Nolan's Firsts

The end of August and September was filled with a slew of firsts for you, Mister.  You're growing up way too fast right before our eyes and it doesn't help that you look more and more like a 6-9 month old than a 3 month old.  You're such a funny little dude and we love it.

First dip in the pool, August 8, 2010

Swimming with Daddy.

First "real" smile, August 13, 2010

Rice cereal!  September 7, 2010...I know to some they may think you're too young to have cereal already, but you get it only once a day at supper time.  And you love it!  You knew exactly what to do when I gave it to you.  On a funny note, you're sister was very upset that you were cereal and she wasn't, so I gave her a spoonful.  She gagged so hard, and declared, "I DON'T YIKE DAT!"

 Looking so little in your crib.  September 7, 2010  No, your room isn't even done yet, but it was time for you to have your place to rest.

 

Not so sure what to think of the exersaucer, but you would later find out how much you love it.  You bounce all around and giggle.  September 8, 2010

You mean business when it comes to eating.  I didn't think it was possible for you to hold your bottle, however you proved me wrong!  September 20, 2010

Daddy's big 3-0 birthday

It sure was a weekend for celebrations!  The day after your 2nd birthday, Daddy turned 30!  I know, that's sooo old right?!  You two just wait until you're approaching 30, then I bet you'll be singing a different tune.  And it's really just a number anyways, who really cares about getting older?  As long as you keep yourselves healthy and happy, that's all that counts.  Daddy had been telling Mommy for some time that he absolutely, under no circumstances wanted a surprise party...drats.  Oh well, there's always next year.  ;)  Mommy thought long and hard about what to get Daddy for his birthday and new a restored car (something he really, really wants) was completely out of the question, so what's the next best thing for someone who loves fast cars and freedom?  NASCAR!  Boogity, boogity, boogity!  Yes, that's right, it was NASCAR's 50th anniversary and a night race on Daddy's actual birthday.  Everything fell so nicely into place too.  Mommy was able to get great seats for a great price due to still being a college student...see it has some perks to still be in school.  (HA!)  And Gwama and Pawpa offered to keep both of you...overnight for 2 whole nights!  Of course because Mommy can't keep any surprise a secret, Mommy wrapped up a Hotwheels race car and gave Daddy his present a month ahead of time.  Gwama and Pawpa took you two after much needed naps on the 4th and Daddy and I were able to go for the night, kid-less.  We really didn't know what to do with ourselves and wound up buying both of you clothes and little gifts.  We slept in on the 5th and did a little shopping here and there before heading down to the track around 1 p.m.  Since it was a night race, there wasn't much traffic getting into AMS, but oh my goodness when we had to leave at midnight, the parking lots were a disaster.  And if you remember correctly, Mommy doesn't do well in big, huge, and in this case, drunken crowds.  I'm not sure why people spend all that money to see a race, and then wind up passed out in their cars, on the grass, or in their seats throughout the whole thing.  Anyways, it was a much needed date weekend for Mommy and Daddy and I'm pretty sure Daddy had a fabulous day.

We walked around all the trailers and Daddy had to get a picture with his friend, Mr. Daniels.

Killing time waiting for the race to start.

It was so much fun watching a night race and the weather was perfect!

And the best part, all of the accidents happened on our turn!

September 5, 2010

Nolan is 3 Months Old!

Oh the joys you have brought to our lives, little big man!  On your sister's 2nd birthday, you too had a milestone, you turned 3 months old.  We spent the day celebrating your sister's big day, and not once did you get jealous.  :)  You were cool as a cucumber and spent most of the afternoon being held by everyone in attendance.  Of course you pooped on your Gwama for the 3rd time in less than a month, but I think you just love her that much that it brings the poop right out of you.  A very special thing happened while we were at the park that day.  You met your Pop for the very first time.  When you were born, he was in New York gathering his thoughts, and he's been busy since he's come home, so sadly, it wasn't until your 3 month mark that you finally got to meet the man you resemble so much. 

You like:
-being held like a big boy, you know hanging out on anyone's hips.
-not being swaddled anymore.  You were a sneaky little thing and would escape shortly after we wrapped you for the night.
-since being unswaddled, you have found your hands.  You love them!  And you love to suck on your index finger, kind of like you just stuck it in cake batter and are licking it off.  You make the funniest noises while doing it too.
-to sing, talk, squeal, and scream.  Yes, you have found your voice!  It almost sounds like your trying to catch your breath because you suck in air making this funny noise, and it makes us all laugh. 
-when people smile and talk to you, and in return you either smile back or stick your tongue out.
-to sleep!  You have your last bottle at 7:30 p.m. and fall asleep shortly after around 8:30 p.m. and you sleep until 7:30/8 a.m. IN YOUR OWN ROOM!  I wasn't ready for this, but you were.
-to be awake, I know this goes against what I just said, but you don't take many or long naps during the day.  It could be because your sister is loud and playing, but you usually only sleep for about 40 minutes at a time, and you would rather sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room than your own.  I think that's because it's darker and cooler in there for you.
-you like to in the upright position so you can look all around.
-you love to poop...on people.  I only had to clean the car seat with Mackenzie twice in the year she was in it, but with you, I've already had to deep clean it 4 times!  I guess the car makes you go!
-to eat.  You're still eating every 2 hours unless you're napping, then I let you sleep and you'll eat when you wake up.  And you take 6 oz. of formula every time. 

