December Nolanisms

• At our church service they have a "children's moment" after the first song and after that the kids go to a special children's service. But the kids have to be 4, so we always naturally took Nolan to nursery when we got there. Then we saw some other parents of 2 and 3 year olds who kept their kids with them so they could hear the children's moment and then they took them to nursery. We agreed it would be a great thing to start doing. So, Nolan has been pretty excited, but apparently thought during church we would physically see Jesus and God. One Sunday he kept asking, "is that God? Where's God? Where's Jesus?" Then the song was over and the church got queit. It was that moment that Nolan pointed at Paul, the music minister, the one with the guitar, and said, "IS THAT JESUS?" I'm so relieved God has a sense of humor (and that those around us did, too).
• A few days after we returned from Disney Nolan and I were eating lunch together. He was munching on an apple and asked, "Will this make me bigger?" And I said, "Yes, it will make you big and strong." He paused. "Then I can be big and ride the big brown roller coaster?"
• Nolan was very concerned that the cookies and milk we left for Santa would be eaten by the dogs. This is mostly due to the fact that in his "Olivia" Christmas book the dog does eat the cookies and drink Santa's milk. We had to reassure him that the dogs would be asleep too and the cookies and milk were for Santa only!
• Nolan told Brian he had to cut his hair off so it could grow back red.
• This morning Nolan asked me if he could have some snacks. I told him, "No, we're going to have lunch in a little bit." Pause. Then he said to me, "If you don't give me snacks, I'll poop my pants." After I pooped my pants with surprise I had quite the stern talking to with little mister. There were no snacks and no pooping of the pants, just in case you were wondering. I even got an unforced apology!

Christmas Fa la la

Christmas Eve we went to church and then came home to crock pot chili and corn bread. We're fancy in these parts. It actually was perfect and tasted soooo good. After dinner we decorated our sugar cookies for Santa and put out his plate of cookies, carrots for those busy reindeer and a glass of milk. Nolan was tough to get to sleep that night, but he finally crashed. He slept later than I would have thought and woke about 7:30 asking, "Is Santa here?" We told him no, but he HAD paid a visit last night. Nolan rushed out to the living room and gasped! "HE ATE THE COOKIES!" Another gasp. "HE DRANK HIS MILK!" I wish we had that on film. The rest of the morning was fantastic, opening gifts, playing, taking pictures, and laughing. After playing all morning Nolan was hard pressed to wake up from his nap. We finally got him awake and headed to Cheyna and Andrew's, where Gramma Susan made a delicious Christmas dinner for us, the Vrabecs and the Malones. It was awesome and we were totally spoiled! The night ended with some Wii Guitar Hero. I have yet to try my hand at it, but it's so fun to watch people play it. Brian was really good, but I'm sure Andrew will have more practice by the next go-round!

Nolan decorating cookies:

Setting out the goodies for Santa and his reindeer:

Opening his stocking Christmas morning. He REALLY is the only kid I've ever heard of that got excited about getting underwear (they are Thomas the Train, so it's pretty exciting):A gift from Santa, a Hot Wheels car track:Daddy, Nolan and the dogs opening gifts:The Vrabec's got the twins a gift. It made me tear up, it's still so surreal and awesome and it was so sweet of them:The kiddos digging into presents:

Our Christmas Miracle

Nolan has something very exciting he would like to share with you all!

Nolan will be a big brother and we couldn't be more thrilled!!! It's truly a miracle and we feel so blessed. We're so excited that our family is growing and that soon we'll be a family of five! That's right, a family of FIVE. It still hasn't sunk in, but I'm carrying twin miracles! I am 12 weeks pregnant and we've had 5 ultrasounds. We are still in a bit of shock and yet we are walking on cloud 9. Our due date is technically July 6th, but anything after 35 weeks with twins is considered full term, so most likely we're looking at sometime in June. Nolan sort of understands, since his best pal Abby has a new baby sister, and he kisses my belly twice, one for each baby. Other times he asks us when he'll get to have a baby in his belly. And last night he asked Brian if the babies would take his Christmas presents. Sibling rivalry starts early, I suppose! So, we still have lots of blogging to catch up on as far as our recent Disney trip, but I wanted to share our good news. Here's a picture of the little peanuts, from an ultrasound yesterday. Baby "A" is on the left, Baby "B" is on the right. Merry Christmas!

Wing Christmas Party

Last Saturday Brian's wing threw a family Christmas party (by family I mean totally geared towards kids). Nolan had a blast doing crafts, playing games, decorating cookies, dancing and meeting Santa. It is so magical and amazing to see Christmas through his eyes. It's truly a miracle! Anyway, here are some pictures.

Pin the nose on Santa:

Cookie decorating. It's an art form:

Abby, Nolan & Brian. Nolan's wearing the Santa hat they got to decorate:

The kiddos dancing the chicken dance!

Nolan sitting on Santa's lap. Santa brought all the kids a book!

