Friday, December 17, 2010

What did we do?!

This afternoon our fireplace went from this




to this!


and we're hoping that eventually it will look something like this...

It's funny how the plan for us to paint our living room this weekend turned into a full fledged demolition of our fireplace. 
On Monday morning we head to Nebraska and then Minnesota for almost 2 weeks for Christmas, so we really want to get things in better shape before we leave.  I work Saturday and Sunday night so I guess Micah has a lot to do!
Here are pictures before we paint and remove the popcorn ceiling...


                           




All of the walls in our house have some crazy texture, and this room by far has the worst.  It will be interesting to paint since I don't think a normal roller will work.  We plan to paint all of the wood white and we have the main color picked out. It's the 2nd color on the swatch called quiet moments. 

We're undecided about what color to paint the current maroon portion.  I think we should go with white so it will almost look like one continuous board of sorts with the white trim and white chair rail.  Micah is thinking more of a darker color.  We also have to decide what parts of the ceiling and terraced areas we want to paint.  I have a feeling it will take us a few attempts to get it right.

We are resting now after hauling all of the bricks and tile out of our house and scraping off some of the popcorn ceiling and sanding most of the trim.  We have an early trip to Lowe's planned for tomorrow morning to get a few more things before we continue.

In the meantime I was looking through some pictures of Nole that I took today and I thought I might as well share them!


 And these were after his bath last night...
 This one looks like he is reading the warning label of his Jumperoo...in spanish :)
 I'm such a proud mama...my little boy can now get into things :)  We have a lot of work to do to baby proof the house.

I can't wait to see our families for Christmas!  And maybe some friends, too?!

Andrea, this post is for you...hopefully you are satisfied with the pictures of your nephew!  Now I want to see pictures of our newest nephew so hopefully things start moving along :)  Can't wait!!!!!!!!! 

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

6 months!


Mr. Nole at 6 months!
Weight 23 lbs 4 ozs (>97%)
Height 28.8 inches (>97%)
Head 18.2 inches (>97%)
BIG but consistent!
He is wearing mostly size 12-18 month clothes.  Good thing I didn't have too many things purchased for this winter because I never would have guessed he would be so big!
He also moved to the biggest size on his cloth diapers...we pray he slims down as he starts to crawl or he'll have to be potty trained in a few months so we don't have to find new diapers! ha :)
He is eating rice, wheat, or oat cereal twice a day, usually with fruit or veggie puree mixed in.  He finally managed to get a cheerio in his mouth for the first time recently.  He prefers his bananas whole...then he can gum them to a big slobbery mess which is way more fun than using a spoon :)
He also likes to nurse as often as I'll let him but he can go now for about 3-4 hours between feedings, though we don't always wait that long.
Nole is SO close to crawling forward.  He can move backward without a problem, it's just getting that forward momentum that has him currently perplexed!  We find him several times at night rocking back and forth on his hands and knees in his crib, usually screaming his head off but, seemingly still sleeping!
When we set up toys for him to go after he gets so determined he'll try for many minutes to get them before getting frustrated or laying his head down to rest :)
It seems Nole is testing out new funny tendencies on about a weekly basis just to keep us laughing.  For about a week he would open and close his mouth like he was really talking but wouldn't make a sound.  Then he went through a phase of trying to use all of his strength to do a task...like feeding himself- he would take the spoon and channel all of his power into his face and hands so it looks like he is going crazy trying to wrangle that spoon into his mouth!  And currently he is trying to gain a new perspective on things...he will be looking around and then find something interesting to peer at, then he will tilt his head to the side to get a better angle and then readjust, then tilt his head to the side again, what a goofy boy!
Helping daddy start a fire!
Viewing the fire
(He loves it when we help him stand up somewhere, and then he'll stand like that for several minutes by himself)
Nole is the happiest, smiliest little guy!  He makes us laugh all of the time.  He loves his Jumperoo and moving and jumping in general.  He LOVES looking at himself in the mirror and cracks himself up on a regular basis!  He also can be easily entertained by Micah and myself so we frequently act like goons around here just to hear him laugh.  He loves to be around people!  He'll let anyone hold him.  He even held out his arms to an older gentleman at the grocery store the other day just because he said hello to him :)
He loves to give kisses and we think he is meaning to give gentle carresses with his little hands- though it feels more like clawing and attacking when he goes after our faces.
Sleeping is hit or miss.  Unfortunately he has had a cold off and on for awhile now so he'll wake up at night and can't get back to sleep due to congestion.  We think once he's finally past the learning to crawl thing and can breathe better he can sleep most of the night.  He goes to bed around 8pm and then lately eats around 3am and then will sleep until around 7am...not bad!  Naps are also improving but are never consistently the same length.
 
Nole loves dogs and is fearless in many regards.  He'll stick his hand in any dog's mouth, he likes to try and scoot off the bed, and he'll try to crawl off of his changing table on a regular basis.  Diaper changing is a real art these days as we have to get the old diaper off, wipe, new diaper on and adjusted in about 4 seconds before he flips onto his tummy!  He hates having his clothes changed and would prefer to go around without them if it wasn't so chilly in our house.
He jabbers non-stop and his favorite thing to say is "dadadada" so I'm just waiting on the "mamamama"!

 He's the best...of course we're biased...but really, he is :) 
We love you little Roley Poley Noley! 

