The Birthday Boy

A quick post to show you pictures of our birthday fun last night.   :)   I decorated the kitchen quickly before my boys got home, and Nolan loved seeing all the streamers hanging up.   And he is a frosting boy for sure!   I was giving him tastes of the frosting while I was making his cupcakes, and at one point he smacked his lips and wagged his tongue at me to let me know "Momma, I want some more of that stuff!!!"  At first he wasn't quite sure what to do with the cupcake, but Daddy helped him get some of that sweet treat into his mouth and after that it was allllll over!  After his bath and refusing his bottle (I'm sure his belly had had enough), he went right to sleep!  So much birthday excitement!

And done....

Just Because....

Just because my baby is ONE today....

Seriously, where did the time go????  And yes, I'm the one who sat there last night looking through his baby pictures trying not to cry (that was tough).    It's been amazing watching him grow and learn new things every day.   I feel so blessed to be this sweet boy's mother.   And celebrating his one year birthday is bittersweet -  our year has been filled with so much love and laughter, snuggles and tickles, tears of joy and tears of frustration (for both Nolan and me); it's been an amazing experience so far.   I look forward to all that is in store for us this next,busy year!   :)  

Birthday Gift Ideas

Many people have asked me "What does Nolan want for his birthday?"  Well, if he could talk, I'm sure he'd tell me, but really his actions say it all.  Here's a look at some of the things Nolan enjoys playing with.  That should help some people out when trying to find the perfect gift for this almost one year old.   :)

Straws....straws are fun.  You can take them out of
the container, put them back in, take them out again,
crawl around the house with them, chew on them, etc. 
The possibilities are endless.

Highlighters are also cool.  You can roll them
around or use them as drumsticks. 
His favorites are yellow and orange.

Okay, at this point we all know spatulas are totally cool...

Canisters and boxes from the recyling are fun toys.  They make
great drums....or stools.  Nolan likes to sit on coffee cans.

Cupcakes liners!!!  So much fun!

 See!?!  Even the dog likes them!

 Here, Buck!  Look at this awesome toy!

So, hopefully that gave you some good ideas.   The boy really doesn't need much!  :)   He certainly knows how to make his own fun! 

Big Boy!

Hi, I use a fork now!

This week, we were having a little fussiness at dinner time.  (What!?!?!  Nolan?  NO!)  We had just sat down to eat and food was already ending up on the floor.  I gave him a bite with my fork and suddenly he was interested again.  I remembered my lovely sister passing along a little fork and spoon set so I grabbed the fork from that and, voila, it did the trick!  Now we bring out his little fork when less than desirable foods are on the tray or he's being Sgt. Crankypants. 

Okay, he might not always get it right...

Mmmmm, nectarines taste so much better with a fork!







11 months!

One more month!  I can't believe our baby boy is turning 1.  Such a fun, exciting, and BUSY year!  :)  Here's pics from his 11 month photo session.   He does not sit for long anymore, that's for sure!  I used to be able to sit him there and get 50 photos - I think we got about 10-15 before he decided to split. 

This is how it starts...

Then he goes after the index card...

Then he goes after Puppy...

Rarrrrrr!!!!!!!

This time he decided he was done! 

And he took Puppy with him!

See ya!  


How this kid makes me laugh!   Looking forward to celebrating his very first birthday and seeing what the next year will bring us!

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.