Nolan: 33 Weeks

We did it!  We closed on the house last Friday, and have officially been sleeping there since Saturday.  It's very exciting yet surreal at the same time.  The past few months have been an absolute manic whirlwind, that it's odd to have the last "big" item done.  There are still a thousand boxes all over the place, but we can function for day-to-day activities right now, so that will have to do!

Nolan was a champ this weekend, and had lots of loving from my family who were all in town to help us move.  We hired movers for two hours Saturday morning, and it's the best money we spent.  We got almost all of the POD unpacked, and saved Anthony a lot of work.  The only issue we had was that we had to cut the boxspring to the queen-sized bed for the guest bedroom to get it UP the stairs, but it still works so whatever!  We actually have more furniture in rooms that I thought we would, and the only room that is missing a big piece of furniture is the dining room.  It is serving as kitchen storage right now, and Nolan likes to "ride" his little seat thingy through it, so it will stay empty for a while.

Aside from having a stuffy nose, Nolan is doing good and loved exploring the new house and all of the outside areas.  Paige made some huge bubbles for him out of a bubble wand from his Easter basket, and he loved it.  I was too busy unpacking to get a lot of pictures, but we enjoyed having everyone in town and nearby.  Leslee and I even ran into my mom unexpectedly at Walmart, and I just thought to myself, "how weird is it that this can happen now?!"

N = (Now weighs) Probably still right at 17 pounds, and in 6-9 month clothes (although he can still wear all of his old pants pretty much).

O = (Oomph!)  We are starting to see some more effects of teething.  Thankfully, some Baby Orajel Naturals seems to help him right away, but I fear what is to come!

L = (Loves) His family, and people in general.  He may get a little "coy" for a second if he meets someone new, but mainly he is a personable little guy and isn't afraid of anyone.

A = (About this week)  Learning to like foods a bit more, and loves loves his bath time still.  Luckily, we have had no adverse reactions to any foods yet!

N = (Not a fan of) Getting his diaper changed, only because he has to lay still.  I have wasted so many diapers just trying to distract him for two minutes!

Our New House (Update #1)!

We are so excited to finally be in our new home, even though you can barely walk in it :)  Our closing went smoothly, and we were able to get into the house that day and start cleaning, lining shelves, etc.  We took Nolan to daycare and then went to breakfast because our closing was at 10:00, and then it was all done!

Our yard is close to 0.7 acres, and it's a lot to take care of!  We have yet to buy our riding lawnmower, but our sweet neighbor mowed our front lawn for us the day we moved in, so that bought us a little bit more time!  The backyard is completely fenced in and that is wonderful.  Vegas has enjoyed strolling around out there and exploring, even though I still won't let her go too far or stay out there by herself (hey, there are some huge birds out here and she looks like a rabbit, so no thanks!)

I can't explain how happy I am to have a garage, even if it is serving as storage right now!  My dad cleared out a parking spot for me before he left, so after the POD was removed I had a garage space!  I am waiting for that first raining morning where I can leisurely load the car without worrying about getting soaked.

The house has four bedrooms (Nolan's room is the "bonus room" over the garage).  There is a third- story unfinished second bonus room that we plan to complete one day, so that will be awesome.  It's already wired for lighting/electricity, so all it really needs is some walls and carpet.  For now, it serves as one gigantic attic space, which may be hard to lose one day!

 

The view from our front porch; this is directly across the street on one fairway...

Nolan: 32 Weeks

This little guy continues to find his voice, and even though it's ear piercing sometimes, it's funny.  He has just learned to "grunt" and sometimes I can't tell if he is grunting because he is mad and wants something, or if it's just because he knows how to do it now!  He also does this Donald Duck sqauwk that I try to imitate, but it hurts my throat - he must have learned that from his Daddy!

With some of the squeeling, he is also developing quite the opinionated personality at times (I have NO idea where he gets that from).  He is 93% of the time in a good mood, but is getting a bit more clingy and "entertain me now" sometimes - ha.  I think some of this has to do with teething, and I won't complain about more snuggle time, so it's all good (although 2-3 times a night of snuggle time is getting a bit harder!)

He has also learned to shake his head "No" when he is eating.  At first, I thought he was learning bad habits from daycare, but come to find out, they were wondering where he got it from too!  It's a wonder where they pick things up - I guess he saw another little kid do it at school and now imitates it.  Thankfully the only time he does it right now is when he is eating and doesn't want the food, but I remember a time when my little sister's favorite word was "NO!" so I am sure that is coming :)

His latest food for the week was green peas, and he is not a fan at all - just like his Daddy.  I love them, but I think we may have cooked them too long.  I will try them again in another month or so to try again.  I am still making his food, but haven't been able to introduce a new food each week like I had planned, but I hope that will be much better once we get into the house.

