Wisconsin or BUST!

In an effort to take advantage of the fact that we don't have to buy a seat for Nolan for the next 6 months, we have turned into traveling fools!

We just got back from a really great long weekend in Wisconsin, to visit friends.

I met these girls on the internet (I'm not ashamed to admit it) by way of a message board for new moms, and they have become some of my best friends. I was lucky enough to meet Emily last summer, but up until now, had never met Stefanie. We had to remedy that situation. So, we all made our way to WI for a weekend of hanging out, and having Emily take our pictures.

It will be a couple of weeks before I can show you her handiwork in an official way, but in the mean time I have swiped a few of her candid shots to add to mine, as a representation of our weekend. (the first 3 are hers)

Me & Stefanie

Stefanie & Emily

The 3 boys, Nolan, Max & Noah, in the monkey shirts Emily made them.
The only way we could get them to sit still was to give them lollipops.
They still weren't pleased.


I have been a sucker for the big round balloon shots I've been seeing all over the internet for some time now. When we were deciding on ideas for photos, I really really wanted to try it. So I got some big (36") balloons and Stef got helium, and we tried it out.

A little behind the scenes action of the red balloon shots

Me coaxing Nolan up the hill with the balloons tied to his belt loop.

The other boys didn't really dig the balloons being tied to them at first. It was pretty windy, and they were tugging on them pretty hard. But they warmed up to it. This was our attempt at a group shot of mom's and boys.

And, of course, we had to find a cupcake to try while we were there. We spent the morning in Milwaukee and visited C. Adams Bakery, and tried the red velvet. I have to say, it was quite tasty. It had been in a cooler, so the frosting was a little stiff, but the flavor was good. I liked it very much, as did everyone else.

They also had a yummy little mini-key lime pie.

I'm sure I will have more to share from this trip later, but I wanted to report right away.

Thanks, Stef & Max for being such wonderful hosts! We had a great time.

Sweets!

It's another weekend of Oh Sweet Sadie! This weekend the show is spread through 3 houses! And holy cow, Daybreak is a beautiful place.

I want to move in.

Right now.

Come out and check it out. It's so much fun. You'll get sucked in and want to spend lots and lots of money. I can promise you that.

Remember, Mother's Day is coming up. . . I'm just saying


This is the house my stuff is in. Isn't that gorgeous!


And a little sneak peak of my display.



It's right inside the front door, you can't miss it!

Buckled In

Yesterday while I was working from home, Nolan was playing in the living room, as usual. The car seat from Ben's car was in the house, having been removed for cupcake transport last weekend, and Nolan LOVES to sit in it to watch TV when it's there.

Yesterday, he took it to a new level. He INSISTED that I buckle him in. And then he spent 20 minutes trying to buckle and unbuckle himself. Maybe not a skill I want him to know just yet. . .

Video Moments

This is insanely long. It has been WAY too long since I've caught up on importing video.
And since I edited this, I'm behind again.

If you have almost 6 minutes (Yikes!), take a gander. Or break it up into smaller pieces. I won't be offended.

He really is very cute, though.

But I may just think that because I'm his mother.

Graduation Cupcakes

My cupcakes have been blogged again!

The graduation cupcakes I made for Nathan's graduation last year were posted again on Cupcakes Take the Cake just a week or so ago. . . and again on this sweet blog that I didn't know was out there, but I will now totally be following, Be Different. . . Act Normal. Thanks for the shout out, Lorie!
And now I will become addicted to your blog. . .

I may need to make a BYU version of these for Jer & Emily this weekend. . . just for fun.

Selling the Cupcakes

I participated in this awesome Art/Gift fair last weekend, selling cupcakes, of course, and I'll be doing it again this week. It was all I could do not to buy up everyone else's goodies. There are so many beautiful things to see and buy.

Come to the show! It will be held out in Daybreak on Friday and Saturday.
See details below.

Cell Phone Captured

I have many many things I could blog about. . . but I am ill prepared today, so I will, instead, offer you a random smattering of cell phone photos of Nolan. Because between our iphone and Tamera's, we have a lot of funny moments caught in all of their badly lit, out of focus glory. Welcome to Nolan's life:

PLAYING
This is what his normal days consist of:

Shape sorting in the boat from the Easter bunny. And for the first time ever, he's got 2 binkies, not just one. (I cannot get him to repeat this)

Ta-da! Very proud of himself for something

Farm magnets on the fridge

It's not a shoe! It's a phone!

