Jen's Journal

Winter Fun

2012-02-12T05:23:00.000-08:00

This summer we realized that we would probably be spending a lot of time at the Zoo and so we decided that we would benefit from a Zoo membership...and it was definitely worth it. The last event that we went to at the zoo was Christmas at the Zoo and that was cold! Now that it has become colder we were looking for other ways to spend our time and keep Nolan busy on weekends. I had been thinking that the Children's Museum might be fun and we had heard from other friends with children around Nolan's age that they had been and really enjoyed themselves. So a few weeks ago we bought a membership and headed downtown for our first visit. Nolan loved it and Kevin and I had fun too! I really like how there are things for children of all ages and I think it will be a place that we will enjoy going for many years.

We have already been to the Museum two times (so have already gotten our money's worth from the membership). The first time we went as a family of three and then last weekend while my mom was visiting (Gramma Liz) we thought it would be fun to take her. We enjoyed the new Mr. Potato Head exhibit and some of the other areas of the museum that we did not go to or did not spend a lot of time in the first time.

Nolan is already asking to go again! I would definitely recommend it to others! Enjoy the pictures below from our two visits.

Fun at the Children's Museum

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22 weeks!

2012-02-09T18:20:00.000-08:00

1/2 way there!

2012-01-27T13:14:00.000-08:00

It's a Boy!

2012-01-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas Time 2011

2011-12-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

We have been having a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas this year. Nolan is at such a fun age and is so interested in all the different aspects of Christmas. As the Christmas season approached people began asking whether or not we were going to do the whole Santa thing with Nolan. I had to admit I had never spent that much time thinking about what we might tell Nolan once he got to the age that he would be more interested in and started to understand more about Christmas, Santa, etc. I remember growing up with aspects of Santa but I don't remember there ever being a devastating year when I discovered there really wasn't a Santa. I think this has to do with the great job my parents did in emphasizing the real meaning of Christmas. As Kevin and I talked about it we decided that we were OK with incorporating Santa into our Christmas preparations and celebrations but that we also wanted to emphasize the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. What have you all done? If you do the Santa thing, how have you incorporated him into your Christmas celebrations? So far I think we have a good good balance. Nolan will tell you that Santa brings presents but when asked whose birthday we celebrate on Christmas he will answer "JESUS!!"

Like I previously mentioned we have had a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas. Not only have we enjoyed making and decorating Christmas cookies we have also had fun picking out or tree, decorating our tree, attending Christmas parties, and visiting various places around Indianapolis getting ready for Christmas. Below you will find pictures from these various events. For some reason I was unable to post any comments along with the pictures so I will write a little something about each series of pictures here. I hope that you all have enjoyed getting ready for Christmas and preparing for the birth of our savior.

Christmas on the Farm: This year we decided to go back to Trader Point Creamery for their annual Christmas on the Farm event. We also went last year and have gone to the Creamery on several other occasions to see the cows and eat their yummy food. This year Nolan has expressed excitement about Santa, pointing out Santa figurines and decorations, however when it came to sitting on Santa's lap he was not so interested. We knew that he wasn't going to sit up there alone so we decided to go up as a family to capture the picture. Nolan cried the entire time and later said "I didn't want sit Santa's lap." Maybe next year we will get a smiling picture. :) The rest of the trip was much more successful. We saw the cows, sat around a campfire, saw the elk (Nolan asked the elk: "Reindeer what doing?") and went on a very cold hay ride around the farm.

Watts Farm: I also enjoyed having a real Christmas tree as a child. While Kevin and I were living in apartments we had put up a little fake tree but the first Christmas in our house I pushed to get a real tree. The last several years we have just gone to Lowes and picked a tree that was already cut. This year I convinced Kevin that it would be fun to go to a tree farm so after many recommendations we decided to go to Watts farm and train shop. My friend Anna from college was with us and was able to take the family picture of us next to our tree before it was cut down. While Kevin worked with the farm staff to cut down the tree Nolan and I hung out inside the shop watching the train displays and fed the baby reindeer. :) Later that weekend we had fun decorating our tree while listening to Christmas music. Nolan loved hanging the ornaments on the tree and has spent a lot of time walking around the tree pointing out his favorite ornaments.

Christmas at the Zoo: Probably one of the best decisions that we have made was buying our zoo membership. We enjoyed many, many trips to the zoo this summer, had fun at Zoo Boo, and most recently enjoyed an evening of Christmas at the Zoo. The whole zoo was decorated with beautiful lights, some of the animals were kept out late, and there was of course a Santa, arts and crafts, and lots of food. Nolan was not interested in the arts and crafts or in seeing Santa because he wanted to see all the animals. He was a bit disappointed that all of the animals weren't out but after we explained that they had probably gone to sleep he was OK and enjoyed the animals that were out. Probably the highlight was the tiger exhibit. As you can see there is only a thin wall of glass between the tigers and the visitors and the tigers usually pace back and forth in front of the glass giving you an up close and person experience. Nolan loved it!! Many boyish giggles could be heard as I stood back not being as comfortable with how close the tigers were. :)

Finally, Nolan and I had a fun evening of decorating Christmas cookies. Nolan told me which color frosting to use and then he poured on the sprinkles and added other decorations. He did a really good job. There were a few times that I looked over and wasn't sure where the cookie was on the plate because it had been hidden under sprinkles.

Christmas on the Farm

2011-12-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

Watts Farm to Buy our Tree

2011-12-24T13:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas tree oh Christmas tree

2011-12-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

A few from Christmas at the Zoo

2011-12-24T13:13:00.000-08:00

Decorating Christmas Cookies

2011-12-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

Brother or Sister?!?!

2011-11-14T17:51:00.000-08:00

Nolan is excited to announce that he will be a big brother in June. We had our second doctor's appointment on Friday and heard the heartbeat for the first time. We are very excited to be expecting baby #2. We are due June 9, 2012. Nolan has been clear about his desire for a brother. So, stay tuned!! :)

Pumpkin Painting

2011-11-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Last week while the sun was out and the temperature was up Nolan and I took out pumpkins to the table and did some pumpkin painting. Nolan did most of the painting and enjoyed making a mess! :) It was fun to see him get excited about the pumpkins and the paint. These are the pumpkins that we picked at the end of September when we took a a family trip to a local farm. I will have to post more about that trip in another post. For now here are pictures of Nolan and his pumpkins.

Zoo Boo

2011-11-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we took Nolan to Zoo Boo at the Indy Zoo. The animals were kept out later, the zoo was decorated, they had trick-or-treat stations, and activity stations. Nolan had a lot of fun and he was definitely more interested in seeing the animals than getting the candy. The following are pictures from our fun afternoon at the zoo!

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Catching Up

2011-10-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

Catching up….Where do I start? There have been so many fun times and activities that have taken place since I last found the time to sit and write. I had great intentions of writing a blog dedicated to Nolan’s second birthday (in addition to the many other things that have happened) but now almost two months have already passed since that fun day, but that is where I will start…. Nolan’s birthday weekend was a very exciting and special weekend. It was not only Nolan’s 2nd birthday but also my brother Jon’s wedding weekend. It was a wonderful time with lots of fun and celebrating with family and friends. Everyone at the rehearsal dinner sang happy birthday to Nolan, Nolan had special Thomas and Friends cupcakes to share with the other kiddos, and Nolan was in the wedding as one of the ring bearers. We weren’t quite sure how Nolan would do in walking down the aisle, but he made it all the way down! One of Rachael’s cousins was also a ring bearer and his older brother and another cousin were junior groomsmen. Nolan and the other ring bearer held hands for most of the walk down the aisle as the junior groomsmen walked behind encouraging the little guys along the way. It really was very precious…and a success!

It is hard to believe that my little guy is already 2 years old. He has grown-up and changed so much in two years, and that time has flown by! I have so many fun memories from this last year. Here is a list of some of my favorites:·

Watching Nolan learn to walk, then run, and now jump·

Going on our first family trip to England (the traveling part wasn’t always much fun, but the time spent with family was truly special and worth all the challenges of traveling)·

Seeing Nolan participate in his first wedding·

Hearing Nolan sing (parts of the alphabet, twinkle twinkle little star, to name a few)·

Watching Nolan develop relationships and play with other children. He calls all of the neighborhood children his "friends"

Nolan’s first haircut…ok, not the most fun experience but definitely an event that will always be remembered·

Taking Nolan to his first Indians baseball game and watching the fireworks afterwards. He absolutely loved them and asked for more when they were over.·

Our many trips to the zoo during the summer·

Watching Nolan develop interest in different activities, toys, etc· (trains, trucks, cars, planes, Thomas and Friends, animals, cooking...)

Hearing Nolan’s expanding vocabulary and phrases. Some of our favorite phrases: “Found one!”, “Self”, “Wuva you”, “I did it!”, "I want some", "I wanna watch the football", "Kank you".

Watching Nolan change is babies' diapers (his stuffed animals...he lines them all up, says "ooh poopy", picks up their legs and wipes them clean. He goes down the line until they are all clean. :)

Watching Nolan "cook" with his pots and pans.

There really have been so many fun times and great memories and lessons learned in parenting over the last two years. I have said it many times, but Nolan is a true joy and blessing and I look forward to what this next year will bring!

Big Boy Haircut

2011-08-12T14:21:00.000-07:00

This was Nolan's hair last weekend.....

This is Nolan's hair now!

If you remember from an earlier post, Nolan's first haircut experience was not an easy one. Because the first experience was so difficult we had been putting off getting his hair cut again. We finally decided that it had to be done and we headed back to the same place we had gone for the first one. This experience was VERY different. Nolan sat calmly the entire time. He didn't squirm, cry, or scream once! It was awesome. He sat still, playing with bubbles the entire time (we tried the bubbles last time and they did not help :)). He definitely looks different...much more like a little boy.

Pictures...again

2011-08-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

There seems to have been a problem with the pictures that I tried to upload for the blog "This Weekend", so I am trying again! Enjoy!

2011-08-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

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2011-08-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights from our trip to the zoo was seeing the newest addition to the zoo. What a cute little elephant or "fentant)

This Weekend

2011-08-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

It is only mid-day on Saturday and already this weekend has been packed full of fun activities. Friday evening after work we packed-up some blankets and a few snacks and headed down to Victory Field to watch the Indianapolis Indians play some baseball. Our friends Matt and Erin joined us and we had a wonderful time! Nolan made some new friends, we experienced a few rain sprinkles (we were sitting in the lawn and it wasn't enough for us to leave), ate some hot dogs, and after the game Nolan watched his first fireworks! And he LOVED them! After it was done he was asking for more. :) It really was a good fireworks display. Nolan was up waaay past his bedtime, but I think it was worth it. After getting buckled into his car seat Nolan turned to me and said "Fun".

Nolan was pulling things out of the diaper bag and before we knew what was happening he had gotten into the Sudocrem (diaper rash cream..) and was smearing it all over his face!

Below are pictures from Nolan's little photo shoot with daddy this morning.

Saturday morning we decided to go to the zoo. Nolan has been asking to see "amals" (animals) including monkeys and pigs. Again, we had a wonderful time! We saw so many animals and Nolan thought they were all "cool". Below are pictures from our morning at the zoo.

