Newborn Outtakes!!

I had been wanting to take some cute newborn pictures of Nolan to use for his birth announcements but somehow it just never seemed to happen. Finally one day last week the stars seemed to align (Abby and Landon were having "quiet time", it was a nice hot day so I could do some diaper-only photos and the sky was a bit overcast to make for some good pictures.) Within about 5 minutes of going outside, I started to hear some thunder rumblings and a few minutes later I decided to head back inside. It was a good think I did too because within 30 seconds it started to pour!

I ended up getting a bunch of "outtakes" and really thought that I had taken nothing that I could use for Nolan's announcements. Fortunately after going through them all, I was able to find a few usable ones and his announcements should be arriving soon. In the meantime, you can enjoy the ones that didn't make the cut!!

(For a few days I tried taking a few more with different outfits, but none seemed to look as cute as the little "naked man" pics I took the first day!!)

One Month Birthday!!

Today marks Nolan's "One Month Birthday!" It's really crazy how fast time seems to be flying. I can't believe it's already been a month since he was born.

I was trying to think of something I could do to keep track of how much he grows, and I finally thought of buying the same outfit, one in a 3-month size and the other in a 12-month size and then take pictures with each outfit every month to mark his monthly birthdays.

So here is Nolan at 1 month in the 3-month outfit (definitely still baggy and the shorts won't stay up!!)...

And here he is in the 12-month outfit (alas his legs don't even show through the shorts!!)

I think it will be fun to measure his growth each month and watch how the 3-month outfit begins to get too small and the 12-month outift start to fit him more and more.

Some facts about Nolan at 1 month:

* He's still wearing newborn diapers but as soon as the current pack runs out, we'll be moving on up to size 1.

*He still fits snugly into the Newborn size of clothes, but is mostly wearing the 0-3 month size now (it is crazy for me to have a normal sized newborn this time around, with two 9 pounders before him!!)

*He isn't sleeping quite as well as his first week at home, but he still gives me a good 7-8 hours at night and only wakes up to eat 2-3 times and then goes right back to sleep.

*He likes his pacifier at times, but never sleeps with it at night.

*He loves both the Baby Bjorn and the Baby K'tan carriers that we have and will usually fall asleep in them within about 5 minutes.

*He loves getting his diaper changed but seems to just tolerate bathtime!

*He does not like to be left alone and really prefers to be snuggled up tight next to someone.

*He LOVES being swaddled at night!

*He still has a full head of brown hair (with a slightly receding hairline though!)

*He is just becoming more aware of his surroundings and has even given us a smile or two when we talk to him.

We are crazy-in-love with our little Nolan Boy and we are so glad that he is ours!!

Grandma Loves

Somehow or other we have survived since Grandma left. We've actually stayed pretty busy with Library story and craft times, activities at the mall, free summer movies, and trips to the lake. I am definitely not one to sit around, especially with just a month left before Abby starts Kindergarten!! We've got to pack in the fun while we still have the chance!!

Here are some pictures of Grandma with her newest grandson the day that she left. It sure was nice having her here!!

Splish Splash

Nolan's cord fell off last Sunday (hallelujah!!) Abby was thrilled with this news as she had a really hard time looking at the little piece of rotting flesh when I would get him dressed in the mornings! I was excited too since it meant my little man could finally take a real bath!!

He seemed to love the water and just stared in wide-eyed amazement the entire time. Abby and Landon were a bit disappointed that he didn't splash more, but I assured them both that I am sure he will with a little time. He just needs to learn how to control all those limbs a bit more!!

Dad and his Boys!

I love seeing all of my boys having some bonding time together! Landon has been so good with Nolan. He is infatuated with him and once Nolan really starts to interact with him, I think it will throw Landon into a state of complete joy. I just know that these two will become the best of buds before too long!

My "big" and "littlest" men in their Sunday best last week!!

Grandma's Visit

We have been very lucky to have had Jason's mom here for the last week. Not only has she been a wonderful help when it comes to doing all the cooking and cleaning, but she has also spent many hours playing games with Abby and Landon. I'm not sure who will have a harder time when she leaves today, me or the kids!!

