Mommy Badges

This morning I sip my coffee (a new serious addiction for me thanks to Nolan's sleepless first 6 months) after a much appreciated good night's sleep (following 2 all-nighters with my sick boys) and find myself in a sentimental and retrospective mood. These days I often find myself stepping back and observing the life and growth that is happening around me and I want so badly to remember it all. Remember the good and the not so good. Because I feel with mommyhood, as in life, it's making it through those challenging moments (or weeks or months) that make the good times so much better. And since for some reason they don't give out badges to us moms when we make it through those challenges, I'm trying to store up those mental badges in my quickly depleting brain. I've earned lots of badges so far, some of them multiple times over--Pregnancy Badge, Labor and Delivery Badge, Breastfeeding Badge, Sleep Deprivation Badge, Reflux Baby Badge, Surviving Year One Badge, Terrible Two's Badge, Potty-training Badge, Sick Baby and Child Badge (there's a special badge for Stomach Viruses and I have way too many of these)... I'm currently working my way toward earning the Trying Three's Badge, the Room Mom Badge, Baby Food Making Badge, and Cloth Diapering Badge to name a few. There's way too many "Badges" to list. If only I had a vest to display them with. I'm so thankful that thus far we have been so blessed to have all of the run-of-the-mill parenting "challenges", but even still, I have learned so much from all of these experiences. So here is a mental snapshot of both of the boys these days:
Nicholas. I never gave much thought to what a three year old boy was like prior to having one myself but I definitely couldn't have imagined as much personality, imagination, moodiness, and intelligence as is rolled up into our little Nick. One of his favorite things to do these days is to tell stories. It is usually during meal times and he declares "I'm going to tell you my story. My story is called..." and he will give the story a title and then proceed to tell an elaborate tale of monsters or aliens or two little boys who went to play or whatever he can think up. He tells these stories just as the books we read tell their stories. My favorite was yesterday when he told of one Happy Boy who went over to his friend's house to play. The other boy was Grumpy Boy and he did not want to play with his friend. But then, Grumpy Boy's attitude started to change (he really said that) and he turned into Happy Boy too and he decided to share with his friend. Isn't that adorable! It's moments like those that I realize he is taking in the things that I say and he's learning how to manage his roller coaster of emotions. One moment he's telling me spontaneous "I love you Mommy"'s and wanting hugs and kisses and the next moment he's shooting me with his invisible lazor or crossing his arms, furrowing his brow and sticking out his pouty lip and saying "Don't tell me that MOMMY!" I swear he didn't get this drama from me! ;) But he loves to learn and is doing it at warp speed these days and he really does want to be obedient and I can see that he's trying hard each day. I love my Nicholas more than I could ever have imagined--drama and all!
Nolan. My sweet, precious little curious Nolan. He is 9 1/2 months now and is changing and growing each day. This week he's perfected the army crawl and getting into a sitting position all on his own (which he likes to practice during naptime or at 4 am). He's pulling up on furniture and is even taking steps while holding onto your hands! He is into everything and works so hard to get his hands on anything he sees across the floor--especially Nick's things (Nichols did not see this coming!) He is much more interested in cords and outlets than Nicholas ever was (not good for me). This week we had to lower his crib mattress to the lowest setting and flip the mattress from the Infant side to the Toddler side. I silently screamed in my head "No! He is not a Toddler!! He is still my baby! This is going way too fast!!" He is 9 months old but wears 18 month size clothes!! He is doing great with finger foods and loves feeding himself fruits and veggies and cheerios. He loves clapping and smiling and laughing and talking more and more. He is such a happy baby and I really hope he stays that way! And somehow there is room in my heart to love Nolan more than words can say.
So while I know I won't have the ability to remember all of these moments as they grow, I'm thankful for time to enjoy them as they happen and pray that the important things stick in my memory. Here's to change and growth, and good coffee to get me through.

Celebrating Life!

