Precious Moments

Of course I feel that every second with my little guy makes it all worth while, but there are some moments that will stand out for all times.

Precious Moments: (Hopefully Ongoing!)
1)Nathan was drinking his bottle in his car seat, which almost put him to sleep. When he finished, he threw his bottle down and reached his arm up. So, I reached back and grabbed his hand. With his eyes closed, he squeezed my finger and grinned the most precious grin. Fast asleep he went with the smile still on his face and the grip still tight around my finger.

2)Nathan and I were playing with his toys on the ground. He I guess realized he was tired, and decided it was time for his nap. So, he put his toys down, climbed up onto my lap and put his head down on my chest. Falling asleep almost instantly.

3)Hugs Mommy!! Nathan will dart across the room, play with a toy and then dart back to give me a hug. Then he is off again and back again and then off again. His hugs are the sweetest.

4)Just one more goodnight kiss. I know it sounds silly, but I actually hope that Nathan is still awake when I go in to check on him after I have put him to bed. It lets me get in one more hug and kiss for the day. (Not that he hasn't been smothered all day!!) He jumps up with a huge smile on his face and opens up his arms. Sometimes he giggles when he sees me. It all just melts my heart.

5)We were playing catch and Nathan figured out how the game really works. He also figured out that mommy was giving him an applause after every great throw. So, he started giving mommy an applause after each of her throws. He is so encouraging!!

To Be Continued...

Who's a Big Boy?

Nathan is such a Big Boy now!!

Hard at work on the computer.

Such a conversationalist on the phone.

Mommy's helper, dusting the carpet

His other big boy tricks are: blowing on his own food to cool it off, holding the handle of mommy's coffee mug and drinking out of it, climbing up onto the bed and laying his head down on the pillow when he's tired, and (my favorite) flushing the toilet!! Yes, he figured that one out and now mommy has to figure out how to child proof it.

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday and now it is Nathan's favorite too!! "Wow", he said, "all I have to do is put on a silly outfit and people give me this delicious, heavenly, to good to be true sweet stuff." OK, I'll do it!!

It was to cute. Nathan was such a trooper. He let us put him in this ridiculous (or should I say ridiculously cute costume) and let us drag him from door-to-door to show off our little lion. Oh, and he collected candy for his mommy and daddy too!! He was so intrigued by all of the people looking silly, his eyes were big the entire night. Mommy and Daddy looked funny too! We were all one big happy Wizard of Oz family: Mommy was the Wicked Witch of the East (Dorothy's outfit was a little to risque for family photos, so we passed on that one), Daddy was the Scarecrow and Nathan was the lion. We were the only parents dressed up, but it was worth it for the snapshots above! Love to All. Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!

Lions, Tigers and Bears, OH My!!

Watch out cowardly lion, the Cute Cuddly Lion is going to steal the show!!

What are we up to these days?

Well, Nathan has a three word vocabulary-- Mommy for mom, Dada for dad (which has now become mama), bah for bottle. The rest of the time he holds these extremely in depth conversations with us. He looks in our eyes, and gabs away with his little gibber-jabber. It is very cute, but hard to understand. So, we just nod and smile!! As far as walking goes, he is pulling himself up and cruising across the floor with his walking toys. He has also stood up and remained standing all by himself, but he still lacks the confidence to take any steps by himself. It looks like it might be coming soon though. Then we are really going to have our hands full, because based on how active he is already we know he will be running from the get go. The doctor just saw him recently and said that he has lost weight, or should I say not gained as much between visits. This she attributes to him being an extremely active child. You can say that again. I seem to be the only parent in music class running all over the place! Right now, he has a bunch of friends and seems to be a very gentle-social little guy. Hopefully, he will stay this sweet. Anyway, beyond getting into everything and being more curious then Mr. George, he seems to be a pretty layed back kid.
As for me, I love being a stay-at-home mom. If you asked me what my dream job would be, I would say doing exactly this. It is a lot of fun taking him to different classes everyday and meeting other moms. We both enjoy the social time!! Our schedule is pretty busy, we now have two classes almost every day. Beyond taking care of the family, I have really been getting into my glass fusing and have also become an eBay seller. That has been keeping me busy during Nathan's nap time and on nights that Brent has to go back to work. We'll see where it goes, but for now it is a great outlet for me. Thank you hubby for working so hard so that I can be at home with our little guy!!
Brent has been working hard, but is really enjoying his job. He loves the team he works with and is really satisfied with his line of work--the cause I should say. Solar energy and going green is the wave of the future, so it seems he picked right!! On the side, he of course loves spending time with us. As soon as he walks in the door, Nathan rushes over and starts climbing up his leg for a big hug. It is adorable! Brent bikes to work everyday and has been trying to get some mountain biking in on weekends, when he can. Beyond that, he has been scouting out his next mountain bike and dreaming of the day he can take Nathan on his first ride!!