Nolan fed the giraffe. "raf food!"

A little bit of Nolan over the last month

2011-07-27T17:42:00.000-07:00

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2011-07-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

Growing so Quickly

2011-07-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, time has flown! The previous posts are pictures from our wonderful trip to England in the middle of May. I had planned on making a post dedicated to that trip and now that I'm finding the time to sit down it has already been two months since our trip! We had a great time and it will be a trip that will always be remembered as a very special time. For the majority of the time we were with my grandma (Great-grandma Jane) and had the opportunity to visit with lots of family that I had not seen in years and that Kevin (and Nolan) had never met. My mom traveled with us which was a huge help and blessing. My brother Jeff and his girlfriend Britta joined us for the last half of our trip, which was also very special and added to the fun. It was great spending time with grandma and having another opportunity for her to spend time with her first great-grand child.

Nolan's vocabulary really took off while we were in England and since we have returned home he has not slowed down. His new word this week is "found" and so he has been spending a lot of time finding things this week with the exclamation "FOUND" or "FOUND ONE!!!".

Also since getting back from our trip he has taken more interest in airplanes, trains, cars, and pretty much anything in the family of moving machines. Whenever we are outside he is the first to notice when an airplane is flying over our house. He loves walking down to the entrance to our neighborhood and watching the cars go by.."car. FAST!" And he has to read his Thomas and James train books at least 3 times each before going to bed.

Nolan still is not a big eater but he loves his milk. He is becoming more independent wanting to put on his own pants (even if both legs go through the same leg hole), and he wants to do pretty much everything by himself. :) We have started potty training but know that it could be a long process. Today he asked several times to go potty and actually went, which was very exciting. We have an Elmo learns to go potty coloring book and sticker page that he seems to think is pretty cool, so we will see how it goes...any tips would be appreciated.

Besides enjoying Nolan's growing vocabulary we have enjoyed visits with family, trips to the pool, cookouts with friends, and several trips to the Indianapolis zoo with our zoo membership. Last night we went to Zoolapalooza at the zoo and had a wonderful time. There was dancing and singing with a live band, free train rides, yummy food, splashing in the splash park, and viewing the animals in the cooler evening weather. Nolan was heard several times exclaiming "Oh, WOW". It is so fun watching him get excited as he discovers new things and learns new skills. He can definitely be a challenge, but a fun challenge! :)

We hope you are enjoying your summer and I will try to do a better job of keeping this blog updated!!!

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Bye Bye Curls!!!

2011-05-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I have been going back and forth for a while now about whether or not we were ready to cut Nolan's hair. When out in public we often received comments from strangers about his blond hair and curls and we also loved his curls. However, recently Nolan started pushing his hair out of his eyes with a frustrated look on his face and the back began brushing his shoulders. I have been hesitant because I have been realizing more and more each day that Nolan is quickly becoming my little boy and not my little baby. Cutting his hair I knew would make him look even more like a little boy. I was also afraid that after we cut it his lovely curls would not return. But this weekend we decided that it was finally time...ready or not! I did not trust myself to cut Nolan's hair so we took him to Cookie Cutters, a place that specializes in cutting children's hair. It was close and several of our co-workers recommended it to us.

Below you will find a few before pictures, pictures taken during the cut, and of course some after pictures. By looking at the pictures you would think that the experience was a pretty easy one, however the pictures do not tell the whole story...it was an extremely stressful and emotional experience. I did not end up crying (both Kevin and I were prepared for me to cry) because I had to concentrate my attention on calming Nolan down. He did not like the stylist messing with his hair and he screamed a lot of the time. Kevin and I had to take turns holding his head still and trying to distract/entertain him so the stylist could finish the job. In the end the job was finished and Nolan received his "boon" (balloon) and everyone was happy! :)

2011-05-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

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2011-03-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

I know I say this at the start of every post, but time keeps getting away from me. We have been so busy recently. We have enjoyed hosting family here and also enjoyed a recent trip up to Goshen. I have been exceptionally busy at work as well, which has made for some long work weeks and little rest. I was looking forward to relaxing this weekend with Nolan while Kevin worked but Nolan came down with a nasty cough and cold and my plans for a fun and relaxing weekend ran out the door. Today (Sunday) has been a much better day than yesterday was, which I am very grateful for. I enjoyed being able to see sides of my little Nolan poking through the sick Nolan by the end of the day.

Nolan continues to amaze us with how fast he is growing and turning into a little boy. We still have not cut his hair. I think when we finally decide to do that he will make the final change from baby into little boy. He is popping out new words, reaching up to turn door knobs, can pull stuff off of the counter, loves running around outside, and continues to be a very picky eater. He is definitely a very independent boy and wants to do everything by himself. I have quickly learned to not intervene or try to show him how to do something because when I do it usually ends with a melt down and Nolan not wanting to continue whatever it was that he was doing.

We have enjoyed a few days of warmer weather and being able to take Nolan outside after work. It is almost automatic when we come home that he grabs his yellow rubber boots and says "side, side".

Enjoy the pictures of our growing boy!

He still loves reading and can now be seen reading to himself or his animals.

The rubber boots...he has asked to wear them with his pajamas as well. :)

Learning and Play

2011-02-05T17:53:00.001-08:00

Nolan is at such a fun stage (I'm sure I will continue to say this as he continues to grow). Lately I have been fascinated watching him play and seeing how much he really understands and everything he can do. i have previously posted about the signs Nolan does and these are just one of the things that I have been impressed with and have loved watching him learn. I definitely think that the signs have helped to avoid a lot of frustration on all of our parts. And as i mentioned in my last post he has started using some of the signs ("more" for example) in other contexts than we had first introduced them.

He is also learning more words and animal sounds, which sound so cute coming out of his mouth! I can't wait to see what his next words will be. Speaking of animal sounds he has mastered "moooooooooo". Today we were hanging out in the living room and we were asking him what the cow says and he said "moooooooowaaah" (he puts a little waahhh at the end) and then walked back to his play room saying this over and over again. A few minutes later he comes walking back into the living room with a huge smile on his face with a little toy cow that moooos when he squeeze it!! It was too cute.

Another story.....For the most part Nolan is pretty good at listening and following directions, even when we are telling him no or to stop doing something (I hope this continues :)). Similarly, if we ask him to get something or find something he can usually do it. For example: the other day Nolan was playing with the keys to our Saturn. When Kevin went to leave we search everywhere for the keys and couldn't find them. After Kevin left I turned to Nolan and asked him where the keys were and he walked straight to his diaper bag and pulled out the keys!! I guess we should have asked him first?!

These are just a few stories of the recent things that have happened that have brought us joy and amazement. Like I said we are having so much fun with Nolan. It is hard to believe that he is 17 months old already. I have been organizing some pictures to do some scrap booking and it has been amazing to look back over everything that has happened and how much he has grown and changed since he entered into our world.

Update

2011-01-24T17:42:00.000-08:00

WOW!! Time keeps getting away from me. We have definitely been keeping busy. Nolan is such a busy body that if we aren't running around with friends or family we are running around the house after him. This really is a fun age but also an exhausting age. :) Here are some updates on Nolan....He is a climber, he tries to climb anything and everything and you can tell how proud he is of himself when he has accomplished getting where he wanted to get. He has started signing "please" (so he now sings: "eat", "milk", "please", "all done", "bath", and "more"...i think that is it. He is starting to sign"more" for other things besides food which has been fun to see (example: if he wants to me read a book again he will sign more...). He still loves books and he definitely has his favorite ones. He can be very independent. We recently discovered that he really likes salmon but won't touch veggies. He loves other kids and animals. He is very sweet and gives lots of hugs and kisses. He has several words and we can tell that he is working on some new ones (he can often get the beginning or ending sounds). He is getting into coloring and it looks like he is going to be a lefty!!! He loves to help me vacuum and walks around the house with his little toy vacuum...if it really worked we would have the cleanest carpet!! He is A LOT of FUN!!!!

In other news, Nolan has had several ear infections in a row and after an ENT consult today it has been recommended that Nolan have tubes placed. I'm not so excited about him having to have anesthesia but we know lots of people with kiddos that have had tubes and the procedure seems pretty straight forward and quick. So you can keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we schedule this procedure and have it done in the next few weeks.

Now for some recent pictures for you to enjoy!

Look at those blues

why not hang out in the box?!

Little bears fan (he put the hat on himself)

He loves playing with pots and pans

Little cowboy! (he got this hat for Christmas)

Family picture before the game

Some recent pics

2010-12-16T18:13:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to Trader Point Creamery for Christmas on the Farm. They had a neat little farmers market, food and warm drinks, little crafts for the children to do, Santa, reindeer, and slay rides. We didn't spend a long time there and i think Nolan will probably enjoy it all more next year but it was fun. We went to see Santa first and as you can see from the pictures below (besides the family picture that was taken last) Nolan was not a fan of Santa....oh well, the pictures will be fun to show him when he is older. He enjoyed looking at the reindeer (he loves animals) and running around in the grass. Enjoy the pictures!

Nolan was not impressed with Santa and was reaching for momma

Really not happy

First time out in the snow this winter

Nolan is quite the picky eater and so meal times aren't always fun...but he seems to be enjoying himself here

Nolan signing "eat"

Updates

2010-11-26T10:06:00.000-08:00

Well hello everyone!!! I know, I know...it has been quite some time since I have updated you all on what has been going on in the Myers household. A LOT has been happening. I don't think it is possible to include everything but I will try to include some highlights...

Nolan is almost 15 months!!! Since he has turned the big ONE he has mastered walking, he loves to climb (or try to climb) on everything, he is getting between 4 and 6 new teeth (that will make a total of 12-14!!), he loves exploring and trying to figure out how things work, he will get into anything and everything left out (or put away), he really enjoys helping with laundry by emptying the laundry baskets, he is a very independent and determined little guy, he signs: milk, all done, more, and bath, he says: "NO!" "nigh nigh" (for night, night, or anytime he is going to sleep), and sometimes he will put his hands up in the air and say what sounds like "down" for touchdown, he is a very picky eater, he loves playing with pots, pans, and Tupperware, he loves other kiddos and animals, he enjoys reading books, and has now started giving kisses. He is a very sweet little boy, very much a momma's boy, and we are enjoying watching him explore and learn new things.

A few other highlights from the last month or so.....we enjoyed celebrating with family and friends at Julia and Josh's wedding at the end of October. The weather was beautiful which added to the beauty of the weekend. It has felt for a long time that Josh was a member of our family and so we were very excited to officially welcome him into the family. We got to spend time with Jon and his fiance, Rach, from Colorado and Jeff who has been in Korea since February. I think Nolan enjoyed playing with his uncles! :)

Last weekend Kevin and I went away for the weekend with our friends Matt and Erin to Virginia. It was my first full weekend away from Nolan and I'm happy to report that we both survived! :) haha It was another beautiful weekend as we spent time with friends and enjoyed the Dave Matthews Band concert.

We are now getting ready for the busy holiday season and look forward to spending time with many of you.

I will add some pictures soon (I'm at work and don't have access to my pictures...)