What a special week this was! I am so pleased to announce the birth of beautiful Caroline Coe Blackwell on Sunday, September 26th! We have been excitedly and prayerfully awaiting this day for so long! On Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church, I got a call from Holly telling me that her water had broke--the baby would be coming today! Because of a low platelet count, Holly was not going to be able to get an epidural so she waited out at home for 6 hours or so to get things progressing. But God is so faithful and when they got to the hospital she learned that He had answered our many prayers and her platelets were up and she was able to get an epidural!! Thank goodness because things were progressing pretty slowly and Holly was having back labor as well so she was in a lot of pain. After a long time of waiting (19 hours) Holly was finally ready to push! Less than an hour later, Caroline Coe was welcomed into the world! Things got pretty scary there for a while as Holly's platelets dropped during delivery and she was bleeding uncontrollably for an hour! Caroline also had a lot of mucus in her mouth and was having a little bit of trouble breathing. Finally the doctors got all of this under control and the family was able to meet their new precious addition! I am thrilled beyond words for the Blackwells and can't wait for lots of cuddle time with sweet Caroline! Graham and I did get to have a brief meeting with her in the hospital on Monday and I look forward to many more :)

Our celebrations have continued this week as Wednesday marked the one year anniversary of Butch's cancer diagnosis. What a year this has been for him and our family! A year of highs and lows, of physical, emotional, and spiritual transformations! God has healed Butch of the cancer in a miraculous way and Butch's body continues to heal from all that it has been through in this year. His strength and courage and positive attitude through it all has been an incredible inspiration to all who know and love Butch. And most importantly God has transformed his heart in an incredible way and his testimony is remarkable! We are so thankful for this year with Butch and for the many, many years to come! We love you with all our hearts Grandad!!

And lastly, for an update on the boys. Last Saturday Nicholas had his worst and best soccer game of the season. Worst because he was so upset and crying and refused to play for a long time. Best because once he finally got out there he scored not only his first goal, but he scored 3 goals!! Go NICK!
Nolan has had a busy milestones week. Each day he is closer and closer to fully crawling. He has worked so hard this week and rolls all around, army crawls, pushes backwards, and gets up on all fours and rocks like he's about to take off and race! Any day now he will be able to pick up that arm while up on all fours and crawl forward. I also discovered on Thursday night that he is finally cutting his first tooth! With all of this hard work that he has been doing this week, he's had no time to sleep! Instead of napping, he spends all of his time in his crib trying to crawl and he's waking up in the middle of the night a lot too. Hopefully we get through these things soon and he's back to his normal sleep routines. And let me just say, my sweet, calm baby that was content to just sit, is now into EVERYTHING. I am going to be in big trouble now keeping up with him!
Nicholas quote of the week:
Last night we went to Party City to get a Halloween costume for Nicholas. He stared at the huge wall full of possibilities and finally chose Woody from Toy Story. As we drove home he asked me what I am going to be for Halloween. I told him "I'm going to be Nicholas and Nolan's Mommy." His response "No mommy, they didn't have that one."

Love watching them grow

As September has quickly moved along and fall is now among us, we've gotten into a nice routine with the start of school and all of our activities. I find myself everyday being so thankful for God's blessings and Graham's hard work that allow me to be home with the boys each day to witness all of the ways they are growing and learning. There truly is no greater gift and no place else I would rather be. They are growing so much each day, it's amazing to watch.
Nolan is now 9 months old! He weighs 22 pounds 8 ounces (80th percentile, he gained 5 pounds in these 3 months!). He is getting more active each day and wants so badly to crawl. He scoots, he rolls, he reaches, he pulls up on me and through all that he manages to get around. But he is so anxious to crawl and frustrated that he just can't get his chubby body moving! We think it will be very soon and with it, I will be in big trouble! He is so curious and is already going for cords and outlets, remotes and laptops, and of course Nick's small toys. He loves clapping and can wave bye-bye and is "talking" so much. He says mama and dada and lots of sounds. And although he still has NO teeth, he's enjoying learning how to eat finger foods and is doing very well at feeding himself small pieces of food. He is an absolute joy to both Graham and Me and almost always has a smile. He's such a well behaved baby that I often get asked by others when we are out "Is he always this good/calm/laid back/happy?" How I love my little cuddlebug!
Sweet Nicholas has also been growing by leaps and bounds! I feel like I can actually hear the sparks going off in that wonderful brain of his, he is learning so much these days. He has a terrific teacher, Ms. Shefali and our little sponge is soaking it all up. Each week they are focusing on a letter of the alphabet and with this being week four, Nick can now recognize letters A, B, C, D, and N of course for Nicholas. I love how he points out the letters to me all day long as we go about our day. It's exciting for both of us to see where he will spot the letters as we are out and about. He's learning to cut, paint, color in the lines and even to begin to write his letters. He has made some wonderful artwork already. He continues to love reading of course and his memorization skills are growing too. He amazes me how he will memorize entire pages and books and recite them too me. I know that God will use these gifts and talents of his for wonderful things in his future--I can't wait to see in what ways! Nicholas has had a great time with soccer too. Tomorrow will be his 3rd game and he's had 4 practices so far. He loves it and is really good too but it's his first year and he's the youngest one on his team so the kids who are almost 4 and have played before are the ones making the goals. But Nick keeps running behind them and tries his hardest! Unfortunately he gets upset about silly things like playing with the other team's ball instead of theirs and not wanting to run through the tunnel at the end of the game (really?! do we have to cry about these silly things??) But we are so proud of him and how great he's doing! In other news, he's done great over the last few weeks with wearing underpants to bed and no longer requires a pull up :) The next thing we are starting to talk about is stopping or decreasing the thumb sucking habit. Not sure how well this one will go (stay tuned)!
I've included pictures of Nicholas with his good friend Cayden, the team huddled up--Go Team India!, Nolan at 9 months and my boys cheering on the dawgs!

