Not My Best Idea...

The other night I wanted to try and give Nolan blueberries as his next food.  I figured the skins would not be too palatable for him, so I took the blueberries and simmered them on the stove before mashing them up really well.  Then, I strained them so just the yummy concentrated juice came out.

He loved it, but I didn't realize that I was creating blue "dye" in the interim :)  I forgot to pull his high chair far enough away from the wall fast enough, and now we have a lovely blue streak on the paint.  He also ended up looking like the Joker at one point, but he was happy with his blueberry "jelly," so that's all that matters!

 

Let's Swing!

We were all invited to a friend of mine's little boy's two-year birthday party this weekend, and Nolan decided that it was time to try out the swings for the first time ;)

Aside from looking like a Mafia boss, he loved it...ha!  He kills me - this kid is SO spoiled...

 

 

Check out those elephant knees!

Nolan: 37 Weeks

This has been a very fun week, and Nolan has had a great time.  Jacob and Lexie are here with us for the Summer, and they have been giving him lots of attention.  This past weekend was a bit busy as we sort of "divided and conquered" to get errands, grocery shopping, car work done, but we have settled in to a much better routine now and it's so nice.

The kids are great and hang out at the house while we are at work, just like they did in Atlanta.  They are super helpful with small chores around the house, and have been there to greet Nolan and I when we arrive home each day.  Jacob especially will pretty much go anywhere Nolan goes, and both of them can get the biggest smiles out of him!

 

(There are no more "still" pictures anymore...and, that's a dog toy!)

N = (Now weighs) I mean I am starting to think I need to "lift from my knees" sometimes when I pick him up now...ha.  I know some babies almost feel hollow when you lift them, but my little man is solid!

O = (Oomph!)  We experienced our first "boo boo" at daycare this week (or really, his first real one at all).  Daycare called me today and said that Nolan decided to walk, and just let go of the bookshelf he used to pull himself up on.  The end result of this (because he clearly can't walk yet), was a nice faceplant on the floor and a thumbprint-sized bruise right over his left eye.  I knew he was okay, but it's still hard to see, and to have it not happen while you were around makes it worse!

L = (Loves) His brother and sister!

A = (About this week)  He can pull himself up on anything now - see above!  He still says "da" or "da da" all the time, but it's more of a catch-all - he doesn't know it means "Daddy" yet (or at least that's what I tell myself), but he says it when you can tell he is wondering what something is, when he's excited, you name it.  He isn't super loud, and will only screech or yell at certain times, but I am sure this will change!

N = (Not a fan of) Waiting for me to get ready in the morning.  I tell him if he wouldn't get up at the crack of dawn with me, he would still be sleeping and wouldn't be bored :)

Our first "Bump"

Yep, Nolan is determined to walk far before his little body is ready, and had his first major spill (of his life, really), at daycare today.  Apparently, he thinks he can stand unassisted, and took a header into the bookshelf and daycare.  He has quite the bruise on his forehead, and I wasn't a very happy mommy to begin with.  I know there will be a billion others after this though, so I should just get used to it know!

I think he looks proud of it...

Nolan: 36 Weeks

Honestly, the weeks are going by in a blur (and I am not exactly on top of these each week -oops).  I suppose that means that nothing too drastic happened, so we will keep it at that :)

It appears that Nolan is following the boys' rule of "Growing Out, then Up," as he is quite the chunk and seems to grow "out" of his pants before they become too short - ha.  Not sure where that comes from ;)

Other than that, it was a pretty quiet week as we tried to relax and get some more things done around the house since Jacob and Lexie are coming in late Saturday night!  Anthony will be driving to the airport to pick them up since their flight doesn't get in until quite late - can't imagine how big they will be this year!

It's wonderful that Nolan will finally get to meet his brother and sister, and I am sure we will have lots of memories from this Summer. 

 

(Tryin' out my new hat!)

N = (Now weighs) See above - my chunky monkey!

