Funny Nolan

One Saturday I got home from work and was greeted by Nolan saying "Hello, Gorgeous" while I thought this was insanely cute, I didn't understand where he got it from. At dinner we discussed it and he said he learned it from the Chipmunks (his current favorite movie). We watched it again and discovered the scene where Alvin says "Hello, Gorgeous" and Nolan repeated it in the exact same tone. This became a fun little game to play, showing off to friends and family Nolan's new trick. We headed to Kitsap County for Christmas and stopped at the Arby's in Bellingham for dinner. Nolan walked right up to the counter and said "Hello, Gorgeous" to the gal. Brian and I could barely control our laughter and attempted to order our dinner without busting into a fit of laughter. When we sat down to eat I could hear the gal telling the people in the back what the cute little boy just said to her and that it made her day. I'm pretty sure we got extra mozzarella sticks for that one! :)

When we were at my dad's house a couple days before Christmas, Nolan was getting a little grumpy with a little boy that had come over to play. I told Nolan that if he couldn't share, he would need to have quiet time in his room. I was beyond SHOCKED when Nolan said "Ok" and walked towards the bedroom. I followed him, put him down in his Pack n' Play for quiet time and said he just needed 10 minutes (usually he is out within 10 minutes anyway). Brian and I were hanging out with the friends in the living room, when about 10 minutes later Nolan was standing in front of us exclaiming that he was finished with quiet time. Imagine our shock, since we had NO clue he could escape from his Pack n' Play!

Christmas Eve found us in Olalla, waiting for Santa with Brian's parents. Nolan had a hard time settling down for bed because of the excitement over Santa coming, but I thought I had him convinced that the sooner he went to bed, the sooner Santa would come. I went back down stairs to work on presents and get things ready. All of a sudden we heard a thump on the bottom step and a little voice that said "Hi!". I jumped straight up and took him up the stairs before he could see anything. When we got up to the room he was adamant that he slept, and it was Christmas time. I told him to give it another shot, because it wasn't Christmas yet. Luckily he stayed put that time. That kid is a freaking ninja! We didn't hear him get out of his crib, walk down the hall or come down the stairs. We really need to put a bell on that kid!! After that, any little sound freaked us out! ;)

Other random things...

...he loves to say "Boo Boo Beep Boop. I'm a robot"

...we drove past a Little Cesers Pizza sign waver. Instead of a regular rectangle sign, he had one that looked like a guitar. Nolan saw it and asked "Where is his xylophone? Where are his shakey things?" LOL...I guess he was supposed to be a one man band!

...I was cleaning out all the clothes that don't fit Nolan anymore. He asked me what I was doing with his Thomas jammies and I said "giving them to someone that can wear them because you are getting too big!" He looked at me with disgust "I don't like getting big momma"

...Nolan walked into the room the other day holding his Cabbage Patch Doll and asking it "where's your penis?". It's a boy Cabbage Patch, so it is a valid question!

...and one last gem. He'd been asking for a "kitty roof" all evening. We had NOOOO clue what this was and we made him look for it. He found it!!!! It was a KANGAROO!!!!

It is all a blur!

Let's see, where did I leave off?

Thursday, September 30th.