Graham's Birthday and School Starts

Last week began as quite a challenge as first Nicholas, then Nolan, then myself came down with a 24 hour flu-like bug. We all got sick about 3 days apart from each other. It was no fun at all but at least it only lasted for about 24 hours once you had it. I was so thankful that the birthday boy didn't get it though! On Thursday of last week, Graham turned 31! Nicholas had a very difficult time understanding the concept of birthday surprises and told Daddy what he had gotten him for his birthday immediately after he picked it out at the store (a transformer of course). And then he got to play with it as soon as Graham opened it, and for the rest of the day. I took the boys out to Graham's office to have lunch with him which we all enjoyed and then that evening Graham and I went to Outback for dinner, then to Nick's preschool parent orientation (woohoo what a birthday treat!) and then to Barnes & Noble while Aunt Ashley babysat. Then on Friday we loaded up the kids and the dog and went up to visit Grandad and Kaki for the weekend. We all had so much fun playing in the pool and the playground. Graham and Grandad went to visit a Civil War battlefield on Saturday and then in the afternoon Grandad and I went to Home Depot to purchase a dishwasher! Yay, another one of Graham's birthday gift (but who are we kidding, this was really for me, and I love it!) We had a great birthday celebration for Graham that evening too. I hope he had a great birthday. I am so thankful that he was born and that he is such a wonderful husband and Daddy! Happy Birthday Honey! Then on Tuesday was Nick's first day of school. The morning did not go as smoothly as I would have hoped. Nicholas had some behavior issues in the morning and I had to give him a spanking :( and then as we were loading up the car I opened up the back door of the SUV and in the split second that I went to close it, Nick stuck his head in and I slammed the car door on his head!! I'm sure I do not even have to tell you how awful of a mom I felt like that morning. Thankfully he rallied pretty quickly and made it to school. He seemed to have a great day. In fact he had a great week! It's amazing in just these few months how much he's changed. He does such a great job of telling me everything that he did each day when I pick him up, which is very different from last year. I can already see the big differences between 2 year old preschool and 3 year old preschool and can tell that he is going to learn so much this year. I think he has a wonderful teacher too so I'm so excited to watch him grow and learn! On Thursday night Nicholas had his first soccer practice. Nick has never played soccer before, ever. But you never would have known it. He was a natural! He had so much fun and was SO into it. So much that he was so sad when it was over and has been begging for more ever since. It was such a joy to watch him play and have so much fun! Here is a short video from the first practice.

Our Summer Pictures

It was a great summer and of course I have pictures to proove it. Too many to post on the blog so I'm posting links to all of the albums in hopes that you will look at our pictures. The kids are really cute I promise!

