15 months

Today is February 16th 2012.  Fifteen months ago I was headed to the hospital to meet a little boy that would change my life forever.  Everyone told me pre-baby "you never know the love for a child until you have your own."  This is so true.  The moment I held you in my arms a flood of emotions and unconditional love filled my heart.  Never in a million years would I have imagined how much L.O.V.E I could have in my heart for such a tiny person.  Nolan you bring such joy to my life and I love you to the moon and back!  


A few things you've been up to lately:


You vocabulary is expanding every day.  I can't believe how much you comprehend and can already say.  Not everyone can understand what you want but I do.  You can say about 20 words so far.  The Dr. said you were ahead of the game in this department!  YAY!  


Words you know so far:  dat (that), milk, muffin, truck, blue, red, mama, dada, rain, ice, cheese, bite, dog, car, green, and me.  


You love to eat which makes me super happy!  You will usually eat whatever I make for dinner.  The only food I can think of that you won't eat is eggs.  You spit them out as soon as they hit your lips.  We've tried fried eggs, scrambled eggs, and cheese omelets but you want nothing to do with them.  


Favorite foods: any and all fruit (bananas and strawberries top the list ), avocados, tomatoes, any kind of chicken, tacos, grilled cheese, yogurt, applesauce, peas, carrots, mashed potatoes, bagels with cream cheese, crackers, Cheerios and many many more.  


You are 33 inches tall and weigh 25 lbs.  You are funny, laugh a lot, and can be the sweetest snuggle bug in the world.  


I came out of the bedroom after doing laundry and saw you like this...guess you wanted to help mommy do some laundry too.  Love ya baby!

5 days and countin...

Can I get a woo hoo!?  The transition from pacie to no pacie has been much easier than expected.  You have been without your pacie since Monday morning and have only asked for "dat...dat...dat" a couple times when laid down for naps.  You only cry for about a minute before you close those sweet brown eyes and drift off to sleep.  Thank you Nolan Porter for making this an easy transition for you and your mama.  I love you sweet baby.

Ditchin' the Pacie

Nolan Porter, now that you are just shy of 15 months I do believe it's time to ditch the ol' pacie.  You ditched the pacie other than naps and bedtime months ago but now it is time to say goodbye forever.  

You can do it.  I can do it.  We will work together and make it happen. I know you DO NOT agree with your mama at this time but trust me on this, you don't want to be that toddler with a pacie until your five...and mama REALLY doesn't want you to be.  I have a feeling it's gonna be a long road to finally say goodbye to your buddy but we can work together and do this thing.  

Nap #1 :  Boy were you mad at your mama.  You cried for about 25 minutes before finally drifting off to sleep.  

Numerous times I thought "oh what will it hurt....let's start tomorrow"  but then I remember we are in this together.  You will never learn to sooth yourself if mama caves in and gives you the pacie.  Crossing my fingers that the next nap will be fewer tears.  I love you sweetie and do this for that very reason!  

Making Monday Memories

Mondays are typically our "lazy" days.  We stay home most of the day and just enjoy each others company.  This Monday was no different.  We laughed a lot, played hard, and acted like big ol' goofballs.  Nolan Porter I love you so much....thanks for letting mommy act like a big kid right along with ya.

Toddler Time

Today we are staying home...no grocery store, no trips to target, and no errands to run.  Just mama and little man spending one on one time together at the house, playing, discovering, and learning new things.  Here is what we've been up to.  I found this idea on the web and thought we would give it a try.  

Alphabet Time: the letter B 

I gathered a bunch of items that began with the letter B from around the house and through them in a box.  Nolan played with everything for over thirty minutes, pretty good for a little guy that is constantly on the move.  

I never would have thought...

my 14 month old could lock me out of the house!  Yes, that's right Nolan discovered how to play with the door lock going out to the garage and sure enough the little booger locked me out...it wasn't on purpose...at least not at this age, I'm sure he will do it again one day and think it is funny but at this age I panicked.  I had no hide-a-key, no open windows, no other doors unlocked, and no phone just me standing in the garage in fear.  All I could think was he still puts EVERYTHING in his mouth...what if he chokes and here I stand in the garage helpless. I tried to pry the door open with a screwdriver which was a total fail....so I ran next door to the neighbors and rang the door bell...no answer...ran back home to talk to Nolan through the door to make sure he was still alive.  Ran back to the neighbors one more time and thank the lord he was walking out his door.  I've never met our neighbor, only given the wave as I drive by or see him doing yard work...but today he was my savior!  He is a fire fighter and came to this mommas rescue today.  He pried the door facing off and got the door unlocked in just a few minutes.  Nolan stood there with tears streaming down his face and I scooped him up and gave him a big ol kiss.  I thanked our neighbor about a million times and don't know what I would have done without him.

