Those Faces...

My boys' personalities expressed in a picture. Let's start with Nolan. Look at that face..those eyes. This boy's eyes light up the room. He has always had "smiling eyes".  I can always tell when he is sick by the way his eyes look because the light in them fades. Of course, his head is not next to mine as I asked. He put his Nolan-ness in the pic by putting his head funnily to the side. My goofy, fun loving kid makes sure he is seen and heard at all times. Then there is James. Some might say that he is calm and still in the pic because he is still a baby. However, Nolan at the same age was just as energetic and full off goof as he is now. James is a calm soul. He is okay watching from afar and let's his brother take center stage...for the most part. James is quite bashful, and typically lies his head on me when being introduced to someone new. He has his moments though. When needed, he is loud just like his brother, and has the best baby laugh. I just love watching these two grow thier personalities.  It amazes me how two humans who came from the same two people could be so different in almost every way. 

Spring has Sprung

Spring Break 2014 is coming to a close...and I'm cool with that :). Being home with two mobile, energetic boys has me tired, exhausted, and just plain worn out! We have managed to have some fun, but we have managed to have some arguments. Yes, I argue with my 10 month old. Example: when he tries to climb the fire place and I say no, he turns and cusses me in baby talk. I consider that an argument! Here are some pics of our week:

Love these two boys more than I could have ever imagined. I love them and I am ready to go back to work! Ha! 

Oldest/Annoying

Oh!!!!  This photo says so much about these two.  On one hand, it shows just how much Nolan loves to annoy his brother. He isn't mean to him, but he sure doesn't know when to stop. James rides the fence of having fun/get the heck away. So, in Nolan's defense James is a little wishy washy when it comes to playin with his older brother. On the other hand, this picture show so much of Nolan's personality!  Do you see that sweet smile? He is almost oblivious to James and his irritation. Nolan lives in the land of fun and play which can occasionally drive James crazy.  I think it's a little too early to pin down James' personality, but as of now he seems to be a little more serious than his brother.  I just love seeing how these two are growing and developing into thier own distinct personalities :)

Teething is for the BIRDS!

My poor James:(  He is one mean teething machine, and it's wearing us out! Nolan didn't cut his first tooth until he was 8 months. It seemed as though he cut two at a time each month after that. James on the other hand already has 8 teeth at 10 months. These last four have all come in at the same time.

In this pic, you can see that one of the tops has broken through. The other top plus the one next to it are bulging. He is chewing everything in sight, and we should have invested stock in baby Orajel. Praying that this phase passes soon because brad nor I can handle the waking in the middle of the night for much longer!

James: 9 months

James had his 9 month check up this morning, and let me say....wow!

He is off the chart in both weight and height (weight 28.14 height 31 1/8) AND his head is in the 90th percentile. Boy is big! Dr. Ladd asked if people commented on his bigness...only everywhere we go 😄 He was quick to tell me James was perfect and that he was growing at a normal pace on the chart. Big pace, but normal!  Here are a few highlights:

-he says mama and daddy and possible bottle. He knows what bite means and will follow or open his mouth...surprise.

- he claps...cute!

- size 4 diapers, but bought a box of size 5 yesterday 

- crawling everywhere and started for real pulling up TODAY...while on the skype with Grandma!

-wears 18 month clothes but needs 24 month sleepers

-has 4 bottom teeth and two top that have just poked through

- eyes are still blue and I hope they stay that way! 

He is such a chill baby and I am told often that he is so sweet, mild, and content. Don't let that fool you though. His cry is louder than Nolan's ever was 😁

Valentine's Day...Batman Style

Brad and I haven't had a Valentine date night since we had kids. Personally, I hate asking people to baby sit, and who wants to watch someone else's kids on the day of love?  So, Brad planned a wonderfully romantic evening that would appeal to all.  First, we went to Target to spend our Valentine gift cards from Grandma.  Nolan got some super cool Justice League cars and James got diapers :). Then, we picked up dinner from Chipotle...yummm.  Finally, we had our special Baman evening.  The entire family donned bat shirts and watched a movie...here we are in our awesome wear:

Nolan was in Heaven. He nicknamed us all: Batdad, Batmom, batson, and batbaby. We were the batclub. 