O = (Oomph!)  He still is not quite the fan of chunky foods or puffs.  If he gets a texture in his mouth (or too large a chunk), he will gag, and then it ALL comes back up.  Yuck.  He has done this at least 3 times at home, and once at daycare so far.  It's quite terrifying, as you will never know when you will be heading to the bathtub :)  Usually, though, I just feel bad for him because he spent all of this time eating, just to have an empty stomach afterwards.  It hasn't seemed to phase him yet, but I pay extra close attention to what he eats.  It was the applesauce that did it to him the first time, and a puff at least one other time!

L = (Loves) Standing over his toy basket and trying to reach all of the toys as they make noise.  Or, just standing anywhere in general!

A = (About this week)  He has slowly transitioned over to three 6 ounce bottles or so at daycare.  This has been great because it has helped me keep up, and he seems perfectly content - for now!  He will get on all fours and "push" himself around, so we are so close to crawling it feels like!  The other day the ladies at daycare said he kept moving his bed out from the wall because he would get up and "scoot" while he was trying to put himself to sleep!

N = (Not a fan of) Chunks in his food; he is going to be breastfeeding forever - ha.

Father's Day!

Father's Day weekend was wonderful; we had Papa, Nani, and Cade down for the weekend, plus got to see my Mom and Ollie too!  It's lovely having so much room for everyone, and just being able to randomly see Mom out and about is awesome.

I actually had Friday off, because my work does this flex time during the summer where you can work extra hours during the week and then leave early/take the day off for four Fridays during the summer.  I thought I would use that time to get some things done around the house, plus run lots of errands while Nolan was at daycare.  Unfortunately, I ended up having to take Nolan to the doctor, so that sort of changed my plans.

Nolan ended up being put on an asthma control medicine; break my heart.  He isn't at a complete diagnosis of asthma yet, but we are "one step closer" according to his pediatrician.  He is such a tricky case, though.  He seems to have issues only when he is sick; otherwise, he is fine.  Problem being, he is sick so often, that we haven't had much of a break for his little lungs to clear up, so she is putting him on the once-a-day asthma medicine to try and control those issues when he gets sick.  I am praying that this will be something he grows out of, and that it won't hinder him from being a rambunctious and active little boy.  So far, it doesn't slow him down, but it's still scary!

But on a more happy note, our weekend was awesome.  We got lots done around the house, and spent Saturday evening at a local brewery in downtown Clayton.  I imagine we will go there a lot more during the summer, since it's a great place for families (sounds like an oxymoron, but it's not).  There are games outside, live music, and foodtrucks.  I am not a fan of the beer, but I don't really drink anymore anyway, so it's all good!

I love his little sun hat!

 

 

 

We ended Saturday night with yummy fajitas on the grill, and then had brunch at home Sunday morning. Anthony and Cade helped a friend of the family with some A/C issues, and my Dad enjoyed some yard work (I didn't make him do it, I swear!)

 

 

 

 

He had us all cracking up at brunch; Anthony was feeding him and would pretend "bang" his head on Nolan's highchair...Nolan laughed and giggled so hard, it was adorable.  This little boy has no shortage of attention, that is for sure!

 

Sunday dinner was spent taking Ollie out to the Lucky Chicken; a Peruvian restaurant in downtown Clayton.  It was a good dinner, and we spent much of it cracking up at the cheesy Spanish tv the restaurant had playing (Ok, I spent most of the time laughing).  Ollie was proud that Nolan sported his NC State shoes.  I need to get this poor guy some Gamecock apparel!!

 

A quick note to my husband: You are the most kind, compassionate, loving, attentive father I have ever seen.  I pray that Nolan will grow up to be just like you, and will always appreciate the love and support you show him.  There is no one I would rather have by my side on this journey, and God has blessed me beyond what I deserve by having you in my life!



Nolan: 35 Weeks

Just another sweet week around here (minus the cold Nolan has given me!)  I swear we are sick for two weeks, healthy for two weeks, and then back again :)  I function pretty well when I am sick, but it's much harder for the little guy; it will be great when he can blow his nose!

Besides that, we had a nice week, and are excited about Nolan's first Father's Day with his daddy, and plus Papa, Nani, and Tio Cade are coming to visit!  I love having guests now, and it's so much easier now that everyone has a place to sleep!