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."  Psalm 139: 14

Here are a few funny videos to show Noley in action.

Attempting to feed himself...sorry if the food on his face makes you want to gag!  This is where he went through that phase of trying to channel all of his strength into the task at hand...

These next two are of him trying to crawl...the first is a little long.  In the second one he takes advantage of me putting the camera within reacing distance :)


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Another video

I know at least the grandparents won't mind another video!  Here is Nole this morning playing upstairs with his toys.  He had a much better night of sleep.  We went to the Prince of Peace homecoming football game in the afternoon and got home right at bedtime.  He slept from 8:20 to 5:00 and then again until just before 8!  (He had a little awake time around midnight but after a little crying and getting him to turn onto his back he slept great!)

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Our boy at 4+ months!

Nole turned 4 months on September 6th!
And once again we were reminded that we are growing a BIG boy.
Weight 19 lbs 14 oz Off the chart!
Height 27 inches Off the chart!
Head 17 inches 75-90%
So I'm not quite sure how he keeps growing so much (well actually I do...this boy likes to eat!) but the doctor said everything looks great. 

Nole, at 4 months you can role like a champ.  Your main preference is to role from your back to your tummy, always rolling to your left.  You are able to roll to your back but you are stubborn and prefer not to.  You are really working on moving.  You are almost up on all fours...you scoot around the room even though you can't crawl so we really have to start keeping things out of reach!

You started rice cereal on September 7th.  You at first seemed really excited about it but I think you want to move on to something more tasty...like whatever dad or I are eating :)  In due time! 

You look a little uncertain about what's going on!
Not bad!  Then you started demanding more :)
You babble and jabber and squeal throughout the day.  You sometimes will go on for minutes on end about something you seem truly adament about, it's so cute!  Your laugh is adorable since we just learned that you like to be tickled!  You're quick to smile though you have learned that you can get a quick reaction from mom or dad if you stick out your big sad bottom lip and look at us with those big blue eyes! 
You like to smile at strangers and have most of the ladies at church ready to "eat your chubby thighs" as at least two have stopped us and told us so! haha.  You do have the cutest chubby legs, chubby dimpled hands, and the most kissable cheeks.  You give the best kisses- open mouthed and slobbery!

You like toys that make noise and proudly wait for praise whenever you can get one to play on your own...which is about every 2 seconds since you figured it out!  You'll play on your tummy for a good 10-15 minutes until you've circled through all of your toys and get frustrated and want someone to play with you. 
You also like your Johnny Jump Up, though you still haven't gone on a jumping spree (this one isn't very spring loaded so we don't blame you) but you're content to swing and twirl and watch the world around you.

You love being outside and you love playing in the water.  We taught you how to stick your hands and feet in front of the hose while we're watering the grass and you do it on your own now.  Daddy is also teaching you how to grill...since our grill is a tiny little Coleman charcoal grill I guess it is about your size :)

You're attempting to grow hair.  It is very blond, soft, and fuzzy.  So cute!
You can sit up unassisted, though you like to throw yourself backwards for fun, thankfully we are usually there to catch you.  You also have discovered your toes and constantly want us to show you how to get them to your mouth. 
Sleep still seems to be the only thing you don't want to master.  You go to bed around 8:30 and then it's up in the air when we will hear from you first.  Some nights you sleep until 4am before you want to eat...but lately since you want to crawl so badly you wake up in the middle of the night, get on your tummy, and then scream!  And you do this multiple times throughout the night!  And now you have a little cold with congestion and a cough so that has added more difficulty.  Also, you used to sleep in until at least 8:00 am but now you like to get up anywhere between 6 and 7.  I miss that extra hour :)  Usually you'll play for an hour or so then go back to sleep for a short nap so I know you still need that extra sleep...we'll work on it!
Early morning play time...still sleepy :)
and always goofy!
Another early morning- you're so cute in your PJ's!
 We finally bought a running stroller and you have given it mixed reviews.  If it's cloudy out I think you would ride forever.  But when it's sunny (Texas = always sunny!) you're not always the biggest fan.  If the day is right you'll tolerate your sunglasses and then things go much better.  Thankfully you can take a good nap while we're out on a run and seem to enjoy it most of the time.

Pre-run

Post-run
Wearing your BabyBanz
You keep us busy and we love it!  We're glad you like to be out and about around people.  Church is your favorite, though you don't always want to sit through the whole service without seeing your friends in the cry room!  A few weeks ago you went to your 1st cross country meet and had fun watching daddy's team.  You lasted through all 4 races and hardly got upset though being outside all afternoon wore you out and you fell asleep immediately once we got to the car.
Most of your days are spent at home with mom.  Hopefully you don't find me too boring!  Though I do my best to keep you entertained we both look forward to dad coming home at the end of the day!  You sure like your dad!

And now you're almost 5 months! But no doctor's appointment until 6 months so we won't know how much you've grown. Maybe you'll slow down for a bit so my arms won't get such a workout all the time! Or maybe we should go watch a few football games so you're ready to play in a few short years :) ha!

Just to show you it's not always fun and games!
Though you have your sad and fussy moments you really are a happy boy!  We love you Noley :)

Monday, August 23, 2010

Warms my heart...

to see Nole and Micah cuddle after a long day of daddy being at work

I promise! These were only on his face for 2 seconds :)

I love LOVE LOVE these boys!