And just for fun...here is a pick of sweet baby James on Valentine's day at school. There are only three girls in his class and five boys. This is Mackenna. She is a few months younger than James :) She has two older brothers, so I have a feeling that she will be beating James up sooner than later :)

Nolan's first stomach bug :(

Poor Nolan got his first stomach virus. Being in daycare since he was three months old, I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that it has taken this long.  I'll spare the details, but he vomited 4 times from 11:30 pm to 3:30 am. Once in the bed, once beside the toilet, once down the side of his bed, and finally once in the trash can.  Let me say this. When my students throw up at school, it makes me almost throw up. I can't handle it. A few people have told me it wouldn't be as bad of a reaction with my own kids....whatever. Look at this pitiful face:

He spend the ENTIRE day in bed on Saturday:

But he was rolling with the punches by Sunday.  24 hour bug one claimed one member of our family...thank The Lord!

Apples...yummmmm!

More often than not, I find pics of Nolan and James at roughly the same age doing roughly the same thing.  See.....

Let's take a look:

1. It seems that I eat a lot of apples...better than eating a lot of french fries I suppose :)

2. James and Nolan are about a month off in age in this picture. James is almost 9 months and Nolan is almost 8 months. 

3. Nolan was seriously short changed in the hair department.

4. For some reason I have always pictured that Nolan was just as big as James at this age...apparently not!

5. Looking at pictures side by side really makes me question if they share the same mother and father! Ha!

He Eats!

With Nolan, I was an eager beaver when it came to feeding solid foods. I'm not sure he was even 4 months old before I started shoving cereal down his throat...he was a chunk so he didn't mind :) With James, I was a little more patient. Mainly, because I knew that adding three meals a day was a little less convenient when having meals out of the house...ha! I started James a little after 6 months.  He has enjoyed his puréed fruits, veggies and meats as I'm sure you have noticed :) I introduced puffs at almost 8 months. He hated them. Gagged. Spit them out every time. I have him peas...gagged. Mashed potatoes...gagged. Green beans...for some reason...LOVED! Tonight I tried cooked carrots and those were a big it as well. It seems that he is getting used to chunks rather than purées. So, I gave the puffs another go, and..............

Insert a super cute video of him feeding himself a puff, but blogger app won't let me upload a video...arggggg!

Where's Waldo...I mean James

My weeee little big man has found his mobility. Not the crawling fashion, the scooting fashion. Now that he can reverse reverse, the boy can get around! By get around I mean hide! In the past two days alone, we've had the "where is James" moment.

I told you about this a few posts ago. A day or two later we had this....

You could imagine my horror when I walked into the room and could not find him anywhere! He was being rather quiet...unusual for him. 

Guess it's a good thing that my floors are typically clean! 

Toofers!

Well, they say no two kids are alike! I have found that to be TRUE! Nolan did not get his first tooth until he was almost 9 months old. Freaked me out a little as all my mommy friends with babies his age had some already. James got his first tooth around 6-7 months and now at 8 months he has 4! All on the bottom and a little on the crooked side :/

Reverse Reverse

When forward is the direction your aiming for, then you can imagine James' frustration when all he can muster is backwards.  He wants to crawl soooo badly! He can get up on all fours and rock, but he can not move in that position. The only way for him to become mobile is to get on his belly and push himself backward. He has gotten a little smart and realized that if he spins himself while on his belly then he can reverse in the direction that he actually wants to go in. Poor thing!  He is playing more and More on the floor and actually puts himself from a sitting to a belly position. Last night I was grading papers at the table and realized that I had not heard little man in a while. Walked over and for a split second got nervous. He wasn't where I left him! 

He reversed himself under the chair! 

8 Months Old!

Somehow sweet baby James turned 8 months old. He is sweet and laid back for the most part. He loves his big brother and big brother loves him a little too much at times. James has the best cheeks ever! Can't not even begin to tell you how many comments we receive on a daily basis regarding those things :) Lately James has been:

-Not happy about sitting in one place. This kid wants to crawl something awful! If he could just get that food out of the way! 

-Big :) he wears size 4 diapers and 18 month clothes. He can still wear 12 month, but 18 is preferred.

-saying mama! He officially says mama and knows what it means and who I am. We have heard da a few times but not enough to count ;)

-on his 4th round of ear infections :( 

-has 3 teeth! Chomp Chomp!