You don't like:
-loud noises...at all.  They scare you very much and that's really the only time we've ever heard you really scream.
-when the car is stopped.  Red lights have become a challenge, and Mack has mastered rocking the handle of your car seat to entertain you.
-waiting for your food.  You go from fussing about being hungry to crying in no time flat if we don't make it fast enough.
-being hot (who does), but it looks like we have another hot natured baby on our hands...just like your Daddy.

We love you so much big boy, and that you are.  We weighed you recently and you were right at 16 lbs.!  Everyone we run into falls instantly in love with you and that smile of yours.

September 4, 2010

Mackenzie's 2nd Birthday

 

 Toddler.  That's just what Mackenzie is now.  You're no longer an infant or a baby, she a toddler.  I finally "get it" now when people older than me i.e. mom, dad, Alfred agree with just how fast time goes by.  I try so desperately to hold onto to everything you're saying, doing, and learning, but it's so hard.  Oh well, I guess that's what blogs are for.  And now, more than ever I'm determined to create photobooks, and publish this one day.  Moving on.  On your birthday morning, Daddy and I woke you up and right away you said, "It's my parrrrty!  Happy Birthday Mommy and Daddy!"  You opened all of your presents from us which included a bouncing "TigerPooh", Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Happy Feet DVD's, new shoes, a Dora watch and matching sunglasses , and a play horse that you picked out one day while shopping at Tractor Supply with Daddy.  We let you indulge in donuts and juice for breakfast before getting ready and out the door for your birthday party.

The shirt I made for your birthday and party.  

 Checking out your loot.

New shoes!

Making sure they fit.  Notice how "TigerPooh" is sitting with you in every picture?  We dropped some things off at Goodwill several weeks ago and found this on the shelf.  You went nuts over it and had that belly laugh going (you know what I'm talking about), so we bought it.  What's the saying?  What's one man's junk is another man's treasure?  I think we scored with this one.  ;)

New "Gora" watch.

Yup, you pretty much stuffed your face with a donut.  I think you ate it as fast as you could because you were afraid that we would take it away. 

Some of the funny things your saying and doing now:
*You know all of your colors and can count up to 20 and up to 10 in Spanish.  Most importantly, you recognize the colors, shapes, numbers,and letters as well.  We have no idea how you learned the Spanish.  One day Daddy just said, "Uno" and you responded, "dos".  We have all been racking our brains trying to figure it out, but we just don't know.
*You love to play pretend. You will turn anything you're playing with into something else.  You got our veggie steamer out of the cabinet one night, turned it over so it is was standing on it's feet, kept it closed and sang "Happy Birthday" to yourself and proceeded to blow the candles (that weren't even on the thing) out.  You also pretend to be people for ex. Mommy, Daddy, a baby, animals and so on and it's so funny.  You love to play hide and seek.  You will actually go and hide, but you also count while your hiding, and your feet or arms are always sticking out of wherever your hiding.  You giggle the whole time we call and look for you, and if we look for too long, you will run out from wherever and say, "Here I am!"  all while holding your arms up.  And you're much like an ostrich.  If you don't want to hide, you just closes your eyes really tight, and say, "Kenzie, where arrrrrrrre you?"
*As you can see from above, you have also started to referring to yourself as Kenzie.  I think it's so cute.  You will often talk in 3rd person.  And you know that daddy's name is "Sotttttt" and mommy's name is "K-E-Ann".
*You weigh29.2 lbs. and are 34 inches tall.
*You love to sing and shake your booty.  You've got some rhythm, my dear!  You also love to spin around.
*Everything is a race.  You will put your arms up like your running a race and run around in circles.  Along with this, we ran a 5K August 28th and you actually ran part of it with PawPa.
*You will randomly come up to Daddy, Nolan, or me and give hugs and kisses and then run away.
*You refer to "milk" as "nilk" and you now say, "pacipasser".  Oh, it's going to take a lot to get you off of that stinkin' thing!
*You are VERY headstrong.  It makes me laugh and gets me upset at you at the same time.  You recently told me after I took your cup of water away from your, "Hey!  Get back here, dat's mine!"  And you told daddy at recent trip to Target, "Get outta my way, Daddy, I wannnnntta dat."  Both times you got in a lot of trouble, but we had to turn away from you and laugh, because it was just too funny.
*When I get upset at you, or do something you don't like, you tell me, "NO SIR, MOMMY!"  Oh, how you're so polite, but have a few things backwards.  :)
*You've been doing this for a little over a month now, but after you do anything you deem audience approved, you say, "Now I take a bow!"  and you bend your little body right in half all the way until your head is on the ground.
*You love to take your drink and "cheers" it with others.  This has caused some messes, but after you "cheers" with someone, you then tell them to "drink up" and that's followed by an "AHHHH!"  You're one funny, funny girl.
*You LOVE "Rolan".  You want to see him, touch him, kiss him, and hug him all the time.  And I love it.

