Happy 30th Birthday to Bill!

Today Bill finally caught up to me and joined the "Fabulous at 30" Club. Happy Birthday sweetie! You are the best hubby and dada in the whole wide world..may your next 30 be just as blessed as the first. Love you always!

Nolan is 18 months old today!!

I can't even believe that my sweet baby boy is actually 18 months old today! When did that happen???? SO many changes have happened in the last 18 months and he still continues to amaze me each day. From the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to bed at night he is a bundle of energy. He is so full of love, laughter, innocence, persistence, joy, and curiosity. I don't even know what Bill and I did before God gave Nolan to us. While I really miss that little bitty snuggly stage, it is so wonderful to see him grow, change, and learn more about his little world. He is quite a little talkative man. He uses a ton of words, or at least attempts them
(tractor is definitely only understood by mommy and daddy, but it is getting more intelligible). I guess that's what happens with your mommy is a speech therapist. Poor kid..it's almost like a speech session each day for him. He is also saying some two word phrases such as, "two shoes," "hi Nana," and "my bubba". I love hearing his sweet little voice, especially when he says "mama" and comes over and gives me a big hug~oh, there is just nothing better than that (except maybe when he says "wubwubwubu" for "love you", that really pulls at my heart, too). His new thing is to give us "family hugs"....If I say "family hug" he will pull both of us in for a huge bear hug...so charming already :) He definitely has mommy wrapped around his little finger! I am so proud of all his new accomplishments, too. He is trying his hardest to jump..right now it more like a hop, but he keeps trying get both feet off the ground. Also, for the last month or so he has been very interested in the alphabet (he is loving Sesame Street and Super Why). Now he can pick out all the letters when you ask him to and he can name almost all of the letters and/or their sound names. I love helping him learn about the world around him...everything is a new discovery. I know these next 6 months will fly by, too, and before I know it we will be celebrating his 2nd birthday...absolutely amazing!!

Christmas Pictures

So I am officially a Christmas slacker. Granted..all of my shopping and wrapping is completed and I have done all the necessary arrangements for hosting Christmas dinner here, but I failed to remember one important aspect.. I forgot to schedule Nolan's Christmas photo session until last week. So off we go to Portrait Innovations with an early morning appointment. I thought that I was the only one who failed to schedule Christmas pics, but boy was I wrong..it was packed!! Anyway, next year I will be going with our beloved photographer or maybe even scheduling with a special out of town photographer, i.e. Raven :), but for this year it is what it is. So Nolan did great with the family picture, but he wanted nothing to do with his individual shots. He was totally NOT interested at all in sitting in the chair or looking at the Christmas tree, but he was thoroughly impressed with the empty present boxes..so much so that he barely even looked up from the boxes, much less smiled for the stranger with the camera and the stuffed animal on his head. Anyway, at least the picture selection process was easy since we didn't have many to choose from. So..here are some of the best pictures from this morning :)

An Incredible 17 Months

Today Nolan is officially 17 months old. How in the world did that happen????? I continue to be amazed by him each day. Every day is a new adventure full of laughter and learning, and some tears and boo-boos along the way. I hope that the next 17 months don't go by as quickly as these have...I have enjoyed watching him grow and change and I am looking forward many many more fun-filled days with my little Roo.

From a Penguin to a Lion

Ok..so here is my belated Halloween post of my little lion. A couple of days before Halloween our church hosted a "Reformation Day" celebration, very similar to a fall festival to give kids a safer alternative to trick-or-treating. The kids are supposed to dress as a favorite Bible character or ark animal. Last year Nolan was an adorable little penguin, but this year he moved up to king of the jungle status. I had his costume picked a long time ago, so starting in early Oct. I began asking him what a lion says. He first looked at me like I was absolutely crazy when I started "roaring," but he quickly became amused and started "roaring" back to me in a sweet little voice. Of course he doesn't always perform on command, especially when others are present (sound familiar to any other mommies??), so getting a video clip is pretty much next to impossible. (BTW- now he not only knows what a lion says, but also a pig, cow, dog, cat, snake, monkey, duck, bear, chicken, horse, and elephant, ok proud mommy moment over :)) So since I didn't have my blog last Halloween I decided to post some old and new costume pictures. It is amazing what a difference a year makes!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Thanksgiving is absolutely one of my most favorite days of the year. You get to spend the day with family and/or friends thanking God for all of your blessings, eat way too much, watch football, and hang out all day just having fun. I know that most of blog friends have done "I am thankful for.." lists, so I thought that it was only appropriate that I should do one, too. Here it goes.... I am Thankful for:

1. God up above...he has provided me with so many blessings: more than I need and certainly more than I deserve.

2. Bill, Nolan, and Riley: my boys mean the world to me and I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful husband, fabulous son, and quirky dog. I love you all more than you will ever know!I love being surrounded my boys each day.

3. Family/Friends: I thank God everyday for my family and friends. What wonderful people I am blessed with in my life. Even though I don't live close to all those who are my relatives or those that I consider to be family, I think about you all each day and I am so grateful for all of you. And we are looking forward to Nana and Papa moving into their "weekend home" permanently one day.

4. Our Nation/Our Soldiers: What a blessing to live in the US..even though I don't agree with everything that goes on in this country, there is certainly no better place to live. Each day we enjoy freedoms that other people can't even imagine. Thankfully our soldiers fight for our safety and the freedoms we enjoy and too often take for granted. So lets say a special prayer,especially today, for our soldiers and their families and for all they do for us.

5. Laughter/Smiling: Once you have a child, there is an endless supply of laughter and smiling. I really can't imagine my life without my Roo Bear. And Bill is pretty funny, too :)

6. Memories: the good and the bad or sad..each memory and life experience I have had taught me a lesson about who I want to be and who I don't want to be. I am also thankful to all my friends who have provided their love and support in the funny times and the sad times. I will treasure all those experiences forever.

7. Life/Birthdays: ok..so I joined the "30" club on the 22nd and I have to admit that the time leading up to the big day was quite difficult for me. Something about leaving my 20's behind just really stressed me out. But once my big day actually arrived I was ok. I was thankful that God had given me a wonderful 30 years..I have a beautiful and healthy son, a fabulous husband, wonderful family and friends, what more could I possibly need??? So I have decided to fully embrace being "30" and look forward to my next 30 years :)

16 Months

Ok..so I am really behind on my blogging, but I just had to let everyone know that Nolan is 16 months old today!! He is the joy of my life and I have so much fun with him. He is all boy, but such a sweet little man, too. Bill and I love him more than words can say, so Happy 16 Month Birthday, Nolan :)

We have been extremely busy this fall, but I promise to post some pics from all of our fun adventures very soon!!