Little Giraffe

2010-11-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

I don't have time to catch you up on everything that i would like to, but I wanted to post a quick blog with a few pictures of our little giraffe! :) Isn't he cute?! We bought this costume a while back and with all the growing that Nolan has been doing it was a bit of a tight squeeze length wise but we made it work...and he didn't mind wearing it at all. We took it up with us this past weekend for my sister's wedding since we weren't sure if we would make it back home in time for trick or treating on Sunday. So he wore the costume to the rehearsal dinner and was a big hit! We did get back in time on Sunday for Nolan to welcome the other kiddos that came to our house and to walk around to a few houses on our street (we didn't collect candy this year but wanted to say hi to our wonderful neighbors). I hope you enjoy the pictures and I will try to find a moment to sit down again later to write more about all that we have been up to lately.

Nolan's One year and some family pics

2010-10-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that Kevin loves taking pictures of Nolan, and we have no shortage of great pictures capturing Nolan's first year, but for his one year pictures we decided to have someone else take some pictures. We thought it would be nice to not only get some special pictures of Nolan to celebrate his first year, but we also wanted to get some nice family pictures, which has been difficult to do. Below are just a few of my favorite pictures. It was hard to decide which ones I wanted to include in this blog because we love them all!!! It was a fun morning and I think we would do it again.

Nolan is ONE!

2010-09-10T18:09:00.001-07:00

Now a week after Nolan's first birthday I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I have a one year old!! Was it really a year ago that we welcomed Nolan into our family? So much has happened in this last year that it is hard to know where to start or to even find the words to describe the many different experiences and emotions of the last year....so I will keep it simple...Nolan has completely changed our lives, and while we have faced many challenges over the last year we have also experienced great joy and a new kind of love. There is nothing sweeter than walking into his room in the morning and seeing that beaming smile and hearing his excited squeals. It has been amazing to watch Nolan grow, change, learn new skills, and discover this great big world. He seems to do something new each day or perfect the things has already been doing. There is no stopping him and I can't wait to see what this year will bring (although it would be OK if this year didn't go by as fast as this last one did...:) wishful thinking I'm sure...)

The following pictures are just a few from Nolan's birthday weekend. We had a birthday party at my mom's house on Thursday (Nolan's actual birthday). It was such a wonderful time celebrating Nolan with great friends and family. Thanks to everyone that joined us in the celebration, we couldn't have made it through the year without all of your support!

Not sure what Nolan is thinking...but I think Sophia likes Nolan!

Nolan's monkey cake that I made for him

Nolan eating his monkey cake

Elbow and all

The Monkey cupcakes I made for everyone else

In the last month

2010-08-15T08:15:00.001-07:00

A lot has happened since my last post. I can't believe that it has been over a month since I last updated this blog. We are managing to keep quite busy and time is just a flyin' by. I think each month goes by faster than the one before and in just over two weeks we will be celebrating Nolan's 1st Birthday!!!! I can't believe it. Our sweet baby is quickly turning into a sweet (yet sometimes rotten) little boy.

In the last month or so Nolan has:

gotten his eighth tooth
started standing on his own (still only for a few seconds, Kevin and I both think he could do it longer if he would just let himself).
started walking holding onto fingers/hands
slept for 12 hours one night

began signing "all done" at meal times
visited the Indianapolis Zoo for the first time
went to his first State Fair
and started climbing up on anything that he can.

Other happenings in the last month included:

a visit with family up in Goshen while my brother Jon from Colorado was passing through on his way to Egypt
I took and passed my LSW exam making me a licensed social worker and allowing me to start working towards my LCSW.
Our friends Laura Beth and Charlie welcomed their son Cameron into their family two weeks ago giving Nolan another playmate.
and we enjoyed a visit from my college friends Anna and Mindy.

Sweet sleeping baby!

After climbing onto his toy box

Before the goat bit him.

Hanging out with Uncle Jonny

Nolan loves bath time

Nolan's reaction to his first fresh red raspberry

Fun at the Pool

2010-07-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

Hanging out with daddy

Fun with mommy

Nolan's new "walk"

Nolan's new "walk" from behind

Nolan enjoying a snack after splashing around

Last weekend (July 4th weekend) Kevin, Nolan, and I ventured out to a local public pool. I really wanted to go to a pool or beach and one of Kevin's coworkers suggested the Sahm Aquatic Center so we decided to check it out. It was GREAT!! It's part of a huge park that has golfing, a nice playground, and lots of places for cookouts and picnics. The weather was quite hot making it perfect for the pool. Nolan really enjoyed himself both days that we went (and napped great after getting home :)). They have several big slides, a lap pool, i think a diving board area, and a large kids area with various things that squirt/spray/shower down water. They even have a few smaller sides for the little kiddos. It was fun to see Nolan splashing around enjoying himself. He even developed a new way of getting around, which you can see in several of the pictures. I thought maybe he was doing it because he didn't like scraping his knees, but I've seen him doing it around the house as well...quite entertaining. I am so glad that we discovered this pool and look forward to many more trips this summer and in summers to come.

Video of Nolan talking with Aunt Libby

2010-06-28T19:23:00.001-07:00

First Family Vacation: Colorado 2010

2010-06-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 28 Kevin, Nolan, and I left for our first family vacation with Nolan....our destination..Colorado! My brother Jon is currently living in Denver and Kevin's sister Lori and her husband live in Steamboat springs (about 2 1/2-3 hours north of Denver). We flew into Denver on Friday evening around 6:30 Denver time. Jon picked us up from the airport and drove us to his girlfriend Rachael's house (where we all stayed). They prepared a wonderful meal of fish tacos and then it was off to bed. On Saturday morning we all piled into Jon's car and we drove up to Steamboat, arriving at Lori and Evan's house around 10:30 am. It was wonderful to see them (haven't seen them since Nolan was born) and to see their house for the first time. Kevin's dad also made the trip out to Steamboat and so we got to spend a few days with him as well. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Steamboat and of course our only complaint is that we weren't able to stay longer. Besides spending time relaxing at the house we also went on several bike rides around town, visited many yummy restaurants/bars, shopped, and went to the hot springs. It only took about 2 days for Nolan to make the switch to Colorado time and he napped better in Colorado than he has for us EVER at home! He took at least two naps each day lasting 1 1/2 to 2 hours each time (usually we are lucky to get him to take 1 hour naps at home 20-45 minutes average...). On Tuesday afternoon we left Steamboat and headed back to Denver where we stayed until the end of our trip on Thursday. While in Denver we had the opportunity to have dinner with my cousin Brenda (haven't seen her since the Gingrich family reunion in 2004) and to visit with our friends Dana and Brian who moved out to Colorado last summer. We also made a trip to red rocks and visited the Denver zoo (Nolan's first trip to any zoo). Again our only complaint is that we didn't have more time. It was a much needed vacation and we are already talking about when we might be able to go back. Nolan did awesome flying so Kevin and i would like to take advantage of flying while he can still fly for free! Wonder where we will go next?

Here are just a few pictures from our trip. There are soooooooooo many great pictures capturing the wonderful time that we had, but it would take too long to post them...so if you are interested in seeing more you will just have to come visit us! Enjoy!

Visiting Red Rocks (kevin was particularly excited about being here because DMB has played here and he would love to come to a concert here....i would too!)

Group picture with Lori and Evan before leaving Steamboat

Dinner with Cousin Brenda...hadn't seen her for a while!

Steamboat

Our little cowboy...we have a picture of him on the horse with a cowboy hat on but it kept wanting to upload sideways...so i settled for this one.

At the hot springs...Nolan really enjoyed himself...especially the little waterfall behind us

Walking/biking to downtown Steamboat

Nolan hanging out at the airport

13.1

2010-05-10T16:22:00.001-07:00

Well all the months of training paid off. Saturday Kevin and I woke-up bright and early (my mom came down for the weekend to watch Nolan....thanks mom) and drove downtown to take our spots to run in our first Indy mini marathon. It was a cold and very windy morning, which made deciding what to wear quite difficult (didn't want to freeze but also didn't want to get too warm when running either...). Waiting for the race to start was quite cold but once we started running it wasn't too bad. Kevin and I ran the entire race together finishing in just under 2 1/2 hours. I was so proud of both of us. It felt so good to cross the finish line together. The walk back to our car was quite painful (legs didn't really want to move) but I was already saying that I would do it again next year (Kevin still isn't ready to make that commitment). It's still hard to believe that I ran 13.1 miles...me, someone who never used to enjoy running and who thought that running 2 miles was rough. I can still remember two years ago when I ran one mile around our apartment complex and was ready to swear off running forever, and now I think I have found a new hobby. I plan to take this week off to give my body a good rest before I go back to my running. I definitely plan on running the mini again next year...who's with me!?!? :)

Watch Out Here I Come!!!

2010-05-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

For several weeks now Nolan has been using a variety of moves (rolling, pulling, twisting, and I guess a little crawling) to get around. He hasn't been moving too fast but he could eventually get what he wanted. Today, his 8 month birthday, he started to army crawl and he can definitely get what he wants and he is moving faster and faster each time. Kevin and I realize that our lives are about to change (again). Getting ready in the morning is going to be a bit more of a challenge since we can't just set him up in the middle of our bed with some toys. And Nolan is already into anything and everything that he can get into. Now that his world is expanding this means more things to get into! :) I guess this is why they invented pack n plays! :) It has been so fun (and a bit scary) watching him accomplish this new skill. He gets so excited when he gets the item he was working so hard to get to. Watch out world, Nolan is coming to get ya!!!

Letting Go

2010-04-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the first night that I did not nurse Nolan before bed (except the nights when I was not home at bedtime of course, which was only a handful of times). Over the last few months (starting about the time Nolan turned 6 months) I began to notice a change in my milk supply. I hadn't changed the number of times I was pumping or feeding Nolan and I became frustrated and began to stress about my inability to provide the amount of milk that Nolan needed for each day. Nolan had been getting some formula but for the most part I had been keeping up with what he needed. As time went on my supply continued to get lower, so after trying several different things and talking with some lactation consultants I made the very difficult decision to start weaning Nolan from breastfeeding. I really struggled with this decision and was surprised at how difficult this decision was for me emotionally. I struggled with feeling that my body was failing me and not doing what I thought it should be doing, and that I was failing Nolan. As much as I was ready to stop pumping I didn't want to let go of that special time with Nolan first thing in the morning and last thing before he went to bed. However, I finally decided that instead of becoming more frustrated about not breastfeeding for as long as I had wanted to and becoming stressed about my lack of supply, I would take pride in the fact that I had breastfed for 7 months. I recognize that breastfeeding is not the only way for me to be close with Nolan and I now get to create new special times for the two of us to share. I'm sure that this is only one of the many transitions and times of letting go that I will experience being a mom, but I believe that with each of these times there will also be new things to look forward to and things to experience.

Easter and the Park

2010-04-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was Nolan's first Easter and his first trip to the park (well his first trip to the park to play). The weather was beautiful and after a morning of fellowship at church we packed a picnic lunch and headed to Holiday Park. kevin and I had gone there while I was pregnant to take pictures. We also had gone there in the fall and had attempted to take some family pictures...however, Nolan did not think that was a good idea at the time. This time he really seemed to enjoy himself. He swung in the swing for the first time and went down the slide with Kevin. We had a wonderful time.