It's my birthday!!!! When we went and got our free lanyard (super convenient for keeping our passes at the ready) they also gave me a pin that said Happy Birthday and my name on it. This meant I was a sitting duck for all Disney employees to shout "Happy Birthday Jen" at any moment. It was fun though and definitely made my day a bit more special! :) We started the morning at Denny's for a free breakfast...I couldn't pass up free food! Then we went straight into California Adventure to get Fast Passes for the World of Color show that evening. We had already played in California Adventure a bit, so we went back over to Disney. This is where things get fuzzy for me...we just did a lot of rides!! :) Brian and I did get to go on Pirates of the Carribean and the Haunted house while my mom and Arne pushed Nolan around in the stroller and even bored him to sleep! It was awesome. My mom did introduce us to Mint Juleps (non-alcoholic of course!) Nolan greatly enjoyed eating all the cherries out of my drink though! :) Brian ventured off to Splash Mountain while I was sitting back with a Mint Julep and a sleeping Nolan. He left his cell with me and at one point I thought I had lost him for good because he had been gone an hour. I think that was the worst wait time the whole time we were there...and honestly that isn't that bad for Disney! At this point we went back to our hotel to drop Nolan off with my mom so Brian and I could go out to dinner alone for my birthday. We went to the House of Blues which was nice, but my tummy wasn't feeling all that well so the dinner was a bit of a bust. We walked around a bit enjoying the area, rode the monorail into Disneyland and rode the Buzz Lightyear ride that Nolan didn't want to go on. I kicked Brian's butt...maybe he let me win because it was my birthday. Next we met back up with my mom, Arne & Nolan outside California Adventure to go see World of Color. After waiting for what felt like FOREVER, the show started. It was a very cool show using water to project different images, along with colors and music...however it was very loud and scary for Nolan which made it not as fun for us (and he was tired). So after the show we were all happy to head home and pass out.

Friday, October 1st.

Again, a little fuzzy as to which rides we did because honestly we did so many. The lines were short and we could walk on many or wait at the most 20 minutes. We did eat lunch in Tomorrowland again (I will have dreams about that veggie sandwich in Tomorrowland!!!!). We convinced Nolan to go on the Buzz Lightyear ride, which he hated and made sure we knew how much he hated it. We felt bad. We searched for a cute hat for Nolan, but didn't find one that we could both agree on. He went on his favorite roller coaster again, actually went two times in a row. We caught the afternoon parade then did a bit more shopping before heading back to the hotel for a little nap time. Of course Nolan didn't nap, he just bounced off the walls. For dinner we went inside California Adventure and ate at a Mexican place (Mom and Arne got chowder from a seafood place) and we got a short tour of a tortilla factory. Mom, Arne & Brian went on a river rafting ride and Nolan and I played in the red wood forest...that was a LOT more work than I was expecting. Brian took over playing with Nolan in the red wood forest and I returned to the hotel room with the stroller. I got a lot of strange looks pushing a stroller without a kid in it! :)

Saturday, October 2nd.

We got up at 5 something in the morning to get our bags packed up and ready to go. We had one morning we could get into the park an hour early and decided to use it on our last day. We got to the gates around 7am and we LOVED it. The park was empty and we walked on to quite a few rides. We also saw a ton of people in red shirts and quickly learned it was Gay Days in the park. I kick myself now for not calling my mom & Arne and telling them it was special red shirt day! LOL We walked past Materhorn and noticed Nolan was tall enough to ride and the line was SOOOOO short, so the boys rode that. I am still shocked that Nolan did that! We tried to do Nolan's favorite roller coaster again but it was closed due to rain...so we went back to the French Quarter and Brian and I rode Pirates one last time, took Nolan on his last ride (Winnie the Pooh), grabbed our last treat (Churro & a Mint Julep) and waved goodbye with a ride on the Monorail. We had an AMAZING time in Disney...but after 5 crazy days we were ready to have a little down time. After checking out of the hotel we got on I-5 north and made our way to Pismo Beach. Once we checked into our hotel we went on a mission to find a grocery store and a Laundromat. Yes, we bought sandwiches and grapes and spent our evening hanging out doing laundry...but it was surprisingly fun.