On the subject of the house, we close tomorrow May 23, 2014!!  We are so excited, and a bit terrified to have a house to take care of, but can't wait to get in and start to enjoy it.  I will post more pictures of the house and more details about it soon!

 

N = (Now weighs)  I would say he is at 17 pounds now.  Let's just say he ain't getting any lighter!

O = (Oomph!)  Can I just say I am excited and terrified at the thought of unpacking our POD and moving into the house?  I already can't get my normal to-do list done...I will be unpacking for the rest of my life.  I guess we have 30 years though...ha.

L = (Loves) To make lots of noise, his zebra toy (which rides with us each morning to daycare) and rolling all over the place.

A = (About this week)  Not a huge change as far as development goes, but I think we are getting closer to crawling, and I hope some teeth here soon.

N = (Not a fan of) Teething - poor buddy.
 

My First Baby-Outside-My-Belly Mother's Day

I guess this is technically my "second" Mother's Day, but it will be the first one where I can officially kiss the little cheeks of the sweetness that made me a Mom, so it's exciting nonetheless!

With everything that is going on right now, the day has sort of slipped up on us.  And to be honest, I don't want a single.solitary.thing for Mother's Day.  I know Mother's Day is all about spoiling the moms in your life, and I completely agree: I want to spoil the moms in my life, I don't want to be spoiled/treated/gifted, etc.

I have been doing a lot of reflecting these past couple of days, and thinking about all of the wondrous things that come along with being a mom.  To me, Mother's Day should be a day where we, as moms, show OUR gratitude for the awesome blessing of being able to BE moms.  There are so many women who, for whatever reason, can't have babies, or moms that have lost their babies...how could I not want to just praise God for being able to celebrate a day called Mother's Day?

I have said it all before, and I will continue to say it - Nolan has made my life complete, and there is nothing in this world that I would trade for the honor to be his Mommy.  So sure, presents are nice and being spoiled is fun, but thank YOU, Nolan, for giving me the best present ever, and for teaching me and showing me all of the love and wonder only a child can show you.

Happy Mother's Day to every mom out there - we are so blessed!

 

Anthony always "styles" his hair :)

Nolan: 31 Weeks

The pictures below aren't that great, but hey, at least I got some done this time!  I don't know where the evenings go, but it seems like the second after I get home it's time to put him to bed.  My new hours are until 5:30 p.m. now, which does put me getting home a bit later.  I hope as Nolan gets older he will go to bed a bit later, since I miss having time with him in the evenings.  Anthony and I still "trade off" on nightly duties, so it seems like it's hard for us to all be together at night.

Here is what our nightly routing looks like now:

6:00 - Anthony is usually home from work and picks Nolan up from daycare.
6:10 - I get home from work and get lots of kisses from my boys.
6:45 - Try to give Nolan some "real" food.
7:15 - Bathtime, which he loves!
7:45 - Breathing treatment (not sure when this will not be a part of our routine anymore...)
8:00 - We climb into bed and I feed him until he goes to sleep (usually around 8:30)

And I guess I should mention that in between all of those things it's washing bottles, getting his stuff prepared for daycare the next day, laundry, dinner, and hopefully eating :)

Nolan got yet another cold this week, and I ended up leaving work early Wednesday to take him to the doctor.  I feel like I am a hypochondriac, but every time I feel like he's getting sick, we end up at the doctor - so I guess I just know my little man and he's sick all the time.  He had some sort of respiratory mess that clogged up his lungs real good, so he is on an oral steroid for the next 5 days and back up to 3x a day breathing treatments.  His oxygen levels were only at 92 at this visit, and they only like to see them above 95, so it was pretty scary.  At one point we had two different nurses with 3 different machines on him trying to see if the machines were just measuring wrong and his levels were fine...NOT a fun thing to go through with your baby.

Eventually, the doctor let us go home, and also gave us a referral to an ENT doctor to see if he is a candidate for tubes since he has had so many ear infections - luckily, his ears were clear this time, so we will reevaluate things once my insurance kicks in.

 This looks like a mug shot, but hey, at least I remembered his weekly pic!

 

Getting some help from his G...

N = (Now weighs)  16.15 pounds - almost a 17-pounder!

O = (Oomph!)  I don't know when I will have a full week of work - I swear, I won't have any vacation time accrued until December the way things are going now!

L = (Loves) I guess he does like one real food - His G's homemeade applesauce!

A = (About this week) He is starting to become much stronger, and I see him pushing himself up a lot and has much better control while sitting. He can grab for anything he wants, and it's so cute to watch him really concentrate on the small details of things when he gets intrigued.