I can't believe how fast Nolan is growing and changing. How did I become a momma of a 7 month old?!?! It is so fun watching Nolan do new things and develop into his own little person...but I wish he would slow down a bit!! He now has four teeth (two front bottom and two front top), he is sleeping most nights through the night or at the worst wakes up once, he twists, turns, and rolls to get where he wants to go, has been caught on all fours a time or two, tries to climb out of his whale tub, loves to get into anything and everything, really enjoys his jumper, and has the sweetest laugh. He is quickly becoming my little boy instead of my little baby.

Here are a few pictures from our time at the park.

Easter bunny and baby signs

2010-03-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday St. Vincent held an associate appreciation event. The event included pictures with the Easter Bunny and an Easter egg hunt for the kiddos. Nolan obviously couldn't participate in the egg hunt but we thought it would be fun to get his picture taken with the Easter Bunny. As you can tell from the picture, I don't think he really knew what was going on. He didn't show any fear of the bunny...but we didn't exactly get a smile either! After our turn with the bunny we went and had some donut holes and waited around for our next event...a baby sign language class.

While we were still expecting Nolan we went to the maternity expo at the Women's hospital and met Julie, a baby signs instructor. I took interest and asked to be put on her email list, and a few weeks ago I received an email inviting us to her baby signs workshop at the hospital. We have several friends who have taught some signs to their children and I thought it would be a really neat thing to do. There is a lot of impressive research supporting teaching signs to babies and Nolan is at the perfect age to start so we thought we would give it a try. I really enjoyed the class and Nolan was so attentive. Julie has this bear that she uses in her classes to help teach the signs and Nolan was completely focused on her and the bear. We received a book and several DVDs to help us get started. We learned quite a few signs during the workshop that I think will be very helpful. I left the class excited to start with our first signs.

Julie suggested that we start with five signs and add more later (Nolan won't start signing for several months yet). We have chosen the signs for eat, drink, sleep, all done, and are trying to decide what the fifth one should be. So far Nolan thinks it's pretty funny when I use the sign for eat when I am feeding him dinner. We will share these signs with you so you can use them with Nolan as well (we will be sharing them with Angie at daycare too). We look forward to seeing how Nolan does with the signs and hopefully they will make communicating with him easier before he is actually able to use his vocal words! :)

Nolan's Dedication

2010-03-20T06:25:00.000-07:00

OK, so this is about a month late but I just realized that I don't think I posted about Nolan's dedication at church. It was such a special day and weekend. The weekend started on Saturday February 13th when grandma Liz, uncle Jeff, aunt Jules, and soon to be uncle josh came down. We spent some time with them before Kevin and I went out for a date night leaving Nolan with the others. It was nice to have a night out with Kevin (definitely doesn't happen that often) and I know the others really enjoyed spending time watching Nolan. Kevin's dad/grandpa Jerry and aunt Libby also showed up later that evening. On Sunday we all met grandma Sue and Deb at church. It was so great to have all of them there to share in the special day. There was a special blessing for Nolan and also a special blessing for us as his parents with a time for prayer. I was a bit nervous about what kind of mood Nolan would be in since his morning nap usually takes place around 9 and church started at 9:30, but he was happy as could be....quite the little entertainer. Whenever he would look at Kevin he would smile and started kicking his legs. A reminder of the joy he has brought into our life. After church Kevin's family had to take off to get back home and the rest of us went out for a meal at Binkley's where I used to work. We then spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the house watching the Olympics, taking naps, and being entertained by Nolan. It was a weekend of being reminded about the blessing of family and the special gift of Nolan. Bellow is what our pastor read at the time of Nolan's dedication:

Nolan Keith Myers, We dedicate you to the One who made you and will always love you from now into eternity. In a world of despair, may God grant you the gift of hope and joy. In a world of doubt, may God grant you the gift of faith and zeal. In a world of brokenness, may God grant you the gift of healing and salvation. Now may God's Spirit protect and guide you until the day when you make your own confession of faith. Amen.

Running Update

2010-03-10T05:45:00.000-08:00

We are still running!!! We received an email the other day reminding us that the mini is less than 60 days away! Where is the time going?! Kevin and I are still running and working towards our goal of running the entire race. Finding time to run has been difficult with Kevin's private practice 2-3 nights a week and one of us needing to watch Nolan. We have been able to work out a schedule where each of us gets the opportunity to run three times a week. The training program that we are trying to follow suggests four times a week but unless we get up early to go run that just isn't going to happen (and I don't think getting up to go run is going to happen...). Because we are only able to run three times a week we have been trying to take advantage of the times we get and have been doing longer runs than the training program suggests. So far it seems to be going pretty well. We both now know that we can run at least half of the race (My longest run has been 7 miles and Kevin has done 8...the most that either of us have ever ran...ever!!!!). Yesterday I ran outside for the first time since it started getting really cold. It felt AWESOME! I ran 6.4 miles but felt like I could have gone for hours, however I had to get back to watch Nolan so Kevin could go run. I am so excited about the warming weather and the melted snow making it possible for me to run outside again. There is just something about running outside with the fresh air that is so refreshing and energizing. Now that the weather is getting nicer again Kevin and I have discussed buying a running stroller so we can both run and take Nolan out with us. So bring on the spring weather and bring on the running!!!

6 Months

2010-03-06T05:54:00.000-08:00

Nolan turned 6 months old this week. Can you believe it? I can't!!!! My sweet little baby is quickly turning into a sweet little boy! It is amazing how much he changes from week to week and even day to day. I have mentioned in earlier blogs that Nolan does new things each day and that hasn't changed. He has mastered rolling over and we are currently working on mastering sitting unassisted. Learning to sit has been a bit of a challenge because every time we would try to get him to sit he would straighten his legs to stand. My mom told me that I was a lot like this as a baby...always wanting to stand. However, over the last week I have been working hard with him in the evenings on sitting and besides the occasional wobble and topple he is doing quite well. It is so fun to watch him master these new skills. And you can tell that he is quite proud of himself by the big grin he flashes showing off his two little teeth.

Besides sitting he is also starting to work on crawling. It is quite cute. He can get his knees pulled up under his belly sticking his little butt up in the air (he can be found sleeping like this) and he can push up on his hands, but he hasn't figured out how to do the two together to get himself moving. He gets frustrated by this, especially when the toy that he wants is out of reach. He often resorts to rolling over and twisting to get the toy he wants.

In other news we are finally improving on sleeping. We have started only going into his room the first time that he wakes up and I often nurse him at this time. If/when he wakes up again we have decided to stop going into his room because we have discovered that we are more of a distraction than anything. We had been keeping him in his crib when we went in, only rubbing his back but as soon as we would stop rubbing his back he would push up on his hands, lift his neck, and arch his back to look at us. It would take up to 2 hours to get him back to sleep. We have discovered from the few nights that we have let him fuss that he doesn't fuss that long before going back to sleep. I have been totally against letting him "cry it out" and still don't like that method, however I feel OK about what we are doing because he doesn't cry for that long and I feel that he is old enough to learn that it is time to sleep. We had one night about a week ago where he slept 10 1/2 hours and last night he slept for 10 hours again. AMAZING! I have not always slept that well because I wake up wondering what has happened since I haven't heard him...but I think if he has a few more nights like that it won't be long before I too am sleeping straight through.

Well, I could go on about all the new things Nolan is doing but I think I will stop here and save the rest for another day. It truly is amazing to me how much this little guy has changed our lives. I still find myself, even after six months, looking at him in awe. I carried him for 9 months and here he is 6 months old already....an amazing, healthy, happy, intense, determined, little boy. A true blessing.

Food Creations

2010-03-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago we decided that it was time to start Nolan on some baby foods. While we had played around with it a few times we had not consistently been giving it to him. One of Kevin's co-workers had given us some Gerber baby food that she had left over. Nolan really enjoyed the carrots and the sweet potatoes but wasn't so excited about the green beans. Then about a week or so ago after receiving some baby food recipes from my mom (that she had received from a lactation consultant she works with) and talking with several of my momma friends I decided that I wanted to try my hand at making some foods for Nolan. It was so much fun....and SOOOOOOOO easy!!! I made sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, apples, pears, avocado, bananas, and pear/bananas. I put most of it in ice cube trays and froze them and then put them in freezer bags. So far he has enjoyed everything that we have tried...even the green beans!! We haven't eaten any of the bananas yet because we have been dealing with constipation issues (for more on this you can read Kevin's blog). I think it has to do with the formula (which he doesn't get a whole lot of) but it could also just be him getting used to all the foods. We started with veggies once a day and now he is getting fruits during the day and veggies in the evening. I definitely recommend home-made baby food and would be happy to pass on recipes to anyone who wants them. I am already looking forward to making more in the next week or so and I'm going to try some new things as well. I would love suggestions!!!

Snow Day

2010-02-07T09:50:00.000-08:00

On Friday in the early afternoon it started to snow...and it snowed....and it snowed...and it snowed!! Saturday morning we woke up to about a 1/2 foot of snow. After Keven cleared the driveway we decided to bundle Nolan up and take him out for some pictures in the snow. We weren't out very long but did get some good pictures of Nolan in the snow. He didn't seem to mind being out in the cold. So here is to Nolan's first real big snow day.

5 Months!

2010-02-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

Wow!! How times flies!! It feels like Nolan just turned 4 months old and here we are celebrating 5 months of joy, frustration, blessings, learning, adjusting, growing, and a new kind of love. Kevin and I have been amazed at how much Nolan has changed just over the last few weeks. He has really come to life and is so much fun to interact with. Here is a list of just some of the new things that he has been doing....