Sunday, October 3rd

The hotel walls were VERY thin and Brian didn't get much sleep, but luckily Nolan and I snoozed away. Dawnette, Chris & Mason met us at our hotel and we followed them to a fun park (so Nolan could get some of his crazies out) then to Pismo Beach for the BEST clam chowder and a little playing in the sand. It really was a beautiful day and so fun to see friends and catch up! Around 2pm (just in time for Nolan to take a nap) we got back on the road and headed up highway 1 (listening to the advice of Dawnette & Chris). It was a breathtaking ride in more ways than one. The view was just amazing. We slowly climbed higher, but the water remained right next to us. You could see forever and no picture could properly capture how truly awesome it was. It also took the breath out of me with the CRAZY curves and had me slamming on my passenger side brake (I really wished I had one!!) quite a bit. Eventually the crazy windy road ended and deposited us right into Monterey. Our hotel in Monterey had me concerned. I had found it on Hotels.com for $40 a night. I expected it would come with bedbugs or paper thin walls. We arrived to the cutest little 20 room hotel with beautiful flowers everywhere and nice hotel staff. I breathed a sigh of relief thinking maybe we wouldn't be covered in bed bugs tonight and maybe we just found a good deal! We pulled up to the room and we were the ONLY car in the parking lot...score! The room was cute, had a microwave and fridge and NO bugs that I could see!! We ventured across the street to a little mall where we ate at Chipotle, but all the stores were closed for the day (darn Sunday). We picked up some muffins for the next day and headed back to our wonderful little hotel. By the end of the night there were like 5 cars in the parking lot, but it still felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Monday, October 4th

We started our day with yummy muffins we purchased the day before and decent in room coffee. Then we went back to the little mall for some shopping and seeing what we could see. Then we made our way down to Fisherman's Wharf for some more sight seeing, shopping and lunch. I was in heaven with inexpensive shops and beautiful jewelry. I even treated myself to a plumeria necklace for my birthday. We sampled chowder at various restaurants and got a free appetizer coupon for each one. We weighed the pros and cons of each restaurant before deciding on Isabella's. If I am ever on death row...I want their calamari for my last meal. I think I am salivating right now just thinking about it. Oh, and their bread dipped in oil & vinegar!!! Mmmmm...can you tell I finally feel better huh? Brian felt the same way about the restaurant though...we fell in love with Monterey over that meal! Unfortunately we had to leave Fisherman's Wharf behind (partly because our meter was about to run out) and head north towards Berkeley. We arrived around 3:30pm and chilled out for awhile before heading over to Adri, Spenser & Sam's house for dinner. Adri made a fantastic pasta dish and it was so nice to eat home cooking. The boys got to play together and even though Nolan cried every time Sam "roared" at him...Nolan had a great time and asked for more when we had to leave to go back to the hotel.

Ok...I have to put Nolan to bed...I'll finish up soon!!! Ya, I'll finish up soon turned into like 3 months later...ya, I rock at blogging. Let's see how I remember things...

Tuesday, October 5th
We enjoyed breakfast in the hotel (yes, I still remember all the food!!!!) and headed over to Adri's house. They were seriously amazing tour guides and took us on the BART under the bay and into San Francisco. I am positive if they weren't there, we would have been VERY, VERY lost!! We walked to the aquarium then to lunch. My plan was to have a sourdough bowl full of chowder...but pregnancy cravings made me get a tomato salad with balsamic that was FREAKING AWESOME (seriously, never let a preggo write a travel blog...it will end up 100% about food!). After lunch we walked over to this super cool arcade museum. We loaded up on quarters and let all the kids (including the husbands) run wild. It was fun! We also checked out the (stinky) sea lions on our walk back. Luckily the little boys were worn out and slept in their strollers on the way back. We found our way back to BART (with the help of Adri and Spenser of course!!!) and played at their house until it was time for dinner. We got some Thai takeout (another preggo craving) and then had to say goodbye to our friends and head back to our hotel for our last night in Berkeley.

