Stop and Go

Brad, Nolan and I went to the Richland Creek Greenway this morning! Fall is beginning to make his presence known in Middle TN, and I could not be happier. It is my favorite season after all! There was a cool breeze, crunchy leaves, and lots of treasures for Nolan to find.

This is usually what he looks life AFTER a good time, but he fell asleep on the way. I hated to wake that little face up :)


It took him a minute or two to wake up fully, but after that he was READY TO GO!



The first part of our trip we let him walk. We went about 5 yards in 10 minutes. He would stop to look at everything he found on the ground, so Brad swooped him up and put him on his shoulders. That was fun for Brad for about 10 minutes. We then opted for the stroller. That was fun for Nolan for about 10 minutes, so we let him walk again. And then we were back to square one. Stopping to look at everything!

In awe of the fence.

Found something interesting...a leaf, twig, or bug I am sure.

Almost made it to us

Yes, Brad and I popped a squat right there on the path. We had a nice little break in the shade while Nolan took him time catching up to us. He brought daddy a nice little twig and wanted to sit in his lap.

Daddy wanted sugar...Nolan did not!

He threw himself a little fit. This is his new pout pose. It is the funniest thing. I don't know where he picked it up, but he does this whenever he is mad, annoyed, or frustrated :)

And then he got over it

Found another twig and was in awe

The twig got old and boring, so he moved on to bigger and better things. He had a ball pushing the stroller around. Brad and I just sat there soaking up the good weather!

Photographer Needed!

Our little family of three needs an around the clock photographer to capture our moments. Today on our walk we tried depratly to get a good pic of the three of us. Here is what we got:

A ball and a.........

What do you notice besides the ball????

Yes, it is a spoon. He carried that spoon around all night. We read books...there was the spoon. We played cars...there was the spoon. When we started playing with the ball and he kept the spoon, I had to grab the camera :)

Perfect Yard

When we first started looking at houses, we knew we wanted some kind of yard. Small, big, flat, hilly...whatever...just a yard. How happy am I that we bought a house with a large mostly flat lot. Up until about a week ago, Nolan would not walk in grass. Super funny to watch him stop dead in his tracks when he game to the green stuff. Last night I was able to get a few shots of Nolan really enjoying his back yard :)


Couldn't quite make it up these


Rolling in the grass getting all kinds of chiggers I am sure :)



Mid run...no he is not wearing a dress. His outfit is not buttoned :)

Face plant!!! No worries...he was on the grass :)

He is love of the backyard is only going to get stronger as he grows older!

The Age of Play

As Nolan grows, watching him play is becoming more and more fun. He has gone from batting at toys on his mobile to pushing a car across the floor. This weekend we went to Dragon Park for some fun. We have not been since Nolan started walking, so it was very neat to watch him go where HE wanted to go.


Brad and his mini me


Never to far from daddy's shadow. He loved walking on the padded ground. It must have felt funny to him because as soon as he stepped on it he TOOK OFF!

There he goes!

He was not so sure about walking on the Dragon

See...not too excited

Our little dragon slayer

He was much more comfortable climbing on the playground. He and Brad walked on the ramps and platforms for a very long time!

We had a ton of fun...great weather...fun stuff to do...and it was free! What more could we ask for????

Simple things....

Nolan loves things made out of trees. He could sit and play with these blocks made of painted cardboard for hours. Tonight he played for 45 minutes and mommy caught up on All My Children :)

Karma will BITE ya..........................

if not, Nolan will :)

Daycare has been eventful since we started back to school. One event that has been a permanent fixture is BITING! Our first two weeks of school, Nolan was bit 5 out of 10 days. Some days it was multiple bites. The first time I was a little sad for him. I could just imagine the thoughts going through his head. He has never encountered another kid who hurt him, or a person who hurt him for that matter. (we won't count shot visits....I like to think he forgets about it as soon as we walk out the door) The second time I was a little perturbed. The third time I was down right mad. I won't mention the child's name. We will call him Biter Baby. This kid attacked my baby a few more times and then it all seemed to stop. A week or two went by and Biter Baby seemed to have found something else to chew on....or at least another kid. When we went for Nolan's 1 year appointment, I talked about it with Dr. Ladd. He was the one to bring it up as he saw a bite mark on Nolan's shoulder. He told me not to get too mad about it bc one day my kid was going to be the Biter Baby. I laughed and really didn't think much about it until I got the above note from daycare. Nolan learned to bite and ohhh he did...officially bite three and tried to snack on a few more. Of course, I don't think his biting adventure was done out of meanness. Most, I think, were a combo of rough love and major teething. Nolan and I had a big talk about biting when we got home that evening. Why??? Because he bit me! He was stroking my hair and loving my face one minute, and the next minute he had my cheekbone in a death grip! So, how does karma work again????? Ahhh yes, be careful what you do unto other because they might do the same right back at ya.................

Yep, the day after Nolan went on his biting rampage he was bit two times on the arm. Biter Baby strikes again! I ask you....who would want to bite this uber cute chunk of love???