Christmas Traditions

I am getting ever more nostalgic and aware of traditions now that I am a mom.  I want Nolan to look back at his childhood and be able to remember the "special" things we always did together.  Christmas, to me, is the most wonderful time of the year, and I am excited to begin these traditions with Nolan as he grows up.

This year, we started some new traditions, but also kept up the oldies but goodies:

1) Elf on the Shelf - Yes, I fell onto the bandwagon with this one.  I didn't realize the story behind it was so cute, and while I didn't do half as many creative things as people on the Internet did with their elves, I did mostly remember to move it each night :)  Our elf is named "Elfie," because everything seems to be called what it is plus "ie" on the end (i.e., his Wolfpack wolf is "Wolfie").  Very original, I know.

2) Candlelight Services on Christmas Eve - This will forever be my favorite Church service.  Hopefully next year, I will be able to stay for all of it!

3)  Chicken and Dumplings - I think we have made this our unofficial "official" Christmas Eve meal.  Plus, monkey bread on Christmas day!

4)  Food drive - I organized a food drive at my firm this year for Shepherd's Table.  I really wanted to give back this year, and found a soup kitchen that needed food/volunteers for the Christmas services.  I have always wanted to do this, and this year finally got around to doing it.  The food drive at my office was a huge success, and Mom and I delivered the food and served a meal at the soup kitchen on the 23rd.  I can't wait to go back and help again.  The organization was wonderful and we fed 284 people in ONE hour.  It was amazing.  I hope to keep this tradition alive so that as Nolan gets older, he can go with me too.

 

All of the food we collected filled my car to the brim!

 

5)  Goodies for the Fire and Police stations - This was also something I had always wanted to do, and decided to give it a go this year.  Since we are very tight financially right now, we were tired of feeling upset about what we couldn't afford to get everyone.  Instead, we decided to focus on what we could do, and doing something for others felt so much better.  We packed up homemade cookies, hot chocolate and party mix for two different fire stations and one police station in Clayton.  I think everyone was happy to receive them, and it was fun to do!

 

 

The flowers were my birthday flowers :)



Christmas 2014: Round 2!

We hosted Christmas at our house this year, and even though I always go way overboard with the preparations and food, I LOVE entertaining and this year was no exception!  We had Papa, Nani, and Paige and Cade (plus Skye their German Shepherd) at our house from Tuesday to Sunday.

It's great to have room for everyone now, even though I am dreaming of ways to expand our kitchen by 40 feet :)

The weather was gross and rainy for the first couple of days, which cancelled our plans to go see the Christmas lights (note to self: Do NOT pre-purchase tickets when they don't offer refunds).  Besides that bummer, we enjoyed some fantastic tomato soup and antipasto.  Perhaps the best tomato soup I have ever made - thanks Pioneer Woman!

Christmas Eve was also rainy, and we missed Daddy since he had to work.  Nevertheless we "attempted" Christmas Eve service with the rest of the fam and Nolan.  And by attempted I mean Nolan made it all of the first ten minutes and I spent the next 20 minutes outside until the rest of the family left before commencement.  I hated to miss the service since candlelight service is my absolute favorite time of year, but Nolan was being way too noisy and I didn't want to disturb everyone else (especially since we were in a church we had never been to before!)  He wasn't misbehaving, it was more that he was swinging his snack cup all over the place and screeching :)  It's not in his nature to be quiet...hah!

 

We tried to get a couple of pictures, but as usual, we were rushed so we only got a couple!  I can't get over Nolan's little clothes - so cute and he actually has a lot more than me!

After sneaking out of service we made it back home just as Anthony arrived and enjoyed what is becoming our annual Christmas Eve tradition - Nani's chicken and dumplings!  Oh my - this is the best meal ever and we all ate way too much.  Nolan even loves them and the lucky guy still has some freezer containers of it so he can continue to enjoy it!

After Nolan went to bed it was time for the presents - or putting them together at least!  I didn't last too long into this process, but managed to snap a couple of "action shots."

 

You truly know you have been together forever when your glasses even match...!

The mayhem - luckily, this year was pretty tame considering what we may be in for in future years!

 

[Some] of us were up bright and early Christmas morning, but Santa hadn't visited just yet.  We knew that Ollie and G were coming over for brunch, so we were a "late" stop on the list.  Nolan didn't seem to mind and was easily occupied while we fixed up a yummy Christmas brunch.  Christmas doesn't seem complete without monkey bread, and Nolan even helped this year!

 

 

 Nolan learned to drop the pieces of biscuit into the bag of cinnamon and sugar...