Wednesday, October 6th
We started the day with another hotel breakfast bar (it was decent, but not our fav. We were rating hotels along the way...a good breakfast earned a hotel high ratings!) We said goodbye to the bay area and headed north to the Jelly Belly factory. Along the way we saw a sign that said 'Toll Ahead' at first I got worried because we had VERY little cash left, but then we saw a sign that said $2.50 and we found that exact amount and sighed a little sigh of relief. We stopped at the booth and the toll booth guy asked for $5! Awe, crud! We explained that we only had $2.50 but he didn't care and handed us a slip of paper and said that a $25 ticket would be mailed to us. AWESOME!!! So we continued onwards to the Jelly Belly factory, me 12 shades of pissed at myself. A minute or two later a cop was following us. Now I was 24 shades of pissed at myself because we just got a ticket, we didn't have current proof of insurance in the car (it was on the desk at home) and our tabs expired on September 30th (new tabs were also on the desk at home)! DOUBLE AWESOME!!! He followed us for quite some time, but then turned off and we were finally able to breathe. I was a huge grump though...but our trip to Jelly Belly cured that! We got a tour of how the candy was made, tasted some funky flavors, bought some souvenirs and even had a yummy lunch (I had a philly sandwich that was super yumtastic). We got back in the car and decided to drive until we just couldn't drive anymore. We ended up in Medford, OR. We sat in Jack-in-the-Box and used Brian's phone to look up local hotels...our one stipulation is that it MUST have an indoor pool because we had yet to put our toe in a pool! All in all, this hotel rated highest on our trip. The room was nice and large, the toiletries were yummy smelling, the pool was AWESOME (even had a little kiddie pool, but Nolan preferred the big one. And we had it 100% to ourselves) and at breakfast they had WAFFLES!!!!!

Thursday, October 7th
So the morning started out with our best breakfast of the trip...yummy waffles and all the other things that came along with a hotel breakfast. Nolan was the entertainment for the meal, continually singing "ensie wensie spider". One lady even clapped for him and said "I'm sure that's the way Justin Timberlake started!" hahaha
We hit I-5 for our LAST day. We were all sad that the trip was coming to an end...but we were happy to get back in Washington and relax a little! Our trip was something that we will never forget...and we hope through telling stories and showing pictures, Nolan never forgets either! Thanks for going on our journey with us!

THE END!!

It's Disney Time!

Tuesday, September 28th

We checked out of our hotel room at Days Inn (you know, the one I double paid for because I'm an idiot!) We left around 9am and followed the directions provided to us by Louise, our navigation gal. Every time she told us to go right or left Nolan would proclaim "No! Disneyland!" He was excited to say the least. After talking about it for so long I think he began to doubt this "Disneyland" even existed! We were able to check into the Fairfield Inn at 9:30am (they rock) and were showered with extras until we felt like royalty. If you ever book a trip, book through Disney Travel Company...seriously we were spoiled with free parking, free in room movie, free pizza hut pizza with drinks, free Disney lanyard, pin and morning madness. We went up to our room (#409) and settled in. Shortly after we met up with my mom and Arne, went to McD's for a quick bite and we were on our way to DISNEYLAND!!!! The walk to the gates is awesome, just a block down and through a little walk way and we are at the bag check area. We went through the gates and immediately saw characters and then hopped on the train and rode it to Tomorrowland. Nolan spotted the cars in Autopia and insisted that be his first ride. He got to drive and even got his driver's license. The kid's smile could not have been bigger!! After that we ventured next door to the Finding Nemo ride. It was absolutely incredible, and honestly a little scary but Nolan loved it and wanted to do it again! At that point it was time for lunch so we grabbed a bite to eat and Nolan was looking mighty sleepy. We attempted the Buzz Lightyear ride after lunch and Nolan freaked out and said it was too loud and scary, so we promptly hightailed it back to the train and back to the exit. We noticed that they were stamping hands at the exit, but assumed with the 5 day pass we didn't need a stamp...we found out later we assumed VERY wrong and if we re-entered the park that day we would use up another day on our pass...so we were locked out of the park for the day. We went back to our room to let Nolan nap (which took quite some time and a LOT of convincing, but he finally gave in!!) For dinner we found ourselves at a rather funky, but yummy buffet down the way. Strange combinations were consumed, however happy bellies prevailed. We decided since we were shut out of the parks, we would discover Downtown Disney and all it had to offer. The sun was setting (and the temperature dropping...THANK GOODNESS) and all the twinkling lights were just beautiful. Sounds of different musical acts filled the air and shops tempted us and called our names. We found ourselves in Build-A-Bear Workshop and discovered they have a Build-A-Dinosaur shop, so we just had to do it. Nolan is now the proud owner of "Rexie" but is so in love with the box that Rexie came in, that he rarely comes out to play. Rexie also roars and Nolan is still not sure if that is cool or scary. Went we got to the end of Downtown Disney there was a fun band and Nolan danced by shaking his cute booty...it was hilarious. Nolan spent that night in a big bed, but even with 5 pillows as a barricade, he hopped over them and fell out of bed around 2am with a HUGE thud (he grabbed a pillow on the way down, just didn't land on it).

