The Loves of My Life

Nolan is 6 weeks! I discovered that not eating chocolate makes him happier and less fussy, so no chocolate it is! Things are so much better. No chocolate is a blessing and curse. It is so much better for my waistline, yet I am having withdrawals! I had no idea I loved chocolate so much.

Reagan seems to be doing so well. She sure loves Nolan and her favorite part of the day is when dad comes home and plays with her. They make lots of noise and rough-horse like crazy, but it is so fun. The other night he got out some gear from storage which included this headlight and some goggles. She has had fun playing with them.

Mr. Nolan himself is so darn cute, baby acne and all.

These 3 people are my everything.

Nolan has his moms big (aka, "kind of scary") eyes.

He holds his head up so well!!

And loves to look at lights.

Great Weekend (HTM reunite!)

We said good-bye to the last of our "new baby" visitors this past weekend. It was so much fun having Lori, Nick, Jenn and Rich here. We played a lot and laughed a ton! I took so many pictures and uploaded way to many. They are completely out of order and you know what? I just don't have time to organize them all neat and tidy like I usually do, so you'll have to bear with me. Lori and Nick flew in early Friday and we enjoyed In-N-Out first thing! We know our priorities! We took BART into San Francisco and there met up with Jenn and Rich. It was raining and so we just shopped around inside the big mall in Union Square and ate before heading outside in very mild rain.

The next day we drove into the city as well and walked Fisherman's Wharf. We ate clam chowder (well, most of us *wink* love ya Lori!) and had Boudin's killer sourdough bread. We didn't have much time there, so we didn't see Ghirardelli Square, but that was probably better for me, since chocolate seems to upset Nolan (isn't that swell...;)). We drove up to the Golden Gate and by then it was really starting to rain, so we headed home. We said good-bye to Jenn and Rich.

We hung out with Lori and Nick on Sunday, eating ice cream and playing our Office board game! We had such a good time with them. Jenn and Lori are my best friends from high school and every time we get together we just laugh and have the best dang time. We call this our 10 year reunion, since our real one will be coming up this year and I am sure none of us are going. By choice :)

Here is my sweet Nolan. Thanks go out to Lori and Nick for their amazing camera work. They provided most of my pics!

Jenn, Lori and I on the Wharf, with Alcatraz in the background.

In front of the GG bridge, Lori took this photo. Reagan adores Nick, always wanted him to hold her. That was really cute!

Us girls in front of the bridge. It was pretty dang cold let me tell you!

Playing the Office board game. Matt's mom got this for me for Christmas and we haven't had a chance to play it yet. Lori and Nick are HUGE Office junkies like us, so we got to play. Nick won :) (Matt was way ahead of everyone but was unable to finish the game due to fullfilling his church callings. Matt added this part mainly because of his utter delight at being ahead of Lacy in office trivia which he didn't think was possible before.) (Lacy wants to add that not all the trivia was Office trivia.)

Eating clam chowder on the wharf.

The guys watching some dude on the street perform the magic show, "which of these 4 cups has a ball under it?" Lori called it rigged and I think she was right.

It was so nice to have other arms to hand off Nolan too. I love this photo of Lori, Nick, Reagan and Nolan. We had bagels Saturday morning at Panera. Yum--love the cinnamon crunch bagel and of course, dutch apple and raisins. They are more like candy than bread.

Love this one, too! Reagan is still asking where "loriandnick" are.

Hanging out in Union Square! Nick and Matt fit right in posing like this.

The most startling thing on Powell Street isn't the crazy people talking to themselves, it is the almost profane sign that is in front of French Connection UK.

We were assured in Union Square that there is hope...
GUESS who looks constipated?? (Not Jenn...) I love his little baby faces he makes!! I will miss them in a couple of months. But I look forward to seeing his big smile, too.

I now need a pair of converse. Reagan literally feel asleep like this in Nordstrom's. And actually stayed asleep for quite a while! She woke up to a nice dinner of fries and gelato. Gee, what mom feeds their kid that for dinner?? I do, but since she threw it up the next morning on Matt, we probably won't try that again.

Jenn and Rich on the Wharf.

Our whole group. I love these people!

Reagan and her BFF Nick on the BART.Reagan watching the water.

Chilling on the wharf.

Matt and Reagan goofing off.

We had a great time with them and are looking forward to another reunion, maybe a 10 1/2 or 11 year one?? Love you guys.

All in good time

In two months the end of tax season will be here. We will be heading out to Utah to see our families and let them meet Nolan for the first time. And my son's crying will hopefully be over. The diagnosis at the doc this morning was just what I knew to be: Nolan has colic. He started acting colicky at 2.5 weeks and it has kind of escalated since then. Last night I just couldn't handle it and was worried sick, so I phoned the advice line. After we convinced them that a trip to the ER was unecessary, I made an app't to have him seen early this morning. I knew it was colic, but I also had to rule out any other causes of his crying. Nothing is more emotionally draining than holding your child daily and comforting him, yet having him still cry and thrash in your arms. It kinda makes you feel worthless.

But my sweet son has his good days, too!! And since I am blogging, you can probably guess that today is one of them. He sleeps peacefully as I type, even though he grunts every 15 seconds. Nolan turned one month yesterday.
I sure do love this photo. I have an identical one of Matt with Reagan as well.

Nolan's first bath. I sure do look like a train wreck, but I am definitely not trying to score beauty points these days.