The three of us:

Nolan holding Olivia

Nolan has been absolutely enthralled with "Baby Olivia." He would put himself into her car seat if he could. For the most part, he's VERY gentle (he scares me when he gets excited to see her). He also seems to relate babies with dogs, because he pets her like one, but at least he's gentle and we remind him to pat her belly, not her head and face. Last week Cheyna was kind enough to let Nolan hold her and he was so thrilled. I am probably biased, but I thought he did great. He sat VERY still, was very sweet, and even talked quietly. I was very proud and touched. And Olivia was very sweet, too, she didn't fuss and was an angel.

In this second picture he was attempting giving her the pacifer.

November's Nolanisms

I am being a total copy cat and stealing this idea from Cheyna (she calls her monthly "ramblings" and I refrained from stealing the title name, but I was certainly tempted). Anyway, Nolan is at a great age where he does and especially says some REALLY funny, weird, crazy things. There are so many that it would be silly to keep posting them seperately, so I will be keeping a monthly tab and at the end of each month I'll post them!

• Nolan for a long time referred to anything that was in the past and not today as "yesternight." And he would usually preface it with, "Remember, yesternight...?"Just recently he has changed all of his past tense stories to "A couple weeks ago." "Remember, a couple weeks ago...?"
• Being new at going potty, there is lots of exciting times in the bathroom. He recently went and was very excited and shouted, "Momma, come look. There's a Momma poop, a Daddy poop, and a Baby poop! Ohhh, the baby poop is so cute." I couldn't make this up if I tried. Then when we flushed he waved good-bye to all of them by name.
• Lately when I get frustrated with Nolan (usually when we're trying to get out the door to go somewhere), he just holds up on of his hands to me and says, "Easy. Just chill out." I can't help but laugh!
• Nolan loves to ask where things are, like people's doctors, houses, etc. Yesterday he was standing in our room and randomly asked Brian where Dylan's house was. Brian pointed that direction and said, "You just drive that way to get to Dylan's house." Nolan's response was a very lively, "No Daddy, you can't drive through the walls!!"
• I got my toes painted brown (for fall) and since it's been way too long since I've done my toenails Nolan got very confused. He asked, "Where are your red nails?" And I said, I had them painted a different color, brown. He thought a minute and said, "So where did you put your other red nails?" I had to get some nail polish out to explain the logistics of it all, so he wouldn't think I had a drawer full of toes in different shades.
• Nolan will try to scam/talk his way out of time out anyway he can. This morning he was crying and said he was "scared." I told him I was in the kitchen and turned on the light while he finished his time out. When he got finished, he told me, "I had a scary dream in time out. It was realllly scary."
• Every time Nolan gets in trouble lately he tells us, "You hurt my feelings." Which actually sounds like this, "You hurt my feeewings." The first couple times it was cute, but now he uses it as an excuse instead of listening to what he did wrong, so we told him he can't say that when he's in trouble (to which he responds, "But you hurt my feewings and that makes me sad.")

TURKEY DAY 2008

Brian and I had the opportunity to host Thanksgiving at our house this year. The last time we had it at our place, we were living in our one bedroom apartment in Lompoc, CA, celebrating our first holiday far from home. The Vrabec and Malone families joined us and everyone shared in making lots of yummy goodies and all the traditional fixin's. Brian fried a turkey and it was soooo good, as usual. We are truly so blessed to have such great friends to spend the holiday with! I didn't take as many pictures as I would like, but that means for once I didn't have the camera attached to my face and was actually visiting and chatting.

Abby & Nolan:

Jamie, Jake, Donovan and Olivia: The big people table: The kid table:

Turkey Man:

Happy Thanksgiving

This is my favorite time of year and Thanksgiving is such a joyful holiday and this year we have so much to be thankful for. I recently read an article that said that studies show that people with grateful hearts have happier lives. I truly believe that and though I strive to live my life that way, day to day stresses often get in my way of that goal. But I am grateful and thankful for so much. I'm thankful for our house and instead of complaining of being stuffed to the gills, this year I vow to be thankful that we have a home, that its heated/cooled and that we are free and safe. I'm thankful for our wonderful friends, family and military family. Like my friend Tammi said on her blog, in recent years as Nolan grows, its been more difficult for me to be so far from where both Brian and I grew up and where the majority of our families live. I long to be with them every single holiday. And yet, I do believe my life is fuller because of the friends we have spent holidays with while living from our families. "Home" is indeed where the Air Force sends us. I'm grateful for friends who help take care of Nolan while I'm sick, whether planned, or last minute. I'm thankful for support of loved ones, because when the going gets tough, sadly not everyone in this world is blessed with this kind of support. I am of course thankful for my best friend, my husband. He works so hard to provide for our family, so that I can stay home with Nolan, and yet shares in so much of the household responsibilities. I'm especially thankful for our sweet Nolan, who continues to test and challenge and awe and amaze me. He brings laughter into every day and with every single day my love grows for him. I'm thankful for my Lord, who has opened my eyes to incredible things this past year. They have not all been easy lessons, but He has brought me much peace, joy and wisdom, and I look forward to learning more and growing more in His way. There is so much more to be thankful for, but we have a full day ahead of us. I pray that each of you has a beautiful day, full of laughter, friends, love, family and food. Happy Thanksgiving!