Wednesday, September 29th

We had a low-key start to the day with a breakfast of bagels, cream cheese and super yummy coffee (Nolan had milk). We got an early start because we had a date with Toon Town. We entered the gates at 9:35am, however Disneyland doesn't actually open until 10...so we met Pluto and looked around the Main Street area (and waited in line like cattle) until we got the go ahead to enter the park. It was honestly magical! We made our way to the back of the park and showed our special passes that got us into Toon Town an hour earlier to participate in the opening events and become honorary citizens of Toon Town. The ceremony was SO fun and afterwards we walked through Mickey and Donald's houses and Nolan rode his first ever roller coaster. He LOVED it!!! He is my adrenaline junkie! :) It was then time to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa in California Adventure! We spent most of the day in the park, riding Soaring (LOVED IT) meeting Lightening and Mater, seeing a Playhouse Disney show, eating lunch, riding all the rides in Bugs Life, sending Daddy and Grandpa on the Tower of Terror and California Screaming, meeting Woody and an Army Man, riding the ferris wheel (where my mom screamed SOOOOOOO loud we were all rolling with laughter!), talking to a turtle, a Monster's Inc Ride, the Pixar Parade and MORE rides in Bugs Life. By this time we were all wiped! We tried to take Nolan to the 3D Bug's Life Movie. He LOVED it when the butterflies flew at it, but flipped out shortly after that and begged to leave. So we made the trek back to the hotel, ordered our free pizza and movie and enjoyed a quiet evening in our beautiful (and air conditioned) room. Tomorrow is my birthday and will be filled with fun I'm sure...stay tuned! :)

Our Reeves Family Vacation!

It all started on Saturday, September 25th. I got off work around 2:30pm and we threw everything in the van and headed to our first stop, crashing at Grandma & Poppa's house. We had a great evening and got to bed pretty early so we could wake up at 6:15, eat a delish hot breakfast and be on the road.

Sunday, Saturday 26th

We were headed south by 7:30am. We had our first pit stop at a Rest Stop that we had previously visited when we took our trip to the Oregon Coast. We tried to convince Nolan to run around and get the crazies out, instead he stole lots of pamphlets and showed off his impressive hopping abilities to anyone who would pay him attention.
For lunch we stopped in Salem, OR for Red Robin. I know we can get Red Robin at home, but we've been eating home cooked meals and I have been CRAVING Red Robin. Plus the dining Gods felt we should go to Red Robin too because Nolan's grandparents had given him an etch a sketch the night before that had a coupon for a free kid's meal at Red Robin...so really it was written in the stars. After a yummy lunch we took Nolan to the mall across the street to play in their play area. I think this term must be used VERY loosely in this situation because it was more like a play mat. I will post pictures later, but it was pathetic at best. The mall did have a Children's Place that completely sucked me in...HELLO NO SALES TAX!!!
Then we were on the road again! Brian took over driving duties, which was great timing because the rest of the drive was a LOT of mountain passes, big trucks and curves...I do not do well driving around any of these things. Honestly I'm a pretty cruddy passenger as well (just ask Brian). I know my husband is a great guy because he didn't drop me off on the side of the road and ANY court of law wouldn't blame him if he did. We all survived, ate super yummy pizza in a nice college town. The pizza place had a play area (MUCH more of a play area than that silly mall) and he was super content playing instead of eating, so we packed up his pizza and fed it to him in the car. Honestly, the kid was amazing and didn't lose his mind until the last hour. The fact that we started this day in the car at 7:30 and pulled into Redding, California at 8:30 is impressive that it took so long for the kid to crack...he really is a great rider (and thank GOOODNESS for DVD players!)