June
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4170534009/a=33714566_33714566/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

July
http://www.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4794158009/a=33714566_33714566/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Nadine's Wedding
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4776250009/a=33714566_33714566/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Ashley's Wedding Week
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4794515009/a=33714566_33714566/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

August
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4793912009/a=33714566_33714566/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Summer 2010

Well the summer has completely flown by without me having a chance to update my blog at all! So much has happened and I was too busy living life to stop and record all the happenings. This continues to be one of my major Mommy-guilt issues--You should see the boy's baby books (or lack there of!). I am hoping that with the new school year will come some time for me to catch up on these things (who am I kidding right?!)
Some of the highlights of the summer include:
Nick's 3rd birthday complete with cousins Trip and Mady spending the weekend to help celebrate! It was so much fun having that time with Trip and Mady! I can't believe Nicholas is 3 years old! Where did the time go?? Nolan also turned 6 months that same week. Happy 1/2 birthday baby!! When I took the boys to the doctor for their checkups, both had gained 4 pounds and grew 2 inches. Nicholas did that in one year, and Nolan did that in 2 months! My tiny baby is not so tiny anymore!
Nicholas took swim lessons for four weeks and did great. For some reason he had a little bit of separation anxiety at the start of each one as I sat off to the side but once he got over that he did great. The lessons have really helped and he's really improving with his swimming. He's putting his head under now and even swimming to us a short way without his swimmies on!
July 4th weekend was spent up at Grandad and Kaki's house with lots of family. Nicholas and Trip stayed for the weekend and had a great time.
The weekend of July 10th was my dear friend Nadine's wedding weekend. We spent the weekend down in Vinings (our old home as newlyweds) and Nick went to Aunt Lauby and Uncle TJ's and Nolan went to Mimi and PopPop's. It was wonderful to have that time with just Graham and our close friends--what a beautiful and fun wedding it was! But I sure did miss my boys, especially Nolan as it was my first time away from him. And of course he had a little cold too!
Before we knew it, it was time for Ashley and Jay's wedding! We started the week with a tribute to Papa on Sunday. A motorcycle group called Warrior's Watch Riders came and paid tribute to him and his service in the war. It was a surprise to Papa and many of his family and friends came out to support him. It was wonderful to see and Nick of course loved the motorcycles! The wedding events were so much fun and it was wonderful to be with all of our family. I think the weekend was perfect and the wedding itself could not have been more beautiful. Ashley was stunning of course in her dress and it was so amazing to be there to support Ashley and Jay as they begin their life together! I was so pleased that the boys didn't ruin the wedding and actually did very well. Nicholas did great walking down the aisle (without shoes on!) and both boys were quiet during the ceremony. At the reception, Nicholas was on the dance floor the ENTIRE night! We are going to be in BIG trouble with our little party animal in the future! Once I got over my nerves from the ceremony and then my Matron of Honor toast, I was actually able to have a great time. Just wish I hadn't made myself sick with worry beforehand! We could not be happier for the new Mr. and Mrs. Yarbrough! And I finally have a brother--yippee!
We ended the weekend by going to the aquairium with Kaki, Lauren, Trip, Mady and cousin Kristin. That was a great time and Nick loved it of course! Sadly after that we had to say goodbye to Kristin and Cece :(
That week Nicholas got to attend Dinosaur Camp at his school for the week. He LOVED being back at school and I loved having a little bit of free time with just Nolan. It's amazing how it seems so easy to go back to just one child!
Then this last week we went to Hilton Head for the whole week! It was an amazing vacation and I am so thankful for it. It was almost like we had two vacations in one. Mimi, PopPop, and Papa were there with us in the beginning from Saturday til Wednesday. We crammed as much into those days as we could with lots of beach and pool time and then our evenings we went out to our favorite seafood restaurants and shopping spots at Harbour Town, Hudson's and fireworks at Shelter Cove. We rented a bike with a kiddie cart trailer in the back to haul the boys around Shipyard. We loved riding our bikes to and from the beach. Nicholas loved the beach and so did Nolan. His favorite thing was eating the sand--I could not get him to stop! Nick had a great time swimming in the pool too. Graham and I even got to have a date and go to a movie one night. Then on Wednesday Mimi, PopPop and Papa had to leave to get back for work so it was then just our family of 4 left to enjoy the "beachhouse" as Nick called it. We took Nick to play putt putt golf for the first time which he LOVED and was pretty good at too! Graham played with Nolan strapped to him in the baby bjorn and he still won! We spent lots more time at the beach and pool and time at Shelter Cove watching the boats, shopping, and having a great dinner. It was a terrific family vacation and we are so thankful for the opportunity!
Nolan will be 8 months old in two days! I can't believe how fast this time has gone. He started sitting up on his own about 2 weeks ago. He is incredibly chubby and is already not fitting into some of the 12 month clothes!! He's still not crawling and doesn't have any teeth yet. I'm actually pretty thankful that he's taking his time on these things. I find myself so much more enjoying the baby time and do not want him to grow up fast at all! Whenever I think about how we are only 4 months away from him turning one, or the time when he's too big for me to wear him in the bjorn or sling, or too old for the bottle...all of these thoughts bring tears to my eyes! I am so in love with my baby and his giant smile and beautiful bright eyes. He is such an angel and has added so much joy to our family. With Nicholas I couldn't wait for him to reach each of the milestones and grow into the next phase and I feel I wished away his babyhood. I am enjoying every moment with Nolan and don't want it to end! One of the sweetest blessings has been watching my boys as brothers and the love they have for each other and the giggles that they share with each other. Nicholas is still a terrific big brother and does a great job of taking care of Nolan. What a gift they are to each other and to Graham and me! God is so good!
I will try and post some pictures from our summer soon!

