April Fools Day!!!

March 31, 2011 - got home from work, went for a run, Joe went for his first bike ride of the year, walked with Nolan in the stroller to get the mail, grilled some chicken for dinner, no snow in the yard - it was a wonderful evening. 

April 1, 2011 - THIS

View of the front yard

AND THIS

View of the back yard





YUCK!!!   To top it off, we had a Snow Day for school.  Which means I am now getting out June 20th - which is a Monday.  Yup, teachers and students will come back to school that Monday to squeeze in that last day.  And don't worry, lots of learning will be taking place that day.  Riiiiiiight. 
Anywho, it all worked out because Nolan has a miserable cold so we were all able to be home to snuggle and get some rest.  This is what rest looks like in Nolan's world:

He's getting pretty good at this!

It was a fun day even if it means one more day in June.  Hoping the weather warms up quickly and melts this snow!  It's spring after all and that is not a joke!

Maine Maple Sunday

I've lived in Maine officially for a little over 9 years now.   Until recently, I had never heard of Maine Maple Sunday.  In fact, some people who have lived here all their lives had never heard of or attended this statewide event.  Finally, this year we decided to venture out and see what the hype was about.  There's a very helpful website (http://www.mainemapleproducers.com/maine-maple-sunday-map.html) where you can find a sugar shack near you.   We decided to drive about 25 minutes to Sabattus to Jillson's Farm.  http://jillsonfarm.com/  Before we headed out, I asked Joe "Do you want to do the pancake breakfast there or just grab something on the way?"  "Nope," he said, "I'm hungry now."  So after a quick stop at my favorite place, Tim Horton's, we were on our way.   When we first turned down the road to Jillson's, Joe let out a big groan.  There were cars lining the road on both sides and as we approached the farm, we saw a huge line spilling out the door to the very small building in which you can sit down and enjoy a very large pancake breakfast (if you feel like waiting an hour or more...).   At that moment, I was very happy that Joe had turned down the idea of waiting and eating breakfast there even though I had really been looking forward to it.  

Thinking Joe was going to turn around and head home (he's not one for crowds), he finally found a spot to park.   We grabbed the stroller out of the back and headed down the road.  We quickly got into a line heading into a greenhouse not knowing what it was for and were informed if we waited we could get free ice cream.  Yup, my favorite words - 'free' and 'ice cream.'  

Waiting for ice cream

Surprisingly, we didn't have to wait very long and once we got inside the heated greenhouse, we were happy to find it was a very comfortable 80 degrees in there!   :)    Not only was there delicious free maple ice cream topped with warm maple syrup, but they were also selling a variety of maple syrup products - lollipops, kettle corn, candy, and maple syrup taffy.   They were making the taffy right in front of you - there was a slab of snow on the table and they were boiling the syrup behind them.  Then they'd take the heated syrup, pour it on top of the cold snow in swirls and drag a popsicle stick across it, curling the syrup around stick.  So cool.  (And as Joe pointed out, he could just make me that at home)  But I grabbed a stick of taffy to go with my ice cream.    We hung out a while in the warm greenhouse, enjoying our treats. 

Mmmmm....I like ice cream!


Then we headed back out into the cold, windy day to explore more of the farm.  We spotted some oxen up in front of a big red barn and made our way up there. 

We ventured inside the barn to visit with some more farm animals.  There were bunnies, a horse, a goat, 2 cows, some turkeys, a goose, a momma pig and her tiny newborn babies, and 2 male pigs.  Nolan really loved the bunnies.  So much so Daddy is promising Nolan a bunny when he gets older.  Momma is not sure she supports this.  The turkeys and goose were pretty noisy and Nolan wasn't too sure how he felt about them.   He was very interested in the cows as well (even if they were stinky).   

Momma pig and her babies

Hanging with the cows

After checking out the chicken coop and pausing for a picture with an old tractor, we decided we were ready to head home.  So despite the cold wind and the crowds, it was a fun morning.   And after that ice cream, someone decided with a big grin that he wasn't going to be taking a nap when we got home...complete with clapping hands. 

He's a Heartbreaker! Dream maker! Love taker!

The shirt says it all, ladies!  But he's allll mine!  :)

Breakin' hearts and takin' names since 2010

 Here's some more pics from our Sunday morning....

Huh?

That was hilarious!  You're so funny, momma!

Love this tush!



King of weird facial expressions

Clap, clap, clap!

Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful Sunday!  I think spring truly is right around the corner...

Month by month....

Some of you know I follow (and maybe you belong to it) a message board of lovely ladies who live in Maine, used to live in Maine, or wish to return to Maine someday.    Some of these girls are my "internet friends" and some have become my "in real life friends" who I have the pleasure of getting together with every once in a while.  But I digress - I got the wonderful idea from these girls to take monthly pictures of Nolan as he grows!  Nolan will be turning 11 months at the end of March, but let me catch you up on the last 10!  :) 





 Two more months to go!  Can't believe my baby will be turning 1.  