Monday, September 27th
I think we left Redding around 8:30...after finding Tylenol for my headache (I slept horribly the night before for various reasons) and finding a gas station with the cheapest gas (thank you gas buddy app on Brian's phone!) Anyway...at some point we started driving south on I-5. I drove first because it was straight and no mountain passes, that's when I do my best work. The speed limit is 70 so we just put on the cruise, pumped up the tunes (Glee channel on the Slacker radio mixed with a little Billy Joel channel on the Slacker). I think Brian was playing on his cell phone looking for somewhere to eat lunch and he found a place called Pea Soup Andersen's. He remembered me craving Pea Soup (yes, most meals center around what I crave, leave the preggo alone!) he checked out the menu and found something he would like so made the decision to stop there for lunch. This place was kitchy and everything I love about traveling. It had a huge gift shop, tall ceilings with super big skylights that made it feel like we were sitting outside. Every thing was very German, even the outfits the poor waitresses had to wear. Our waitress was a somewhat unfriendly gal with a mustache, if I had to wear that outfit I might be unfriendly too. We had a SUPER yummy meal (me: split pea soup & salad Brian: a rueben Nolan: a bowl of homemade mac and cheese the size of his head). Again, we jumped back in the van, Brian at the wheel, and headed for Anaheim. The scenery was so beautiful, the temperature was going up (who ordered this heat wave??) and the traffic was getting worse. Luckily we didn't die, a large truck didn't take off our front bumper (even though he did attempt to) and Brian didn't throw me out of the moving vehicle. SUCCESS!!! We got to our hotel by 5:30 and snacked on food we brought with us for a dinner of sorts (I was still full of pea soup). The sink area had a little alcove and Brian remembered seeing a box of tacks in the van...so he rigged a little curtain of sorts so that Nolan could have his own dark room and we could watch some TV. My husband is a certified genius!!! We all got a great night's sleep and got ready for our first day in DISNEY!!!!

I would love to tell you more, but my battery is running low, I can't find an outlet near where I am perched and all the lights are out because Nolan is napping. So I'll finish up more (and apparently most of this post is really about FOOD!!!!!!) On Tuesday we find ourselves in Disneyland...so stay tuned! There will be more about having fun (and some photos) and less about what we consume...I promise! :)

This kid can travel!

I keep meaning to post about our Summer travels!!

In June we traveled down to Lincoln City, Oregon to spend a few days at the ocean. Nolan LOVED it and we had the best time watching him run through the sand, play in the surf and make (and break) sandcastles.

He is an awesome car rider and spent most of the ride down snoozing and talking on the way home.

Here are some photos of our first family vacation!










In late September we will be taking a long car ride to Disneyland. We are very excited and talk about it often! :)

Our Big Boy

Today was quite a day for our little man....and we didn't even know the day would be so eventful when it started. We have been talking about it for awhile, but today ended up being the day that we turned Nolan's crib into a big boy bed. Nap time didn't go so well as it was a pretty exciting development...he ended up playing in his room then knocking on the door and asking to be let out.

After that I changed his diaper and he asked to use his big boy potty. He rarely asks, so I got excited about his request and sat him on his potty. He played around for a little bit and peed for the first time in the potty! We were VERY excited!!!! He did get a little pee on his hand and he asked me to kiss it...I declined!

Later in the evening he had a bath because he was a VERY messy eater at dinner time. Afterwards he ran around in his dinosaur towel that his Aunt Jessica & Uncle Chris gave him. He sat down for a bit and all of a sudden we see a stream shoot across the room. Nolan was as shocked as we were and he tried to stop the pee by catching it mid-air. Brian and I just LOST it and couldn't compose ourselves. I fear we are scaring our kid and he will never be potty trained!!!

