Bad Judge of Character

A wise man once said something to the tune of, "If bad things keep happening to you, you're the common denominator so look at yourself before blaming others." His name is Dan Savage.

Damn, that man has taught me a lot. I highly suggest you all listen to his podcast Savage Love. Especially if you're conservative because he just GETS you guys.</ sarcasm>

For reals though, he is hilarious and if you're a liberal, crunchy girl like myself you will enjoy.
Anyways - I have once again found myself at a point where I have selected someone to care for my child who is not trustworthy. And for the first time in my life, I had to fire someone yesterday.

It started before I went back to work. I wanted to find a reliable babysitter for childcare needs outside of the daycare realm. I met with this girl who I found on care.com and had coffee with her. She seemed perfect! A sophomore in college (will be around for a few more years!), previously a nanny for a family of 4 kids (experience!), reliable transportation (a NEED because Nolan needs to get to daycare), early childhood education major (perfect major for a babysitter!), etc.

In hindsight, Mary Poppins was most definitely on drugs.

I had her watch Nolan a few times and those times all went fine... but then this happened:

1.) When I texted her the night before a babysitting job (to be at my house at 6:15ish am) she told me that she had strep and wasn't on antibiotics for 24 hours yet but she could still come watch Nolan... Ummmm no. My baby was 3ish months and I definitely didn't want to expose him to those germs. So I told her not to come.

2.) Another morning when she was scheduled to watch Nolan - I confirmed with her the night before and everything was ready to go. But 6:15am came and went without a text saying she'd be late. I sent her a message asking if everything was ok but got nothing. Finally at 7:00 I had to call my daycare provider and drop off Nolan early and pay $1/minute for it... She later called me in tears saying she set her alarm clock for PM instead of AM.

3) Finally the last straw. Last night I emailed her to give her some details of Friday morning's baby sitting job where I needed to be out the house by 6:00am. Her exact words were:

Hey sorry I just got this have been busy wih [sic] finals. My dad was planning on taking me to mall of America tomorrow for the weekend to celebrate the end of the semester but if there is nobody else to watch Nolan I can always try to plan it another time I feel bad I forgot that I had this day down to watch him!

Gee, thanks for making other commitments.

So I had to respond with this:

I'm sorry but this arrangement just isn't working out. I need someone reliable to watch my son and I don't feel like you have proved yourself to be someone I can trust going forward.

I have to wonder, since you didn't cancel before I sent this email,  if you were going to tell me you went out of town or if I was going to find myself without care on Friday morning.

Good luck to you on your finals.

So I'm back to square one finding someone who can watch Nolan.

This comes back to me though, I found a shitty daycare provider who ended up f*cking me over at the last minute, and this grosky biotch who thinks that she can just do as she pleases. 

I'm going back to care.com to find a new caretaker but this time I am going to have to bring Brian in on the interviews because I so clearly am an awful judge of character.

Unfortunate Addictions

I may be playing a little fast and loose with the word "unfortunate" but yeah - I've got a problem. It involves me and my baby. Specifically me spending FAR TOO MUCH on things he will look adorable in. So every time that Baby Gap sends me an email I cringe on the inside because it means I have to OF COURSE look at their website and have an inner battle where I figure out whether or not I want to spend far too much money for a pair of jeans that he won't wear that often because I only ever put him in PJs

Aunt Amy Love!

Since it's been a few weeks since my last post, a picture heavy blog is in order. So let me walk you through the past 2ish months!

A few weeks back my Mom gave Nolan his present - a CUSTOMIZED bookshelf which she burned/painted herself.

Pay no attention to the fact that I never give 2 thoughts about how I look, even for pictures! For the record, those tank tops are a nursing mother's must have (Target, they have clippy straps for quick access *wink wink*)

View from top

Front

Top Right Angle

Top Left Angle "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good"

I bought a hat that is supposed to be for a 2 year old because that's the smallest I could find... Look at how this kid rocks the conehead look:

Welcome Grandma Lynn!!

"Ya know, Dad, this hat is like really warm and kinda big. You've gotta talk to mom."

Grandma Becky has come over and babysat for us while we went to a freeeeeeeezing cold tailgate. I'm sure she enjoyed watching Nolan more than I enjoyed freezing my butt off while pumping in the car, in the front seat, while people (drunk people) wandered by. HELLOOOO NURSE!

She's blinking... whoops

OK I LOVE THESE PICTURES! These are from Thanksgiving at Grandma Becky's. How often do you get a smiling picture? Let along one where he's sooo cuddly with Grandma?

