The Sweetness that is 8 Months

Today, my little bubs is 8 months old! What a sweet and fun guy he has been lately. He is one of the happiest, most content babies I have seen...as long as his basic needs are met :) Nolan loves to eat and play and he poops a lot. He is an early riser in the morning (5am this morning, to be exact), naps pretty well, and goes to bed at a decent hour most of the time. He adores his sister, will watch her all the time. He loves Baby Beethoven video and occasionally will peek over at Reagan's shows. He also loves to just crawl around on the floor and play with toys. He is starting to pull himself to a standing position now. I think he will be walking a little sooner than sis.

Listing favorite foods is silly, since he eats anything. While in Utah, he mastered the art of eating Cheerios, he loves gerber puffs, and any pureed baby food, even the peas his sister dreaded so much. He also loves formula and we give him a bottle of it late at night, since he sleeps better with that. He is still nursing quite a few times a day, though, that may be harder to break. I guess I don't mind too much, I'm bonding with him and burning calories, too.

We sure do love Nolan around here. He has brought such a joy to our home, I know I say that a lot, but it is the truth. I am relishing each stage of his life, knowing that they pass too quickly. Happy 8 month b-day, bubs!

Sensing Gratitude

The author of one of my favorite blogs is participating in a Gratitude Challenge and this weeks post inspired me. It talked about how it is felt through all 5 senses. I think gratitude is the one thing in life that makes or breaks us. Matt is probably the best I have ever seen of someone who exemplifies this. Rather than spending the last 4 months miserable over unemployment and the current state of the economy, we enjoyed our time together as a family and even jokingly called it his "mini-retirement." I have thought a lot about gratitude lately. No matter what is going on around us, there is always something to be grateful for.

Sight. We can never get used to the majesty a sunset can create. Just the mere sight of one gives me chills as I think of the world our Mighty God has created. It simply puts things into perspective.
Touch. I love the little toes on my babies and how they react when they touch something for the first time. Grass, water, or in this case, sand.

Smell. I love the smell of fresh air and since I can't really get a picture of air, I thought this might be the next best thing. Flowers contribute to the perfume of the outdoors, don't they? There really is nothing like a fresh breath of air, whether it be attributed to the fresh cut grass on a summer morning or after it rains. Sound. I love the sound of my children. I love when they talk to me (or coo) in their sweet voices and lately, I cannot get enough of their laughter. Tonight as I sat at the computer, I just smiled as I heard Reagan and Nolan in the bedroom going to sleep and Reagan was making Nolan laugh. I thought my heart would burst.

Taste. Of course I am going to put food. I love it and especially when you have to get creative to get your little ones to eat! Really, I should have put a picture of some chocolate cake or something, but I do like this one. Food comforts the soul.

On the Move

Nolan may look like me, but this video is evidence that he has his dads preferences. We found out that Nolan will move in order to get the remote control in his hands.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Adventures with Reagan: San Francisco Zoo

This zoo was made famous (infamous?) around Christmas 2007 due to some tiger attacks, I think. The best part about this zoo is it's location. It is literally across the street from Ocean Beach and you can hear the waves crashing from the front entrance. The zoo itself is wide and open, the animals have huge wanderings, but as far as numbers of animals go, if you are going for that, just go to Oakland ;)

This was the best of the zoo attractions: the childrens petting zoo. It was a barnyard that you just walked through and mingled with the sheep, goats, chickens, you name it. At first Reagan was a little scared to go pet them, but once she saw us do it with no problem, she was fine herself. I am proud of her; this is our little girl who wakes up at night from nightmares of doggies biting her. This was a big step.

Highlight of the day: this grizzy bear. She had quite the personality and was hamming it up for the huge audience at the window. She came right up to the window and lolled around in the water, sticking her face against the glass and everything.