Rolling from back to front (we have perfected this trick over the last few days and use it to get to toys we are interest in laying just out of reach...we also don't seem to enjoy being on our tummy all that much though...)
Rolling from front to back (don't do this as often as back to front...although you would think that he would do this more often to get back to his back since he doesn't like being on his tummy)
holding a bottle while being fed (he grabs at everything and while he needs assistance to keep the bottle steady and to get it in his mouth he is getting more accurate each time with this as well)
He loves standing up....i don't know how he is ever going to learn to sit because whenever we try to sit him up he pushes his legs out until you stand him up.
He is eating during the day!!! Some of you know about what a struggle we have been having with him not eating during the day at daycare. This week we have made leaps and bounds in this area and have gone from eating 1-4 ounces at a time to 6!!! Instead of eating 3-6 ounces during the entire day he is now eating an average of 12!! I think a few things played into this change...1. we did more of his feedings with bottles (mostly breast milk even on the weekends and in the early evening during the week), 2. we switched to a fast flow nipple (probably should have done this months ago, but i didn't know!!!) 3. we switched to a different nipple. I am now usually only nursing him two times a day (first feeding in the morning and before going to bed). I still plan on breastfeeding as long as I can (well my goal is between 9-12 months) but with the way he is eating now I am already finding it difficult to pump enough for what he needs the next day.
He is now only getting up 1-2 times during the night instead of 3-4+. And not only is he waking less he is much easier to put down for naps and at bedtime. We have been working on laying him down in is crib awake and having him fall asleep there versus nursing or rocking him to sleep. While we miss cuddling with our sleeping baby and at times he is not very happy about us putting him down he is beginning to sleep better. The problem that we are still working on is teaching him that he doesn't need to eat every time he wakes up at night. I have been nursing him the first time that he wakes up (anywhere between 10-2) and then if/when he wakes up the second time we try to sooth him without actually picking him up out of his crib. This can take some time but we are hoping that over time he will just sleep!!! :) There have been a couple of times when he has woken up, began to cry, and put himself back to sleep before we made it into the room.
He loves his jumper seat! Our jumper seat is one where he can move 360 degrees around and play with different toys and he has figured out how to move him self around to get to his favorite toy. Ever since he was a newborn he loved that bouncy motion (we often had to take turns sitting out my exercise ball while holding him and bouncing up and down to get him to calm down...) and now he just goes crazy jumping and bouncing himself!
He has gotten much more accurate when reaching for things and his grasp has gotten a lot stronger. He passes toys back and forth from hand to hand and is so cute when he is concentrating really hard trying to figure the toy out. He seems to really be intrigued by faces and enjoys reaching out and grabbing at them (ok he grabs at most things..).
His firth two teeth are almost all the way through (he has pretty much stopped biting when nursing....woohoo!)
He can still be quite the chatter box but he has this spitting and buzzing of his lips thing that he does that is quite funny to watch. It seems like he is really trying to tell you something but all you get is spit in your face and buzzing of his lips.
We have been working on eating cereal and for a while seemed to really enjoy it but he hasn't been enjoying it so much the last few days (up right refusing to eat any of it) so we might start moving more into baby foods.

Ok, i'm sure there are a lot more things because it seems like he does something new each day, but these are some to give you an idea of how fast he is growing-up (very exciting and awesome to watch but can't they slow down just a little!!!).

Blessings to you all!

Pictures

2010-01-26T00:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent pictures of our little man!!!

One...Two...

2010-01-23T18:18:00.000-08:00

TEETH!!! It is official...Nolan is teething. We noticed earlier this week that Nolan had a little, sharp, white speck poking through his bottom gum. Kevin discovered this when Nolan pulled Kevin's finger into his mouth and chomped down. After seeing it with my own eyes I later felt it myself while nursing (ouch!!)....and the next day we noticed that it wasn't just one tooth making it's way out but two. They have not pushed all the way out but they are definitely there and he is chomping away...on EVERYTHING!!! He seems to be handling it pretty well...a little extra whining but he also has a stuffed nose making it difficult to breath and a horrible old man's cough.

In other updates we have begun experimenting with solid foods. At Nolan's 4 month appointment his doctor said we could begin on baby foods. We have mainly been sticking to rice cereal (which he seems to think is ok..especially if mixed with breast milk), but have also tried carrots a few times. I think we will continue working with the rice cereal for now and start more with the baby foods over the next month or so.

He still isn't sleeping well...wakes every 2-3 hours...4 hours if we are really lucky. My mom talked with a lactation consultant she knows who told her that Nolan is what they call a "reversed eater or feeder" which basically means that he doesn't eat much during the day (mom isn't around...) and then eats all night (because mom is there). She said he will probably grow-up to be a persistent guy who knows what he wants...sound like anyone? haha He is his father's son! :) So for now I guess it means frequent waking and feeding during the night....I'm not sure how long we should expect this to go on....or how long I can keep going on being so sleep deprived....

Overall the little man is doing quite well and we are enjoying him more and more each day. It is a joy to see him changing and doing new things each day. I was just telling Kevin this morning that I can't believe that in just over a week Nolan will be 5 months old...didn't he just turn 4 months?!?!

I don't have any new pictures on this computer so will have to post some in a later post.

Christmas, New Years, Sleep, and 4 months

2010-01-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

Wow! A lot has happened since my last post...especially since my last post on Nolan. I'm going to start with Christmas and try to update you all on the bigger events in our lives...and of course I will include some pictures as well :)

Christmas was wonderful. Nolan, Kevin, and I bought our first real Christmas tree and I enjoyed decorating the house for the holiday season. I LOVE Christmas and this year, even though Nolan had no idea what was going on, Christmas was even more special. Kevin and I bought Nolan a stocking to hang next to ours above the fireplace, and we bought a few ornament making kits and made hand and foot prints for ourselves as well as for the grandmas. It took a little while but we now have some special ornaments to remember Nolan's first Christmas. The Sunday before Christmas brother Jonny flew into Indy and got to have some quality uncle/nephew time in with Nolan on Monday, Tuesday, and half day Wednesday while Kevin and I worked. On Wednesday before Christmas we all piled in the car (it was quite packed with all of our things) and headed up North where we stayed until the Sunday after Christmas. We had a wonderful time with both sides of the family and wish we would have had more time! Our trips always seem to go by so quickly. Besides spending time with our immediate families we also received visits from my friend Anna who has been in Honduras for the past two years (her first time meeting Nolan) and Kevin's friend Nathan from New York (also his first time meeting Nolan). We also spent a morning with some Gingrich family members including Tyson who is 11 days younger than Nolan. It was so fun to see the little guys begin to interact! All in all it was a wonderful Christmas this year with many special memories.

New Years...New Years was spent in our home with some of our dear friends, Matt and Erin, Laura Beth and Charlie, and Kevin's sister Libby. We had a low-key evening of playing the Wii, telling stories, talking about babies (Laura Beth and Charlie are expecting their first baby!! :)), and eating yummy food. It was nice to bring in the new year with close friends and family and to reflect back over everything that has happened over the last year. We truly have a lot to be thankful for this year and we look forward to all that 2010 will bring, especially with all of the firsts we get to experience with Nolan.

Sleep....we aren't getting very much of it!!! When I returned to work when Nolan was 6 weeks old he blessed us with sleeping 7-8 hours every night, only getting up once to eat. However, around the beginning of December when he began to roll from his back to his side we decided to stop swaddling him and ever since Nolan has decided that it isn't as fun to sleep 7-8 hours and seems to prefer 3-4 hour stretches instead!!! We have tried many different things and read many different books, only to become more frustrated. This past Sunday we decided to forget all the books and to try our own thing. We have a nice bed time routine down of bath (between 7 and 7:30), jammies, nursing, sleep (usually around 8 or 8:30). It doesn't usually take much to get Nolan to fall asleep...it's the keeping him asleep part and having him sleep for longer periods that we are struggling with. The first part of this week he started to sleep some longer stretches again of 5-6 hours but then last night returned to waking every 1 1/2 - 3 hours. EXHAUSTING!!! We're not sure what to do besides just push through and hope that one day he will figure out that mommy really does know best and it feels good to sleep 8 hours at one time! :) We notice that he is a much happier baby when he sleeps well at night and when he takes naps during the day. We are working on getting him on more of a napping schedule during the day so we shall see what happens.

Nolan is 4 months!!! Where does the time go?! haha Kevin and I joke that before we know it he is going to be asking for the car keys. He is growing so quickly and we are trying to enjoy every moment of it (even the not sleeping part). He is doing new things almost everyday or at least improving on things that he has already been doing, which is soooo much fun to watch! He has the biggest smiles, a high pitched squeak when he is really happy and excited, a horrible sounding squawk when he is not so happy, a man grunt, he is grabbing for things and putting anything he can hold onto into his mouth, he loves shoving as many fingers as possible into his mouth (often gaging himself), he's trying really hard to sit-up and loves being in his bumbo seat or being held outwards so we can take everything in, he is also enjoying standing on our laps and is starting to get the hang of his jumper seat, overall he is much more interactive and will babble on and on like he is telling you an important story (even at 4 in the morning). Today at the doctor's office he weighed in at 16lbs 12 ounces and was almost 25 inches long (I think that is right). The doctor was very impressed with how he is doing and said that we could start him on baby foods whenever we want to. We had already started experimenting with rice cereal starting just this past week. He did a pretty good job with it and seems to like it. Any suggestions on the best ways to introduce other foods? Our doctor said maybe do veggies first and then fruits? This is all new territory but also very fun and exciting!!! :) (Maybe this will help with his sleeping? I've read both sides...that it can help or that it has nothing to do with the sleep....) Anyway, we are continuing to enjoy our little guy and feel blessed by his presence each day.

He still loves bath time!

Nolan falling asleep in auntie Jules' arms while Nathan sings and plays the piano

Nolan playing with his new dog from great grandma Baines

Family photo

Anna meeting Nolan for the first time

Nolan and Tyson checking each other out! :)

Running

2009-12-19T06:01:00.000-08:00

During the summer of 2008 Kevin and I took up running. Not usually together but both of us were running consistently about 3-4 times a week. Now anyone who knows me knows that running is not something that I ever really enjoyed or did. I tried to take up running the summer I was in the Dominican Republic but that was short lived. But the summer of 2008 I actually started to really enjoy running and could often be found lapping around our apartment complex or running on the Monon. I started off barely being able to run 1 mile but by the end of the summer I could run between 3-4!!!!...but then school started again...it got cold....I got pregnant...and the running stopped. While I was pregnant with Nolan Kevin and I did a lot of walking and mapped out several routes around our subdivision. Throughout my pregnancy i would get these urges to go for a run so when I got my OK from my doctor at my 6 week postpartum appointment to return to all physical activities I decided to give the running another try. I did a couple walk/jogs with Nolan in his stroller along one of the routes Kevin and I had been walking towards the end of my pregnancy. It felt so good to be out running and when I got home I would crave going out again. i even enjoyed running outside as it began to get colder and enjoyed looking up longer runs at www.mapmyrun.com. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to get back to running 3-4 miles. Then one day I got this crazy idea that I would like to run the Indy mini marathon that takes place every May on race weekend. This is something that I thought would be cool to do at some point but not something that I had ever thought seriously about. I have several friends who ran it last year, which i obviously couldn't do being 6 months pregnant. Kevin also recently started running again and so a few weeks ago we decided to register for the mini!!! It is now too cold for me to run outside and so Kevin has added me to his gym membership so I can continue my running on the treadmill. I think the training will be much more enjoyable when it gets nicer/warmer out again and I can continue my running outside. At times we wonder what we have gotten ourselves into ( running just over 13 miles) but overall I'm really excited about it and am looking forward to the accomplishment. :) Encouragement and training tips are welcome!!