September 4, 2010

Mackenzie's Birthday Party

Being the crazy planner that I am, I've had your party planned out for some time now.  I saw on a friends blog (Hi Sara J.!) that she had a Dora party for her daughter and it was so cute!  After talking with her, I kind of stole "borrowed" all of her fabulous ideas.  Not to mention, I have a mother who went just a tad crazy with the planning and bought all of her party decorations.  We spent an afternoon in Party City gathering all the supplies with a Dora pinata to boot.  Several days after said pinata was purchased, you and I were in our local Publix, and low and behold, you spot a different Dora pinata that was much cuter and cheaper.  I have never paid attention to what's above me in Publix, but trust me, they have a ton of pinata's hanging...at least our Publix does.  Lucky for me, Dora's birthday was in August and Nick Jr. had so many ideas for Dora.  I was able to pull a Dora and Boots cake stencil and made your birthday cakes.  For me, making your cakes are important.  I have no idea why, because my goodness, A LOT of time and icing went into those babies, but I enjoy doing creative things like that. We rented a pavilion at White Oak Park for your party and the weather could not have been more beautiful.  The day started off crisp and warmed up a bit, but it wasn't too hot and there was such a nice breeze blowing.  Once all of the guests arrived, we headed down to the playground while Daddy put together your crazy coupe car and hung the Dora pinata.  As we all walked back up from the playground, Mommy handed all the children maps to get us back up to pavilion.  All the kids were told that Swiper had swiped the pinata and we had some missions to accomplish.  The kids were handed backpacks, as they approached Lolipop Lane, from there, they went to Mack's bridge finally ending at the pinata.  I'm sure the parents loved all the sugar their kids got, but hey, it's a party!  After eating lunch, we opened up presents.  You were  very tired and extremely overwhelmed at this point, so Mommy did most of the unwrapping.  It was difficult for you to understand why you couldn't play with all of your fun toys, but man, you got some awesome gifts!  After we opened gifts, it was cake time.  The most memorable part of the day, was watching you come to life while everyone sang to you.  Bless your heart, you sang with everyone as loud as you could and just loved blowing out your candles.  You had been walking around for several weeks prior pretending to blow candles out and saying, "I make a wish!"  You were just so excited.  It's hard and sad for me to believe at how fast these two glorious years have gone by.

Playing with Bennett, Daddy and the bubble machine.

 Arriving at Lollipop Meadow to gather all of the lollipops.

 Moving on to Mack bridge.

 Pop and Mack eating some lunch.

Rock star ballerina.

Thanking everyone for your gifts one by one in your new car.

"Gora"!  Not so sure why she looks a bit cross eyed, she didn't look that way in real life.

Boots!

Such a happy, happy girl.

Making your wish.  

 So, you kind of gave up on the present opening, and I had to take over.  I was thrilled you got not one, not two, not three, but 4 Tu-tus! 

 Sad times.  This is you taking a whack at the Dora pinata.  Sadly, I had my camera on the ledge of the stone you see and when I was helping you, accidentally whacked the camera instead of Dora. 

You know you had a good time when a nap is ensued. 

 September 4, 2010

My Babies

That still just sounds so strange to me.  Life with two under two has be so great.  Mackenzie, so caring and nurturing to your baby brother and you really enjoy being with him.  I've been trying to give Nolan as much tummy time as I can, but Nolan doesn't care for it too much.  One afternoon, I put him right in the middle of Mackenzie's room so he could explore around a bit.  He LOVED it!  He was squealing with delight and was enamored by her fan.  (what baby doesn't love fans?)  Before I knew it, Mackenzie was laying down right beside Nolan was was talking ever so quietly to him.  You were being so gentle and was patting his back and just having a good time with him.  It makes my heart smile when I see how well you have adapted to having another baby in the house.  Here's some proof of just how much you love your "Rolen".

Playdate with Cooper

You got to spend some much needed play time with Cooper on a very hot Saturday afternoon.  Mommy and Nolan got in some shopping for your birthday.  You and Cooper are such sweet friends.  You play so well together and just love each other.  When I got to Carmen's to pick sweet pea up, you were both having so much fun playing in the pool and with the hose.  I hope that you two will grow up loving each other just as much as you do now.

There's nothing cuter than watching two babies stripped down to nothing but their diapers run around together.  

 Cooper Man having a ball.  Look at that smile.

 

This girl loves the water.   

Cooper was just a tad upset that his Momma turned off the water.  :)

 We say no evil. 

 

 Really?  How cute are you?

 

 

Love these two friends.