For my mom

This was my mothers' day present for my mom (She's the best). The video is 2 minutes long, so only watch if you are up for 2 minutes of Pieper family pictures. I worked on it for hours, and I think it was a success because it made my mom cry. However I am learning that it doesn't take much to make moms cry, so maybe the video isn't as great as I think :) But another thing about my mom is that she is happy with anything you give her. My mom loved those ceramic salt and pepper shakers shaped like squirrels from the Dollar Store that I bought her one Christmas a long time ago. Funny moms.

Mothers' Day

Happy Mothers' Day to me and all you other mothers. I loved Mothers' Day. It was actually surprising and weird how excited I got. I felt like a superstar or superhero. I half expected random people at church to walk up to me and say: "congratulations" and "happy mothers' day" or admire my new mothers' day necklace (zoom in on the picture to see the new necklace for yourself, if you'd like). The closest thing I have ever felt to that before: birthdays when I was six and seven years old, feeling like everyone should know it was my birthday and acknowledge it with cards, presents, and birthday cake. Don't misunderstand me, I don't think I'm as demanding as it sounds (about Mothers' Days, I mean. Those birthdays really were pretty demanding!). It's not so much that I want other people to shower me with attention for the sake of the attention--it's more like being so excited about something that you want everyone else to feel so excited too. I feel thrilled to have little Noah in my life and so proud that he is mine, and so in awe at the experience of motherhood with all its ups and downs. So it is nice that there is one day when other people say out loud what I am thinking.

Kentucky Derby

We had our annual Kentucky Derby party last Saturday. We celebrated over the phones this year. It wasn't really the same, but it worked. Thanks to everyone who participated, even if you didn't really care. Congratulation to the winners:

1. Big Brown- Curtis
2. Eight Bells (Rest in Peace. I hope you made it to Horse Heaven.) - Kari (sorry for your loss.)
3. Denis of Cork- Megan

I promised prizes for the winners, so when I find those prizes, there will be three happy people. For the rest of you, maybe next year will be your year. If you want to get in on the action, let me know by the first Saturday in May, 2009!

he gets around

The rest of April

We had a big month, not that you could tell from the blog. We did a little traveling, and left our camera behind twice, so we were without our camera for most of the month. Camera's back and here are a few pictures from April.

Noah and his Ugly Doll Jeero, who he loves to take everywhere.

Noah sucked on some crayons. Non-toxic, of course.

Grandma visited from Kentucky.

Kari and Ryan let us stay at their fancy new house in Eagle Mountain.

Uncle Derek gave Noah a Home Depot apron.
He will have a baby nutter of his own in September!

Watching Conference with Uncle Christian.


Noah with cute Isabelle Ward, as they both practice sitting up.

Kennedy Morgan had her baby blessing. We didn't get any pictures of the star because she was working the crowd that night. I stole this picture from Brooke.



Noah's little buddy Blake Wong.

Me and Cousin Amber. Amber is so cool.

The Ilizaliturris who we looooovvveee.


So that's what's been happening around here.

General Conference and Stroller Walks

General Conference was nice as usual. My favorite quote:
"The joy of motherhood comes in moments." -Elder M. Russell Ballard
I've noticed a lot more of those moments since hearing that. One of my favorites: going on walks with Noah. He recently upgraded to a big baby stroller. It's a pretty sweet ride with a nice padded seat that reclines. But he doesn't like the reclining feature; instead he sits up and leans forward so he can see everything as we walk. Sometimes he will stretch his arm out, and reach for something in our path. Usually it is a bush or a tree. I slow down and swerve to the side so that he can touch whatever he reaches for. Then he’ll grab and stare at it like it's the most amazing thing he has ever seen. It seems like such a simple little thing--are bushes really that exciting? But seeing the way Noah looks at bushes and the world has helped me slow down a little bit and notice more little amazing things in life and in motherhood. Cheesy, but that's the way it goes.

Bathtime

Noah loves bathtime these days. We used to bathe him on the counter in his baby bathtub, but after he learned how to splash, the bathroom would flood every night. Now we put him in his little bathtub inside the big bathtub, and use the shower curtain to repel some of the splashes.

Here are pictures of a special haircutting bath. I put it off for as long as I could. I did not want to cut his long straggly hair because I don't like doing things that remind me that my baby is getting older and bigger. But Kyle said the mullet in the back was too long, and it was time to lose the white trash look. (After a few minutes of hair cutting, I stepped in and said "ok, that's enough" when I couldn't take it anymore, and so a few of Noah's long hairs escaped the scissors. If you see Noah today, you might be able to see a couple of those long hairs sticking straight up. It's very classy, and not at all whitetrashish.) Noah seemed happy with his new look.