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!