Happy Independence Day!

Our 4th of July was filled with our annual neighborhood yard sale, lots of hot sun, a yummy BBQ with friends, and culminated in a fantastic fireworks display that night. Landon tried to hide his head in my lap for the half hour leading up to the fireworks but once the show got started, he calmed down a bit. Eventually he pulled one hand away from his ears and before we knew it, he was clapping and commenting about each bright and colorful display along with the rest of us. Have we turned a corner with his fear of fireworks? Perhaps...

Nolan missed out on fireworks again this year as he slept through them all!!

I tried to get some pictures of the kiddos in red, white and blue but my attempts pretty much all ended up like this...

Oh well...we still had a great holiday!!

The Year Difference

Baby Nolan (1 month)

Baby Nolan (12 months)

Same outfit, just all grown up in it now!!

Give Me Some Sugar!

No first birthday would be complete without the obligatory first dose of sugar!!

 

We lit his little candle and then held him afar so he wouldn't touch it while we sang Happy Birthday to him.

 

Wow, look at that belly!!

He wasn't quite sure what to think of that piece of pure sugar sitting before him...

Abby and Landon encouraged him on...

And after a few timid bites...

The sugar rush kicked in and he was grabbing fistfuls of the stuff!!

He was a little teary-eyed here because I took some of the cake away before he made himself sick. This did not go over well...

But he did his best to scrape every last morsel off from his highchair tray!

And the aftermath!!

The First Year!

June 28, 2012...

Well...Good Morning Birthday boy!!

(Nolan is so fun to go and get in the mornings. He is usually so happy and gives me the biggest grins and giggles. His birthday was no exception!)

His big present was this little trike (he probably won't be able to really ride it until next year, but it was a great yard sale find.)

I think he liked it, don't you think?!?!

We kept his birthday pretty low-key this year. We will be traveling to the Outer Banks shortly and will celebrate with my family a bit more when we get there.

After Jason came home from work, he opened his few presents...

 

And then went back to his favorite present of the day again!!

 

Before going out to dinner, I attempted to get a few one-year portraits of him outside. For most of them he was just moving around way too much, but I did manage to get a few good ones...

We sure do love this sweet little man. Nolan is a very happy little baby and is a joy to be around. Except last week when he cut his first tooth (he is our first child to get a tooth before his first birthday and he was not a happy camper about the whole experience!) He gets compliments all the time about his beautiful blue eyes and I couldn't agree more. He is very fun to snuggle but most of his day is spent on the move. He crawls and scoots everywhere and walking around all the furniture has opened a whole new world for him these days. He loves to make messes and his favorite thing to do seems to pull everything out of a basket/box/drawer/shelf etc. before moving on to the next mess-making adventure.

He's still a small little guy (18 lbs at his 12 month appointment) but you wouldn't know it by his voracious appetite. He's a great little eater and will beg for any food that you happen to be eating. Both him and our dog Maya can often be found underneath the kitchen table at breakfast time, both hoping for a dropped morsel to come their way.

He sticks anything and everything in his mouth but fortunately we have been able to avoid any choking incdents thus far. He has a big sister who dotes on him constantly and a big brother who can make him squeal with laughter and then cry out in pain within just seconds (we're still trying to work on the whole "be kind to your brother" aspect of behaviour with Landon!)

We are so blessed to have Nolan in our lives. I really want time to slow down a bit so we can fully enjoy all these little moments. I can't deny that he is definitely growing up though and we can't wait to see what the future holds for our little Nolan Man!!

Picking Time

Berry season arrived a tad early this year due to all the warm weather and we were finally able to go last Monday night as a family. This is the first time we've taken the kids and they were so excited to pick. It was a beautiful cool evening and all of us were able to get in on the picking action.

The finished load...

They are so juicy and sweet and the fact that they were half the price of store-bought ones makes them even better!! Plus now Abby and Landon realize that blueberries actually come from bushes and not from the grocery store!!