I mean have you seen a more handsome little man?? 

Christmas 2013

What is it about "babies first Christmas" that makes it a little more exciting? On Nolan's first Christmas he was a wee little thing...almost 4 months old. At almost 8 months, James was so much more aware of everything! He loved the tree so much that I had to put all of the ornaments at the top.  He thought the wrapped presents were awesome. So much so that he picked all the bows off of the ones he could reach from his walker :)  Our elf, Clyde, made the month of December especially fun! He hid all over the house, but I think Nolan's favorite spot to find him was in the tissue box (he pulled all the tissue out and threw them on the tree).  I snapped some pics with my phone, but most are on my camera. These few will have to do for now :)

The Texas crew arrived on Monday night just in time to look after James while we went to church. Unfortunately, James had another round of double ear infections :( 

We had fun in Pam's on Christmas Eve! Nolan was so excited that Santa was coming! 

In true Christmas morning fashion, I had to wake both boys up to see what Santa had brought! Don't you love your cute pajamas? Mommy and daddy tradition of new pajamas on Christmas Eve :) It seemed to be that Nolan's four-year-old Christmas was a Christmas full of superheroes. James loves his play door! 

Such a wonderful Christmas with two super sweet  boys! 

Catch Up

Since it has been a hot minute since I have updated, I thought I would do a "catch up" post. Here it goes!

Nolan went to see Dr. Tabor! He was perfect at his first dentist visit :)

I turned 31 and James made me a happy birthday sign. This also marked the first time that I left baby James. Nolan and I headed to TX for Uncle Garrett's wedding weekend. It was fun and hectic so it was best that James stayed behind with daddy.

Batman and Robin had a fabulous Halloween! We had ourselves a wicked Halloween storm, but thankfully it ended in time for trick-or-treat!

We spent Thanksgiving at grandma's house! James was wonderful on his first plane ride there on the way back though it was a different story! Poor James got terribly sick while we were there and had to go to the urgent care.  Luckily, it was only silly infections.  You can imagine what a plane ride will do to an air infection :(

Blogger App = Wowzers!

Testing this little Blogger app! Two reasons my blog has slowed to a halt: 1. Too hard to upload pics to website from my phone 2. Too time consuming with two boys and working full time to mess with the website. If this app works like they say, then I will have died and gone to Heaven! Here it goes!!!

Testing Picture:

Nolan Meets Thomas

Nolan has had a thing for trains for the past few years.  We see one and he screams STOP!  We hear one and he yells SHHHH LISTEN!  Last year when Thomas came to town we tried to buy tickets, but we did realize how crazy busy it would be.  All tickets were sold out by the time we decided to go.  This year we did not take things by chance.  Thomas was today....we bought tickets in May :)  Grandmommy treated Nolan to the best birthday present ever! 

 When we first arrived, Nolan was so overwhelmed.  Some kids freak when they are at their mecca, and other stand back and take it all in first.  He was the latter of the two. 

 

Once Nolan got his Toby tattoo, he started to show is usual excitement :)

 

 

And we could not leave out James....he obviously got a James tattoo :)

 

 We visited the gift shop, Lego/train table station, and then went to stand in line.  Whoever decided that #1 this was a good event to do in the summer time and #2 standing in the sun for 20 minutes with screaming children everywhere was a good idea is a crazy person. 

 

 When we finally were able to file out of the line and walk to our passenger car, we all felt much better.  I think just the idea of being in AC for a bit perked everyone up!

 

Brad and Grandmommy being goofy.  All of us decided that we would love for train transportation to come back to popularity. So relaxing and fun!

 

 Elise took most of the pictures, so I wanted to make sure everyone knew that she was indeed with us on our trip.

 

 Nolan looked out the window the entire trip.  The only time he spoke was to tell us when another car was coming up, more tracks were spotted, and ding ding gate were flashing.

 

 

I could not believe the number of people standing in line to "meet Thomas" and "Sir Topin Hat.  Mama doesn't do long lines, heat, or crazy people.  So, we walked to the front of the Thomas line, waved and said hi to Thomas from behind the chains, took a pic and called it a day!  It worked for Nolan, so that's all that matters :)