Matt got this video below of two grizzly bear sisters fighting like...well, sisters!! It was a neat thing to see. Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Adventures with Reagan: Pixieland

Enjoying every ounce of summer we have left, we took Regs to her favorite local place, Pixieland. We actually had some leftover tickets, so we made sure to go when adults ride free, since she is a wee bit short for riding alone. She still guzzles her water like Napoleon Dynamite. I can't resist a pic of Noly-bubs.

Riding the teacups with dad.

Frog Hopper with mom. This one actually made my stomach tighten a bit...come on! I am getting old ;)

Closure

Ahh, yes, summer is finally coming to a close. I am sad, this has been a fast and eventful summer. But I also love the fall so much, starting with college football, The Office, then the holidays, then January comes and it kinda sucks till around March. My dear sweet Reagan has kept us on our toes all summer. She never ceases to amaze us with her creativity or make us laugh with her antics. She is in the midst of a 2 week stint of swim lessons. A gal in our ward is fabulous with her and offers 8 lessons for super cheap, so I thought I would give it another try for this summer. Yeah, it is going well if you ignore her kicking and screaming everytime she goes near the pool. Today was a good one though, she stopped crying once she got in the pool and actually put the tip of her face (gasp!) in the water. I cannot find the inner strength to scold her for her hydro fears, though, she gets it from her mom. Here she is preparing for basketball by wearing her dad's shoes and ankle braces.

I have been reading Harry Potter and I am in the middle of Order of the Phoenix. I am addicted, I am eating this up. But it occupies my time as well as my mind, so I need a break for a week or so. I have a hard time falling asleep at night and when I do, I dream about flying on broomsticks or pointing my wand at someone and yelling "riddikulus!" It is rather ridiculous.

While on the subject of my weirdness, let me tell you of my pizza mishap. I love bbq chicken pizza and I had some leftover chicken the other day, so I though it would be a great use. Matt hates this kind of pizza, so I just decided to do half pepperoni/half bbq chicken. I carefully drew the line down the middle of my crust and put marinara sauce on one side and bbq sauce on the other. And so on. After a few minutes of chowing down, I realized mine tasted disgusting and Matt only ate one piece, when he usually downs like 3. Seconds later, I realized that I had swapped my toppings. The bbq chicken went on the marinara side while the pepperoni was on top of bbq sauce. We ditched our dinner and had an ice cream sandwich instead. Ironically, Reagan loved the bbq sauce pepperoni side and even ate the leftovers.

Oh yes, here is bubs.

Now onto Matt's weirdness. He has this obsession with cutting things on his body and thinks he is a surgeon or something. He once cut a mole off his arm and it bled for months. He would wake up in the morning, his shirt soaked in blood. Then there was the time he dug out his ingrown toenail which became mighty infected and he had to have surgery on it. Now, he has progressed to a new thing: warts. He cut off this wart on his toe, went and played basketball for 2 hours, so this is the result. Yummy.

And here is bubs again, just a little cutie pie sandwiching the nastiness picture above. Actually he is watching Baby Beethoven here, he loves it, just like sis did (does).

Well, we are trying to enjoy the rest of Summer '09, but bring on fall: The Office begins September 17th! Remember Pam and Jim are having a baby, Pam will be completing her first trimester and word on the street is that this cold open for the season premiere is easily in the top 5. We shall see. I am looking forward to this season like crazy. I like the new receptionist and so does Andy ;) Will Dwangela make a comeback? And what of the annoying temp, Ryan?

Of course, NCIS starts up too. I had to quit watching the reruns on USA because frankly, while I can handle dream of flying on broomsticks, the ones where someone is trying to murder me or I dig up human bones in my backyard aren't as fun. So my limit is an episode a week, beginning this season. What will happen with Ziva??

Love you all!

Baker Beach

We started to get the beach bug again earlier this week with the weather warming up a little more, although I can't complain about our mild July. We headed out to our favorite nudist beach (just kidding), since the winding road to Muir (our favorite) is sometimes vomit-inducing. Truthfully, for our non-San Francisco friends, Baker Beach does usually have a nude sunbather or two, but they hang out closer to the bridge, away from where we are. Matt overheard some joggers say that a hairy nude man was down at the other end. Ew! I think Reagan has the cutest little tush.