Tonight I put his pajamas on him while he was standing on the floor (not on the changing table) and sat next to his bed and read all his bedtime stories. He asked for a hug and kiss and cuddled in with Doobie Moo. I closed the door and left my big boy to drift off to dreamland. I assumed I would check on him later and he would be perched on top of his bookshelf reading or hanging from the light in the middle of this room. But I was wrong. He was sleeping soundly, in the spot that I left him. My little man is growing up so quickly...how am I going to deal with the big milestones when sleeping in a big boy bed brings tears to my eyes???

Time with Twos Class

Every Thursday this quarter Nolan and I are attending a class offered by the local tech college. I believe it's called "Time with Twos" but we just call it "School". Today as we were driving away from school I asked him what he did today. He replied "Ummmmmmmmm" with his finger up to his mouth, pondering the question for a bit (he learned Ummm from his friend Dean). Anyway, after his long pause he said "I take turns". I was SOOOOOOO proud I nearly cried. We've been working a lot on taking turns and sharing and he has been doing so great lately.

The other day Nolan's friend Portia came over and she had her favorite hat on. I thought Nolan might enjoy wearing a hat like his friend, so I got out a baseball hat he got for his birthday. He now cannot live without this hat...it's pretty cute because he wears it to the side a little bit. I'll have to get a photo!!

The rest of today will be fairly uneventful...a trip to Target or the grocery store. Thrilling life we have! :)

My grace lives on...

I was a very clumsy kid. My mom would frequently comment that she should have named me Grace because I was oh so graceful. I fear I passed this on to my son! Today we were at the Food Co-Op and I went to the bathroom. As we were leaving the bathroom he ran for the door, tripped and bashed his head into the hinge on the door. It had a little black grease on it, and now that grease is on the top of my child's head. He got over it pretty quick, and even let me take a picture of it. He looks very silly. But I am thankful that since he does crash so often, that he recovers so quickly! :)

Yesterday we had a fun morning with a friend and Nolan and Malaki did a great job taking turns. In the past there was a lot of screaming and such. It's nice to have a little break from that stage! :)

Today we went to Jump Around Fun Zone with the mops group. It was very busy! Nolan enjoyed playing with the sink, water fountain and candy machines more than bouncing!! Right now Nolan is avoiding a nap while I'm watching a friend's girls who ARE sleeping. Tonight we'll have a friend over for dinner which should be fun too!

It's a busy week...but we are having a great time and able to talk to daddy lots between cell phones and Skype! :)

I wasn't able to do our Muffin Tin meal yesterday because we were so busy...so I guess we'll skip a week and see what next Monday brings! :)

While Daddy's away, Mommy & Nolan will play!

There will be lots of blog entries this week...but they might be somewhat boring! :) This week Brian had to go to Alaska for work. I know I won't get to talk to him much due to cell & internet service up there....and if I try to tell him everything we did during the time he was gone, I'll for SURE draw a blank. So...I decided to use our handy dandy blog to journal our fun times! :)

Today is Sunday. Brian left at 8am this morning and as I type he's probably flying over Canada somewhere. Nolan and I enjoyed homemade blueberry pancakes for breakfast then ran to Target for diapers and Grocery Outlet for groceries. It was pretty uneventful, other than Nolan being a pretty darn good boy in the shopping carts (rare!!!) We ran home, had lunch and now we are headed out so that Nolan can visit his friend Dean and I can go do a Tupperware party!

This evening we plan to go to a friend's house to watch Survivor...I fear Nolan will not sleep at their house, but he has been staying up until 9 or 10 talking to himself...so one night of staying up late at a friend's house probably won't do too much harm! :)

We'll update through the week and hopefully I'll have some funny tales to tell! :)

My promise...

I promise to update this more often because there are SOOOO many Nolan-isms that go untold because I let months go by before updating. So ya, I'm going to be better! :) Of course some of the stories you just have to be here to see because it's hilarious, and if I were to put it into words it just wouldn't be the same.