The only thing I can put him in right now to "contain" him :)

N = (Now weighs) I am sure he has to be close to 18 pounds by now.

O = (Oomph!)  He is picking up on his eating...not sure how this Momma is going to keep up!

L = (Loves) Being a cuddle bug and people watching.

A = (About this week)  He tried bananas again this week, and seemed to be okay with them.  He is becoming much better at standing up from any position now (while hanging on to something still).  He however has not really learned to "sit" from a standing position yet.  Daycare has said that he is ready to go for bigger bottles, and I am trying to adjust my "supply" to this hungry boy!  I have started sending him with two bigger bottles, followed by two smaller bottles to see how that works...

N = (Not a fan of) Laying still - ever.  Even the adminstrator at daycare commented the other day how he is "all over the place."  Wish me luck for whe he actually walks!
 

A Lovely Weekend

We had such a wonderful weekend this past weekend.  It was jam packed, but so nice.  The weather was gorgeous and we had a good mix of work and play.  I couldn't imagine Anthony working around the clock or on weekends again; he is now home by the time I get home with Nolan (if not before), and has only worked one weekend since we moved here.  It's SO wonderful to wake up on a Saturday morning, go get breakfast, and then head to some home improvement store (where we spend a LOT of time and money right now!)

We started the weekend off right with a DATE night on Friday!  My mom kept Nolan so that Anthony and I could go on our first date since the night before Easter (the night Anthony came down with the stomach flu).  We had a yummy dinner and enjoyed some "us" time...

On Saturday we did the breakfast and Lowe's thing then headed into downtown Clayton for Millstock - a small little collection of local artists, farmers, and food vendors that set up in the town square for a craft fair of sorts.  These types of things aren't nearly the size of festivals we were used to in Atlanta, but I love it; I got to park for FREE, it took 10 minutes to get there, there was NO traffic, and there weren't 10,000 trying to do the same thing I was.  It for sure is a nice change of pace when you have a little one...

The rest of our weekend was spent doing yardwork (well Anthony did that), trying to unpack some more boxes, and dinner downtown with Kim and Brandon and E.  It was nice to enjoy a dinner out with friends - Nolan behaved perfectly, even though it was past his bedtime.  He is happy as long as there are people to watch!

A perfect example of his little "shower knob" obsession.  You MUST stand him up during his bath so he can play with it; otherwise, it's impossible to bath him because he practically tries to swim to it!

Nolan: Eight Months Old!

Where do I begin?  Our little man has changed by leaps and bounds over the past month, and I can’t even begin to fathom ALL that we have done in the past month!  Some of it is a little hazy, as it all happened so fast, but I want to just slow down and enjoy this age.  He truly is such a delight and Anthony and I just sit at night at stare at his baby monitor and feel SO blessed and thankful that he is ours.

The past couple of weeks have been good as far as his health goes, but we are still doing his breathing treatments twice a day since it seems as though he gets sick as soon as we reduce them.  The ladies at daycare are truly happy, as he gives them a run for their money every day :)

His daycare room has two cameras online where you can go and check in on him, and I love it.  I check in on him multiple times a day, and it's nice just to peek in a see how he is doing.  I am still very happy with his daycare, and I usually find him either sleeping or rolling all over the place surrounded by toys and his little buddies.

He will try to pull himself up on anything and everything he can find.  He does not like to be on his back at all now, and has even begun sleeping on his side or stomach a good bit each night.  He can now get himself up onto his hands and knees, but hasn't quite mastered the art of propelling himself forward yet.  I just hope we have a little while longer before the crawling ensues, because we have a LOT of baby-proofing to do at the house! 

He is starting to get much better at eating his foods, and even loves to drink out of a sippy cup.  I thought in the beginning that he just wanted to chew on it, but now he truly drinks out of it.  I have only given him water this far, because I don’t want to give him juice since it’s all sugar anyway.  But he will grab for his cup whenever it's offered to him, and they say he likes it at daycare too. 

