becky and her husband Bruce. Isn't it amazing? One of the better pictures of my two favorite ladies and Noelle has an amazing smile: she could be a doll.

When we got back, we all almost collapsed we were so tired, but in a crowning moment I got to see Noelle roll over on her play mat. It's the first time for me and I think it bodes well for the future.

Kids are great...and they grow up so fast.

Yesterday Noelle gave me the best laugh I have ever heard from her, and it about made me cry. I was saying the letters of the alphabet one at a time, followed by the sound that they make. When I got to "G - Guh" she CRACKED UP. I told Andy that we need to install webcams, or at least sound recorders, in every room to catch moments like that. I tried to recreate it on camera later in the day, but the moment had passed.

After I told Andy about that, he said something like, "you get to see all the cool stuff." It's true, I do spend more time with her than he does because he goes to work. It's true, I am usually the first one to see her do new things, and I catch most of her cutest moments. But today, I missed one, too.

I was in the kitchen making breakfast and Noelle was on her Gymini play mat. I heard her kind of grunting, so I peeked in to check on her, and she was on her tummy! She rolled over from her back to her stomach for the first time, and I missed it! I'm so proud of her for finally doing it. Next stop - sitting up on her own!

Yesterday was our 3 year wedding anniversary. When we first got married, I said something about Andy and I having 60+ years together, and he pretended to be upset at me limiting our future. I thought that the "plus" covered everything, but he wasn't satisfied. So, I changed it to 61+, and therefore we now have 58+ years to go. I mean, in 58 years Andy will be almost 94 years old. I know that healthcare is getting better all the time, but I think that's a pretty fair prediction.

We celebrated yesterday by going out to dinner while our friend Robin watched Noelle. We were only gone for an hour and a half, but it was great to be just the two of us for a little bit. After we got home, we put Noelle to bed and watched a movie together. It wasn't the most "exciting" of evenings, but we were together, and that's all that really matters. I talked to Noelle yesterday about what it meant that we were having an anniversary, and how even on our wedding day she was a planned member of our family.

We talked at dinner about how we feel like God has really blessed our marriage, with not only a friendship that grows deeper all the time, but great friends, good jobs, an amazing house, and a beautiful baby. We are so thankful for the life that God has given us and the future He has for our family.