I've also decided to update weekly with a new project....Muffin Tin Mondays. I got the idea here

We planned to start this past Monday...but we had company and I postponed it til today. Nolan thought it was a fun and we even made it into a picnic in the living room (although the weather was so nice I really should have done a real picnic!!)

Today's theme was the letter A and the menu included:

Apple Juice

Apple slices

Avocado

Animal Crackers

Artisan Bread (ok...the Artisan Bread I had went bad due to being full of goodness and no preservatives...so I lied and gave him regular old wheat bread)

Asiago Cheese (I lied again...I don't have Asiago cheese...I have string cheese!!!)

Ok...so the letter A was harder than I anticipated!!! I had asparagus in the house...but he won't eat that! :)

Next Monday's theme is 'Birds and nests". Not entirely sure what we will make as the only thing that comes to mind are robin's eggs (you know that yummy easter candy?) and I don't think that is a healthy lunch for a toddler. If I can't come up with anything I'll just do my own theme of the Letter B...which should be a LOT easier than the Letter A!!!

Nolan of course continues to grow and change and is a really fun kid. His passion for rocks is almost as intense as his love for cars. We've been working on sharing and JUST today shared with two kids without throwing a massive OH-MY-GOSH-MY-LIFE-IS-GONNA-END fit. So that's my win for the week!!

I have photos...but those will have to be posted later! See you next Monday!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Nolan

Happy Birthday Nolan!

On March 27, 2008 at 10:28am you came into the world and changed our lives forever. You brighten our days with your giggles and smiles. The way you crinkle your nose when you are being silly melts our hearts and although your screams of excitement are blood curdling, they are still insanely cute (maybe not when we are in public though!)

You are one passionate little boy with a love for trains, cars, bugs and mud puddles.

Your innovation is impressive, as I type you've pushed a truck up to a bookshelf so you could be 8" taller and reach the books that are special for bed time.

You are completely fearless when it comes to everything. You'll eat anything and everything in your path and you don't pause for even a second before scaling the 18 foot ladder and throwing yourself down the Jump Around Fun Zone slide. You have been trying to jump with both feet off the ground for months, and recently, most likely with some help from the JAFZ, you can jump with both feet and you are so proud of yourself (and so are we!!)

You are now talking SO much. You are saying your ABC's and you really like saying "WX" and "HIJK" when you get to LMNO you sometimes say Elmo, which is pretty stinking cute! You can even point to a letter and correctly identify it!

You have a creative way of counting, right now you say "2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9. 0, 11, 14, 15 YAY"

You have perfected tantrums, we never wonder whether you are happy or sad, you really let us know!! Shopping carts seem to be your arch nemesis and getting you to sit in them is a battle, but you realize at some point that mommy and daddy WILL win and you give up! We will continue working on this one!

You are SO creative. You are so great at playing the drums and your coloring is great! You can draw circles and you even told me one of the circles was an Apple! You will play with stickers for hours if I let you, especially car stickers!

You enjoy playing with your friends, although you don't so much dig sharing with them.

You help mommy with the dishes by handing her plates as she puts them away and you love helping mommy with the laundry, although we have to watch to make sure you don't put a random toy in while you are helping!

You are a joy to have as a son and we love being your parents! We have enjoyed the last 2 years more than we can ever express and we look forward to watching you learn and grow. We love you Through and Through...yesterday, today and tomorrow too!!

2010

Edited because there were changes to our exciting 2010. On March 22nd we found out that we lost our baby. We are heartbroken but hopeful.

On with happier things....

Nolan is growing like a weed and we are already planning his 2nd birthday party for next month. He is such a fantastic kid. Right now he's very into A,B,C's (although when he "sings" the song he only uses vowels), enjoys counting (well, he counts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 YAY!!!) Pretending to sneeze and pretending to snore. He has a very vivid imagination and plays by himself easily. He has a major obsession with trains and says choo choo from sun up to sun down! He is fairly dramatic, but I blame myself for that one! :) We are amazed each day by the things he comes up with and how wonderful he is.

Stay tuned to more news about the house and the new baby....2010 is already a GREAT year!!!