Fun in AZ part 1

We had a full week of fun in AZ this past week. Nolan was able to spend a bunch of time with Ben's parents, which was awesome for him. (and we enjoyed it a great deal too) He had many days of fun wreaking havoc on their house.

Another part of the fun was the time we got to spend with Nathan, Jenny & Tanner. Nolan spent a lot of time hugging and tackling Tanner. There was no doubt he remembered his cousin.

They had a great time playing in the kiddie pool in Grammy & Grandpa's back yard
(yes, that rash guard is way too small, and has since been replaced)

We also got to go visit them up in Chandler to see where Nathan works, where they live, and experience a little bit of local cuisine.

The boys had so much fun together

And Nathan & Tanner's antics were cracking Nolan up


To add to the fun, we found yet another local cupcake shop. This one was up in Scottsdale, and let me tell you. . . Lulu knows how to make a cupcake. We had the lemon, chocolate/peanut butter, Strawberry shortcake, and vanilla/vanilla. All of which were very tasty. And you know I don't say that lightly.

Nolan agreed, as usual

Kiddie Pool Action

At first, it was hard to get him in the water. It was a little cold. . . but he settled for walking around, shoes ON his feet

Then he played with a few toys

And the hose.

He still won't SIT in the water, he'll just crouch down, filling his diaper (if I don't put on a swim diaper) But we'll get there. . .

Random Pics

Reading Harry Potter

He often assumes this position to watch TV. He leans against a couch, the love sac, the table. . .
heaven forbid he sit down, or hold himself upright on his own power.

Eventually he just put the pillows on the ground and flopped.

He loves his Tamera

Still practicing his xylophone skills

Probably while watching the talent show episode of Sesame Street where a seal plays the glockenspiel

He always spills a little yogurt down his bib when he eats. It's an inevitable part of letting him eat it himself. But this morning he got a little more energetic.

This is what his hair does when he gets sweaty. He had been asleep on my shoulder while we walked around a store, and his curls actually stayed. I had to capture them. Here's hoping he doesn't resemble Ronald McDonald when he grows up.

Crib Fun

This is how Tamera found him after his nap

He then proceeded to run away.
He did not want to be helped out

I'm not sure what's up with this expression.
Possibly practicing for his teenage years?

And then the escape attempt begins

The crib mattress has since been lowered, but I have no illusions that the crib thing will last as long as I want it to.

Outside in PJs

Helping to water the plants (and simultaneously sneezing)

Trying to put Tamera's shoe on by laying it on top of her foot.

not pleased that it didn't work

FINE, I'll wear it myself. I'll show you how it's done!

Out of the Office

As we are heading out again on yet another adventure (this time to AZ), and I am not taking my computer with me (GASP!) I thought I would leave you all with a series of posts while I'm gone. . .

These posts will once again consist of cell phone photos taken by me and by Tamera, of Nolan. If you're bored, please move on. I can't come up with anything more clever right now, and some of these are downright entertaining to me (even if they aren't to you)

Today, we will start with the following:

Drawing on the magna doodle. Best invention EVER for toddlers.

Drawing on the magnadoodle in only his diaper. . .
Whatever spurs on his creative energy, I say

Throwing one of his many recent tantrums
I'm pretty sure Tamera was in the process of ruining his life or smothering his non-existent puppy or something when this happened

Much happier and playing with the ball popper.

Chillin' with some juice. He is either watching Sesame Street or Curious George. I know this for 2 reasons:
#1-- those are the 2 shows we DVR, so they can be watched at any hour, and they are the only ones he loves
#2-- It is only while watching one of those 2 shows that he sits this still


See, wasn't that fun?

Friday Randoms

1- Do you ever sit in the line at Walgreens and wonder if the people in the pharmacy are judging you for your prescriptions. Like, when they see someone pick up a prescription for Xanax, do they think "there goes another crazy lady". . . I didn't even fill a Xanax prescription today, but it got me wondering. . .

2- I'm not sure if this is just me and my musical theatre/choir loving friends, but is GLEE not AMAZING?! I am fascinated with it. How are they getting the rights for all of these songs? Will it start great and then fall on its face? Will the current fervor for it help come fall? Was the teaser show an effective marketing tool? I'm guessing yes, but I think we need one more teaser in July.

3- I know NOTHING about dancing, and yet (or maybe BECAUSE of that) I LOVE So You Think You Can Dance. We watched the tail end of season 3, and then last year, got TOTALLY sucked in. It's actually how Nolan learned to clap. . . And last night, watching people fall down in the auditions was cracking him up. I am SO glad there will be a fall season as well as summer!

4- I am flying alone with Nolan for the first time this weekend. I am beyond nervous about it. He is either an angel or a devil on planes. . . let's hope for angel, shall we? Maybe sleep the whole way, like he did on the way back from our WI trip. . .

5- People can change. . . When I was a sophomore in college, I struck a deal with my room mate Bonnie that if she would cook, I would clean. I had NO IDEA how to cook. Now I have a side business based on baking and have no problem following/inventing recipes. I'm just saying. . .

That's all for now. Everyone have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Outside Fun

Because of the awesomeness of the economy (did you sense the sarcasm there?) we, like many others, considered buying a house while it was a buyers market (forget the fact that we would struggle to sell our CURRENT house) We considered it very seriously. It would certainly be nice to have more space. . .

Instead, we opted for refinancing and promised ourselves that this summer, we WOULD enjoy our back yard. They always say on HGTV that it is another room of your house, after all. . .

