9 MONTHS

SO many milestones this month that I've more than once sat down to write this up and felt a little overwhelmed.

Here goes:
crawling (albeit no more than 3-4 motions then you sit back up as if to see where you've landed)
saying "mama", "dada", "buh-bye", "gaaa"(for Jack)
eating table food
two bottom front teeth are in!
went to California and LOVED the beach so much
drinking bottles now (about 50/50 with nursing and bottle-feeding)
standing up and cruising along toys and furniture
playing independently

using your index finger and thumb to pick up cheerios

sharing your food with Momma and Daddy by trying to feed us your snacks

growing some scrumptious little curls over your ears (Daddy wants to get your hair cut but I told him no way!)
raiding the toy closet (there are now officially three of you guys contributing to toys being strewn all around the house)
loving the outdoors

you are SUCH a boy

if something is
loud

moving
crashing
dirty or even slightly
dangerous
then you are all over trying to get at it.

I suppose I'll sit and rest someday when my house is empty.

But for now I am blissfully lost in these days of diapers and spit-up
tricycle traffic-jams and candyland pieces

matchbox cars and bibs
baby magic lotion and band aids

onsies and teething rings

underdogs and lullabies

cheerios and koolaid

slobber and wipies

board books and silly faces

raspberries and backtalk

stuffed animals and peekaboo
Legos and more Legos

Dear Nolan,

You belong so perfectly in our family. You are a true blessing and a joy to us all. Daddy can't get enough of your cheeks... says they have just the right amount of smoosh.

Your Family

XOXO

JUST ME TALKING

Warren is quitting sucking his thumb. A habit he has had since he was in utero. We as a family are banding together to support him. It is hard on him and hard on us, but it is time. He is nearly six and all hope of him quitting on his own when he started walking, started pre-school, or started Kindergarten have all evaporated just as quickly as those milestones. He is doing great so far and is very excited to go to Toys R Us and pick out any toy he wants once he is weaned from the thumb.

Speaking of weaning, I am in the process of weaning Nolan from breastfeeding as well. I love nursing and am happy to have saved so much money these last nine months not buying formula. But I remember reading somewhere that weaning will commence once one party (Momma or Baby) is no longer comfortable nursing. And it has come to pass that I am no longer comfortable. He has teeth and is not afraid to use them. He doesn't like to nurse discretely at all, making nursing in public a complete spectacle. And I would like my body back, thankyouverymuch. I loaned it out for him for nine long months of incubation and then an additional nine plus months of sustenance-providing. I am ready to reclaim!

I enrolled the boys yesterday in their Summer activities at our city recreation center. Signed Jack up for "Sports Galore", where he will be introduced to all kinds of sports and work on hand eye coordination, and a Hip Hop/Jazz Dance class since he loves to boogy. Warren is doing a "Pre-Engineering with LEGO" class and "Sportin' Around", where he will learn how to play golf and get to play a real game of golf with Daddy at the end of his lessons. I am excited for them to have some things to do this Summer that are scheduled.

We are doing a couple of fun projects to the house! Finally getting some stained glass in a few windows that I have wanted to do since we bought our house. And getting a wall of built-ins in the office. There will be lots of storage and desk space, with cabinets that match those in the rest of our house. It is gonna look sharp!

I am planning Warren's sixth birthday party. Still not sure between a home based party or a venue, but I have his birthday letter halfway done and have decided on what I am gonna do for his cake and a couple other details... because I LOVE the details.

We are really excited to be heading to Alaska next month for a quick visit. I haven't been home in over two years and just cannot wait to see Cook Inlet below me as we land in my home state. I am going to soak it all in and visit with friends and family as much as possible.

Better run and grab a shower. We have a fun day of going to the park and Children's Museum today and I'm already sweaty from walking Warren to school this morning. It is HOT outside already!

2010 Vacation -- Day 8 -- Momma

I was there at the beach too!

But I'd rather show you what I saw than what I looked like. Just know that I am pale...

very, very pale.

I was mostly watching and taking pictures, collecting shells and wiping sand out of Nolan's mouth.

I rather liked the view from my beach towel.

Seeing everyone I love most through the little lens of my camera...

...was a perfect end to our first family vacation. Thanks to Bryan for doing the vast majority of planning in the wee hours of the mornings and plotting it all out on a spreadsheet. You can take a man out of the Engineer but... yeah.

I am looking forward to many vacations to come!

2010 Vacation -- Day 8 -- Nolan

Nolan could not wait to get his feet in the sand,

And was oh so happy when his little piggies were touching the ground.

Daddy somehow managed to be even cuter while holding a baby, don't ya think?

Swoon!

Oh, and on the topic of eating sand... yeah he tried it... once.

And quickly came to the conclusion that sand is best for playing in.

2010 Vacation -- Day 8 -- Warren

True to his personality, Warren got right to work.

And had no problem putting his Daddy to work too, digging a trench.