 

It was a good thing we didn't buy much for Nolan this year, since he really didn't need much and had been spoiled enough already :)  Santa, plus the grandparents made for quite the Christmas, and Nolan got a good mixture of fun/sentimental things.  His most favorite toys/items this year were his little golf set, his car, and his rocking chair.  We have taken many turns around the house already in that car, and he has given everyone a good "whack" already with his golf clubs - thank goodness they are plastic!

 

 

Can you spot Nolan in this picture?!  And I also realized the two people on tv are kissing - ha!

 



 

Of course, Christmas wouldn't be complete with out one more huge meal, and I attempted a dish I had never tried before - Beef Wellington.  I was a bit intimidated by this, but thought it would be a great meal to try for a special occasion, so I bit the bullet and tried it.  It was wonderful!  Thankfully, everything turned out perfect and it was so tender.  It really wasn't that hard to do, but I am glad I have checked it off of my list :) 

 

We also had creamy herbed potatoes, asparagus with lemon and shallots, and a nice salad with cranberries and a balsamic dressing I made.  By the time we ate, I was so pooped but I remembered that the food was good!

 

 

We ended the week with some great guy/girl time.  On Friday, the girls watched Nolan while the guys went and played golf.  The weather ended up being gorgeous and it was the first time anyone had played our course.  I am not that much of a fan of golf, but I would at least like to ride around the course one day - it's beautiful!  Everyone also headed over to Ollie and G's house that night for some fried turkey and fun (I was sick so I didn't get to snap any pictures of it).  But, everyone had a great time, and I was at least able to get my fill of fried turkey skin until next year!

 

 

Saturday was time for the girls, and we left Nolan with the fellas and headed out for some shopping!  It was great to spend time with the ladies and not have to rush home for any reason.  We did a good amount of shopping and then Nani and Paige surprised us when they said they would watch Nolan for the night so Anthony and I could have a date!  We tried out a little place in downtown Clayton that was pretty good - I was really over food by that point, but was so happy to have a date with the hubs!

 

Overall, it was a great Christmas and I am so thankful to my family for always making it truly about the reason for the season...Merry Christmas everyone!



My Birthday - Eek!

I love that Christmas rolls around every time each year, but I think I will stop celebrating birthdays along with it :)  Just kidding - I am thrilled that I actually don't feel another year older (although I may look it!)  I contribute my wrinkles to lots of smiling rather than age - that's my story and I am sticking to it!

I was surprised with beautiful flowers and a "shopping spree" day with Anthony on Sunday, so my birthday was nice and quiet.  It was rainy and icky anyway, so it was great that we had Sunday together since the weather was perfect then!

And since I forgot to snap any pictures of myself on this day, I will include a picture of Nolan instead (he is way cuter anyway!)

Christmas 2014: Round 1!

Nolan is quite the lucky little guy, as he celebrated Christmas multiple times this year.  Each time was equally as fun, and it was great to see family that we don't usually see this time of year.  We usually don't make it to my mom's side of the family's gathering for Christmas since it's the weekend before Christmas every year and the drive from Atlanta isn't worth it.

This year, however, we made the trip in one day and Nolan had a great time and did wonderful!  I am so happy he got to hear Granny read the [real] Christmas story, even though he didn't really know what was going on.  I hope he will hear it for many more years to come and will come to understand it's importance and true meaning!

 

We had a great dinner of lots of different kinds of roast, plus the usual macaroni and cheese, green beans and rolls.  I ate rather quickly as I was trying to feed Nolan at the same time, but it tasted good nonetheless!  My Aunt Ann was so sweet and even had a beautiful highchair set out for him so he felt right at home.

He even behaved himself and only "looked" at Aunt Ann's snow village tree.  A feat in itself!

 

 

We had fun opening presents even though we missed Ashley and her family due to the flu.  After presents we piled back in the car and made the 2.5 drive back home.  Thankfully, Nolan slept most of the way, and even slept the entire night too!  We must have really worn him out :)

Nolan's New "Trick"

I arrived at daycare on Tuesday only to be greeted by one of Nolan's teachers who pulled me aside to tell me of Nolan's new "trick" he started that day.  BITING.  Oh my word, ha!  He apparently bit the same little girl three times, and even broke the skin on the third time :(

I feel so awful, especially since he bit her AGAIN the next day!  I honestly don't know what has gotten into him, since he doesn't do any biting at home at all.  I can imagine being that little girl's parents and being upset that their child was hurt, but I am at a loss as to how to solve our little issue.  Thankfully, the teachers/administrators at his daycare are very understanding and have assured me that this is normal for this age and perhaps it's related to teething, but you still don't want your kid to be THAT kid.  The bad kid, or whatever.  I am sure it's just a phase, but my stomach is a bit queasy each morning/evening when I drop him off or pick him up for fear he will have munched on one of his classmates again!

