3 a.m., two diapers, and a smile

Let's put it this way, Friday night I get to take care of Nolan while Tricia tries to get caught up on a little sleep. Which is fine, until it's 3 in the morning, you've got a upset 10-week old baby, and after removing his diaper he decides to relieve himself not only once, but twice-on me! I should also add that after trying to block the first spray, I waited (thinking I was safe) for 5 or so seconds, he also sprayed the wall and me--I don't think we need to worry about him being dehydrated! But, after it was all said and done, he's got a dry diaper, a full tummy, and a smile that makes up for just about all of it... Ah, the life of a Dad!

Saturday Nolan and I carpooled up to the farm with my folks to give Nolan a little vacation. Actually, I figured that since Tricia had a bachlorette party to go to I'd take him. So, Tricia got to sleep for 9 hours straight-which is probably the first time since Nolan came around! Nolan had a great weekend of sleeping, napping, and getting to experience the sights and sounds of farm-he seemed to enjoy walked around and looking at all the leaves on the trees. Now me on the otherhand, I got to go fishing my Dad while my mom took care of the Nolan-man. Again, Dad made a $.25 contribution to the Nolan college fund since I caught the first fish--he's a great guide! We were able to enjoy a weekend with some great (windy) weather. Now all we can hope for is that we get a little rain to keep the lawns and crops around here green! As another week begins we're looking forward to seeing what Nolan will come up with next--he's getting close to rolling over, so we'll have to see if he figures it out this week! :)

Nolan's latest and greatest

It seems like every time I update the blog I forget to mention all the new things Nolan is doing! His latest and greatest is the art of imitation. If I stick out my tongue at him, he sticks his out at me! He does the same thing when I put my mouth in a circle and when I raise my eyebrows. It's pretty funny! Yesterday morning he figured out how to press his lips together to make noise. He's also getting long enough that when we lay him on his activity mat he's able to kick the ball on the other end with this feet. I'm not sure he's doing that on purpose, but it's fun to watch him try to figure it out. Now if we could only get him to enjoy tummy time a little more . . .

Nolan's video debut

I thought it would be fun to try and post a short video of Nolan doing a little talking and moving around. If it works I'll be posting more!

Have you ever had the feeling you were being watched?

I know, I know. It sounds morbid. But it happened to me last night, while I was watching tv with Adam and Nolan in our basement! We were enjoying the season premier of Jon and Kate plus 8, when all of a sudden I felt like someone was watching me from outside. It was dusk outside, and as I turned to look I saw a deer staring at me through our window! It startled me, to say the least. Adam was rocking Nolan so all he could do was turn his head to look. I got up to look out our sliding door and was once again startled, as another deer was eating from our birdfeeder! Needless to say I scared them and they trotted off, in the direction of our firepit. I knew immediately as I watched them they were going to try and eat our hostas again. Sure enough, not 1, not 2, but 3 deer were chomping away at our hostas! I opened the sliding door and shooed them away. But that wasn't the end of it. As Adam and I were getting Nolan to bed we looked out our living room window and saw all 3 deer at our birdfeeder again! They sensed us watching them and trotted off. After we put Nolan down Adam looked out our bedroom window and saw them back at the birdfeeder, again! Seriously, what does it take to scare the deer? We didn't see them after that, but our bird seed is awfully low, and our hostas aren't looking too good. Any advice on our deer problem would be appreciated. I don't like the fact they can stare at us in our basement!

We had a wonderful and busy Memorial weekend. I don't think anyone could have ordered more perfect weather!

Nolan and I were in St. Cloud on Friday getting the trunk on the Jetta fixed. We also had them drive the car and run a diagnostic, as it's been running really rough. The couldn't find anything wrong with it, which is good. They recommended we put some premium fuel in it, and it has been running a lot better since. I'd like to keep that car for at least another couple years, as long as it doesn't become a money pit! Nolan slept both to St. Cloud and back, and was a very good boy at the dealership. When Adam got home from work I was able to clean the whole house top to bottom. What a great feeling! I really try to stay on top of things during the week, but it's a lot harder with Nolan, especially if he's not sleeping! Erica came over Friday evening to watch Nolan so I could get out with Adam on my first motorcycle ride since last July! It was so wonderful. Adam and I felt bad leaving, though, because Nolan was having a super fussy time. Luckily Erica was able to calm him down, at least for a little bit. It's hard when Nolan gets so worked up - we don't always know what it is. Is it gas? Reflux? Overtired? Hungry? Dirty diaper? Or is he just cranky? I picked up the Baby Whisperer book at Border's on Friday in St. Cloud. I know the basic concepts, but have decided I need to learn a few more that will hopefully help both me and Adam! Friday night we had a bonfire with a few of the neighbors.