OMG I could just melt.

Of course I got a little creative one day.

Don't worry Sanctimommy, I left him unattended after this so I could drink some booze. 

Santa wasn't as nice in person as you might think. For starters he didn't actually say "ho ho ho" nor did he tuck his pant leg in for the photo. I even tried to get him to play along and I asked him if Nolan had been naughty or nice and he barely muttered that he was (of course) on the nice list.

Ohhhh how I judge.

Moving right along... Nolan has started eating solids... or wearing them at least!

You took a picture? Uncool Mom!

To be honest, Nolan looks the best when he's not wearing anything at all ('cept a diaper... he's not trustworthy enough to be sans diaper yet)

He's a strong tummy timer!

He loves being tickled.

And of course neglected.

I only joke about the neglect. Yes, I posed him with xmas lights for pictures. Some people have posted similar stuff on facebook and get reamed out for not taking care of their baby. For the record, I was with him the whole time, and the thing about me getting a drink above is a joke. #disclaimer

My little buddy dressed as Wilson in a DIY halloween outfit. 

So I shall leave you here. Coming soon: Hopefully a bunch of blogs because I'm getting TWELVE days off starting Friday at 4ish.

This Too Shall Pass

Baby raisin' is hard work. And the hardest part of all so far (for me) is the lack of sleep. It's obviously a major drag and it's impossibly hard to keep optimistic when certain babies *ahem* are sleeping 12 hour stretches. (LUCKY!)

Last night after a particularly emotional day which was a long time coming from sleep deprivation - Brian volunteered to do all the night wakings/feedings/changing diapers etc. So finally after 4.5 months I finally slept 7 hours in.a.row.

They say this is the 4 month sleep regression or the 4 month wakeful. Where my baby WAS sleeping pretty well and well on his way to sleeping through the night on a regular basis until once upon a time he decided that it was time to start growing or that he misses me in the middle of the night or whatever it is. So this tired lady has been a sleep deprived walking zombie.

My problem yesterday was comparing my baby with another baby who is sleeping extremely well. So I decided I need to focus on the things my baby does well that other babies maybe aren't doing so well (this isn't supposed to be a jab at anyone who's currently having these problems, I just need to focus on some positive!)

• He isn't colicky. Praise the flying spaghetti monster for this! I have heard horror stories of those with colicky babies and I count myself incredibly lucky that he is a happy baby!
• He doesn't spit up... like ever. Ok there's been a few times, but I can count each of those times on one hand.
• He's healthy! This is most important. That baby is right on track with weight and height and he's hitting milestones left and right :)
• He's not rolling over completely yet... I know this is kind of a silly one, but until he actually starts rolling over, I do get a little break by setting him on his activity mat and not worrying that he's going to get up and start moving around. He'll be crawling before I know it and for now the fact that he's immobile is a blessing in disguise.
• He surprises me with some nights of longer sleep. In fact, last night when Brian was watching him he slept a 6 hour stretch #ishouldhaveknownthatwouldhappen
• He's laughing and smiling. That baby loves being happy! He loves playing with me. He's grabbing my hair and for some reason thinks it's delicious. He grabs my mouth/teeth and it's pretty hilarious.
• He LOVES bathtime! OMG so cute! He flaps his arms up and down when he's excited and he does that in the bath. He also is kicking his feet and splish splashing! At first I wasn't sure if that meant that he was uncomfortable and wanted out until he paused, looked at me, and gave me a HUGE smile! 

And on a similar although not completely related note - we must always remember that coffee exists and I have access to it. 

OH AND - I have 2 full weeks of work before I have 12 days of vacation IN.A.ROW!!!

Errrrrybody SHOTS!

Funny how when I used to talk about shots, it was more like this...

Now shot has become a 4 letter word which resulted in me taking a "worst mother of the year" photo.

I promise I picked him up right after and he calmed down right away!

Poor little guy... He had 4 shots. Yes, I vaccinate. I don't get this whole anti-vac movement lately. Jenny McCarthy is NOT who I'm getting medical advice from, I'm sorry but I'm not.

Uhhhh doiiiiy

Nolan took em like a champ. Of course he cried when getting them initially but he was fine afterwards. I also took him to Target after to pick up a prescription and he was asleep in his car seat most of the time. Then when he woke up I figured he deserved some cuddles so we walked around Target together.