Busy, Busy!

Nolan learned to crawl one month ago....you'd think he's been doing this his whole life!  He is everywhere, into everything, and moving quite quickly!   He loves playing in the big cabinet in our kitchen and will pull out whatever he can gets his little pudgy hands on.   He also enjoys trying to take Buckley's dishes out of the stand.  This is a big no-no (which Nolan finds hilarious)!   Yes, hearing the word "No" makes him giggle.  We have quite the little trouble-maker on our hands.  

Nolan has also been working on pulling himself up.  He can get up onto his knees all by himself and needs a little help getting into a standing position.   Last night, he even attempted to pull himself up in the bathtub! 

This past weekend Nolan finally cut his first tooth!   Big whoop, I know, but I thought he was going to be toothless past his first birthday.   No sleepless nights thankfully.   He had a couple of nights that he had a little trouble falling asleep, but other than that, sleep has been uninterrupted.  Yay!   This weekend Nolan also started clapping.  Cutest.thing.ever(well for today anyways).  Nothing I love more than an adoring audience!  Nolan is very generous with the applause.  :)    He especially loves my rendition of "Itsy Bitsy Spider." 

Let's see what else???  Oh!  Nolan will also throw his arms up in the air when you say "How big's the baby?  Sooooo big!"   Complete with a big grin!   I say it over and over again just to get the reaction out of him.     The last thing I have to report is that Nolan is mimicing more words - the latest being "Uh oh!"  Although sometimes his sound more like "Uh uh uh uh ooooohhhh!"   Adorable. 

We enjoy every minute with our sweet boy!  It is so much fun watching him learn and do new things every day.   I go to bed every night with my heart full of so much love and joy.  He really completes our lives. 

Now for some pics! 

Causing trouble



Shhhhhh!!!  The baby is sleeping! 



Pulling up

What's in here??

How we keep track of him

On the move!

Well, we've been waiting and waiting with anticipation for Nolan to crawl.   We were really looking forward to this next milestone. Yes, people said it would change things, no longer turning our backs, etc. etc. but who doesn't look forward to their child achieving their next goal?!?  It's exciting all the same! 

For the past month or so we've been "practicing."  We'd hold up his hips when he propped himself up on his arms and his legs would flail about ultimately ending in a face plant with his inability to understand the forward motion his arms would need to undertake.  Then he started to get that whole concept; slowly moving his hands forward after rocking back and forth momentarily, yet forgetting to follow through with the legs ending in a belly flop on the floor.  So we'd get behind him and hold onto those little chubby thighs, helping him coordinate the alternating left-right action his legs would engage in.  One, two, and flop.  Ah well...baby steps. 

Then, this past Sunday (SuperBowl Sunday I might add) we were at a friend's house watching the game and eating snacks.  Joe and I were both chit-chatting with friends at the gathering while Nolan played happily and quietly on the floor.  Next thing I know, I look over and realize that Nolan is making his way across the floor towards a plastic Hannaford shopping bag.  It took me a few seconds to realize what was going on, but then I said "Honey, our child is crawling!"   Luckily, someone said "Where's your camera??"  So I grabbed my camera just in time to catch a few shots.  Suddenly it wasn't the game everyone was watching - our baby was crawling!  We were so excited.   I was able to get it on video, but this time Nolan needed a little more motivation.  Hence the cheese and cracker plate you'll see.  And yes, he did get a cracker as his reward!  So time to officially babyproof the house!

Nolan's First Christmas

Every month that passes, I just can't believe how big my little guy is getting. 2 days after Christmas, he turned 8 months old! We are 3/4 of the way to his first birthday. Time is definitely flying! Watching him go through all of his first holidays has been fun. First Halloween, First Thanksgiving, but we were really looking forward to his First Christmas. We knew he wouldn't really "get" Christmas, but seeing the wonder in his eyes the first time he saw the tree light up or watching him open (aka stare while we opened) his first present was so fun and amazing. In fact, saying "Good night!" to the Christmas tree became a ritual. He would touch the needles on the tree and swat at the ornaments and laugh. Adorable. I wonder if he realizes it's gone now?

Nolan received many wonderful, generous gifts, but one of the faves is his red spatula from Grandma. :) This gift came about because we were Skypeing with my mom one day, and to keep Nolan busy while I prepared his breakfast I gave him a rubber spatula to play with. It was gigantic and he kept almost whacking me and himself in the head with it. The only other spatula we had that was smaller had a splintering wooden handle that inevitably would've lead to trouble. So my mom found this medium-sized rubber spatula perfect for chewing. It's the go-to toy when he's hanging out in his highchair. A reminder that it's usually the simple things that keep babies entertained. :)

Anyways, it was an amazing first Christmas surrounded by many of our loved ones. We had Christmas down in Rhode Island with my family and then enjoyed an overnight at Joe's parents when we got back in town. Here's some pics from our Christmases...

We look forward to sharing more of Nolan's "firsts." :)