Summer fun

It's quite sad that it takes me so long to get back to my blog and update it. I finally got on sometime last week and was able to write the following and then Nolan woke up and I was interrupted and never got to finish. It's now a week later and I'm just now getting back! So hear is my post from last week:

We've had a great start to our summer so far! Nicholas finished up school with a wonderful end of the year program. He did a great job singing--I could definitely hear his voice above the rest! He knew all of the words and motions for all of the songs! His teachers have remarked, and we have recognized for a while now, how he has a great ear for music and learns and recognizes songs so quickly. Now his singing voice leaves a little to be desired but it's still beautiful music to me! :) Mimi, Papa, Nolan, and myself came to see his program and I think it was very exciting for him. My favorite part was as soon as they finished singing, Nicholas yelled "There's my Mommy!" about 3 times just as everyone went silent! He had such a wonderful first year of school and had two wonderful teachers, Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Sheri. I am so grateful that his first year was such a success! He learned so much and grew up to be such a big boy!

We've spent the past two weekends going up to Grandad and Kaki's home. With the new pool and playground it is absolutely gorgeous up there and we can't stay away. They might have to start putting restrictions on us! This weekend we'll be heading back up for a Birthday pool party for Mady and Nicholas! Update: We had a great birthday pool party! Nicholas had so much fun playing with his cousins in the pool and with his new toys. By the end of the pool time he was swimming around on his own in the pool with his floaties on! The kids decorated cupcakes and had a blast eating all of the candy toppings.

We've also been spending tons of time playing outside with neighbors and enjoying not having a school schedule. Yesterday (a week ago) we went to the sprayground (water playground) and played in the water, had a picnic, and played on the playground. Then I stopped at a produce stand on the way home and got lots of fresh fruits and veggies for us and for Nolan as I'm starting to make him his first foods!
Nolan is getting so big these days! He's so much fun and loves to laugh and bounce and jump and roll. His jumperoo is his favorite thing! He's been eating rice cereal with some applesauce for over 2 weeks now. He's just worked up to having it 3 times a day. Tomorrow I plan to introduce sweet potatoes. (Update: He loves sweet potatoes and summer squash too!) Unfortunately, we are in the process of weaning from breastfeeding. This has been so sad for me but I'm losing my milk supply and after 3 months of struggling, I just can't fight it anymore. It's very odd for me to be giving him formula but it makes him happy because he was so hungry with just the breastmilk. So if my baby is happy, then I am too. At this point I'm still nursing him in the mornings and then as the day goes on I have to give him more bottles as my milk dwindles. I suspect that in a few more days my milk will be totally gone. (Update: Still hanging on with a couple of feedings a day.) But despite this, Nolan has managed to put on quite a bit of weight it seems and he's getting so big! He's got super chunky thighs and a round face now. His hair is long and wavy (almost curly) but only on top which makes it look a little funky but I love it. It's also really lightening up. His eyes are still blue but almost have a little green in them. He's super ticklish and loves to giggle! Unfortunately he's still not a good sleeper. He slept through the night 2 nights last week but those are the only times that has happened. Each night I hold out hope though.

And lastly I just have to share this hilariously adorable picture of Nicholas going potty. I know, how awful of me, but I just can't resist. I am convinced that it is ingrained in men to read while going to the bathroom as he demands a book every time he is using the potty even though we never suggested a book to begin with. So funny!