Open Gymnastics

Last Friday we tried a new gymnastics place in Destin. It's a further trek, but I had heard good things about it and they are the only gym in the area with a foam pit. Nolan and Abby had a great time and ran around non-stop. So, mission accomplished!

Swinging on the bar: Rock climbing:

Going down the slide into the foam pit. Nolan was really unsure about this at first, but after the first time, he LOVED it:

Thanksgiving Lunch

Last Thursday Nolan's preschool hosted a Thanksgiving lunch that the parents were invited to attend. Unfortunately Brian couldn't make it, but I was able to go and it was really fun to see Nolan in action at school a bit and to share lunch with him. He seemed really excited, too. After lunch the kids sang a turkey song, but Nolan got really upset, I think because he realized I was leaving again. He never gets upset when I drop him off, but I think he was under the impression that when I showed up, it was time go home. I felt bad that I hadn't thought to explain that to him before I dropped him off that morning. Oh well, I enjoyed hearing his teacher and the other kids sing the song and I know he calmed down as soon as I left (I waited around the corner to be sure). Anyway, it was a really special lunch and although I'm sure Nolan will forget about it, I'll always treasure it!

Nolan, Abby & classmates right before they sang their "thank you" song they sing before lunch every day.

The lunch set up:Nolan and Momma:

Nolan's Day

Nolan's actual birthday was (last) Sunday, and since his party was Saturday, we opted for a fun, quiet day on Sunday. After his nap we headed to Destin where we let him play on the playground at the commons for a while. It got cold quickly as the sun set, but he didn't care. After he burned some energy he rode the train they have and sat on Santa's lap. Then we ended the night at Chili's for some yummy food and a great birthday dessert.

We had a hard time getting Nolan to look at us, he was pretty enthralled with Santa.

Nolan's first words to Santa were, "It's my birthday!" Santa asked him what he would like for Christmas once he was settled on his lap. Nolan replied without thinking: "Candy." I think it's because we told him he'd get a candy cane if he sat on his lap. Since then he's thought of many toys he would like to tell Santa about so we will probably have to pay him another visit.Riding the train:Our family:Nolan's HUGE dessert at Chili's, chocolate molten cake. We helped out of course!

Saying Good-Bye

A couple weeks ago Staci and Dan hosted a get together to say farewell to Rob, Tara and Alex, who have moved to Virginia. They have been such a great family to get to know and we girls had some fun nights out. Actually the guys had some great nights out, as well. Being part of the Air Force brings some great people into our lives, that's my favorite part of being military. But the good-byes are never easy. The good news is that we have a very good chance of getting DC in the future, and since Tara and Rob will be there permanently, we hope our paths will cross again. We already miss you guys and Crestview just won't be the same without you.

The kids playing at the party (with Rob in the background)

This was actually the day before Tara and Rob left town. Tara and Staci watched Abby & Nolan and not only was I so grateful for that, but am soooo happy Staci snapped a picture! From L-R: Cameron, Dylan, Brandon (brothers), Alex, Abby & Nolan:

And last, but not least, the girls. Emily, Staci, Sam, Tara & Cheyna.

Nolan's Bday Party

We had Nolan's 3rd birthday party on Saturday at the place he took gymnastics last year. We still go to open gym a couple times a month and Nolan actually loves it more this year (now that he's not in a class) than last. One year makes a huge difference and I really wish it wasn't such a trek or there would be no doubt I would have him in class this year. Anyway, the two ladies who ran his party were sweet and started the kids on an obstacle course, which they followed for a bit, but since most were 3 year olds, they ended up just letting them run wild and the kids had a blast. After an hour of gym time we had pizza and cake, then opened up presents. It all flew by, but it we all had fun.

Here are the kiddos in the gym!

Nolan "bunny hopping" down the tumble track:

Abby & Tristan:Nolan "bear walking"

Brycen:Cameron on the rope:Nolan on the bar:The kids eating pizza & Cake:The cake. Brian and I made this Friday night and it took way longer than I would have expected, but we had a great time. Brian crafted the cake platter, which is engineer quality (the store only sold them in 6 packs and were priced ridiculously and weren't half as sturdy). We crushed up oreos for the road (which we put down over white icing in the shape of the 3) and used the scraped off middle oreo cream as the white lines in the road. The grass is icing, piped by yours truly. It was all worth it to see Nolan's face, he was over the moon for the cake. I know I'm not being very modest here, and I apologize, but Brian and I worked pretty hard and were so happy with the outcome!

I couldn't fit all the way behind the chair (there's a bench back there), so this isn't the best angle for a family, and of course Nolan's not looking, but you get the idea!

Gift opening. Nolan was totally spoiled and we are so grateful for awesome, amazing friends!