Jibber Jabber

Little man and I had a lot of fun together this weekend! I took Friday off so that I could spend the day with my mom at her last ever special olympics!! Since she's retiring at the end of this year, I really don't think she'll be making it down to just check out the events again.

I've "helped" out the past few years. Mostly, I help keep an eye on some of her students if they're particularly wander-y. But this year I was able to have some fun with Nolan at some of the booths! It was a beautiful day!

Eating blueberries after finding my mom and her class

 Noticing that my little man somehow got a taste of independence and tried running away from me several times inspired me to write my cell phone number on his arm. He saw that I could draw on him so he thought it was fun to draw on himself too (hence his left arm)

His first experience with markers btw

 Things got a little crazy and we were arrested for being too awesome.

Bail was set at a bajillion dollars. 

 And this is the best picture I could get of my mom, Nolan and myself.

Then I went to my hometown for the weekend to spend time with my mom for her birthday and the town's annual festival so I could show Nolan his first ever parade. Nolan got the hang of picking up candy for another girl we were sitting next to. It was typical parade candy (like Frooties and dum dum suckers) so Nolan wasn't missing out on anything by sharing. And our parade buddy got a lot of extra candy.

We checked out the train engine at a nearby park. We were able to climb in and pull the bell! Nolan thought this was pretty awesome. A lot of stuff to play with and things to touch!

This was definitely a weekend of us in different vehicle types, that's for sure. 

We played at a nearby park where Nolan's toes touched sand for the first time. We're in Iowa, any sand touching is quite deliberate.

Favorite little trouble maker...

 I'd say it's pretty clear that Nolan had a great time!

And let's not forget that it was my mom's 29th birthday! Nolan wished her a happy birthday properly. I made her cupcakes but forgot them at home. Wah wahhhhh.

Also, Nolan has figured out what boogers are... and uses time wisely in the car by picking them out of his nose. When I get to his door to get him out of the seat... he points at me with his booger laden finger and just says "booger".

Thanks little man.

22 Months

Nolan is just about the cutest little stinker.

Some updates!

Big Haircut:

So the other day, Brian had me cut his hair using a hair trimmer I bought him for xmas. I did a good job if I do say so myself! It was so easy too. Easy enough that I could cut Nolan's hair...???

I used the longest comb setting for the trimmer but that apparently made his hair still quite short so in a matter of minutes my toddler looked like a preschooler.

He looks like he's about ready to enlist in the army. 

I bought another trimmer comb, a longer one... a whopping 1.5" trimmer (as opposed to the 1" trimmer) to do next time. Admittedly, I'm lazy about cutting Nolan's hair so this short cut should last us a while, but I like longer locks. 

Little Teacher:

Yesterday, Jamie sent me a text saying that Nolan was "reading" a book to the younger boy at daycare. And boy did that make my heart melt!

Maybe it was his new haircut that make him feel that much more grown up. 

He's going to be a good big brother someday!

Flowers for Me!

A big shout out to Amy and Brandon for sending me flowers for Mother's Day. The flowers are GORGEOUS and were such a surprise!!! THANK YOU!

Summer Plans:

• Help my mom with Special Olympics
• Go to a Twins Game
• Go to Colorado for Xmas in July!
• Cousin Camp (maybe a night or two) for Nolan
• Swim lessons for Nolan
• Tumbling lessons for Nolan

Blast from the Past:

Can I just say that I love the Timehop app? And now how Facebook is doing something similar? This was Nolan one year ago today:

And this was him yesterday:

You'll notice that he's wearing and not messing with his hat! I bought that for him for the Twins game we're going to attend. He wrinkles his nose like Daddy when the sun is in his eyes. Since sunglasses aren't his thing (yet) a hat appears to be working for now!

Puddles:

The neighbors were watering their new tree, so some puddle playing was to be had... 

Note to self:

While working on Brian's Father's Day gift (it's not a surprise gift really) I noticed that I don't take nearly enough pictures. I don't know if it's because it's nice outside and we're finally getting some fun new shots in, but I had some slim pickin's for photos in certain months. I definitely still got some fun ones though!

Pontoon

This is still going to be a hard year. I knew that after Lynn died it would be hard, that little things here and there would remind me of her and I just got slapped in the face with a reminder...