I'm pretty sure Target is his favorite place in the world. I hold Nolan over my shoulder so he can look up and move his head around. The brightness and the colors... he's just staring at everything with his mouth open in awe.

Stats update:
Nolan now weighs in at 14 pounds 2 ounces, and is 25 1/4 inches long. I believe his head circumference is off the charts but his weight and height are smack dab at 50%.

Things he's a'doin':

• Grabbing his toys
• Eating his toys
• Eating his hands
• New goal: eating his toes
• Putting weight on his legs (he's done this for a long time)
• Droooooooling
• "Talking"
• Giggling
• Smiling at us
• And so much more. 

It's really a pretty fun time. He's just starting to learn so much!

Juxtaposition

What a difference a night makes.

Saturday night was honestly one of the worst nights of sleep I got since Nolan was born. Seriously, the worst. It was on par with those first nights when he came home and I barely got an hour in between feedings.

I don't know what quite literally possessed my sweet little baby but he was up screaming half the night. I couldn't handle it.

Luckily, Brian was around to help with the non-feeding parts of his screaming. And apparently, Nolan thought it would be a good idea to play at midnight instead of sleep so Brian took him downstairs to play on the swing.

Ohhhhhh my.

I'm still a little tired just thinking about it.

But last night was a breath of fresh air.

Last night, Nolan slept from 7:30-3:30 and then went to bed til 6:30 after I fed him.

It was like a vacation.

Please let this be the end of his sleep regression...

Sleepless Nights

Now that the day has come and gone, I really regret posting about my stoooopid day care lady instead of talking about a really awesome day/anniversary!

October 30, 2012 - it's the day I found out I was going to have NOLAN!

How it all happened was kind of a little too planned out. When you're TTCing with such discipline that you know exactly the day that you could potentially get a positive HPT it almost makes it seem a little rigid. Well, I remember promising myself for some reason that I was going to wait until Halloween morning to take a pregnancy test. This way, there would be more of the hormone in my system that would give me a positive and I wouldn't get bummed out by a false negative result.

Well, when you buy your pregnancy tests on amazon at the whopping expense of $10 for 25 tests, it's not exactly cost prohibitive to take a test and think, "awww bummer, it's negative today, maybe it'll be positive tomorrow."

Nope.

Well, they say one of the earliest signs of pregnancy can be increase sense of smell. We have a candle in our room that's lilac scented, or it was once upon a time. It had been sitting on top of my dresser for months by that point, not being lit or touched in any way. But I walked passed it on the 29th before bed and smelled it just as strong as ever.

This is when your brain becomes a real scumbag and you get all excited about being pregnant - even though you don't know for sure yet.

I casually mentioned this to Brian before going to bed. Of course, like any potential father to be he fell directly asleep and had no problems staying asleep... *slight eye roll*... whereas I couldn't stop thinking about it and cursed myself for saying that I would wait another day to take a test.

Poppycock.

I don't need to wait a whole day...

I'll just get up in the middle of the night for my regularly scheduled bathroom break and take a test at 2am in the morning.

Yeah, I'll just take a test, set it on the counter, walk away, and then in the morning I'll see if there's a line or not. I'll just shut my eyes and go right to---

Oh, it's been 5 minutes, I better go to the bathroom again and see.

AND HOLY SHIT! It was the fakest, squintiest, could probably be mistaken for the dreaded "line eye" line I've ever seen. It was the first sight of my positive pregnancy test. And I couldn't believe it.

That was over a year ago now. And that was a sleepless night.

Now I'm thankful that I am still having sleepless nights. Although for a slightly different, yet very much related, reason.

Annoying Adventures in Babysitting

Sit back now while I tell you the tale of the wicked daycare provider. OOooOOOooOOOooOOOooOOOOOHHHHH!

It started back in a cold winter, a beautiful princess named Elizabeth was very early on in her pregnancy. And at the wisdom of friends and family, she sought after a daycare provider for her soon to be born baby boy.

Twas a chilly day that winters morn when the beautiful princess had met with a daycare provider who seemed to have all that she was looking for. All the state qualifications, an educational curriculum, and probably what sold her the most was how close the daycare provider lived to her. It wasn't until much later that the princess realized she should have dug into this much deeper.

On February the second, two thousand and thirteen, the princess and her husband, the prince, wrote a check securing a place at the daycare providers home when the princess had to go back to work.

Everyone went about their routines without a hitch for the next few months.

After the baby prince was born in July, the princess gave notice to her daycare provider that she was scheduled to return to work on October the seventh. A short 12 weeks after giving birth to the handsome baby prince.