 

He still eats every 2.5-3 hours; this kid just loves to eat!  We figured that introducing real food/cereal would extend this time span a little bit, but not yet.  He goes to daycare with four 4-oz. bottles, and I even add oatmeal cereal to two of them.  He then will eat two other times a day while at daycare (usually a vegetable/fruit + cereal), and then will eat vegetable/fruit + cereal when we get home before his bath and nighttime routine.
 

 

On the subject of longer periods of time in between meals, he still gets up at least once a night (usually twice).  I am sure most of it is my fault, because I will nurse him to get him back to sleep, but whatever.  We are still [mostly] functioning on all of the sleep we do get.  My only concern is that when his little teeth do come in, I don't want him eating at night to refrain from cavaties.  But, we will cross that bridge when we get there.  I will say that we have hooked up his baby monitor and I love it; we have the monitor downstairs with us at night, and it has even allowed me to go outside with Anthony while he is grilling and we can still hear/see him just fine.

He is still in his 6-9 month clothing, and I think these will work out for a little while longer.  I have heard that boys grow "out" then "up," and he seems to follow that trend.  Right now he has the cutest buddha belly and chubby legs!  Some of his shorts are a little "snug" around the waist, while some of his onesies still have plenty of length left in them.  Now, if I could keep him from blowing his diaper out all the time and staining his clothes, we would be all set :)

Around the House - Picture Dump!

 

Meeting his future wifey for the first time

 A typical "mess"

 

Playing in a moving box with his Papa

 Rolling around with Daddy

 

Nolan: 34 Weeks

This kid slays me (yes, obnoxious trendy term) but it's true. I smile everytime I see/think/hear/watch him.  He is just such a happy little guy, and he melts my heart.  Our second week in the house has been great, and we are getting settled in and have our morning routine down pat now.

Nolan is getting super fast at rolling around, and I laughed as he rolled an entire 360 degree circle around his room the other day as I was folding his clothes.  He gets into EVERYthing...pulling the trashcan in his room over, toys all over the place, etc.  I have caught him at the last second a couple of times about to put shoes in his mouth - I am sure that will happen one day (along with eating Vegas's food!)

We did have a lovely weekend complete with a massive diaper blowout in the MIDDLE of BJ's...haha.  All you can do is laugh now - I was out in the car for forever cleaning him up and used every single wipe we had left, two diapers, and one change of clothes.  Thank goodness we were prepared, but that was not pleasant :)

We have lots of new toys that he has been playing with lately (sweet hand-me-downs from friends), and he especially loves this toy phone and piano keyboard.  He will happily sit and play with them for a few moments before moving on (hey, this is a milestone!)  He has also become oddly obsessed with the shower lever during his bath time - you know, the thing you pull "up" on the shower faucet to make the shower turn on?  He will just sit there and make it go "clink" over and over again - it's so funny.  I think he discovered that with Anthony - no telling what they get into during bath time!

His new food this week was green beans, and he tolerates it when mixed with cereal, but still isn't a huge fan.  His "G" feeds him a lot, and ends up laughing so hard at his faces that he ends up wearing most of his food instead of eating it :)

We have had him outside a good bit lately, and he seems to really enjoy watching the cars go by on the front porch (man, are we country now!)  We haven't had him in the pool yet, but I know that will happen as soon as Jacob and Lexie get here!

N = (Now weighs) Not sure, but I looked at him in the mirror last night and he looks so much more chunky right now - I could eat those thighs up!

O = (Oomph!)  He is still not a great sleeper, and still wakes up a couple of times a night.  We can deal, though, but his latest stretch has him waking up only once a night for over an hour to two hours - ouch!

L = (Loves) His Daddy, Vegas (even though he squeezes her if he catches her!) Rolling around on the floor and pulling UP!  He is also becoming more of a "ham" for the camera.  Usually, he would just stare at it with a blank look - now he lights up (see above) :)

A = (About this week)  I actually watched him pull himself UP the other night!  He was in his pack and play, and stood right up - terrifying!  He would rather stand than sit, and I was amazed that he did this all by himself!

N = (Not a fan of) The usual stuff - having his nose wiped, sitting still, etc.