Sweetest sound

2009-12-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight Nolan giggled for the first time!!! It took place on his changing table after bath time (I remember Kevin telling me he thought Nolan's first giggles would take place on the changing table because he has always seemed to enjoy being there). He loves bath time but usually does not enjoy the time immediately after as we dry him off and put him in his pjs. However, tonight he wasn't crying and seemed to be somewhat content. As I was getting ready to put on his diaper I saw his little tummy and thought of my brother Jon who has just been waiting to blow on it, so i decided I would give it a try and...out came the first little giggle....so I did it again...and again I heard the giggle. I called for Kevin who didn't believe me until I did it again and sure enough another giggle. The look on Nolan's face was as if he didn't know what was going on but he seemed to be enjoying himself. We have been waiting for these giggles. Many times when he flashed us one of his huge smiles we thought one would slip out and tonight it did...and it sure was one of the sweetest sounds!!! :)

The Latest

2009-12-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

We have had a lot happen over the last few weeks....life just doesn't slow down and neither does Nolan. For Thanksgiving we hosted my mom, Julia, Josh, and Jeffrey. Unfortunately Nolan and I were both sick and I even spiked a fever of 102 on Thanksgiving morning. This was the first holiday that Kevin and I have hosted as a married couple and the first turkey that Kevin has ever cooked. Despite being sick we had a wonderful time and the food was all quite tasty. We sure did have a lot to be thankful for this year. It's amazing to look back over the last year and realize all that has happened and the many blessings we have received....finding out that we were expecting Nolan, Kevin turning 30, my graduation from graduate school, buying our first home, grandma (great grandma) Baines and cousin Helen coming to visit from England, finding a job that is flexible and that I love, having a trouble-free pregnancy, the birth of Nolan...I could go on and on (but perhaps I will save that for our Christmas letter...:)).

As I mentioned we have had a lot to be thankful for and most of all at this time I find myself being thankful for our beautiful, sweet, baby boy Nolan. It is hard to put into words the joy and love that he has brought into my life. I can't believe that he is 3 months already!! He has grown and changed so much in the last three months and while I wish that the time was not flying by so quickly I enjoy each new day with him and seeing what new things he will do. He is pretty focused on his hands right now. He hasn't figure out how to suck on just one finger but seems to prefer the whole hand or a number of fingers at once. It's pretty cute. He also continues to work on the rolling thing and if not swaddled to sleep we often find him on his side when we check on him. He hasn't given us a true giggle yet but his smiles will melt your heart. He also seems to be discovering his voice and is becoming quite the chatter box, especially in the morning. At times he seems so serious and focused as he is making his noises....I wonder what he is trying to tell me. Needless to say we are enjoying Nolan and can't imagine life without him.

The following are some recent photos including his 3 month pictures Kevin took and some from our Christmas photo shoot!

Getting my roll on

2009-11-21T18:28:00.001-08:00

Well...Almost!!! Last weekend Kevin and I made the decision that it was time for us to stop swaddling Nolan at night. This is proving to be a difficult transition with Nolan going from sleeping 7-8 hrs at a time to only a few hours at a time (waking up at least 4 times during the night instead of once)....but since we have stopped swaddling him he has started to work on rolling over. I always lay him down on his back (I am a prenatal education coordinator after all and must practice what i preach...back to sleep..front to play... :) ) but often find him on his side. We have seen him in action and it is quite adorable. He throws his legs up in the air swings them over to the side and uses them to propel the rest of his body over to his right side (he seems to prefer the right side). Today he would look at us, give us the biggest smile, and then the legs would swing and he would roll to his side...and repeat. I know it won't be long before we are finding him on his little tummy....now if he would return to his previous sleeping routine....

Blessed

2009-11-17T19:32:00.000-08:00

I am continuously reminded about how blessed I am. Nolan is such a blessing and I feel so lucky to be his mom and to have him in my life. Here are a few recent pictures that make my heart happy.

Like a Weed!!

2009-11-12T18:13:00.000-08:00

Nolan is growing like a weed!! I can hardly believe that my little man is already 2 months! Last Friday we took him for his 2 month doctor's appointment and found out that he is quite average...50th percentile for weight, length, and head measurement. He now weighs 12lbs 2 1/2 ounces and is just shy of being 24 inches long. He did not get his shots last week because we found out that he had his first ear infection (poor guy is doomed with the history kevin and i have of ear infections as little ones). We went back today and got the shots, which was just horrible (I cried with him). He was a bit more cranky than usual this evening but mostly seemed to be wanting to be close to his mommy and nursed on and off pretty much all night after we got home until it was time for bath time and bed.

He is changing in lots of other ways as well. He is a much happier baby and is more interactive than even a few weeks ago. He smiles ALL the time and I know there are giggles just waiting to burst out. He has also recently discovered his hands/fingers and they seem to be quite tasty. He doesn't suck on any one finger (or arm :)) but it's pretty cute and is a sure sign that he is ready to eat. He is so much fun and I look forward to all the new things he will learn and do..it's all so precious!

Oh, and Nolan had two nights this week where he slept for 8 hours!!! :) Now we need to work on sleeping without being swaddled and then moving into his own room!!

11 Years Ago

2009-11-11T18:07:00.000-08:00

On this day 11 years ago my family's life was changed forever with the death of my dad, Keith (where Nolan got his middle name). Today I grieve not only the loss of my dad but also the loss of Nolan's grandpa. I grieve the fact that Nolan will never be held by his grandpa Gingrich, will never play catch, be tickled, or get to tug on his grandpa's great beard....however, while these are all great losses I know that my dad is present with us and with Nolan in a very special way. I look forward to being able to tell Nolan about his grandpa and through the stories and the many pictures we have Nolan will know his grandpa Gingrich and feel his lasting presence.

Fall and Halloween

2009-11-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

On Saturday the sun was out and so we decided to take a family trip to a local park to take some fall pictures. As you can see Nolan didn't think it was such a good idea. He was fine in the car and in the stroller until we found the place where we wanted to take the pictures...and then the screaming began and didn't stop until he was eating in the car.

We decided that we wanted to dress Nolan up for his first Halloween so one day when Kevin was out running errands he found this cute red chili pepper costume and thought it was the perfect costume for our little guy. Isn't he cute?!?!

He fell asleep right before we headed out to the neighborhood block party

He was not impressed with us trying to take so many pictures, but he did tolerate the costume better than I thought he would.

2009-11-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

It seems that a lot has happened since my last post. One of the biggest happenings, and the thing that has required a lot of adjusting to, is that I started back to work on October 19. It has been two weeks now, and while I continue to enjoy my job and the wonderful people that I work with it is still so hard to leave Nolan in the mornings!!! The six weeks home with him after he was born were so precious and passed way too quickly. I wish I would have been able to take more time off or better yet that I could be a stay at home home, but that isn't part of our reality at this point in time...so for now he spends his days at Angie's. Angie and her family live in our neighborhood making dropping Nolan off before work and picking him up after very convenient. Angie has a 3 year-old and a 1-year-old of her own and also watches several other children between those ages making Nolan the youngest. He seems to be doing pretty well and I know he gets a lot of attention. Avery (Angie's 3-year-old daughter) adores Nolan and loves helping us take him out of his car seat, putting him in his car seat, and making sure he has everything that he needs. She often gives me a play by play about what he did for the day and whether or not he smiled at her. I am lucky that work is only about 7 minutes away so I have been going to Angie's during my lunch break to feed and spend some time with Nolan. Avery will often ask to see my keys and she enjoys helping me take a picture of Nolan on my phone to send to Kevin. Nolan often has a smile waiting for me when I get there at lunch (if he isn't sleeping), which I love arriving to. I'm sure that as more time passes it will get a bit easier, although I'm sure I will always wish it was me taking care of him all day....

Other things that have happened since the last post:

Nolan started sleeping between 5-7 hour stretches at night (he will wake up after this stretch of sleep to be changed and to eat and will go back to sleep for another 2-4 hours depending on when we have to get up in the morning).
We started a bedtime routine of taking a bath (which Nolan LOVES), swaddling, nursing, and bed. We decided that although Nolan is probably still too young to pick-up on this routine we wanted to get ourselves into a routine that Nolan can fall into once he is old enough to. It is nice because we usually start this routine between 7:30 and 8:30 depending on what is going on and when he had is last nap. This puts him to sleep between 8:30 and 9:30 leaving me and Kevin with some time to relax together before going to bed ourselves.
We attended Grandpa (Great grandpa) Gingrich's 93rd Birthday gathering in Goshen. We made the quick trip up to Goshen last weekend to spend time celebrating with family. All of my aunts and uncles were there along with quite a few of my cousins and even some with their own children. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with family that we hadn't seen since our wedding and to introduce Nolan to the extended family. My only wish is that we would have had more time.
We bought and carved Nolan's first pumpkin (also the first time that Kevin and I bought and carved pumpkins together).
Nolan dressed up in his first Halloween costume (red chili pepper) and we all attended our first Crickwood court block party.

Here are some pictures from the last several weeks. The ones of our little chili pepper will come soon.

My Boys

2009-10-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

The above is a picture that i took of my two boys one evening this week. Nolan can be quite fussy in the early evening and to give me a break from feeding (which often seems to be the only way to soothe the child) Kevin swaddled Nolan and began singing softly in his ear. Now I'm not exactly sure what song it was (it could have been a DMB song or one of the many songs that he makes up special for Nolan) but whatever it was it put Nolan right to sleep. Doesn't he look so sweet!?!?!? I love seeing these special moments of father and son...melts my heart every time. Kevin is such an amazing dad and you can tell that Nolan loves his daddy so much already. Kevin has taken an active role in taking care of Nolan right from the beginning and for this I am very grateful. I often wonder what I would do if kevin wasn't here or willing to help in caring for Nolan. I love both of my boys so much and can't wait for all the moments that we will get to spend the three of us, just me and nolan, and for the special moments that kevin will get to spend with his son.

Nolan's 1st Trip up North

2009-10-08T09:25:00.001-07:00

Ok, so here are some pictures from our amazing visit up north. We spent the first Friday at Kevin's mom's. We enjoyed a chili dinner with them and relaxing in the evening. On Saturday we went to the Mennonite Relief Sale where we ate lots of yummy food (oh the apple fritters!!:)) and ran into lots of friends and family. On Sunday we went to church where we only spent about a total of 15 minutes in the service but Nolan was quite the hit after church meeting lots of our Waterford Mennonite family. During the week we spent a lot of time hanging out at my mom's house. We made little trips out to visit friends and family. One of our trips out was to my cousin Carrie's house where we had lunch and met her son Tyson who was born not even two weeks after Nolan. We were able to take some pictures of the 4 of us and look forward to watching these two little guys grow-up together at family gatherings. Other visits included going to see great grandpa Gingrich, visiting my friend Nichole and her darling children Jackson and Avenlea, Laura Myers and her son Luke (who loves babies and giving them kisses) came by my mom's one afternoon, and having dinner with Mary and Emery (unofficial grandparents). The last weekend we were there was spent celebrating Matt and Erin's wedding. Kevin was the best man so he and I went to the rehearsal dinner on Friday while Nolan stayed at my mom's where he was taken care of by his grandma, great grandma, uncle Jeff and Britta. Saturday was the beautiful wedding. Nolan again stayed at my mom's during the ceremony and then I picked him up to take him to the reception. He did really well during the reception except for the part when he cried all the way through Kevin's speech! :) He slept most of the time even with all the loud music and being passed between friends. On Sunday Kevin (along with some help from others) cooked a wonderful lunch which we shared with Kevin's mom and dad. I believe there were 13 of us (including Nolan) around the table that afternoon. All in all it was a great trip with lots of wonderful memories that of course went by way too quickly.

Four Generations

Visiting great grandpa

Nolan with Laura and Luke

Meeting Tyson

Tyson and Nolan were not excited about taking more pictures

First time having a bath being put directly into the water (didn't like it at first but he warmed up to it). This is now part of our new nightly routine.

