Let's talk, mom

Time sure flies when the weather is nice! I feel like the last few weeks since Nolan’s birthday have flown by. The most exciting news is the arrival of our first nephew, Conner, who arrived the weekend of Easter. Our boys have gotten to see him twice, and Nolan is enthralled with him. The only baby Nolan has been around is Kale, and he doesn’t remember that because he was so little. He asked to hold him, and when he did he just stared at him and smiled. Kale was a little jealous that we didn’t allow him to really be by him or touch him. Kale is a bit of a brute, and doesn’t quite understand his own strength yet! Nolan was especially excited when Adam held Conner, and was right there watching. Even more exciting than the baby was Bailey the black lab. The boys had so much fun jumping on her and chasing her around.

Easter was fun with the kids. We spent the weekend at my parent’s house, and the kids had fun playing with Emma and Allie. It was really quiet without the Jones’ family there. We made it to church, but not without incident. Kale was his usual entertaining self, making friends with everyone around us. Nolan was good, and did really well until he went up with Emma for the offering. He was able to get his dollar in the basket, but on the way back tripped in his new dress shoes and fell. If that wasn’t bad enough another kid fell on top of him and he bumped his head really hard on the tile. He was crying/screaming at the very front of the church and when Gina and I got to the front he had a big, red goose egg on his forehead. I took him out and he was able to calm down, but he was really tired after that. He perked up once we got back to grandma and grandpa’s house for the easter egg hunt. He and Kale had so much fun, and neither of them has ever eaten as much candy as they did that morning! After all the eggs were counted we realized Kale was missing one egg. We all went out in search of it, and were surprised when half of us passed it and Kale was the one to find it. He was so proud! When we got home Nolan and Kale had fun searching for their baskets that the Easter Bunny had left for them. They were a little disappointed there wasn’t much candy, but loved the new bouncy balls. We were happy to get them to bed that evening. With all the sugar they both crashed and became a little cranky!



Last week I was home with the kids quite a bit because Adam was away for work. One morning after I had breakfast (eggs and turkey bacon) Nolan gave me a hug and said, “You smell like chicken nuggets.” Chicken nuggets are his favorite food so I should probably take that as a compliment, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to smell like them! Nolan is also in to telling me “Let’s talk, mom.” When I ask him what about he always comes up with things we’ve been talking about recently, like soccer or baby chicks. Nolan loves giving advice or providing direction to Kale these days, too – and Kale just soaks it up. I love the conversations they have in the backseat when we’re driving!

I was with the kids all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday, because Adam was helping his dad get a few things done at the farm. I took them to get their haircut Saturday morning, and then we ran errands until lunch. After nap we took a walk to Gale Woods Farm. We spent a good hour there, watching the animals and running around. While watching the chickens a rooster jumped on a hen. Nolan, ever so observant, told me “Look mom, that chicken is stuck!”. I just responded yes and we moved on. Gotta love nature! Kale’s favorite part of the farm were the lambs, primarily because he could talk to them, “baaaa”! On Sunday morning we were invited to a friend’s farm to meet the baby chicks. Nolan was a little shy at first, but warmed up when he got to hold a baby chick.
Kale also got to hold a baby chick, but not for long because he kept squeezing its neck!
They both liked the turkey’s, and Kale especially loved the cows. He even got to get in a pen and pet one of the new calves. He thought it was so funny and kept giggling. We tried to visit the goats but they didn’t want to come out and play, so instead Nolan asked if we could look at the big tractor. Both kids got to go up in the cab and sit in it. They thought they were pretty cool, especially Kale as he parade waved out the windows. The other big draw were the cats, but they didn’t really want anything to do with crazy Kale!


Kale is saying more and more words, and it’s to the point that we can actually understand him some of the time! He is a spunky kid with a boat load of energy and a big personality. He loves meeting new people and has no fear greeting people he doesn’t know. He attached himself quickly to my friend’s dad at the farm on Sunday – poor guy! He has strong opinions about what books we read before bed, and his current favorites are The Very Hungry Caterpillar and a Halloween themed book. We have also discovered that if he’s cranky in the car the song “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt” calms him down!

Nolan loves reading, although his book selections are getting to be longer and longer. Two nights this week we’ve had to read the Disney book Aladdin to him – lots of pages and teeny, tiny print! Nolan also likes memorizing books and “reading” them to us. His new favorite activity is cutting paper with a scissors. He occupied himself for a ½ hour before dinner last night, cutting a piece of paper in to very tiny pieces. When he got done he said his hand hurt from cutting!

It’s interesting to watch both kids grow and change. Both seem to be at a point where the terrible 3’s and almost terrible 2’s are going to start coming in to play. Nolan and Kale play off one another, so it seems like if one is in a bad mood the other is affected, too. I’m guessing we have a few interesting years ahead of us!