Reading Tamera's book with her

A rather posed moment with his toys

OUTSIDE
He loves being outside. If only it would stay warm!

running around the cul-de-sac in Seattle while dad visited with an old friend. Nolan needed to get rid of his wiggles.

And then he was done

And playing on one of the neighborhood slides.


EATING
I find that more and more, my photos of Nolan are when he's eating. Why? Because it's the only time he's strapped down and can't run away:

Cheese! (one of the few recognizable words he says)

Bagel sandwich in the back seat.

Sharing mom's shake, in the same back seat (only in a rental)

Juice box and chicken nuggets at McDonalds

Feeding himself yogurt. always an adventure.

TV WATCHING
He has ANOTHER cough/cold at the moment. . . which makes him pretty miserable. You know he's wiped out when this is how he watches Curious George.

ESCAPE ATTEMPTS

The Love Sac makes it SO easy for him to climb up into, and hang out on, the window sills in the living room. Which is fine (there is a soft landing all around) until the windows are open. We still have to convince him that it's not OK to press on the screens.

And lastly, a small glimpse at the trick he pulled out yesterday while he and Ben were hanging in his bedroom. Yeah, we are now, officially, on the lowest notch the mattress will go. Then what?

Thank you for your indulgence.

Funny

OK. . . I stole this from Audra, who stole it from someone else.

You will most likely think it's stupid unless you're LDS, in which case you will find it highly amusing. Enjoy.

Easter Time

It is a tradition in the Nielsen family to have an Easter egg hunt in my grandparent's back yard every year. It's a well orchestrated event. . . incredibly fair. . . each child is told to only pick up one of each kind of candy. And while the new inlaws have pointed out to us that this is a bizarre practice, and that egg hunts should be a free for all. . . we persist, because it's all about fairness in our family.

Nolan was far too little to participate last year, but this year we figured he'd love it! And he did. . . he loves candy. . . but he didn't really get it. Mostly, he just tried to carry the candy around in his arms, not understanding that the basket was to be used to carry it all. And after picking up 5 or 6 pieces, he just planted himself under the swings to enjoy. . .

Here, he is highly confused about why everyone keeps telling him to put his candy in the basket. . .
And now he is enjoying his spoils. . . He has this thing lately with keeping food in his cheeks for hours, sometimes. A great many of our pictures from the Easter egg hunt were of him looking like a squirrel.

NOW he's getting it!

He even got to hit the pinata!
(Yes, it is duct taped together. . . everyone had to have a chance to hit it, and it would have broken way too early otherwise)


The hunters
Also a tradition to take a picture on the steps after the hunt and the pinata.


A family picture

Nolan's sweet Easter outfit.
Unfortunately these are the only shots I got of him that day. It was a very busy day, and very warm, so I didn't leave him in all of the layers all day.

Posing for me

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Crafting

My Easter craft project was a bevy of sock bunnies to go to all of the nieces and nephews (11 in all). I started with 6, to make sure I didn't suck at it before I doubled the crowd. I'm almost done with the second set, but first, these sweet things have already gone truckin' to Nolan's cousins far and wide. . .


But before THAT project, I spent nigh unto 3 months crafting felt food for Aubrey's birthday. She turned 2 the end of March, and a basket of food to go with her play kitchen is her birthday gift (though she's yet to receive it, as we haven't seen her. That will be remedied this weekend) Since Aubrey doesn't read my blog, I don't think it will ruin the surprise to show them to you all:

Sandwich, with ham, cheese, lettuce, and egg
Chocolate covered strawberries

Cupcakes (of course)

Pizza with pepperoni
(the toppings are interchangeable, but I shot them on top of the pizza each time. . .)

Pizza with tomatoes and green peppers

Pizza with green peppers, mushrooms, and onions

Hopefully Aubrey will enjoy playing with them. . . Nolan needs a set now, as he has had a great time playing with them while I tried to pack them up for her.

Special

I can't even remember where our food came from this particular day. . .
I think maybe Green Burrito. . .

Ben labeled Nolan,

and then Nolan labeled Ben. (and then stole the sticker back to put on his own head again)

But if you're going to put someone in a box, "special" is an OK one. . . as long as you don't mean it that way