Saturday we "camped" at the Robinson house. Okay, we didn't camp, but everyone else did. We had so much fun. We enjoyed a nice cookout before walking over to Kathy and Josh's house to ride the horses. I rode a horse for the first time in my entire life! It was a little scary, but fun! It was amazing watching the little kids on the horse. They were fearless! Again, Nolan was a little rockstar. He fell asleep at the bonfire, and slept the whole time in the house while we were outside.

Sunday morning Adam and I had to count collection at church, and after that we took Nolan to our friend Lindsey's house. She was nice enough to babysit Nolan so we could get out on the motorcycle again. We took back roads to Mankato to visit Brian, Christianne, Lalayna and Lola. Adam hadn't met Lola yet, and since we're the godparents we thought it would be a good idea! She is so cute and little. We took some different back roads home, and picked up Nolan in Victoria around 6:15. He's been so funny lately. He seems to be a lot more content just laying around in between feedings and naps. He seems to find some new noises to make every day, and is trying out different levels of sounds when he talks! He goos, coos, ahhs, and grr's now. Yesterday he tried rolling over on his right side, but his arm got him stuck. It was really fun to watch him try!

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Jackie and Keith's house in Rogers. Adam helped Keith install a new storm door, so Jackie and I hung out with Nolan. Again he was a really good kid. He just laid on the floor and talked and smiled at us!

Today we spent most of the day running errands, and Nolan slept the whole time. When we got home we took a short walk, laid outside in the grass for a while, and now he's napping again. Adam and I elevated the mattress in his crib last night to see if he would sleep better in it. He did, except now we have to figure out a way to keep him from sliding down the mattress. It's not elevated that much, but 3 times last night he managed to scoot his way to the bottom of the crib. I guess we have to keep experimenting with it until we get it right! We're still working on getting Nolan to look to the left more. We're facing him the opposite way in his crib, on his changing table and activity mat, and working with him while we play on the floor. A friend of ours made a suggestion that we think about seeing a chiropractor, so I'm doing some research right now and am hoping to get Nolan in to see someone this week. Between the reflux and the potential torticollis both Adam and I figure it's worth a try.

I'm 2 months old!

Today marks 2 months since Nolan arrived in our world. I'd like to say he's had a fabulous day, but he had his 2 month check-up this morning and had to get 3 shots, plus a liquid shot. He screamed/cried - it broke my heart! He will only sleep on me this afternoon, so he's currently snoozing on my leg! Before he got his shots, though, he was having a great time with the dr. He was smiling and talking up a storm!

Nolan weighed in at 10 lbs, 10 oz (25th%), almost 23 inches (50th%), and a head circumference of 15 inches (50th%). He is going to continue on the baby zantac for another 4 months or so, and then we'll re-evaluate. The dr. is a little concerned that he seems to favor looking to his right, so we need to start working on him to move his head to the left. We're going to check back in with the dr. in a few weeks to see if it's getting better. If not, it might be torticollis and he'll need to go to rehab.

I have good news to report on the sleeping front - he slept yesterday! He had one really good nap, and he went back to sleep after his 6 a.m. feeding until 9:40! That made both of us well rested, and in good moods!

Last night Nolan attended his first softball game of the season. Adam's team played at 9 p.m., so I was able to go work out, get home and shower, get Nolan ready and get to the game! He was really good, as he slept most of the game. It was a great game, but sadly the team lost by one run. On the way home a little after 10 he freaked out a little cuz he was hungry so I had to feed him in his carseat. Not the most ideal situation, but you do what you have to do! He fell asleep when we got home and slept from 10:30 until 5 a.m. That's right, folks, 10:30 PM to 5 AM! Unbelievable. I guess I can't complain about his usual cat naps when he sleeps through the night!

In a few minutes we're going to be packing up to head to a going away party for a co-worker of mine at Granite City, and then Adam will come over from work to pick up Nolan so I can go to Champps with the Lindsey, Melissa and Jackie for a girls evening! I have such a great husband!

Tomorrow morning Nolan and I are heading up to St. Cloud to Eich Motors to get the trunk on the Jetta fixed. While we're there I'm going to have them drive the car around a little, as Adam and I have noticed it's running rough, again. Hopefully it's nothing serious!

Sleep - so over-rated!

Nolan is fast approaching his official 2-month birthday - this Thursday. It's amazing how fast the time has gone. He's doing lots of fun stuff. A few weeks ago he figured out how to work his eyebrows. He's added even more expressions to his looks! He coos and talks most of the day, especially since he's no longer sleeping during the day. Seriously, he sleeps about 1-2 hours between the hours of 5:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. It makes for a very long day for both of us! It's one of the first questions I'm going to ask his pediatrician. Last night he woke up at 3:15 and didn't go back to sleep. I'm running on fumes right now, so here's hoping he sleeps longer tonight! For the last week he's been honing his skills on grabbing and holding on to his blanket, and today he figured out how to pick up a toy and hold on to it for a little while. It's funny watching him, because he seems surprised when he picks it up, and equally surprised when it falls out of his hand again.