N = (Not a fan of) Most food- so far.

The Days are Long but the Years are Short...

I have heard this saying a thousand times, especially when talking about children.  I believe it's one of the most true statements I have ever heard in all my life.

Yes, the days are long - filled with diaper changes, feedings, cleaning bottles + thousands of loads of clothes and toys.  You get tired, anxious, impatient, and sometimes feel like you will never get ahead (or organized) again.  In the thick of it, it can lure you to dream about the days ahead when you "won't have to wash bottles ever again" or "he can sleep through the night" and "can wipe his own butt!"

I have learned, and am learning, that yes, those days will come - with God's will, we pray.  But for some parents whom I have read about this week, those days will never arrive for their little ones.  It makes me sick to my stomach and wrenched with sadness that I bet they would give their left arms for just "one more" diaper change, midnight feeding, or bathtime.  For one more second to hear that laugh, or coo, or even cry.  There is nothing in this world that could fill the void that losing a child causes, and I beg on bended knees that I never have to experience that pain.  I also pray for those who have lost their babies, that they find some sort of peace each day and can manage to live with the pain.

Reading these stories has given me that much more gratitude and honor to have this chance to be Nolan's mom.  I will hug him tighter, kiss him longer, and play just a couple more minutes, grateful for the little life that is within him, and delighted in each new day I have with him.

Nolan: 30 Weeks

I can tell the antibiotic is kicking in, because our little man is finally feeling better!  We made it through the whole week at daycare last week, and had another good (but busy) weekend.

Nolan has decided that he prefers to wake up when I do in the mornings, which has made for some pretty hectic mornings.  Usually, I get up an hour before he does to get ready, take Vegas out, finish packing his bottles and stuff for daycare, etc.  Thankfully, he can entertain himself for much of the time, and will either watch me while I get ready or play in his pack and play until I come get him.  We have also (finally) hooked up a baby monitor that we have had for months, and that is coming in really handy.

It's nice to be able to see him while we are upstairs eating dinner/washing bottles after he goes to bed, and I know for sure it will come in handy in the new house since his room will be upstairs at the end of the hall.

The closing on our condo in Atlanta was April 30th, and everything went off without a hitch, so we are DONE with that part of our to-do list!  I am so thankful to slowly check things off of our list, even though it's a mile long.  Our new house is also coming along really well - the inspection went well (and the seller's agreed to fix everything we asked them to), and so we are just continuing to submit all of the massive amounts of paperwork for our loan.  We are set to close on May 23rd, which is the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, so we will have a good 3-day weekend to get unpacked!

We are slowly getting more and more excited to move into the house.  I think that things have been such a blur lately that we haven't really had much time to think about it.  I simply cannot wait for a garage and yard!  While we are happy about it, it's also a bit terrifying to know that we will have something that big to take care of.  We have to buying a RIDING lawnmower, and that just blows my mind...I don't even know what to do with one of those!  I will, however, have fun driving it I know :)

I see lots of trips to Lowe's and calls to my parents to figure out how to take care of our yard...

I had just gotten done feeding him and he was wondering why I shoved the camera in his face :) 

N = (Now weighs) 16.5 pounds - at least he is gaining now!

O = (Oomph!)  Baby eating "real" food diapers are gross - enough said :)

L = (Loves) Splashing water, smiling, flipping over on his changing table.

A = (About this week)  He is starting to become much stronger, and I see him pushing himself up a lot and has much better control while sitting.  He can grab for anything he wants, and it's so cute to watch him really concentrate on the small details of things when he gets intrigued.

N = (Not a fan of) Most food- so far.

Teacher Appreciation Day

Nolan's daycare celebrated "Teacher Appreciation Week" this week, and I had so much fun crafting their gifts.  Granted, Pinterest has stolen every change of me ever having an original idea again, but they turned out cute nonetheless!

They were cards containing Starbucks giftcards...Nolan was very creative this year :)

Around [Ollie and G's] House - Picture Dump!

I haven't been as good about taking pictures these last few weeks, but have managed to snap a few!

 Trying out a teething biscuit, and not liking it!

 

 First time with a sippy cup!

 

With Ollie at Easter

Cinco de Mayo!

Our Cinco de Mayo was a bit lowkey this year, but great.  Nolan was able to meet family members he has not met yet, and everyone was dying to see him!

We ate at a Mexican restaurant on Sunday night instead, because weekdays are just too hectic for us.  he got to meet his "Alien Grandma's," Marilyn and Jeannie, and his "Aunt Mary."  We have known all three of them for so many years, and consider them to be true family.  Marilyn and Jeannie were like my surrogate mothers during high school, hence "Alien Moms."