Letter to Our Son

Dear Nathan,

Your daddy and I just wanted to let you know that this has been the best year of our lives. On the day you entered our world, life began. We are so lucky to have you as our son, and we love you so very much. You are a dream come true. This has been such an amazing year for us watching you grow, and we can't believe how fast it has flown by. You were the little pea in our arms, and now you are the little man that dances on the drum shaking your tush in the air!! We couldn't be more proud. Well, we can't wait to see what happens this next year and we hope you know that we are here for all of your stumbles, wobbly steps, and for whatever the future holds. We love you so dearly!

Happy 1st Birthday!!

Nathan Has a Crush!!

There are hearts in their eyes!! Nathan already has a girlfriend. Sorry, he is smitten. She is older, so cute and the life of the party. Charlotte Rae, my answer to your question is yes. I will go to prom with you!!

Big Celebration!!

This weekend was Nathan's Big First Birthday party. He had family come into town from all over the country to see him eat his cake. We took over 300 pictures and there are just too many to choose from for his blog. So, I chose this one of the Birthday Boys! Nathan and his Great Grandfather (a.k.a "Great Gramps") share the same birth date. So, I think this is the winner!!

Our Family

Brent and I hardly ever get pictures together with our little guy. It is usually one or the other taking the shot. So, above are a couple of rare snapshots of our family!!

Delicious!!

Mommy gets a sticky kiss!!

Look at that face. That is the face of pure satisfaction!! Umm Umm Good....

Party! Party! Party!

This is Sticky, tasty, but sticky!!

Birthday Boy!!

Well, we officially have a one year old!! Nathan had his big birthday yesterday and boy did he have a blast. In the morning, we went to Stroller Fit class and then had a pumpkin decorating play date afterwards. He and his little friends enjoyed eating the paint brushes!! I think all of my markers have dental impressions in them too :) Then, later in the afternoon we went to music class. Nathan of course jammed out on the drums to the beats of Stevie Wonder. He really has rhythm it's amazing! After all of that fun, we went to pick up daddy and have dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Nathan loved the animals, fish tanks and most of all his ice cream sundae!! We couldn't get it in him fast enough. Unfortunately, he pooped out in the car on the way home and didn't get to open his presents until the next morning. But that is OK, he was awake and ready to go. It was the best. So much more special celebrating your child's birthday, I loved it. This is what it's all about!!

Full Service Babysitters!!

What service!! First, our babysitters call us up to see if they can take Nathan Saturday evening. Sure can! Then, they serve us wine/beer and cheese when we arrive to drop Nathan off at their house. Next, they send us on our way to reservations that they made for us. While we are out having an amazing time, Nathan was playing with their kids, toys, dancing and having a blast. When we returned, Nathan was sound asleep in their pack-n-play. We didn't even have to bring any gear. Wow!! To top it all off, they were FREE!!!!!!!! The only sad part was knowing that Nathan didn't even cry or care that we were gone. He was a perfect angel and shed no tears. He even made it easy on them and went right to sleep without fuss!! Figure that, he is better for the babysitters. Well, we will definitely be doing that again!!

Early B-day Present!

We gave Nathan an early B-day present. He loves running through his tunnel and playing tag!!

Family Vacation!

What a pose!!

Nathan and I took a trip to Florida to visit with his Aunt-Uncle and cousins. We had a blast. It was so much fun watching how excited he was with all of the kids. Of course, my sister has every toy imaginable now that she has four kids. So, he loved that too!! We miss them so much.

You can't say no to me!!

Could you say no to this cutie patootie!!

Hysterical!!

Nathan gets into these laughing fits and I was finally able to catch one on camera!!

Look how talented!!

Nathan loves his blocks, and has learned a great trick!! He doesn't play favorites, any color will do.

Best Pics of the Week!!

Weekend Adventure Part Two!!