On Friday night Nolan attended his 3rd restaurant/bar of the week. Monday was Anna's birthday at Old Chicago, Wednesday we were in Rogers at Majors, and on Friday we went to a going away party for a guy Adam and I know from work at Majors in Bloomington. So far, so good - Nolan seems to love all the noise and commotion! Plus, he gets so much attention from everyone, especially the servers. The women love him!

This past weekend Adam and I attended his cousin Gina's wedding in Hector. We dropped off Nolan with Adam's Aunt Elaine and Uncle Jay in Olivia so we could enjoy the day. We were so thankful they could help us out, because we had a blast! And, according to Elaine, Nolan did really well. We forgot to tell her that he hates sitting in a dirty/wet diaper, so she was surprised at how many diapers he went through!

On Sunday Chris and Sasha stopped over with Jackson so they could meet Nolan. It was so fun seeing the two little boys together. They are going to cause some trouble when they get older! Nolan fell asleep around 7:45 Sunday night, so Adam and I took the opportunity and had a bonfire - our first of the season. It was so nice to enjoy our backyard, especially since there aren't any bugs yet!

I love the fact the weather is getting warmer and the sun is out. Hopefully I'll get a chance to enjoy it with Nolan. We're hoping to make it to our first softball game of the season on Wednesday! He has his 2 month check up on Thursday. My best guess is he'll weight in at 10+ lbs and be 23.5 inches long. Stay tuned to find out if I'm right!

Adam just took Nolan over to his parent's house so he could take his mom to pick out her Mother's Day gift at the greenhouse she likes. I thought I'd best use my time wisely before I head off to yoga! Have a great evening everyone!

It's a girl!

On Monday, May 11th at 2:14 p.m. Christianne and Brian were blessed with another little girl - Lola Jane Jones. She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 20.25 inches. Nolan and I took a trip to Mankato to meet her yesterday. Boy, is she tiny - especially compared to Nolan! And so cute. She looks a lot like Lalayna did when she was born. Christianne is doing really well and will be home from the hospital on Thursday. Adam and I, along with Brian's brother Mike, are the godparents. We can't wait to watch her grow up!

Nolan is changing almost every day. We recently bumped him up to 5 oz. of formula in hopes it will satisfy him for a longer period of time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I think that's the hardest part of being a parent, the trial and error. All kids are not made equal, so what works for one will not work for another one. Right now we're just trying to get better at anticipating his hunger. If you don't catch it right away he goes from 0 to 60 in about a half second. It's a lot more stressful making a bottle with a kid screaming in your ear!

It's been fun to watch Nolan find his voice. He coos and talks all the time. So far it sounds like he'll have a pleasant little voice! He still loves his activity mat and will lay there and bat at the toys for long periods of time, up to a half hour or so. He also started grabbing on to toys this week and holds on to them. I'm not sure if he realizes what he's doing, but it's fun to watch him do it. He's still sleeping in his car seat 99% of the time. I've heard it's pretty common for kids to not like their cribs right away, so I'm not too worried yet.

This last weekend we made our first road trip to Browerville to visit my parents. We had a great time. Adam went fishing with his dad on Saturday and came home with a 30" and 25" northern. We had a delicious meal on Mother's Day! Mom, Nolan and I went to Alex on Saturday to do a little shopping. Sunday was Mother's Day, and Nolan suprised me with a new pair of slippers! It's weird to think there's a whole day devoted to mothers and that I'm one of then now!

Nolan has now survived 2 restaurant adventures. He did really well for Greg's birthday last week, and on Monday we celebrated Anna's 30th birthday at Old Chicago. He didn't sleep the whole time, but he wasn't crying either, so I'd say it was a success. We were supposed to go to Adam's first softball game last Wednesday, but it was raining and chilly at our house when he had to leave. How were we supposed to know it would clear up and be beautiful in Chaska? We're going to miss tonight's game, too. We're meeting my friends from my days at the Monticello hospital for dinner in Rogers. Maybe next week we'll make it to a game!

I was hoping today would be sunny so Nolan and I could to on our 4 mile walk, but it doesn't look like the weather will cooperate. I guess we'll have to keep ourselves entertained inside today!