We like uncle jonny

Jon's girlfriend Rachael

Where Nolan slept at Grandma Sue's :)

Cousin Helen who traveled over with Grandma...great to see her again!!

Bottle Frustrations

2009-10-07T17:45:00.000-07:00

I promise to post more about our wonderful week up in Goshen with lots of pictures but right now I need to share my frustrations and stress with the bottle. Last week while we were in Goshen we decided that it was time that we start to introduce Nolan to the bottle. We felt that this was a good time since it would give us 3 weeks before I went back to work and might also allow me to participate in more of Matt and Erin's wedding weekend activities. The first few days we tried we didn't have much luck...lots of screaming. We tried different bottles, different nipples and my mom talked to a lactation consultant at Goshen hospital...finally last Thursday night I was able to get him to take a bottle after baiting him in with the breast. Friday night I went to the rehearsal dinner with Kevin leaving Nolan at my mom's where he successfully took a bottle. He again took a bottle on Saturday and Sunday when we got home, which was the last bottle he took. I'm starting to stress out because I have to go back to work in a week and a half and next week I have a two day training when he will need to be fed with a bottle. I never thought that getting him to take a bottle would be so difficult. It makes me think that maybe we should have started earlier, although we were told not to use a bottle or pacifier until 3-4 weeks to establish breastfeeding. We have tried getting him to use a pacifier at times as well, which he also did for a few days but has refused again today. I don't want to get him completely confused and I hate hearing him cry so hard while Kevin tries to give him a bottle. I just want to know that he is going to be ok while I'm gone. I already am not looking forward to leaving him to go back to work and him not taking a bottle is making the thought even more difficult. Your prayers and suggestions on this concern would be greatly appreciated.

Nolan and Great Grandma Baines

2009-09-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

This week Nolan and I are spending time in Goshen hanging out with friends and family. One of the family members that we are happy to see is Nolan's great grandma from England. Grandma Baines had originally said that her last trip to the States was going to have been at the time of our wedding, however after hearing that she was going to be a great grandma for the first time she decided that she needed to make another trip. She arrived last week along with my cousin Helen. It is truly a special time...4 generations all in the same house. We have some pictures of me as a baby with my mom, grandma, and my great grandma. I look forward to taking this picture with my son, my mom, and great grandma.

Here are a few pictures that we took today of Nolan and his great grandma!

A few new pics

2009-09-27T16:46:00.001-07:00

These are a few recent pics of our little man that I absolutely LOVE.

He continues to grow and to amaze us more each day. He is now up to 9lbs 4 ounces (as of Friday) and is definitely starting to engage with people more. Kevin and I have even gotten a few smiles out of him while he was looking straight into our eyes..melts a momma's heart!!

He continues to eat well (cluster feeding in the early evening and some in the morning) and is still sleeping 2-4 hours at a time during the night (which means we are actually getting some sleep too!! :)). He is also still spitting up quite a bit but since he is gaining weight I guess it is something we will just deal with.

I will post again at some point this week with updates on our time here in Goshen. So far we have enjoyed spending time with family including aunts, uncles, grandmas, great grandma, great grandpa, and meeting lots of church family at Waterford and the Relief Sale.

SLEEP!!!

2009-09-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

A quick update...Nolan has been sleeping on his own at night this week! the first night he slept on his own was Saturday night. We have this snuggle nest thing (looks like a cute, padded box thing) that is meant for safe co-sleeping that he has been sleeping in. We bought it because we thought maybe he had too much space in the pack and play and if he was in a smaller space it might help..and it seems to be. We hadn't planned on having him in our bed with us, and don't plan on keeping him there for long, but right now it has been working well. I didn't like the idea at first because we preach that babies should have their own sleeping place at work but I feel ok about it with him being in the snuggle nest. It also makes it easy for me to get up in the middle of the night for feedings. Sunday was a rough night but the rest of this week Nolan has slept anywhere from 2-3 hours at a time during the night. It has made such a difference!! Hope it continues!!

On the eating...he still loves to eat. This is probably the area that causes us the most frustration at this point. In the morning and then again early evening he just can't seem to get enough and wants to eat almost every hour and can eat for 30 minutes + at a time. This can get tiring and we are working on trying to figure out other soothing techniques to keep him satisfied between feedings. It's like he just can't get enough, although I think at times it's just more of a comfort thing than a being hungry thing. I also started pumping a little this week and hope to introduce the bottle to him this weekend so Kevin can help with night feedings and to get him ready for when I go back to work. This is another thing I have to figure out...difficult to figure out when to pump when the little guy is eating all the time! :)

He is definitely becoming more alert, spending more time awake during then day. We bought a bouncy/vibrating chair this past weekend which he LOVES!!! I can put him in there and he will just look around, moving his arms and legs, making faces, and some interesting noises. He is soooo CUTE!!!! I could watch him doing this for hours. We have also found that when he is fussy at times this chair also works in calming him down.

I will post more pictures soon. We are headed up to Goshen for the weekend for the relief sale (and to see family). Then Nolan and I are going to stay at my mom's for the week. My grandma (now great grandma baines) has come to visit along with my cousin Helen. We are so excited that they were able to make the trip and look forward to spending the week with them. It will definitely be a very special week. Hope Nolan travels well!!! :)

Irish Fest

2009-09-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon we met up with several friends (Dori, Tom, and Laura Beth) and went to the Irish Fest downtown. We had never been and thought that it would be fun and a good opportunity to get Nolan out and about. We have gone on several little outings and figured that the only way that we were going to get used to getting all ready and managing being out in public (with diaper changes and breastfeeding) was to get out and do it!!! We had a blast and Nolan did sooo well!!! We ate some good food, listened to some music, watched some dancing, and enjoyed walking around doing a little shopping. Nolan was perfectly happy riding around in his stroller for the majority of the time. We had a few feedings using the hooter hider (thanks Lori) and a diaper change. He definitely wasn't afraid to let us know when he was ready to go home which was fine because I think we were all ready to head home as well. All in all it was a very successful day and I look forward to more family outings!

In other updates Nolan slept on his own last night in 2-2 1/2 hour chunks of time!!!! It was wonderful!!! Kevin and I were both able to sleep and only had to get up to feed and change diapers. We hope that this will continue.......

Here are some pictures from Irish Fest....

Huge Irish dog (don't remember the actual name...but they were HUGE)

Nolan and Laura Beth

My Little Man

2009-09-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Nolan is becoming more alert every day. This picture was taken the other day when he was practicing his many faces. I told Kevin to grab the camera and start snapping pictures and this is my favorite that we were able to capture. I LOVE it!!

A little update...we are growing!! Today Nolan and I went to our first breastfeeding support group at the hospital. It was awesome. We met lots of great moms and babies and received some good advice. It was great to meet other moms and to hear their frustrations and tips on what has worked for them. It is so easy to feel alone in the middle of the night and I can't seem to keep Nolan satisfied so it was nice to hear that other moms are experiencing the same struggles and feelings I am. There was one mom with her 1 1/2 week old twin boys as well as moms with babies the same age as Nolan all the way up to 13 week old babies. Besides getting to share our new mommy stories and feed our babies we also had the opportunity to weigh our babies before and after feeding. Nolan weighed in at 8lbs .08 ounces before feeding and 8lbs 12 ounces after feeding (and a very full diaper!! :)). So despite all of the spitting up he is gaining weight. I can't wait to go back next week!

Two Weeks!

2009-09-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Nolan is two weeks old today!!! Hard to believe it has been two weeks already. It sure has gone by fast and is kind of a blur (probably lack of sleep making things a bit hazy! :)) There are no major updates since the last post. Nolan continues to enjoy eating and sleeping pretty much only when being held. He also has this lovely ritual of spitting up after most feedings, which in turn makes him want to eat...AGAIN! I have talked to the lactation consultant who suggested a few things which we have tried but don't seem to have solved the problem completely...I guess it's pretty normal? I plan on attending the breastfeeding support group this week and also want to start pumping so we can start storing up for later and so Kevin can help with feedings during the night.

Kevin goes back to work on Friday, which could make things a little interesting around here with another adjustment to make...but I'm sure we will find our way. We continue to appreciate all the love and support that we have received from family and friends...keep it coming!!

Moms out there...any suggestions on how to get the little guy to sleep on his own or will he one day just decide it's ok?

Wonderfully Overwhelming

2009-09-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

We have now been home for just over a week with our little peanut (what you can often hear kevin calling Nolan). It has definitely been a week of crazy emotions and adjustments. For the most part we have stayed at home cycling between feedings, sleeping, and diaper changes. It has been absolutely wonderful to have family around at different times to help out around the house and hold Nolan so Kevin and I can get some sleep. The last few days have been spent with just the three of us, which has been nice but also a bit more challenging as far as getting sleep goes. When we first got home Nolan would not sleep unless being held. He would be out cold in our arms but 10-15 minutes after being put down in his crib he would be wide awake wanting to eat and be held. I love cuddling with the little guy but this made getting sleep VERY difficult. We bought a snuggle nest thing to lay him in that can be used in our bed and also in his crib which seemed to help for a few nights. He actually slept for 2-3 hours at a time on his own....but last night was a different story. Little guy again did not want to be put down. I hear this is pretty common and we will continue to work on this until he gets to the point where he gets used to sleeping in his own space. For now I guess he just can't get enough of us! :)

We have also found that Nolan is quite the eater. It often feels like I'm constantly switching him from one side to the other with only short breaks in between. The little guy can't seem to get enough or if he does he is soon spitting some (or on occasion a lot of it up). We have tried several things suggested by the lactation consultant to reduce the spitting up but I'm convinced he takes after his dad and just gets super excited and just doesn't know when to stop. :) haha We know that he is keeping enough of it down to be nourished because at his doctor's appointment yesterday he was back up to 7lbs 11 ounces (he was 7lbs 14 ounces at birth and 7lbs 6 ounces when we left the hospital). I plan on going to the breastfeeding support group at the hospital on Friday. Even though he seems to have the whole eating thing down (still struggles a bit on the left side) I think it will be nice to be around other breastfeeding mom's.

So all in all things are going well. It definitely isn't always easy and I have cried many tears (joy, pain, and exhaustion) but at the end of the day I still feel blessed to have Nolan in our lives and look forward to each new day.

Here are a few pictures from the last few days...we have taken Nolan on his first walk around our neighborhood and yesterday after his doctor's appointment we went on our first family outing into broadripple for lunch and a walk on the monon....

The Many Faces of Nolan

2009-09-08T13:47:00.001-07:00

The Last 6 Days

2009-09-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

I sit now in our living room with Nolan laying across my lap. His tiny hands pulled up around his face. I find myself staring at him in amazement. It's hard to believe that a week ago we made the decision with our doctor to be induced and were admitted into the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 4:30 pm last Tuesday and by 5:45ish I was in my fashionable hospital gown, hooked up to an IV of fluids and pitosin, and watching FRIENDS episodes with Kevin as we anxiously waited for labor to begin. The nurse came in every fifteen minutes to increase the pitosin and before long I was having consistent contractions that became a bit uncomfortable but not unbearable. Around 9:30pm Kevin's mom arrived at the hospital soon followed by my brothers, Jon and Jeff, my mom and sister, Julia. The rest of the night becomes somewhat of a blur as the decision was made to break my water and labor progressed rapidly after that point with Nolan being born less than an hour later. Labor was like an out of body experience for me and still feels very surreal...all done without medication!! The nurse (and other staff) couldn't believe how fast I dilated and how quickly he came since I was a first time mom. Things happened so quickly in fact that my doctor didn't get there in time for the birth, arriving a few minutes after, but there were several amazing residents who did the actual delivery.