I was telling my mom about this on the way home yesterday, and she reminded me that "we are just getting started" with this whole discipline thing!  I know there is not much point in trying to explain to Nolan why his actions are wrong at this point, since he doesn't even understand what I am saying and can't cognitively relate what I tell him after the fact to something he did when I was not there.  I know he isn't doing anything maliciously, but I still don't want him hurting others!

But it got me to thinking (and honestly scared me to death!)  How am I going to discipline as he grows older?  How are WE going to discipline him?  I want him to grow up with a respect for the rules, and respect for others.  His teacher tells me he is her "boundary tester," and in a way that frightens me.  I in no means want him to be a follower, but I don't want him to "test" so many boundaries to the point of real trouble or injury to himself!

I pray for guidance as he gets older to learn how to communicate with him and to tell him why what he is doing is wrong, and for him to understand how his actions cause certain consequences.  I am sure it's just another part we will have to learn together, but man, you just want to do it right!

A Trip to the ENT

Nolan paid a visit to the ENT doctor today, and part of me wondered why we waited so long to go see one.  Mostly it's because even though he has had constant ear infections for the last 10 months, NO doctor has said anything until I pushed for it the other day.  Hello, people, he is sick ALL the time - let's do something to make him better!  Grr.  Mama bear on the loose...

Anyway, it was a quick appointment and thankfully G went with  us since it's next to impossible to keep this little ham still nowadays.  The ladies in the office just gushed over him, but we made sure to leave lots of memories of Nolan for them - in the way of a trail of Cheerios every place he went ;)

The doctor we met seemed just fine, and explained to us that the ear tube surgery was the most common surgery performed in the US.  It will only take 5-10 minutes, and Nolan should be back to normal in no time.  We are praying that he has the results we usually hear about which are less ear infections, relief of pain and pressure and just general "normalcy."  Nolan has had fluid on his ears for forever, and poor little guy probably barely remembers what it's like to feel healthy!

Our surgery is scheduled for December 30th, and we are just keeping our fingers crossed that no other ear infections come around over the Christmas holiday!

14 Months!

We have had a pretty busy month this last month, especially with the Holidays!  It's funny, but now that we have Nolan I am in full on "we must start traditions NOW!" mode.  Knowing full well he won't remember any of them, but the planner side of me wants to start everything on a nice even number like 1 year old so that we can have traditions his whole life. 

Some are silly traditions and others are ones that I think are important to keep (like volunteering and saying "thank you" to those that take such good care of him).  Silly ones may be Elf on the Shelf and buying an ornament each year for him.  Things that I hope he will look back on one day and say he remembered those and they made him so happy each year.  I don't know what it is about having a child that makes memories SO much more important, but I guess it's just that you realize each moment is so precious and the years go by so fast that you want to do everything you can to capture those feelings and memories.  Plus, I am so sleep-deprived most of the time that I can't remember anything unless it's on a post-it note, so I need all the help I can get :)

Fun Stuff:  Nolan is still obsessed with balls and that's still his favorite word.  He grabs anything that is round and now proceeds to throw it!  Good when it's actually a ball, bad when it's an onion or something else!  He has also learned to "kick" the ball, and is pretty good at it!  If you roll it to him or he can walk up to it he will kick his little leg out and generally make contact!  His pitching arm is getting stronger too, and he can launch small objects pretty far!

Eating:  He is doing much better at eating, and had even gained some weight by the time he went back to the doctor earlier this month.  Unfortunately, his latest round of ear infections decreased his appetite a bit, so I am sure he didn't gain as much as he would have if he was eating like normal.  He loves milk, and drinking from his sippy cup is a all-the-time thing now.  I can't really tell which food he likes the best, since he eats everything equally.  I will say that yogurt, fruit and beans seem to be the frontrunners this month!

Another cute thing we have developed to get him to eat all of his food is to clap when he is done and to give "high fives" all the time too!  Anthony taught him the high-five thing, and he does it to pretty much anyone that asks now!  I sing one of my old cheerleading chants to him when he is eating good, and he seems to love that too - whatever works, right?!