The week before she was scheduled to return to work, the princess texted her daycare provider asking to set up a time to meet her baby prince. She did not want to introduce her child until he had his proper vaccinations especially considering he would be going to a daycare facility and could likely pick up an illness rather easily.

The wicked daycare lady wasn't too thrilled about meeting the baby prince as he cancelled on an appointment to meet the baby twice. Here is the actual text message exchange,.

Proof that we had open communication until the date of her dropping us from her service.

On September 26th the wicked daycare lady said that she couldn't meet with Nolan before starting daycare. She "had something come up that needs to be dealt with before we leave this weekend." You can see this from her text above!

On September 27th she wrote a letter, a really generic one (I have it at home and I'll probably post a copy of it later) about how she can no longer care for us.

On September 28th, the USPS postmarked this envelope.

On September 30th at 4:00pm I went to check my mail and I found this letter. I, I mean the princess, was very upset by this news as she was scheduled to return to work 6 days from then.

So in a panicked frenzy, the princess called a bunch of people to try to get help. Of course, it's difficult to find caretakers on such short notice, even more difficult to find someone who has a place for an infant. So reluctantly the princess started to call providers that this wicked daycare lady recommended in her letter in which she was dumped from her care.

This process was extremely difficult for the princess. Imagine having just one week left with your baby before going back to work full time - and instead of having a blissful week without anything to worry about, you're instead frantically searching for a replacement caretaker. Tearfully the princess called caretakers. Each caretaker that she called didn't have space, so they recommended 3-4 people that might have space. The princess called each of those caretakers and so on and so forth.

The princess unfortunately spent the last week of her maternity leave in actual emotional distress. She had the rug pulled out from underneath her and she needed to find new care. When she finally found a place that could take her baby temporarily, she felt better, but not MUCH better. She wanted to vet her new caretaker and try to make sure she was doing the very best she could for her child.

Uhhhh...

So far the TL;DR is: I got dumped by my daycare lady just 6 days before I was scheduled to go back to work.

The letter the daycare lady wrote stated that she would pay us our deposit back in 30... 30 what? days? weeks? months? years? She didn't clarify.

This is where it's getting sticky. The daycare lady isn't responding to my text messages. She will henceforth be called a coward. She defriended me from facebook within minutes of me acknowledging receipt of the letter via text in which, yes, I called her a coward. So maybe she wasn't too pleased with me but I'm not too pleased with her either.

----

This blog has gotten really long, and honestly I just don't have it in me to finish the recent happenings of the last few days just yet. Maybe i'll post the resolution to this when it happens but for now I'm honestly just exhausted to relive it right now.

Picture Overload

I have a hard time deleting pictures from my phone, my camera, you name it. I have to triple check that it's saved in some other media before I take it off of my memory card.

My brand new Samsung Galaxy S4 took the brunt of my picture taking these past few months. I couldn't update my apps and that's no good!

Anyways, after confirming that my pictures are being uploaded to Google Plus (AWESOME) yesterday, I cleared my phone of all videos and pictures. Additionally, I added a 32gig (megabite? I really don't know, it's 32 of whatever units of measure they are) to my phone so I can really go overboard going forward.

So without further ado, here are some phone pictures that haven't been seen elsewhere. OHHHH!

He can DRARRRR

I bought this chalkboard and liquid chalk as a photo prop. I already love it! It's fun to drarrrr.

Capturing the smile! Nolan & Daddy Edition

Nolan is getting soooo big! Every single morning it's hard to believe how chubby his cheeks are getting, or how he's getting too big for his sleep sack! He's growing up and now he's starting to discover his voice! I swear when he cries sometimes I hear him calling out for Mama!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cJ6VCTSync&feature=youtu.be

And I've been trying very hard to get Brian to take pictures with me and Nolan. This was a morning photoshoot that consisted of me trying to get Nolan to stop pulling out my hair! I somehow smiled through it anyway.

 

This week I ordered a buttload of real prints to hang around and give to family. I also created a "pregnancy" photo book that I think will be kind of neat for Nolan to see when he gets bigger. And I'm doing a Nolan's First Year - "Yearbook" something that I want to do every year for him.

 

I thought back to my baby book and how there is no discrimination about what pictures went in there because back then if you took a picture it was a keeper because of the steps it took to take that picture. You had to develop film and hope for a miracle that you caught something worth saving. In the end, I'm pretty sure no baby pictures were ever thrown away because I was blinking or because someone's hair didn't look quite right. I'm holding on to that mindset with Nolan's baby pictures. There is no picture worth deleting and no picture worth keeping out of the book. Yes, I realize this means the book will be really REALLY thick.