Last summer, we were lucky to get the lawn mowed every 2 weeks (if you'll recall this post)

This year, we vowed to do better. We planted more flowers, some strawberries, beans, peas, and cilantro. We have been keeping up on the mowing & weeding. . . and what do you know, we like to be out there! It is a slow process of adding things to help, but we're liking it so far.
And it's a good thing, because so does Nolan.

He uses the flower boxes as his own little bench

He takes some time to smell the flowers

And enjoys the water from the sprinkler

This behavior motivated us to get him a kiddie pool.

But he can entertain himself without one, as you can see.

Guitar Hero

Nolan really loves Guitar Hero. (at least in theory. Obviously, he doesn't know how to play) He pulls the guitars out at least once a day. We don't indulge him and play the game unless he's REALLY insistent, but on Sunday, Nolan and Ben had a little father and son bonding time over the game:

Making Room

We have been on a pretty big clean/purge kick around here lately. We have way too much stuff for our 1300 sq. ft. of space. Storage is just frustrating, even though we have plenty of closets.

And thanks to my need for non-white walls, one of our storage issues has been many MANY cans of paint, only partly full, in one of our closets. I saw a brilliant idea on this blog the other day (and she got the idea HERE) to store left over paint, for touch ups, in mason jars. What a great space saver!

(thanks, Helen, for helping me find the original post)

So we put the plan into action Saturday night.

We went from this:
To this:

What a difference! They now fit into a corner of the
laundry room shelf,
AND Ben got to use the label maker again.

Score!

The Coke Battle

I'm Melanie, and I'm a Coke-aholic.

Not Diet Coke.
I understand that I'm 31 and female, but I HATE Diet Coke.
We're talking full octane Coca-Cola here.

It all started in high school. I blame Whitney, really. She got me hooked on Big Gulps and Biggie sodas at Wendys. . . and it's been down hill from there.

I went through times where I did better than others, but the caffeine addiction has been my constant companion for at least 15 years, give or take. The longest I went without was the first trimester I was pregnant with Nolan. 9 weeks (since I didn't know I was pregnant right away). And then the dr. said a little was OK, and I was back on the sauce.

I hate to admit how much I consume. . . I'm not even sure I know. I would say on a GOOD day, 32-48 oz. On a bad day, at least twice that. Which is a LOT of sugar, besides the caffeine. . .

And I wonder why I keep gaining weight? Maybe it's connected to the millions of migraines I keep getting? (obviously that's hyperbole, but I AM getting between 8 and 10 migraines a month, even with everything I've tried)

So I've made a plan.

Cold turkey has never worked well for me, so I have been weaning.

So far, I am down to 24 oz or less a day, NONE of which is allowed after 5 pm. I have cheated twice in 2 weeks, and once it was 6:30 when I had my glass of goodness.

The result?

I haven't lost a single pound. I still have headaches (though they have surprisingly not gotten worse). And I am EXHAUSTED!

But I WILL power through it. It has to be good for me in the end, right?

Wish me luck!

Photo Sneak Peek

One of the reasons behind our fabulous trip to Wisconsin was to have family pictures taken by the wonderful Emily Southerland. She sent me a sneak peek this morning from our session, and I HAD to share. Because they turned out GREAT. And I'm so excited to see the rest.

Check out the rest of her stuff. She's amazing.

Adventure!

This is what Nolan did today. . .


What did you do?

*photos courtesy of his nanny, Tamera, who is also a pretty sweet photographer, as you can see

** Yes, that IS a buffalo

Win Cupcakes!

Wanna win some key lime cupcakes, baked with love by yours truly?

If you are a Utahn, you can win some (I haven't figured out a good way to ship them yet)

Just go to Sell Party of Three and leave her a comment!
She'll bring them right to ya!

(or you can meet her somewhere to pick them up)

Go on, get on it!

Spring Video

A few new clips of Nolan at Easter time, and since. . .

My mom

They say that you can never truly appreciate your mother until you become one yourself.

My mom with me as a baby
I like to think that I appreciated my mom before then, but I certainly didn't get it. I had no clue how she did what she did. I still don't, having only 1. . .

4 of us under the age of six. . . Seriously? At the age of 25? By the time my mom was my age, I was 13. The very idea of it stresses me out. But despite the stress, she somehow found time to make a lot of our clothes, not to mention sweet Care Bears and Cabbage Patch dolls for Christmas. . . among many other things. She encouraged us to use our imaginations, and spent all of her time just being with us. I have no idea how she found that fulfilling, but I am truly grateful for the sacrifice.

My parents with Carter & Ethan, Halloween (obviously)

And best of all, she's the same kind of grandma. . . This is how I think of my mom now. . . She's the best kind of grandma. And I'm so grateful Nolan has her.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!

Friday Randoms

Because it's been a while:

1- How is it possible for one small child to go through 10 sippy cups in one day? I have a ridiculous number, and yet it seems there is seldom a clean one to be found.

2- My flower garden looks SO pretty right now. I just want to go hang out back there with the tulips.

3- I misplace my remote control at least 6 times a day in my living room. It is not a large space. And I can't even blame Nolan. I just can't seem to remember where I'm putting it down.

4- For the first time in MONTHS, I don't have a pressing craft project with a real deadline. Does that mean it's time for me to catch up on the unfinished stuff in my closet? Probably so.

5- My job is one big circle of frustration right now. . . not being able to find things because they aren't properly organized, and not being able to organize them because I'm busy searching for things. . . This frustrates me. Hopefully I will catch up soon.

That's all for now.

That's all for now.