Nolan is ONE!

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

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

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

First Family Vacation: Colorado 2010

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

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!!!

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!!!