So that he could tirelessly fill the trench with buckets,

And buckets,

And buckets of water.

It wasn't ALL work though.
He did take some time to try to hear the ocean in every little shell and rock he found.

And who could forget the sand angels?

2010 Vacation -- Day 8 -- Jack

Our last day of our first family vacation was spent at the beach. It was a relaxing, fun time for everyone and the perfect way to conclude our trip.

I loved to watch each one of my family members enjoying the beach in their own way.

.::Jack::.

{I loved his sandy feet}

Jack challenged the waves, wielding his plastic rake like King Titan,



Before finally accepting that he was no match for the continual surf, and settling in to crawl around on the sand like a little crab with his toy car.

2010 Vacation -- Day 7

Day 7 was our first day of beach hopping.

There were:

{Delicious salty naps in the car between sandy destinations}

{Lucky Ladybugs on the window seal of the Diner at the end of the Huntington Beach Pier}

{One for Warren and one for Jack!}

{One less tooth to smile with, since Warren lost another tooth on Day 6 while eating a Churro... for the record the boys ate an astounding number of Churros on this trip!}

{The pier with the Diner at the end -- yum!}

2010 Vacation -- Day 6

After sleeping in relatively late into the morning, I got to do some laundry (much needed!! I think I was having withdraws) at the hotel while we all just generally chilled for a bit. Warren got to play some Cartoon Network Game Creator on Daddy's laptop, while Daddy made use of the hotel gym. Jack played on the floor with his newly acquired Lego toys and Nolan rolled around trying to get his hands on anything small enough to potentially choke on -- he likes to keep me on my toes!

Finally, somehow we all ended up showered, dressed for the day, and buckled into the mini-van heading toward the San Diego Zoo, where we were going to meet my brother, Alex, for a much overdo visit. Alex is in the Navy and is lucky enough to be living in San Diego. He recently was out to sea for a very long time, so we were grateful that he took time to visit with us, since he is very busy getting settled still.

Turns out you should NEVER, EVER attempt to go to the San Diego Zoo on a Tuesday... something about it being free or something left us over a mile away from the main parking lot, still searching for a spot. Alex was circling with his truck too, and we all finally decided there was little to no chance of us all finding parking, while still maintaining some semblance of sanity.

We scrapped that plan and instead went to the USS Midway museum. It is a retired battleship in the bay in San Diego. It was a much more low key venue. After I apologized to Alex for bringing him onto a ship after he just spend months and months aboard one, it was all good. We toured, ate lunch, Alex and Warren went on a flight simulator ride, we took pictures and called it a day.

{Momma and Nolan by the huge anchor chain, the links were almost as tall as him}

.::Brother-In-Laws::.

{Jack, Alex, Warren... Jack kept saluting Alex and saying "thanks for servicing"}

Alex went back to work and the rest of us drove to Coronado Island just to check it out. The boys were too tired to do much else. We found a great place for dinner back by our hotel and then stopped into a (two story!!) Target to get some beach toys for the next day's adventure.

2010 Vacation -- Day 5

Day 4 concluded with us leaving Universal Studios and driving down to San Diego. It took a couple of hours and there was a 6.9 earthquake in Mexico that could be felt throughout Southern California while we were driving. I felt after-shocks early in the morning at our hotel in San Diego on April 5th (the fifth day of our trip).

We had our own disaster of sorts going on inside our rental car on the drive down to San Diego, anyhow. The boys were loud and obnoxious, to the point that we had to separate them and have Grandma Caryl ride in the back of the mini-van -- she is a trooper!

However, I did hear one absolute gem of a comment come from the back seat before they were separated. Oh it was so good I had to immediately get out my cell phone and type it in to the notepad so as to not forget.

Warren to Jack after much arguing and hubbub about Dinosaurs:
"There's lotsa ways to not get eaten by a T-Rex -- your way and my way!"

Classic.

We survived the drive and woke up bright and early on Day 5 and said farewell to Grandma Caryl, who had served us well as Nolan's nanny while we were at all the theme parks. She headed back to Colorado to her much needed post as family chef.

Originally, we had planned to go to Sea World first thing, but it was raining substantially so we quickly resorted to Plan B, which was the downtown Children's Museum in San Diego.

Such a great move on our part. All three boys loved it. As the rain streaked the large windows of this cool industrial building, all of the colorful happenings inside seemed all the more vibrant and fun.

{Driving these super cool little contraptions around the track}

{Jumping in a tubular air castle}

The weather did finally lift and we were able to make it to Sea World, which was fabulous.

Jack had a good nap the first portion of our time there. Warren and Momma went on a fun ride where we got completely soaked. We saw the Sea Lion and Sea Otter show -- so cute!

The boys climbed and bounced on the play area for little ones.

Then we all left Sea World totally exhausted and pigged out on cheeseburgers at In-N-Out... yes, Animal Style!

It was another successful, fun day!