This weekend we're looking forward to celebrating Adam's cousin Gina's wedding in Hector. Aunt Elaine and Uncle Jay are going to watch Nolan for us so we can really enjoy the day. Not that we wouldn't have fun with him, but we'll be able to cut loose a little more without him:)

Adam and I are both very thankful that we have survived the downsizing that's happened at Park Nicollet since last December. It sounds like all the cuts have been made, so we can breathe a sigh of relief for now. We both feel so bad for those who have lost their jobs, especially in this economy. EWe have both had co-workers and friends affected by the changes. Hopefully things will start to turn around again soon and we can start to see the positive signs of recovery!

Oh deer!

Nolan and I were walking around the house yesterday afternoon, minding our own business. We headed downstairs, and when we turned the corner and looked out our walkout sliding glass door there was a huge doe staring at us! I was a little surprised, to say the least. It must have just been having a mid-day snack at our bird feeder. Nolan and I watched it graze around the backyard for about 10 minutes. As soon as I saw her head to our firepit I knew she was after our hostas. I had to take action to save our poor hostas (they really took a beating from the deer last year), so I quickly went outside and shooed her away. There were at least 2 other does waiting for her at the bottom of the hill. Later yesterday evening I was sitting on our deck talking to Gina, and I saw another doe at the far end of our property, down the hill. I watched her for a while, and then all of a sudden she started snorting at me and kicking her leg back and forth. She did that for about 15or 20 minutes, and I couldn't figure out why. When Adam and Nolan got back from Ellen and Greg's house I told Adam about the snorting deer. He reminded me that he had just put a small salt block by the firepit in the lower backyard, and the deer was probably mad because I was too close to it! Ahhhh, nature in the suburbs.

Luckily the rain has held off today. Nolan and I were able to take a nice long walk earlier. He is so good in the stroller - probably because he's sitting in his car seat, which he loves! He was really good for about 20 minutes after our walk, and since then has had a tough couple hours. He's finally sleeping - yeah! He just seems to get himself so worked up when he's overtired that he can't calm down and just fall asleep. I'm sure this gets better with time! I do have to say that the overnight sleeping is going really well. He's only getting up once a night, sometime between 2 and 3. His bedtime has been around 9:45, and he's been waking up between 6 and 7 in the morning. It can only continue to improve, right??

Tonight we're headed over to a Mexican restaurant in Shakopee for Greg's birthday dinner, a day early. I'm sure it will be busy since it's Cinco de Mayo! This will be Nolan's first time at a restaurant, so hopefully it goes okay. We're going to be there during his fussy time. Wish us luck!

4 in a row

As all new parents know, the lack of sleep that comes with having a newborn is one of the hardest things to adjust to. Adam and I are now almost 6 weeks in to our new life with Nolan and have had many, many sleepless nights. But, starting mid-week last week, Nolan has had 3 nights where he has slept at least 4 hours in one stretch. Hallelujah! I feel like a whole new person with all the sleep I'm getting now! I think part of his new sleeping pattern is a growth spurt. He is getting so big! By my estimate he is probably pushing 9 1/2 lbs - and you can tell by the multiple chins he is now sporting, as well as the rolls he's getting on his legs.

This weekend was busy, but super fun. My highlight was Saturday, which was a designated girls day with 5 of my girlfriends. Our husbands took care of the kids, and we enjoyed an entire day of fun! We started at Lifetime in Chan, where I enjoyed a pedicure and everyone else enjoyed facials or massages. From there we headed over to St. Paul to Mosaic on a Stick, a place where you can make mosaic art. We weren't really sure what to expect, so we brought some wine and snacks and had a great time. None of us are real creative, so we were pleasantly surprised when all of our picture frames and mirrors turned out great! I still have to grout the frame, but I think I convinced Adam and help me. Our next and final stop was dinner at Salut on Grand in St. Paul. We had a fantastic server, fabulous drinks and a good dinner. For me it was the perfect way to re-energize! Plus, Adam got to spend a whole day with Nolan - almost 12 hours! The picture attached is of me, Kate, Nikki, Lori, Becky and Tammy at Salut.

Nolan has become a very good walking partner, so last week I tested him and took him to the mall a few times for a shopping adventure. He is a shopping rock star! Yesterday we were at Ridgedale with Jackie and he slept the whole time we were out. Nice!

This week is going to be busy. We're celebrating Greg's birthday tomorrow evening, and Wednesday is the start of softball season. I can't wait to take Nolan down to the fields to watch Adam and the boys play, and to hang out with the girls and all the kids. Hopefully the weather will be nice! I also really start my new exercise program tonight, so that will keep me busy 3 nights/week.

There are a lot of fun events coming up in the next few weeks that I'm really looking forward to. The most exciting is the upcoming arrival of a new niece or nephew next Monday, the 11th. One week left Christianne! If it's another girl Nolan will be outnumbered 4 to 1:)