She also took our first official "family of five" picture last Sunday before heading to church.

Tomorrow will be my first official day all by myself with three kiddos. Let's hope I survive!! (At least it's a Friday so I only have to survive one day before the weekend arrives!!)

Cuteness

I know I am totally biased, but I just love holding and cuddling with this cute little man!! He is just so sweet and adorable!

I love these sweet little sleepy smiles!!

Unfortunately, Nolan is no longer sleeping as well as he did last week. Instead of going for 6-8 hour stretches, we are now lucky to get 2-3 hours between feedings (and when I say "we", I really mean just "me!") Fortunately he only wakes up to eat and goes right back to sleep. I'm hoping he's just going through a growth spurt right now!!

Holy Moly!!

I seriously cannot believe how much our garden has grown in just the last month. As a reminder, this is where we started from around the middle of May...

And this is where we are now (These pictures were actually taken at the end of June, the night before we had Nolan!)

This was the biggest zucchini that we have picked thus far...can't wait until everything starts to ripen (although I think we will end up having way more tomatoes than we will know what to do with!!)

Shoemaker

Abby seems to have the greatest imagination when it comes to creating things. Here she is making her own style of high-heels using tape and building blocks. She spends most of the day creating things like this and drawing pictures. She is definitely becoming quite the little artist!!

Brothers

After going through all the little boy clothes that we have, Landon declared that he wanted to match Nolan when he saw this little baseball outfit (he remembered that he had a similar shirt in his closet!) I thought they looked so cute together with their "matching outfits."

Landon is such a great big brother to Nolan and we couldn't be more pleased with how he is adjusting so far. I know that these two little boys will become the best of friends in the years to come!!

First Bath

When it was time to give Nolan his first little sponge bath at home, I had lots of help!! Abby is still completely grossed out by his umbilical cord stump and she'll only look at it like this (somehow the hands like binoculars over her eyes makes the stump a bit less scary looking!!)...

Abby and Landon both picked out their favorite color of washcloth and helped me wipe Nolan down with them...

I think I will have more than enough help with this new baby with these two little munchkins around!!

Flowers

People were so generous to us during our brief stay in the hospital. It seemed like every few hours we received some new flowers or balloons. They are all so pretty but since I know they won't last forever, I wanted to be sure to document the ones we received. We felt so loved!!

Coming Home

After much debate back and forth, we finally decided on the name "Nolan Thomas" just hours before leaving the hospital and signing his birth certificate document. We were debating between "Eli Thomas" (Jason's favorite) and "Nolan Thomas" (my favorite) and eventually I won out!! Of course it didn't hurt that the kids were already calling him Nolan since that was the name that they liked too!! I just love his little name and it fits him just right. His middle name is Thomas after my Grandpa Henry Thomas and also after the current prophet of our church...Thomas S. Monson.

After coming home, we put him in his swing to see how he would like it...you can obviously tell from the picture below that he absolutely hated it (Just kidding!!) We are so not used to having a baby this small!! He just looks so tiny in this swing...

Mom, Dad and Baby Nolan with our hospital tags before cutting them off...

Big brother Landon loving on his little brother...

Going in for this kiss (he gives him about a thousand of these each day!!)...

Going in for the "kill"?!?!?

My two little men...

Hospital...Day 2

It was really hard for me to watch my little family leave that night to sleep at home. Nolan and I had a rough night with lots of interruptions by different nurses so when I was given the option to go home on Wednesday rather then Thursday, I decided to go for it. I was feeling great (amazing what a difference delivering a 7 lb baby vs. an almost 10 lb. baby can make!!) and once Nolan received a clean bill of health, we were ready to make our way home that afternoon.

I did get a chance to try out my new carrier while we were still in the hospital waiting for our discharge to go through. It's a Baby K'Tan and I LOVE it (so does Nolan!!)

Some final moments of rest before leaving the hospital...

I felt really good about my decision to leave the hospital early. It was nice to come home and have everyone together again. That night both Nolan and I got some much needed rest. He slept from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. when I finally woke him up to eat. He's been consistently sleeping for a good 5-6 hour stretch, eating, and then going back to sleep for 3-4 more hours. Can't ask for much better than that!!