Mowing the carpet

Nolan decided that since his dad was mowing outside tonight, he better mow inside!

What ever happened to a peaceful dinner time?

Yes, that is my burning question of the day. Nolan is such a picky eater. If we don't feed him his favorite foods - cheese, ham, pizza, spaghetti, yogurt, mac and cheese, ravioli or baked beans - he freaks out. He won't eat it, he'll just throw it - including his sippy cup and spoon. I know I need to be super patient with him, and I really try hard to be patient, but it isn't always easy. I'm sure other moms (and dads) experience the same thing. You get home from work and need to make a healthy dinner that includes protein, veggies and healthy carbs. The meal gets made, you try feeding it to your kid, and he refuses to eat it - making more work for you as you then have to prepare a separate meal for him. Ugh! I'm sure it will get better, but for now I guess I need to have a back up meal ready to go every night!

Nolan officially began walking this weekend. And not just a few steps, either. On Friday evening he thought it was super fun to walk back and forth between me and Adam. On Saturday he walked more - in between his toys. Then he really stepped up his game at church on Sunday. He just decided it was time to go, and walked a good 10 feet between the back of the church where we sit and the first set of pews in front of us. His walking is pretty funny. He ends up getting to his destination, but in between the here and there he walks sideways and in a few circles. We're pretty sure he walks sideways because that's how he walks around the furniture and other parts of the house. Julie said he walked quite a bit at daycare today. Practice makes perfect, and pretty soon he'll be walking straight. Now if we could only teach him to leave the cats alone so he won't get scratched . . .

Nolan is showing his personality more and more each time we take him out somewhere. He not only looks like Adam, but it seems like his personality is like Adam's, too! He really shines at church. He likes to laugh and smile at anyone who will pay attention to him - and you'd be suprised at how many people pay attention to him! He gets a little brave at times, wanting to go up to people and touch them, but most of the time he's just out to put a smile on everyone's face!

This weekend Adam worked really hard on our storage room. The room had all sorts of cabinets in it, but most of it was unuseable space - the previous owner made fishing lures so there were lots of tiny little drawers. Adam took apart the cabinets, and Dave came over Friday night to help take the cabinets out of the room. After a quick trip to Home Depot on Saturday morning, Adam returned with all the wood and other items he needed to build shelving for the room. He was hoping to finish yesterday, but Nolan still takes 2 naps a day, so there was a good chunk of time he couldn't work on anything. I know it's nerdy, but I love having space to organize all our stuff! Our goal is to knock off all our big projects as soon as possible, so maybe, just maybe, we can enjoy some of our summer come July! Oh, and Nolan's toy box that Adam built him for his birthday is finished. It looks exactly like the one my grandpa made for me and my sister's when we were little - and I love it! After the storage room is finished and our stuff is put away we can organize Nolan's toys.

On Saturday night we were lucky enough to have Jackie come over to watch Nolan for us so we could attend a surprise birthday party for a Bleck family friend. It works out well for Adam (and anyone else who needs a DD!) that I'm prego, cuz I'm able to drive people around safely. I do have to say that my bed time of 12:30 a.m. kicked my butt on Sunday. I did take a nap in the afternoon for a hour and a half, so that helped a little.

This week will be spent getting ready for the big shower weekend for Paulette. We're hosting one in Browerville on Saturday, and my mom's sister's are hosting one on Sunday in Foley. I have a few more things to plan out, but it shouldn't be too bad. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time - until I start to think about the planning I still have to do for her bachelorette party!

Spring time (or is it summer time?) fun!

Every day Nolan is taking a few more steps on his own. Nothing that really qualifies as "walking on his own" yet, but he's close! Just in the last week he's let us hold his hands and he'll walk in front of us, or we'll just hold one of his hands and he'll walk beside us, and at least once a day he takes a few step on his own. He needs to perfect his balance, and then he'll be off! He's also working on some words. He doesn't say it often, but he has said "thank you", "I did it" and "all done". It sure will be a bit easier when he can string together a few more words to tell us a thing or two!

Last week and this past weekend was super busy. Adam was in Moose Lake this weekend helping his cousin Chris lay wood floors in the kitchen and dining room at their house. Sasha and Jackson drove to our place and we spent the weekend hanging out. Both boys are a lot busier than they used to be, especially Jackson, since he's walking all over the place! The nice thing about spending time with them is that both Nolan and Jackson keep a similiar schedule, so it makes it a lot easier when we're planning stuff to do with them. On Saturday afternoon we did a little shopping and ran some errands. The unforunate part is that neither boy got an afternoon nap. The fortunate part is that they adapted to it fairly well and didn't cause us too much trouble! Their early bed time of 6:30 helped both of us - we needed (and deserved) to relax! It is so fun to watch everything that Jackson is doing. He and Nolan are a little more than 7 weeks apart in age, and Nolan is about that far behind him with the new skills he develops. One thing I'm glad I bought this weekend was 2 gates to corral the kiddies from the stairs. Nolan hasn't shown a big interest in going down the stairs yet, but Jackson sure does so I'm sure it's just around the corner!