While Matt was overhearing the joggers, I spotted a whale surfacing several times. I tried to catch a photo, but failed. You will just have to take my word for it!

Here is what a day at the beach is like for Reagan: build a sandcastle with dad, run away from the waves, watch the water catch up to the sandcastle, wash hands in the water several times only to plunge them right back into the sand seconds later. She loves this place.

Lacy had a birthday - by Matt Rasmussen

Super Franks, In-N-Out Burger, Shopping, Trick Candles, and Chuck E. Cheese all in one day.

P.S. Do not use more than 12 trick candles on one cake or it can be very difficult to put out.

Bub's update

Today was Nolan's 6 month check up and he is actually 6 and a half months. We found out his head circumference is still in the twentieth percentile, has since birth. He is in the 67% for height, much higher than last appointment. And he is in the 9th percentile for weight at 15 lbs and 8 oz. That is much lower than I ever expected. Our firstborn has always been like 99% since birth, so this is a first. But all is well and the doc says he is healthy as can be.
We sure do love him around here, our little Noly-bubs, as I sometimes refer to him. He has a HUGE smile and big blue eyes. He loves to laugh at Reagan.

He is obsessed with his toes and is starting to grab at them and play with them. The other day he even managed to reach them up to his mouth and chew a little bit. Yuck, but I guess baby feet aren't that gross.

Reagan adores him. She does get caught red-handed sometimes though, pushing him or hitting him. She likes to test her limits and its funny: I can tell when she has done something to him. I will hear him start crying and run in the room just in time to see her flop down face first onto the couch and not look up. She knows she has done something bad :) She usually gets a small time-out for this behavior. But even through all those episodes, I can see how much she loves and cares for her brother.

Nolan is starting to sit up unassisted, but he still tumbles if he leans over too far.

He loves being on his tummy and is actually getting up on all fours and scooting backwards!! It is really funny to watch him do that. Sometimes when I lay him down to sleep, he will be quiet for a while, so I will peek in and check on him and instead of sleeping, he is up in a crawl position, just trying so hard to move. Soon, buddy!

Weird pic, I know, but his front tooth just popped through a few days ago and it is cool to see if progress a little more down each day. The bottom tooth just popped through yesterday, too. I actually took this pic a few days ago and it has popped out so much more in just that short time.

Nolan is such a big blessing in our lives and our home. He still loves to nurse and he is really starting to like solids too. He likes rice cereal, but only the kind with apples and bananas! He loves all the fruits and veggies we have given him so far, even the green beans which took a few tries :) I am sure looking forward to when he can eat chunks of soft food, because with my kids, the pureed jars of fruits and veggies just don't fill them up enough.

Time is flying too fast!

Long Live Summer 2009

What a summer it has been so far! Mildish weather-nice-a few vacations here and there-kids not sleeping-not so nice. But blessings come in all shapes and sizes and sometimes in disguise. Having Matt home has been a blessing for me. We have been able to spend time together as a family and go do stuff. I have had a lot of help. Nolan slept horrible for a while, so I got to sleep in. Once he started sleeping better, it took about 3 days before Reagan started getting up at night (seriously). She has been having bad dreams, I think. But Matt has been here to help me. It is hard to believe that July is almost over. Where did the summer of '09 go? Oh wait, right here below...our simple summer top 10.

10. Filling up crabbie with sand. Reagan sure loves this. We usually put water in it during the summer, but it is too gross and difficult to clean out. She could spend hours out here. She has entered the "imaginative play" stage of her life (hence the wild dreams) and we will often find her outside having conversations with her dolls that sound a bit like this:

"I am sorry you can't have that."
"But I want it."
"Nope, time out for you!"
"I don't wanna go to time out!"