Ok. So, after we went through the fun night of camping with Nathan, we decided to go on a hike.
Brent read in this hiking book about a trail that is easy, 4 and 5 yr. olds can do this. There are only a few ledges that you might have to get on your knees for, but other than that it is mild. Sounds good to us, so off we went. Of course, we wanted to be adventurous and cook at the top of the mountain. So, Brent carried the camping pack (which I refer to as the Gigant-a-sack), and I carried Nathan on my back. The trail included two mountain ridges in the White Mountains, and was 4 1/2 miles total. When we got started, I noticed that this trail got right to the point. If you are going to the top of a mountain, you are going to go straight up. So, up we started to climb. After 1/4 mile, I needed to take a break. After all, Nathan weighs 26 pounds!! We sat and had a snack and then started up again (I carried the sack this time)to at least make it to the first peak. Yeah!! we made it and what a beautiful sight. Brent and I sat and ate our lunch, and then decided that since we have already come so far why not go to the second peak. Big Mistake!! We started up again and then realized that the next part of the hike was straight up a smooth granite cliff. I am not exaggerating when I say "Straight Up." My legs were already exhausted and so I was moving at a snails pace with the Gigant-a-sack on my back!! This 65+yr. old woman came and helped me with my sack, since I was having such a hard time. We asked her if we were almost to the top, and she said yes. Boy was she wrong! It kept going and going and became a lot more interesting. We were squeezing through tiny passages and passing Nathan up through these rock climbs. At a couple of spots, we were lucky to get help because we looked at each other and said how the heck are we going to do this. That was the one thing we were thankful for, it was a crowded day on the mountain, yet we were the only non-mighty mountain warriors up there. I started to call all the people that, because to them this was a breeze. We did get a lot of comments about us being brave to bring the baby with us. Had we known it was like this, we wouldn't have done it. The book must have been written by Eco-challenge champions. Anyway, so we finally made it to the top of the second peak and then Brent said the hard part is over now we just have to go down. So, we enjoyed the beautiful 360 degree views of the mountains and then headed on down. While we were up there, we saw the people across the way on another mountain top looking at us, Brent commented that was another trail that we will have to do some other time. Ya right, not for a long time :) Well, down we go, but just like I mentioned earlier, this trail got right to the point. If you are going down the mountain, then down you will go. There was nothing but smooth cliffs of granite straight down, where one side you could slide right off. Yikes, I was done. Brent thought at that moment that he was going to have to heliport us off of the mountain. So, we got on our butts and scooted our way down. When we got to the actual trail in the woods again, we asked another hiker how far we have to go? He told us we go down for a bit and then up to the second peak and then down on the other side. WHAT? WE HAVEN'T EVEN MADE IT TO THE SECOND PEAK. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. Needless to say, the rest of the trail was more of the same and we were pooped. Five hours later, we made it out of the woods. Thank You G-d!! It was quite an adventurous trip. My description for the hike in the book would have read as follows: You will be hiking straight-I mean straight up the mountain. Be prepared to spend half of your time on your hands and knees, gripping into the rocks so that you don't slide off the cliff and into the valley. Ladies will lose all of their finger nails, so don't bother getting a manicure beforehand. Once you reach the top, you will need to belay yourself down the mountain to the trail. So, rock climbing experience is mandatory. But, at that point you will not be done yet, so be prepared to do it all over again. Also, before you go, make sure your insurance covers a helicopter transport off the mountain. Oh, and not recommended for anyone under the age of 15. For those of you that think you are cool and want to hike up the mountain with a sack or anything on your back for that matter, don't bother you will be sorry. Expert Level!!!

What an Adventure!! Camping with Nathan.

This weekend, Brent and I decided to take Nathan on his first camping and hiking trip. How Exciting!! We drove up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire on Saturday night and arrived at our campgrounds around 8pm. The sun had already set, and it was after Nathan's bedtime, so Brent went to work to get our tent up and the beds ready to go. Once we were set, we noticed that we couldn't breathe and the campfire smoke was a thick fog right around us. Unsure of what to do, we drove around to see if there was another spot that wasn't smokey. Sure enough, we found one. Brent had to get all of the tent and gear packed back up and move us over to the new spot. He was not a happy camper!! Our new spot didn't have smoke, and it came with the lovely views and sounds of the cars zooming by on the highway. Yep, roadside camping how relaxing!! It wasn't what we hoped for, but at 10pm you'll take anything. So, we went to bed. At 2am, Nathan woke up crying from having pins and needles. The three of us were crammed into one tent, which was so comfortable :) Of course, at night in the wilderness, you can hear a pin drop and Nathan's cries echoed through the woods. We were lucky to get him calmed down and back to sleep. 4am rolled around and again Nathan woke up crying. After that, we decided that maybe we should go home and let the rest of the campers get some sleep. So, I went to sit in the car with Nathan while Brent was going to pack up everything. Nathan fell right to sleep which made us change our mind and stay. Lucky me, Brent returned to the tent to sleep (now having the whole thing to himself), while I sat holding Nathan in the car for two hours. I think I got 30 minutes of sleep and when he woke, I ran to the tent and handed him to Brent so that I could go to bed. What a night!! Brent and Nathan played around a campfire in the morning, while I slept. The things we do for love!! Stay tuned for part two... The Hiking Adventure!!