Adam didn't get home until after 7 last night,so Nolan and I got to spend the afternoon together. He took a 2 hour nap, and I took full advantage of that time to clean out my clothes and organize them in bins to be stored until I need them again. I have officially outgrown all my pants, and none of my fun summer shirts fit, either, so off to storage they go! After his nap we took a nice long walk to the grocery store. On the way home we got to visit with a few of our neighbors. The little kids on our street sure loved to see Nolan! They are all sweet kids, and so good with him. We ended up going to play with them a little more after a quick snack and putting away the groceries. By the time I got him back home a little after 5 he let me know he was tired and hungry! I managed to keep him busy with dinner and his bath until about 6:20, but that was it. I wasn't going to give him a bath, but he decided this weekend that crawling in the grass wasn't as bad as he thought it was, and playing in sand and on the cement and tar is great fun! Honestly, dirty kids is going to be a very hard thing for me to get used to. I was never described as a kid who liked to get dirty. I used to cry when I got grass stains on my pants! I guess it comes with the territory, so I'm just going to have to lighten up and accept it. Nolan was sleeping by 6:30 again last night. As my dad told us today, if our next baby is half a good at sleeping as Nolan is, we'll be very lucky!

Speaking of my dad, he was kind enough to take a personal day today to watch Nolan for us, since we didn't have daycare. I'm impressed by both my dad and Nolan and their ability to adapt to each other on such short notice. My dad said Nolan is a very easy kid to be around! They spent a lot of time outside - wagon rides, stroller rides, and rides up and down the street in his cozy coupe truck. He is happiest when he's being pulled or pushed in all of his cool toys!

I had my 20 week appointment today. Yep, I am officially half way through! The appointment was quick and good. The great thing about this pregnancy is that my blood pressure has stayed normal, unlike with Nolan, when it was high every time I had an appointment! The baby's heartbeat was good, and while she was listening for it the Dr. felt and saw the baby move. This baby is super busy and active. I'm not sure if it's because I know what it feels like, or if it's just really active. I guess we'll see when he/she shows up in a few months!

Ridin' the old wagon

Last weekend Adam and I decided it was time to stick close to home and get some projects checked off our ever expanding list. Friday night I had a girls night, so Adam stayed home with Nolan and began our first project - painting the bedroom (and upstairs bathroom). He did a really good job with the dark wall, and put the second coat on Saturday morning. After I offered to help, though, he discovered that I'm a much faster painter than he is, so he decided to watch Nolan while I finished painting the bedroom and bathroom. After Nolan went down for his 2 hour and 45 minute nap, I completed my painting and Adam worked on finishing Nolan's toy box/chest and re-varnishing the adirondack chairs. You wouldn't think it would take that long, but it's a time consuming project! After Nolan's nap I decided to take him on his first ride in the wagon. He loved it! We shouldn't be surprised, because he loves being in his stroller, too.

We were going to go to the zoo on Sunday, but decided it would be worth it to stay home and do some yardwork, and let Adam continue on with his projects. We did take a road trip to the mall to pick up Nolan's 1 year pictures. As a special treat we took him out to eat at Applebee's. He was so good. He tried really hard to make friends with our waiter, and the other waitresses that would walk by. Everyone seemed to love it! Unfortunately, all of our running around messed up his sleep schedule, and he hardly slept on Sunday. Little sleep = cranky Nolan! We did take him on a long walk later in the afternoon, and he did sleep for about a 1/2 hour. It wasn't enough, though, and we put him to bed a little early. We needed the break!

Yesterday was a fantastic day. We had our ultrasound for our new baby on the way. Everything looked great! We didn't find out what we're having, so another surprise is on the way around September 4th! After our appointment Adam and I headed out so we could catch the express bus to the Twin's home opener at the new Target Field. It was amazing! I've never been so in awe of a sports stadium. It is definitely a fan friendly stadium - lots of nooks and crannies to watch the game from, plenty of bars and restaurants, and a huge assortment of food. The Twin's played great, too, and won the game. Like Adam said, the two of us need to enjoy days like that, because with baby #2 coming we won't get to do that nearly as easily!

