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!