My coworker just announced that Little Big Town is going to be in Ames doing a concert sometime in the next few months which is pretty cool. I don't know many of their songs, but I liked Boondocks. I remember last summer Lynn and Eben came to the house for a random visit and while we were outside I hooked up my phone to play some music. I even made a special playlist just for Lynn with songs that she liked named "Oldies" so that we'd have a more universally liked playlist going on in the background.

We even introduced her to Pandora and how you can make a playlist based after a band you like or a song in particular that you enjoy. Even though you're not guaranteed to listen to that particular song you could hear some music similar to that.

So we were outside on a warm summer day, me, Lynn, Eben, Brian, and probably Nolan. I remember Lynn was searching her mind for the song she liked that summer. Oh yes, it was Pontoon by Little Big Town. She described it like it took her away to some magical place, probably on a boat, drinking a beer (gasp), feeling the wind blowing against your face... you know... just a relaxing day on a boat.

So Little Big Town is coming to town. I remembered that Pontoon was one of her favorite songs.

If she were still alive, I'd probably text her right now to let her know that they're coming and it might be a fun concert to go to. Maybe get her and Eben to come to Ames and have a little date night. Who knows. Honestly I doubt very much that they'd come, but it's definitely something that I think she would have liked to know about considering how she perfectly captured her feelings when she listened to the song Pontoon.

Now of course there's a piece of my heart that feels unresolved here. Yet another shitty reminder that Lynn is no longer with us. We went up to the farm for Mother's Day so Brian could give her some flowers (daisies) which was obviously hard... then there's this. A seemingly insignificant memory that has turned into me crying at my desk yet again.

But I guess I'll listen to the Pontoon Pandora Playlist for the rest of the day in memory of Lynn.

Busy Week

First of all, I should announce that a parade is going to be held in my honor for setting up my printer to print on 4.13x5.5" cardstock ON THE FIRST TRY. Seriously. That's some varsity level office work there. BOOM. And also....

I won an award.

Professional and Scientific Superior Service award winner right here, y'all. And a plaque to prove it. The award comes complete with a $1000 prize/bonus which I'll get on my next paycheck. That kind of makes up for the spending frenzy I've been on, yes?

It feels good to be recognized as a "superior" employee - even though I work with some amazing people so we're all "superior" *puts nose up in the air*

In other news, I'm really looking forward to my Seattle vacation with the fam. We are leaving in about 4 months and to prepare... I bought everyone a rain jacket!!! Including little man, who I also bought a pair of matching rain boots for.

He hates the boots to be honest, they're kind of stiff and probably just difficult to walk in. When I put them on him he went "ow, ow" which really doesn't make sense because if anything they're too big for him and he hadn't even set his feet on the floor at that point. So I had to kind of force him to embrace it. 

I feel like Lynn would have really enjoyed the boots. I could see him wearing them on the farm so his shoes don't get muddy, and of course thinking they're pretty darn cute. I mean, baby shoes! They're so TINY!

We're getting a lot of rain here this week. Maybe we'll get a lot of outdoor practice!

Moving On

Brian told me (and I hope this wasn't supposed to be a surprise because I thought it was cute) that one of the things he always loved about his parents' relationship was that his father brought his mother different flowers after they first were married. I believe it was a different flower every day for a week, then every week for a month and then every month for a year. One time, Eben even picked a wild orchid which he later learned was an endangered species... OOPS!

He told me that it's his intention to bring his mother a different flower every year to her grave.

I just think that's so heartbreakingly sweet.

Brian is going up to the farm this weekend to help out and then we'll probably go together next weekend for Mother's Day so he can lay some flowers on her grave.

As for me? My spending frenzy has wound down considerably, but I'm still reaping the rewards I guess. I signed us up for a lawn care service, something I've wanted for a while because my neighbors are like... insane lawn perfectionists. Ne'er a weed in sight. Whereas my lawn is littered with dandelions and prickly thistles. Not exactly what I want Nolan to step his bare feet on during a warm summer's day.

Additionally, I signed us up for Nature Box (supporting the Savage Lovecast) and got us down for a 6 month subscription. I thought it would be fun to get different snacks delivered that Nolan could enjoy and so far I think the carrot/strawberry chews are the winner. In the interest of putting pictures on the blog again, these are what we got:

L to R

Blueberry Greek Yogurt Pretzels

Peanut Butter Nom Noms

Sriracha Roasted Cashews

Strawberry Carrot Fruit Chews

Honey Crunch Crisps

And now I'm hungry and I didn't bring any snacks to work...