He did great at the restaurant - he got lots of cuddles and soaked it all up.  I tell you, this little one has never met a stranger.  Honestly, it may be because he is still so young, but I have never seen him shy away from anyone thus far.

We also call it "Cinco de Marli" day, because Nolan's older cousin, Marli, celebrates her birthday on Cinco de Mayo.  We need to get together a visit soon so he can meet his gorgeous cousins!

Nolan's Six Month Photos

I don't know what I am going to do without our photographer, Lisa!  I was able to sneek in one last photo shoot with her before we left...

 

Nolan: 29 Weeks

Sometimes, I feel like I just can't get ahead!  Aside from our living situation right now (which is wonderful, and we are SO grateful to my parents), it's still just hard.  I hate to impose all of our "stuff" all over my parents' house, but it's almost inevitable because babies just come with so.much.stuff.  But, only 22 days until we close on our house, so then we can spread out and settle back into some sort of routine I hope.

This week was not quite so good either.  Our poor son just can't seem to get well.  He has been sleeping worse than usual this week, and then started to run a mild fever on Tuesday night, but it wasn't very high and we hoped it was contributed to teething.  We took him to the urgent care place again, just to be safe, because Anthony nor I could afford to miss anymore work.  Three times in three weeks - oomph.  The lady there wasn't very helpful, so we just got him some Advil and Tylenol to try and manage his fever, and hoped for the best.

However, on Wednesday daycare called us and said that he had a higher fever and just felt awful.  So, Anthony picked him up finally took him to the pediatrician we had been planning to take him to.  They advised us that he had another ear infection, but prescribed him another antibiotic instead of amoxicillin.  They also put him on an alternating schedule of Tylenol and Advil to manage his fever, and said to continue his breathing treatments.  Thankfully, his lungs were still clear, so that was a blessing.

Well, at 1:45 a.m., his fever had spiked to 104.4, and Anthony and I were alarmed.  He had never had a fever this high in his entire life, and we were almost on our way to the emergency room.  We decided to call the pediatrician's on-call service first, and I am glad we did.  The nurse said to only bring him in once his fever hit 105, and to give him a cool bath to lower his temperature.  Luckily, it was time for another round of Advil, so we gave him his Advil and put a cool rag over his head while I fed him.  Thankfully, he calmed down and cooled off and we were able to go back to sleep for the rest of the night.

Thursday we knew he wouldn't be allowed back and daycare, so it was G's Daycare for the day!  My mom saved the day and kept him all day, and his fever never went back up so we hope the antibiotics kicked in and he was on the mend...they had a fun day together and this is just one small reason we moved back closer to home!

This week wasn't all hard, though.  Saturday we had a wonderful day, and I am so glad that Anthony's job keeps him home on the weekends!  We packed up and had breakfast at a cute little shop (in a gas station no less - ha), and then headed to the Clayton Farmer's Market.  It is much smaller than we are used to, but was still cute and we sampled some of the best beef and brats we have ever had!  We will for sure be going back there when we have more time.

Then, we headed to another little nursery/farm stand in Clayton where we got Nolan's next food for this week - sweet potatoes!  It's my goal to make most of his food, and so we picked up two huge sweet potatoes for him to try.  I also saw some fresh churned butter that I WILL be going back for next time :)

After that we headed to explore the area around our new house.  There isn't much out there, but it has everything we need; grocery store, gas station, pizza place, dry cleaners, etc.  I am sure we will get used to the idea of driving further once we live there and it just becomes part of our daily routine...

The owners were at our house, so we couldn't stop and snoop around like we had planned, so we headed to Target for some things and to Best Buy to price out a new washer/dryer (we left our other ones in the condo as part of the deal).  All in all, it was a great day with my two boys; just spending time together!  We even made it back to Church on Sunday for their Spring Cantata, and the music was extraordinary (they have their own orchestra, which is amazing).

(He will kill me for taking this picture one day!  Poor guy, he was out like a light after his breathing treatment...)

N = (Now weighs)  16.5 pounds - at least he is gaining now!

O = (Oomph!)  Fevers are terrifying, and I never feel like I am taking it correctly...

L = (Loves) Saying "da da" I swear, he says it non-stop!

A = (About this week)  While getting food into him is super hard, he has tried oatmeal and rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and avocado.  He isn't too sure about any of them yet, but that's ok.  He can grab anything from you/around him in a moment's notice, and I have become quite the pro at changing his diaper with him on his stomach - ha.  I can't wait to get him back into his nursery where his changing table will face a wall rather than a window like at my parent's house - it's distracting!

N = (Not a fan of) See above :)