The crazy part of the story is that the hubby JUST changed the door knob from a lever style to a turn knob to ensure Nolan couldn't get into the garage.  And on top of that I walked into the garage earlier today and thought "surely Nolan couldn't lock that door on his own at this age"  boy oh boy...was I wrong, what a scary start to the day.  He is now sleeping peacefully in his bed and I'm about to curl up in my cozy bed and forget about today.  I sure hope tomorrow goes a lot smoother.

Little Blessings

I thank God each day for all of the "little" blessings in my life.  Yesterday was a beautiful day in the sunshine state so we took full advantage and headed to a nearby park to soak it up.  The kid loves being outside, just one of the many perks of living in the south...never too cold to head outdoors.  He went down the slide a billion times, went up and down the steps over and over and over....you get the point, and ran through the field with a smile from ear to ear.   As we played at the park I couldn't help but thank God for my sweet baby boy and how thankful I am to be given the opportunity to be a stay at home mom.  I am truly blessed!  

Here's my little man wiped out from all the fun and excitement of the day.  

Pottery Barn Knock Off

I could spend hours flipping through the pages of Pottery Barn magazines to gather inspiration for my home.  There isn't a single thing in any of the magazines I don't like.  If I had unlimited funds everything in my house would be from Pottery Barn....but let's face it, I'm a SAHM so I must settle for the next best thing and do things myself (with the help of my dear husband of course!).   I saw this idea all over the web and immediately fell in L.O.V.E!  So here she is in all her glory, my version of the pottery barn growth chart.  

Our pediatrician is great

I put a call into lil man's pediatrician first thing this morning and within a few minutes I had a call back from the Dr. himself.  He was so caring and calmed my worries.  After prescribing a different antibiotic to fight his sickness he reassured me that lil man would be feeling better within a few short days.  Looking forward to the weekend, hoping he is back to his normal self and feeling 100% so we can go outside and enjoy the sunshine.  

  

Sick baby = one worried mama

Poor little Nolan has been fighting a cold for the past week and it seems to have gotten worse.  We've already made a trip to the pediatrician on Tuesday and once again he is fighting an ear infection on top of a runny nose and cough.  As he woke up from his last nap of the afternoon I started to hear wheezing and rattles coming from his chest.  I'm thinking tomorrow may be another trip to the Dr.'s office.  I always said I wouldn't be "that mom"...you know the one.  She calls the pediatrician at the first site of a little sniffle or a small scrape on the head from a tumble.  However I just might be "that mom" this week.  I can't help it...I worry, I stay awake at night listening to his coughing through the monitor, I check on him through the night to ensure he is still breathing...being a mama is a tough job but even more so when your little one is sick.  I pray that this year will bring health to my little guy.  Bronchitis, strep throat, tonsillitis, and a handful of ear infections is enough for this little guy to handle in the first thirteen months of his life.  


This is how we've spent most everyday this week.  "Froggie", cartoons, the couch, and snuggled up to mama.  

time to try something new

This if my first attempt at blogging so bare with me until I get the hang of it.  I'm no writer that's for sure, I use bad grammar, spell incorrectly, and use run on sentences half the time but that's me...I type as fast as I talk and according to my husband I talk a mile a minute and nonstop.  I figured it's a brand new year so why not start something new to chronicle the simple joys of my home sweet home!  I've started this blog so I can look back days, months, or even years from now to remember the good, the bad, and the ugly of being a stay at home mama.  :) so for now, grab a glass of wine or warm cup of joe....whatever tickles your fancy and enjoy as you follow my journey as a stay at home mama, loving wife, self proclaimed diy decorator, and scrapaholic!  


Until Later - the southern girl, her better half, and their favorite lil dude!