He makes this face below all the time! Usually when he is excited or wants to eat. He is holding his head up well and kicking those legs like crazy. He still shakes a bit. Isn't he cute?

Reagan sure loves her bro. A little too much at times...

I have tried to make more one on one time with my girl. We made chocolate cookies last week. I have learned that cravings don't exit with the pregnancy itself.

We made a midnight jaunt to the park in our new SUV, I mean, stroller. This piece of equipment is pretty sweet, I will admit.

It was cold and dark, but by all means, we weren't gonna leave tha park without playing a little. It was nice for me to even play with Regs like old times. The last half of my pregnancy and since having Nolan, I really haven't been able to play with her like I used to.

Sucking fingers and on tummy.

Oh, Reagan, Reagan. Some days I wonder what to do with her and others I just marvel and laugh at the genuis she can be. She loves to dress her babies and swing them in the swing and just last night Matt caught her nursing her babies, pillow and all. Love it.

What I don't love is this: I was catching some shut-eye on the couch yesterday morning while Nolan slept in my bed and Reagan was watching Mickey. Or so I thought. I do this on a few mornings when I am so dang tired. Anywho...I woke up to hear Reagan tell me she went poop. She had removed her diaper and tried to put a new one on. So her poop was on the carpet in her room, etc. I wanted to barf. I was so focused on cleaning and disinfecting that mess that I didn't even yell at her. That must have alarmed her because she followed me around the whole time, saying "Sorry, mom. Sorry, mom."

I also don't love the fact that she flooded our bathroom with a couple of inches of water last friday. Or that she takes our clementines off the counter, peels them, and throws all of it in the trash (peels and orange, too). This list could go on and on, but man, I sure do love and forgive her just the same. I need to insert a plug here for Matt. I sure lucked out in marrying him. He is so tired from tax season long hours, yet he takes Nolan from me every night and holds him and usually puts him to sleep for me a few times. He takes Reagan out to the grocery store, plays with her, bathes her and puts her to bed. All so I can rest and regain sanity. He then crashes into bed only to be woken up many times by our son grunting and crying occasionally and often gets up to be with him if I can't put him back to sleep. My gratitude for him expands every day. I never give him enough credit, but he is the reason I am a happy smiling individual.

All in good time, things will pass! As stressed as I feel now, I know that I will look back on these special times and get a good laugh and shed a tear for the blessings in my life.

Baby Shower

Just 10 days after Nolan's birth, my dear friends hosted a shower for me and Nolan! It was such a special night, espeically to have Nolan there in person. My mom was also in town at the time, which was such a treat. I am very blessed with great friends who are really my family out here in San Francisco and they really went out of their way. A shower had been planned for January 18th, but then Nolan arrived a little early, so they had to postpone and re-schedule. They spent a lot of work and planning and so thank you to them and to all the wonderful friends who came! The desserts were yummy and I especially thought this was super cute below! My friend Laura was the brains behind this treat and you can read about how she made them here. My favorite ice cream is Thrifty's Chocolate Malted Crunch and unfortunately they went out of business here, so they got a different brand which was really yummy too! Aren't they pretty? This entire dessert was edible...

My mama and Nolan.

Nolan got the cutest things, he sure is going to be stylish:)

I still have a lot of weight left to lose ;) My mom stuffed all the tissue paper in my jacket.

My friend Liz together a group gift and it was so sweet and generous. This last Monday we used it to buy a double stroller! It is a jogger that I never thought I could A) afford and B) find a place to store! But alas, we got it to fit in our little Civic trunk and thanks to the group gift, my accountant husband was able to force back his vomit when he saw how much they cost. Thank you again to fam and friends.

Television

My son likes to be held...a lot! When he isn't sleeping or eating, he wants to be in someones arms. I am trying to find remedies for this so that I can, say, eat or take a shower most days. I have discovered that he likes to swing (sister hated it) and that he sometimes doesn't mind laying down on his back and staring off into the distance (sister hated that, too). Each child is so different! But for now, Nolan really likes being held, so that means I get to spend many evenings watching tv!

This year I am loving my regulars, The Biggest Loser, American Idol and of course, The Office! I have found that I cry quite a bit watching TBL, like every week when someone gets sent home. I am a baby. I think that there are some LDS people on there...am I right? Blue team, maybe Black team? I can't tell for sure. It is also nice to watch the show and not keep gaining weight, like last season. Only 3 more weeks till I have the clear to exercise. I can't wait to lace up my new Asics that Matt's mom got me for Christmas. I also really like the new judge on American Idol. She gives people funny looks. And my mom pointed out how pretty her eyes are and she is right! Simon still cracks me up. As for The Office, a one hour episode this week AFTER the Super Bowl. What a treat, since my Chargers didn't make it in. I think something big happens in this episode. There are rumors of a spin-off show and maybe this one sets it up? Just a guess.

Why I live in California

I got an email from my brother (the Kevin Youkilis look-alike!) who travels a lot for work. He sent us some photos that he took in Louisville this last week. He was in both Minnesota and Kentucky, where they are just getting hammered with cold weather. He said that he couldn't wait to get back to Utah and warm up with 33 degree weather.

I do not like cold weather at all and I have to admit that I am enjoying my 60-70 degree January weather right now. I am sure we will pay the price later when we are in the biggest drought ever, but for now...it is nice.