Or Matt's favorite conversation:

"It is!"
"It isn't!"
"It is!"
"It isn't!"

You get the idea :) It is a lot like Matt's favorite 30 ROCK episode where Jack plays psychiatrist on Tracy and role plays as him and his mother.

9. We have spent so much time at the park, it is ridiculous. But fun, too. And since the weather is rather mild and I am not pregnant this summer, we have gone a lot. This is Reagan's favorite activity: riding her bike up at the far-away Clayton park.

8. This one deserves a number all on its own because she LOVES to swing.

7. Watching Dumbo. This is Reagan's current favorite movie, although sometimes she will still pull the Mickey and as of late, "Nolan's show" (baby einstein). I laugh at this picture because we were baby-sitting the Dickman boys and all the kids wanted to watch a show, but I am sure that something sports-ish, probably a game or Sportscenter was on, so Matt put on the DVD player in the bedroom.

6. Roasting dogs and smores. And Marisa put it so well, "You get the fun of camping without all the mess and prep." So true. Smores are so dang messy, as evident below, but no hassle of camping gear and we got to sleep in our own beds.. It was a fun night and reminded me of the firepit my parents have and use all the time with family, except us because we don't live near them :(:( What a fun tradition.

5. I am finally reading Harry Potter. I have always wanted to, but just never got the chance. I saw Half Blood Prince movie with Matt since he has been reading the series (just finished). It inspired me to finally pick up book 1. I did, hardly put it down, and same with book 2. They are GREAT! I need a little break until book 3, though, because it is hard to get stuff done. I need to go to bed earlier and when I am in the middle of a book, it is too difficult. Rowling is genius, I love the wizard world she created.

4. Back in April, I bought some of those cheap popsicles for the summer and we have enjoyed them really really often. Addie and Reagan were so cute with theirs one day. It was a warm summer evening and just the ambience and all, eating a popsicle on the front steps. These two enjoyed it. It was the perfect way to cool down.

3. Our favorite daytime game/activity has been Reagan riding her bike around the complex while I push Nolan in the stroller behind her. It is a win-win situation for all: Reagan loves to ride her bike, Nolan digs being outdoors and is at the stage where the world outside is so new and exciting, and my arms and back aren't dying from holding him. Plus it wears her out. So, win-win-win (Michael Scott).

This is how we usually end up, the bike is ditched because pushing the stroller becomes too much of a temptation for Reagan. So I park my tush on the steps and just watch her push him back and forth for a really really long time. Still a win-win-win, I guess.

2. We have had many ways of cooling off. We have gone swimming at friends houses, sat in our AC'd place and also used our season passes to Waterworld. It was a good investment for our summer. I think Reagan is a little more comfortable in the water than last summer, but we still have a ways to go. She sure does love this place, though. See how both feet are off the ground?

1. My number one is kind of simple. Its my kids. You read my complaints (or if your really lucky, you hear me complain in person) about how they are driving me crazy. They don't sleep as good as I'd like them to, they talk back, they cry, I can't get anything done, my house is a total disaster all the time, I have permanent bags under my eyes. The list could really go on and on. But not a day goes by that I don't realize how fast these months are going by and then before I know it, my children will be out of the house and I will be missing them. I am blessed to have healthy happy kids. Today as I was sitting at the piano in primary, I just felt drained. My eyelids felt heavy and I found myself wondering what I would feel like if I could just get a good nights sleep. Then I saw a woman in my ward who's children have grown up and left the home. About a year ago, she mentioned to me how much she missed those young years with her kids and how she would give anything to have them back. She even offered to babysit just so she could hear the sound of children in her house again. She and her husband were lonely. The chaos of raising kids wasn't always easy, but she missed it more than ever. I haven't forgotten that and it helped keep things in perspective for me. I know that is how I will feel years down the road. I will be begging my kids to come visit me! So for now, even though I look like night of the living dead sometimes, it sure is a joyous journey.