Little Man

Yes, you can all be jealous that I get to squeeze this little boy all day long!! He is just such a sweet little man and we all love him so much! It has been fun to see his personality showing through more and more and have him respond to our efforts to make him laugh and smile.

Landon has A LOT of love for this little brother...sometimes a bit too much love. We definitely have to rein him in sometimes, but I think they will be great friends once Nolan gets a bit older.

Oh, little Nolan, you are too cute for words!!

My Boys

I thought I would do some comparison shots of Landon and Nolan on their respective blessing days.

Here is Nolan on Labor Day Weekend 2011 (2 months old.)

And here is Landon on Labor Day Weekend 2008 (3 months old.)

Definitely some similarities there, but they also each have their own unique look to them. It will be fun to see what Nolan will look like as he grows a bit older!!

Labor Day

So this is almost a month overdue, but better late than never!!

We were lucky to be able to spend Labor Day with both of our grandparents and despite the rain, we had a great time!

Abby and Landon loved being pulled and chased by Grandpa Call...

And the tickling was lots of fun too!

Landon was in heaven playing baseball with Grandpa Don...

And Jason was in heaven on the grill (despite the rainy conditions he endured to do it!!)

Abby and Landon loved putting together their own chicken shish-kabobs....

And they were yummy to eat too!!

The rain prevented us from doing s'mores on the firepit, but we made them in the oven and they still turned out into a gooey and yummy desert.

It was sad to see everyone leave us the next day (Grandma Julie did get to stay one extra day with us though which helped to ease the sadness a bit.) We sure had a fun time having everyone at our house that weekend!!

Blessing Day

The main event for everyone's visit occurred on Sunday, September 4th...

Nolan's Blessing Day!!

He looked so adorable in his little white outfit and everything went very smoothly with his blessing experience...until about 10 minutes after his blessing when he completely exploded in his pants and a complete outfit change was in order!! I was just happy it happened after the blessing rather than before!

Family Portraits

One of the biggest priorities for my mom while she was here was to get some good shots of her and my dad with all of their grandchildren. She had her ideas all drawn out on paper and amazingly, the kids actually cooperated and we got some really nice pictures...

And a nice group shot of everyone right after Nolan's blessing!

Cousin Lovin'

We loved having the Torgesen's come and spend the night with us on the night before Nolan's blessing. Abby and Landon love playing with their cousins and they all had a great time enjoying our latest purchase...a trampoline!

After wearing themselves out by playing all day long, they all slept comfortably in the playroom and amazingly were all asleep by around 10 p.m. We often have VERY late nights when all the kids are in the same room together!

The next morning, Landon and Tyler were looking pretty spiffy in their church suits...

Most of the cousins all ready for church on Sunday...

We sure do love when our cousins come to visit!!

BYU Fight Song

While everyone was here visiting us, we had Abby and Landon perform their newest song together...the BYU Fight Song (we thought it was an appropriate song to learn as we approached the start of the college football season!) They were quite the little performers and we really got a kick out of it!!

I imagine someday Nolan will be joining them in their singing performances, but for now he's content with just looking cute!!

Doggie Operation

One of the first things that my mom did when she visited was to repair Abby's beloved stuffed animal "Doggie." This animal has really been through the ringer over the last four years and when Abby was two years old and we weaned her from her pacifier, she decided to chew on "Doggie's" eyes and nose until they eventually fell off! Needless to say, "Doggie" was looking a bit scary!!

So Grandma Julie came to the rescue with her wonderful sewing skills...

And "Doggie" was looking pretty good again!!

Thank you Grandma Julie for performing this much needed "Doggie Operation!"

Grandparents

We had planned to bless Nolan over Labor Day weekend and we were very lucky to have both sets of grandparents as well as two of my sisters and their families come out for it. For most of them, it was their first time seeing our newest little man and he delighted everyone with his little baby smiles!!

Grandma and Grandpa Call with their newest grandson...

It was fun to have Grandma Call back out just 6 weeks after being here right after Nolan was born. We could definitely get used to having her visit more often!!

This was my parents' first visit with little Nolan and they really enjoyed meeting him. Nolan quickly adapted to the green light of Grandma Julie's camera that was always snapping pictures of him!

Two BYU fans before the Mississippi State game...

Landon and Abby also enjoyed all of the grandparent attention that they received during their visit. They especially enjoyed getting stories read to them by their grandmas and grandpas...

And they also enjoyed reading stories to grandma and grandpa!!

We sure wish that we lived closer to both of our grandmas and grandpas, but we sure do have fun with them when they come to visit!!

Rapunzel Abby

Ever since seeing the movie "Tangled," Abby has been pretty obsessed with the story of Rapunzel, especially her long, long hair. Since Abby's hair doesn't seem to grow as long or as fast as she would like it to, she has improvised by making her own "hair" with a paper chain. Her goal was to make it 70 feet (no idea where that number came from.) Although it's not quite that long, it is quite the chain at this point. She loves to drape it over the upstairs balcony and throw it down to all of us down below!!

She is quite the creative little girl!!

Two Months -- August 28th

I'm a bit behind on this one, but just pretend we're back on August 28th to celebrate my little man's 2nd "monthday!!"

So here he is in all his glory at two months...

Here he is at one month old in the same outfit...

The 0-3 month outfits are definitely fitting better at this point and he has even outgrown a few things because he is so long. He had his 2-month checkup and weighed in at 11 lbs (25th percentile) and 24 inches (75th percentile). He is long and lean but super healthy and eats like a champ! He didn't care for his first round of vaccinations too much but only cried for a minute or so before calming down again.

I know I've said it before, but Nolan is a very good baby. He is sleeping for 7-8 hour stretches at night now (hallelujah) and has even slept through the night on occasion. He eats about every 2.5-3 hours during the day but increases his feedings in the evening which I don't mind if it means he can sleep longer at night!

This month he really started smiling and even chuckling at us which has been so rewarding. I love this phase when they can finally interact with you a bit and we get those big gummy grins!

He started to go to the gym with me at 7 weeks and spends most of his time there either sleeping or being cuddled by the wonderful women who work there. We are starting to get into a little routine now that school has started and he fits into our little lives so well.

There are definitely times when it gets a bit hairy-scary with three kids (especially when they all need something at the same time) but overall I think we are adjusting well. I still think the hardest adjustment for me was from no kids to having Abby since it was such a complete change in lifestyle and habits. I actually think three children has been the easiest transition so far.

I keep telling people that if I could guarantee another pregnancy, delivery and baby just like Nolan, I would have a lot more of them. Too bad I can't get that in writing though!!

First Day of Kingergarten!!

Abby started school on Thursday, August 25th. She was super excited about her first day and woke up nice and early, bursting with enthusiasm.

She had picked out her first day of school outfit a few weeks before and I curled her hair for the special occasion...

She looked so adorable and grown-up!!

After breakfast, we loaded the whole family into the car to take her to school that day...

It was a rainy day, but she was really happy that her outfit included a built-in hoodie to keep her dry!!

She was now an official kindergartner at Paramount Elementary School!

Here she is in front of her classroom. Her teacher is Ms. Austin which we were really excited about. We were told she was a great teacher and Abby really loves her!!

At this point I started to get a bit weepy but I tried to hold it together long enough to show her to her cubby and get her all settled in. Abby was anxious and excited for this day and had no problems saying goodbye. As soon as I walked out her door though, I really lost it. It was hard to see my baby girl leaving me for the first time and heading off to school. But seeing her excitement each day and knowing how much she is learning and growing makes it all worth it.

We sure do love our little Kindergartner!!