We were in the hospital until Friday late morning/early afternoon. While we were greatly taken care of at the hospital we were all ready to be home in our own space. Kevin and I were ready to have Nolan home where we could really begin to adjust to having him in our lives. It was wonderful having my mom around for the first few days after coming home from the hospital. We have also enjoyed the company of aunts, uncles, other grandparents, and friends. Making the adjustment to having Nolan with us is ongoing and while overwhelming at times he is a great joy and has already brought so much happiness into our home.

In addition, we have already begun to notice little changes in him since he was born. It's amazing!!! his hair has lightened up and he is becoming more and more alert. I love holding him and watching his many facial expressions. One of my favorites that I noticed right away after he was born is that he has Kevin's pouty face....it just melts my heart. At this point Nolan has his days and nights a bit mixed up and does not seem to like to sleep unless being held. This makes getting any sleep at night between feedings and changes a challenge but we are working on it. He is a very good feeder...wanting to eat ALL the time. This can also be overwhelming but I also really enjoy this time with him. We also discovered yesterday that he loves having a bath, especially having his hair washed.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow he will be a week old....and even harder to believe that this wonderful baby boy had been inside me for the last 9 months. Nolan truly is a blessing and has already brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. Thank you God for this wonderful gift of being Nolan's mom.

Introducing......

2009-09-03T10:10:00.001-07:00

Introducing Nolan Keith Myers!!! Nolan arrived on September 2, 2009 at 12:10 am. He weighed in at 7lbs 14 ounces (one more ounce than his momma weighed when she was born) and is 21 1/2 inches long. I don't have much time right now because he is letting us know that it is AGAIN time to eat, so more on his arrival and his first days will have to come at a later time. For now here are a few pictures.

40 weeks and 4 days

2009-08-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

Today is the 4th day after our original due date and boy am I ready to meet our little guy!!! Thursday we had an appointment for a non stress test and ultrasound. We had the ultrasound first where they looked at his heart, the fluid, movement, and to see if he is practicing breathing (movement of the diaphragm). Out of 8 points possible he got all 8 and so they told us that we didn't need to do the the NST. When we first went into the ultrasound room Kevin and I weren't sure that we wanted to watch but as it got started we couldn't help but look at our little guy and be amazed at how much he had grown and changed over the months. He's a little person with all of his fingers and toes! He looks pretty smooshed in there but apparently likes it just fine. It was reassuring to see him and to hear that everything looks good and he appears to be perfectly healthy. Now we continue to wait (which is becoming harder and harder for me to do). We are hoping that he comes on his own this weekend before our appointment on Tuesday to avoid having to be induced. As much as I wish our doctor could be there I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO ready and really don't like the idea of being induced. This weekend I plan on doing lots of walking and stretching on my exercise ball as well as keeping busy while we wait. We have appreciated all the support from friends and family and look forward to finally getting to introduce our little guy to you all!!!

This is what we got to see at our ultrasound....a little sneak peek...

Due Date!!

2009-08-25T12:20:00.001-07:00

We have now hit the due date and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little guy. I know the percentage of babies that are actually born on their due date is low, but we hope that he is one of them! :) We thought that maybe he was on his way on Sunday night but that turned out to be a false alarm and so we continue to wait. It is crazy to think that we have arrived at this time and are now waiting for him to come at any moment. The anticipation is killing me!! I'm so excited to meet him and to see what he is like. Will he have dark hair, light hair, no hair? Will he be calm and relaxed or active and social? For now we continue to wonder and pray for a safe (and quick :)) arrival. We will be sure to provide updates as they come and look forward to introducing you to our son when he arrives.

And we wait....

2009-08-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

We had our week 39 doctors appointment today and found out that there has been NO CHANGE since last week. This is quite frustrating as I was hoping that i would be dilated at least a few more cm. I know that this is not uncommon, especially with first babies which we have been told often have a tendency to come late, but I was hoping that our little guy would be ready to come and meet us now! :) So we continue to wait and the anticipation builds. We pretty much have everything ready for his arrival. The car seat is installed in the car, we have a safe place for him to sleep when he comes home, he has plenty of clothes washed and ready to be worn, we have our bags packed and ready to go, and his parents and other family members are filled with love to throw at him. There are a few things around the house that I would like to get done before he comes, which I guess we have time to do now. Our doctor leaves on her vacation tomorrow and she has scheduled us for a NST (non-stress test) and ultrasound for next week while she is gone to make sure that everything is still going well and it's still safe for him to be inside. If he hasn't come and everything is found to be well at that appointment then we will have our next appointment with our doctor when she returns from her vacation on September 1st. At that time we will talk induction. I hope it doesn't come to that but he's going to have to come out!

Prayers for patience and continued health and safety are greatly appreciated.

Sooooooooo READY!!

2009-08-14T12:27:00.001-07:00

We are well into week 38 and we are ready for this little guy to arrive. We just had our doctor's visit and she says we are 2cm and maybe 25-50% effaced (is that how you spell it?). So we have made some progress since last week but still not close enough to go to the hospital. Our doctor will be leaving for vacation next Friday so we are hoping he will come before then. Otherwise another doctor will have to be there or our little guy will have to wait until until she gets back! I'm hoping he comes before she leaves. We have been spending time getting things around the house ready and now have our car seat and pack and play so we can get him home and have a place for him to sleep in our room. :)

This weekend Kevin and I are going to celebrate our 2 year anniversary and what we hope will be our last weekend without a baby. We will be sure to keep everyone updated!

Counting Down.....

2009-08-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

The count down has begun. We are quickly moving through week 37 and ready to welcome week 38. I can say that I would be ready for our little guy to arrive any day, however Kevin would like for him to hang on for a few more weeks. I have become increasingly uncomfortable and while I have really enjoyed being pregnant I'm ready for the next chapter to begin. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude and realize that he will be here before we know it, and for the most part I have enjoyed the last several weeks. Kevin and I have been blessed with support and showers from coworkers, friends, family, and church. A few weeks ago our friend Michelle along with the help of Dori and Erin gave a shower for me here in Indy and then last weekend I traveled up to Goshen for my last trip for a shower hosted by mom my and Kevin's mom (which Jules helped out with a great deal as well). It was wonderful to be at my mom's again and to spend time with close friends and family. I'm reminded each day about the blessings of friends and family. We received many cute clothes and other items that will be greatly needed once our little guy arrives. Thank you to everyone!

At this point I am continuing to work. I have cut back my hours on occasion to make it through the week but continue to enjoy what I'm doing. I've been spending time wrapping things up with patients that I have been working with and preparing for my time off. Other than work and showers we have been working on other preparations for the arrival of our son. I trust that everything will fall into place and some things will be figured out as we go and learn with each new day.

Here are some photos from my showers and growing belly!

Me and Momma outside her house

Week 35

We played a game where each guest had to guess how big my belly is....Dori pointed out that I am about as round as she is tall!

Oh, we are going to the doctor weekly now and found out today that I am between 1 and 2 cm. I know that doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot except that we are making some progress!!! :)

Movin' Right Along

2009-07-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

We have now hit the 34 week mark and I can say that I have also hit the uncomfortable mark. I had been holding strong until about a week ago. My coworkers have commented on the difference between the two weeks in my size and energy. I'm definitely ready to go home and relax by the end of the work day. Any tips about staying as comfortable as possible or treating the aches and pains would be welcomed. I have been trying to keep up on my walking and stretching which I think is helping. After our appointment next week we will start seeing the doctor once a week. Can it really be true that we have hit that point?! While we want to keep him cooking as long as possible (and by as long as possible I mean 40ish weeks not longer!!) we recently found out that our doctor is going to be on vacation over our actual due date....definitely not ideal so I guess we will see what happens. It would be great to have her there and not someone that I don't know and who hasn't been getting to know us over the last 9 months but we may just have to go with the flow. We are starting to get more prepared for labor and birth. We started our Lamaze classes two weeks ago (have had two now) and are learning some great relaxation techniques. Kevin has been getting some good practice in on the massage techniques learned in class! :)

The following are my 33 week pictures. On Sunday Kevin and I went to a local park for a little walk (which turned out to be a little more of a hike than I was interested in) and took some pictures along the way.

Nursery...almost done!

2009-07-04T14:58:00.001-07:00

Kevin and I decided to stay in Indy this 4th of July weekend. In thinking about what we might do we decided that since it was going to be rainy it would be the perfect day to start working on the nursery. We already had the crib, dresser/changing table, rocking chair (that kevin was rocked in as a baby), and recently got the bedding set. The bedding set has light orange, light green, light blue, and yellow. So for the walls we decided to use the light orange and light blue with a brown border separating the two colors. This week we bought the paint and today our friend Matt came over to help with the project. I am so happy with how it has turned out!!! There are a few things left to do to finish it off but it feels good to have gotten most of it done in one day!! :)

There are some cute animals on the sheets

Lots of happenings and some pictures!

2009-06-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

I thought that maybe after I was done with school and just working that life might slow down a bit, however this has not happened. We have been extremely busy lately spending time with friends and family, doing things around the house, and getting ready for the arrival of our little guy.

Two weeks ago Kevin, Jules, mom, and I drove out to PA for the wedding of a close family friend from our family's DC days. We left Friday evening driving part of the way before stopping to sleep and got up Saturday morning to drive the rest of the way. We arrived at our hotel just in time to change clothes and head to the wedding. The wedding took place at Cove Valley Youth Camp where we spent many summers as kids. It was a great day of walking down memory lane and catching up with friends (who are like family).

The following weekend Julia and Josh came down for a friend's wedding. It was fun to see the two of them and Jules helped to do some cleaning and decorating around the house, which was a HUGE help. On Sunday I drove up to Goshen to spend the evening at mom's house before spending Monday afternoon with my dear friends Anna and Mindy. Anna has been in Honduras since February of 08 and was home for a quick visit. It was wonderful being able to catch up and to see her after such a long time. She will be returning to Honduras this week until April of 2010. I was once again reminded of the blessing of great friends. While it had been some time since I had seen both Anna and Mindy we were able to pick-up right where we left off as if no time had passed. I wish Anna could be around when our little guy is born but we will be sure to show him lots of pictures of his aunt Anna so he will know who she is. :)

Finally, we had a doctor's visit on Wednesday. The little guy seems to be growing quite well. At the time of the appointment I was just starting week 31 but the doctor informed us that I am measuring about 2 weeks ahead at this point. So we could have an earlier arrival. Kevin and I had a brief day of panic making a new list of all the things that need to be done. We have a few things we can cross off the list, however these seem to be replaced with new things each day. We trust that some how the important things will get done and other things will just have to wait.

Today Kevin and I had some fun taking some pictures at the house and at the Arts Garden in Broadripple. Enjoy!!!