 

I don't care. And neither does this stud!

So strong, standing up with minimal help!

Kick Kick SMILE!

 



My baby is a gif!!!!

Google plus just DID this for me. How is this possible? I effing LOVE it and now I'm going to try and figure out how to make moreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

THUH-REE MONTHS ALREADY?!

My baby is THREE MONTHS OLD! I can't believe it. 

I am so lucky that Nolan is my baby. For one thing, he's so darn cute!

Exhibit A

And for another, he's extremely well behaved. He never cries unless there is a reason. Thank goodness he's not colicky. I'm sure I'd love him just the same if he was, but I'm just so lucky.

So my little guy is now officially 3 months old. I can't get over it. I honestly can't. My life has changed so much in the last 3 months and every hour of missing sleep is totally worth it. 

I can't get over how much he's grown from when he was a brand new baby. At his last appointment he was 11 pounds and some change. When he was born he was 8 pounds 4 ounces. I wonder what he'll be at his next appointment next month.

So here's the highlights of what's happened this last week or so:

• I got a bumbo from the consignment shop in town. I Luh-OVE this thing already. I can tell Nolan does too. He looks like such a big boy sitting in his new chair. I just got the thing yesterday so I don't have any pics I can easily access now (on digital camera, not my phone).
• He's got a kinda/sorta breathy giggle. I can't wait til I hear the real thing.
• He totally is going to say mama before dadda. I can hear the "m's" in his cries. I swear sometimes he does say "maaamaaaa" when he really needs me. I SWEAR. Brian thinks so too. 
• We had a photoshoot yesterday to celebrate his 3 month birthday. And we've started a "grow with me" package so he'll have professional 6, 9, and 12 month pictures too. 
• I shop for clothes for him still a little too much, but now I'm way more selective. I honestly needed to buy a ton of long sleeved shirts because I pretty much bought his entire first year wardrobe before he was born. Therefore only the summery stuff was out. So yeah, I needed to buy new clothes. It's consigned clothes so I totes feel ok about it. Seriously, it's not that much money. Yes, I realize he's going to grow out of them soon. SHUT UP I won't stop buying clothes for him. 
• Last week was his first week of daycare... 

This is a fake smile

It was a tearful morning last Monday when I dropped Nolan off at day care for the first time. He's my little guy and only I know how to take care of him! What if he doesn't get held the way that he likes to be held when he's upset? What if I didn't send enough milk with him?

But more upsetting was just being away from him at all. 

I've been away from Nolan a few times since he was born, but until last week it was never for more than... 4 hours tops. And that's a liberal estimate. It was extremely hard. Up until I was actually driving him to the day care it didn't feel real. Then all the sudden it hit me. 

Luckily, throwing myself back into work when it's extremely busy has helped with the transition. I don't have time to really think about how much I miss Nolan when I'm this busy. That's helpful in a way.

Here's a picture of us together this morning on his THREE MONTH BIRTHDAY!

This time my smile is just super goofy! But we got a Nolan smile so I'm using this one vs. the other one where neither of us look ready.

Awwwww he's so cute. Should mama get him a cupcake for his birthday (and then eat it herself)? Who am I kidding, that's what I'm doing!!!

Back2Work

I didn't have to buy any supplies (other than pants to fit my differently shaped buttocks) to go Back2Work but I do have that feeling of newness.

I am officially back to work. I had to take Nolan to day care this morning and I officially sobbed uncontrollably while dropping him off. UGH my heart hurts.

But the real surprise is how well I'm doing AT work. I really feel OK here. Maybe it's because when I'm here I just feel like I did pre-baby. I am working and bringing home the beneys (my job doesn't pay a lot so Brian brings home the Benjamin's, I bring home the benefits)

Getting ready to drop Nolan off was hard. I had to remember all the things he'll need on a daily basis. He doesn't need toys, but I just realized I forgot his blanket... you know, the one that smells like me so he feels like I'm there. BAD MAMA!

I'm really thankful that I was able to work out an arrangement so that I can take a shorter lunch and leave a little earlier to pick up Nolan. ZOMG I can't wait to see him and kiss him soooo much. He's going to be like, "Muh-OMMMM STOP! Not in front of my new friends!"