And he's off . . .with a little help

Yesterday we decided to let Nolan try some watermelon. He didn't like the first piece, but he liked the piece after that . . . and the one after that . . . and the one after that! I probably shouldn't have given him more for dinner tonight. We had to learn the hard way that too much fruit isn't a good thing!

Bath night is turning in to a true water sport. Nolan splashes so much and so hard that the water is spread over the entire bathroom - and us! I think we're going to try and pull the curtain shut a little bit next time to see if it helps.

Ever since Nolan's birthday, he's been getting better and better at walking - with the assistance of his toys. He wants nothing to do with Adam and I helping him! Today after work he was practically running behind his new truck. It's funny, because he doesn't bend his knees real well yet - so he's got a little case of the stiff leg syndrome! He'll figure it out eventually, but for now it looks like this . . .

Happy Easter!

So when I wrote last Thursday I was feeling great. Then I woke up Friday morning feeling terrible. I tried really, really hard to get to work. I made it about half way and then had to pull over. Yup, my boys passed along to me what they had, and it was awful! Luckily it was only a 24 hour bug, and I recovered to feel well enough to head up north to my parent's house Saturday morning.

On the way to Browerville Adam and I stopped in St. Cloud to get Nolan and Adam's hair cut. Nolan didn't do so well this time - he cried through the whole thing, and I mean big alligator tears, red face, screaming - the whole thing. Nolan and I had dropped off Adam to get his haircut at the same time, so it was just me trying to calm him down. I wasn't very successful. I even made an effort to give him his first sucker in hopes it would calm him down . . . but it just made him more mad! The stylist did a pretty good job with his haircut, especially since Nolan moved his head and tried to take her comb and scissors the whole time! He looks like such a little boy now. No more baby!

We had a lot of fun with my family for Easter. There was an Easter egg hunt, Emma's 5th birthday celebration, some baking for the older kids, movie watching, bridal shower and bachelorette party planning, and visiting and relaxation. As usual it was a little crowded and really loud, but that's what makes hanging out with my family so fun! The weather was nice, so we took the kids to the park Saturday afternoon. The new park at the school is awesome, and the older kids LOVED it! Nolan liked what he could play with, too. While I was feeling better Emma was not. She woke up Saturday night very sick. She is such a tropper - I know I could take a few tips from her on how to act when you're sick! The rest of us made it to church (which was an hour and 40 minutes long!), but Eric and Emma stayed home. The poor girl walked around with an empty ice cream bucket all day Sunday. She was so excited to wear her Easter dress, and Gina just couldn't say no, so Emma got to wear it (with the risk it may have gotten dirty!). Hopefully she's recovered by now.

I had a few interesting moments this weekend. I think this baby on the way is messing with my mind! Saturday night I realized I had been wearing 2 different size hoop earings all day, and nobody told me. Then, on Sunday morning, I washed my hair in the bathtub. I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, and for some reason grabbed it and thought it was my hair - so I rinsed out the hood on my sweatshirt. Hopefully I won't keep having incidents like this! It's hard to believe that our ultrasound is only a week away. This pregnancy is flying by!

Nolan's favorite game to play is still peek a boo, which you can tell by looking at the below picture! It's really quite funny, because he doesn't care if you play it with him or not - he'll just bust it out when he feels like playing and play it by himself! He is learning a few new things, though. Last week he started to say "thank you" when prompted. It's not often he does it, but every once in a while gives me hope he'll learn the meaning and be a polite little boy!

April Fool's?

No, it wasn't an April Fools joke. When I picked up Nolan from daycare today he was dancing in front of the tv (Julie keeps her tv on the local city channel that plays music). As he was showing off his cool dance moves, he discovered he could turn the tv on and off . . . and on and off . . . and on and off. He is obsessed with figuring out what buttons he can push that will make something happen - like turning on and off the tv! Good thing our tv is hung on the wall downstairs. There's no way he can touch it! He's working really hard to figure out how to make the remotes work, though.

Yesterday Adam made a list of things we need to do before the baby is born. Yikes - talk about a reality check! I'm not quite sure when we're going to get everything done. I'll feel better once we prioritize the list, and figure out timelines. All but 3 weekends are booked between now and Paulette and Ryan's wedding on June 19th!

This weekend we're heading up to my parent's house to celebrate Easter - and Emma's 5th birthday. We're really hoping the weather will cooperate, at least for part of the day on Saturday. It gets to be really, really crowded in their house with all of us there!

As proof that we've had a wonderful spring so far, I just need to document the fact that the last snowfall we've had was on February 23rd - not a single snowflake in the month of March! It's the first time since records have been kept that we've gone the entire month of March with no snow. Yipee - I love spring!