Music:  It should be no surprise that he has an affinity for music already!  He loves his music on his little CD player in his room, and goes to it constantly to turn it on.  Our main objective now is to let it play for us, rather than him pushing all the buttons and pausing it constantly :)  But once we turn it on, he will dance away and just beams - so cute!  He also always has Daddy's phone with him, and Anthony plays music on that for them during bath time.  Now when he hears the music he will bob his head...he gets that from his Dad!

Walking:  Nolan is over the days when he would rather crawl than walk, and now we can' get him to sit still!  Forget holding him while you are out somewhere - he wants to MOVE!  He is getting pretty fast, and his balance is pretty good.  Every now and then he will stumble over and look like a little drunk man, but most of the time he does pretty good :)  I am curious to see if the surgery on his ears to add tubes and relieve the fluid build up will strengthen his balance that much more...

Overall, each new stage brings so much joy and new developments.  He certainly is developing his own little "opinion" on things, but generally is so sweet, cuddly and happy.  I can't wait for his surgery to hopefully let him experience what it feels like to not be sick for an extended period of time - he is our precious little boy and I love him more each day!

He has SO much hair - he took all of mine :)  It's also starting to curl more as it gets longer...too cute!

 

For some reason, all of my other "better" pictures are coming out crooked when I upload them.  However, this accurately sums up Nolan's idea of monthly photos :)

Christmas Tree Lighting in Clayton!

I was so excited this year to take Nolan to Clayton's Christmas tree lighting.  I used to sing every year with my high school chorus at the tree lighting in Garner, and missed being a part of that tradition.  I love how accessible Clayton is to our family, even though it's still ridiculously small.  There was just enough to see and do, without being a headache to find parking or pay a fortune.  Plus, it was only 10 minutes from the house!

Nolan got all dressed up in some of his new clothes, and as you can tell, loves posing for pictures (not)!

We got there and immediately got in line to see Santa.  Santa was located at the Clayton Community Garden, which I had not heard about until last night.  It's a garden that members of the community can use to grow foods which they then donate to those in need.  Such a wonderful idea, and the $1.00 it took to see Santa went straight to the cause.  I hope in the future we can learn more about them and perhaps sponsor a little plot and learn how to grow something!

While in line Nolan (and I) got a kick out of petting the huge Perheron horse named Chloe.  Nolan is exactly like me - his eyes just lit up and a huge smile came over his face when he saw her.  He has never been around a horse before, and he loved it.

 

 

I also got a kick out of this lamp at a local store...haven't seen one of these in person before!

We made it to Santa just as his time was running out, so our picture-taking time was a little rushed.  However, I am not sure how Nolan would have reacted if we had left him on Santa's lap too much longer - he didn't cry, but was reaching with all of his might for Ollie - ha!

 

Next year, I hope to be able to stay late enough for the actual Tree Lighting itself.  I saw the local high school band lining up to play, and I LOVE band music!  I am sure Nolan will enjoy it next year even more when he knows what is going on.  Hopefully this will be another tradition we can start to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year!

Nolan's 1 Year Photos!

It has taken me forever to order these, but I finally got Nolan's 1 year photos back from the photographer.  We had them taken at our house the day after he turned one, and he was in a "pensive" mood rather than a happy one let's just say :)

Overall, we got some really cute ones, and I am happy to have another milestone saved in some beautiful images...

Teefs!

I wish I had written down the exact day(s) that his last round of teeth came in, but they are sneaky little buggers!  One day his gums will be red and then the next day nothing.  A couple of days after that they have already broken the surface and you are wondering what happened!

Nolan starting getting his top teeth in mid-November, and ALL four eye teeth are on their way in now.  It's strange to see him with this mouth full of teeth, since he had only his two little bottom two for months!  It makes him look so much older now...then again, I think everything makes him look too old now!

I finally got a good shot last night of all those teeth - excuse the food in his mouth :)

The Next Phase...

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, Nolan's classroom has converted to the "1 year" classroom since most of the kids in his class were over a year old.  The classroom looks so different now, and I keep doing a double-take each day when I drop him off.  There are only a few cribs left in the room, and Nolan takes his nap (only 1 a day now) on a mat on the floor.

They don't really even eat in highchairs anymore either - they eat at these tiny little tables and sit in tiny little green chairs.  Yesterday when I went to pick Nolan up he was eating a snack with one of his buddies at the table and I almost cried.  He looked so big and was just sitting there eating away...he is growing too fast!

I brought my camera in today because I had to get a picture of him in the chair...his little feet still don't touch the ground, but it's too cute!

 

I am pretty sure I am the only mom that brings her camera into the classroom, but whatever! 

Promptly after this picture a little girl came over and practically sat on his lap...my little lady killer - ha!