I LOVE the first one although personally I would have prefered just a little less DOF (but that is just a personal preference). I agree with Antithesis to just bump the constrast a tiny bit!
BTW, what ISO did you shoot at that you are battling with digital noise? I see that you have the Rebel XTi and it (as well as its predecessor) really doesn't do well with higher ISO's :-( Even when I nail the exposure I have some noise at only ISO 400! :-/
Anelle