Nolan and K - I don't know her parents yet so I'd feel bad naming her on my blog!

Check out my boy, such a ladies man! He is actually 4 days younger than the pretty miss laying next to him. She looks so much smaller than him!

---

Shopping is a problem for me. I'm constantly looking at Baby Gap's clothes. Seriously, someone needs to stop me. I can't afford that kind of clothing for my baby! CONSIGNMENT SHOPPING IS BETTER!

... but BABY GAP IS SOOOOOO CUTE!....

---

Ummm yeah, I'm going to celebrate my first day back to work with my husband and NOLAN tonight! So excited to see my little man... just a few more minutes... :)

A Mother Son Moment

There are some memories that you just know as the happen that you'll remember them forever. With Nolan, I feel like all these moments are such a blur that it's hard to remember each coo or cuddle.

Tonight, while it was raining I started a little tradition that I hope will last a lifetime. I sat with Nolan on a chair in the garage and just watched the rain fall and listen to the thunder.

I can't wait for the next storm so I can cuddle with this little guy...

2 Months!

Yesterday was Nolan's 2 month "birthday"! And today marks his 9 week "birthday"

I wonder when I'll stop counting his age in terms of weeks.

Anyways, 'twas a pretty rough day yesterday for us Cyclone fans. I didn't watch the game. Admittedly, I can't watch sports for 2 reasons. The first reason is that I didn't grow up in a house watching sports and therefore I get lost when watching them. Me being lost means that I'm bored watching the game and I can't contribute to any conversation with people watching the game with me. The second reason, especially for Cyclone games, I'm always bummed out when they lose. And since I have no real vested interest in the game itself other than the outcome, I'd prefer to not watch.

There, I said it.

But I DO enjoy tailgating!

I took Nolan to his very first tailgate yesterday. It was HOT. He was doing just fine at the student lot despite the loud music. They do say that babies love loud environments because that's what they're used to when they're on the inside. The hot weather did cut my tailgating experience short unfortunately. I was paranoid the entire time that some exposed skin of Nolan's would get sunburned. I covered him with a blanket and a hat which as you can imagine didn't help with the whole heat thing.

Let's Go State!

Tomorrow is a whole new first for me and Nolan. We are getting a babysitter for a short period of time in the afternoon. I'm doing something for myself and I've hired someone to watch him. WISH ME LUCK. I have a feeling that I'm going to be nervous the entire time...

All The Things

My life is consumed by Nolan. It's so great!!

I know it's silly but it's hard to really put into words what's been going on recently.

I think the long and short of it is that my heart is overflowing. I sometimes look at Nolan and he'll start smiling at me and it just brings tears of happiness to my eyes. It's so hard to think of life without him. He's seriously just such a good boy!

Looking forward to the future, I have decided that we need to have semi-regular care for when me and Brian want to have date nights. So today for the first time ever I'm conducting an interview of sorts with a girl that I am hoping will be our babysitter! She's a sophomore in early childhood education so pretty much perfect. I hope that we can build a good relationship so that she'll be around for the next few years while Nolan grows up!

I'm meeting her today for coffee... it kind of feels like a blind date. I feel so nervous! What if she doesn't like me? What if I seem like an overbearing mother who can't leave her son without a novel of instruction to follow? Will Nolan like her? Will she be a good babysitter? How much do we pay her????

In all reality though, Nolan is a really good baby. He really doesn't cry much at all. As I look at him right now on his activity mat sucking on his pacifier he looks like he's just going to fall asleep. Those eyes are just open a sliver. Eventually he'll give in to the heaviness of his eyelids and close them completely. That's another one of my favorite things to watch him do. Just giving in to the sleepiness.

This last weekend Nolan met Christian and James! It was so much fun. We all went to Iowa City and my siblings were all there and he had his first 2 nights away from home. Previously he spent one night away from home at Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Eben's place.

Next week I am "looking forward to" Nolan getting his vaccinations. I say "looking forward to" because I know that they will help him boost his immune system and therefore be healthier overall. But I am NOT looking forward to him being in any sort of pain from injections.

Such a cute napper! If only he could do this without being held...

Visiting Great Aunt Lavonne

Loving his activity mat!

Killin' it at Tummy Time!

Our first restaurant outing with a waitress! (Hickory Park)

Napping with Uncle C!

Just playin'

Mini Brian and Regular Sized Brian

Mama having a little fun time without baby (Grandma Becky was watching him!)

Just looking super fly!

Looking at Daddy during Tummy Time!