the tenth month

So, I have been awful at writing these posts lately! Moving while working part time and taking care of a baby/home is a lot of work! It doesn't leave me much time to blog or take pictures. Sadly, that means I don't have many pictures of this past month. I do have a few that I'll upload when I find the cord...but for now, I just want to get this post written before my baby is 11 months old!

At 10 months, Nolan is so much fun! This is seriously the best stage ever! I love how much he engages with us and loves to play.

Nolan loves to cruise around the room. He is SO fast! He has also started standing on his own. I noticed that he would let go of things while standing so that he could play with whatever toy was in his hands. I don't think he even realized he wasn't holding on! So I took him into the middle of the room and stood him up. When I let go, he started laughing. I think he thought it was so funny he was standing there on his own! Then he went ahead and took 3 or 4 steps before lunging for me. It was so fun to see his progress walking! He was doing GREAT before we starting packing up our whole house...

Nolan started doing this really cute thing where he would put both of his arms in the air when we said touchdown. He thought it was so funny!

Seriously the best part of this month has been the development of his sense of humor. He is a little ham and we love it so much!

Nolan loves to follow around and play with other kids. He has also decided he NEEDS to be eating whatever I'm eating.

He loves to play with any technology including my laptop, cell phones, iPods, digital clocks, the TV, you name it and he loves it!

Before we moved, Nolan had also gotten into a pretty great napping schedule. He would get up between 7:30 and 8, go down for a nap about 10 or 10:30 sleep for 1-2 hrs and then be up till his next nap that started between 2-3 depending on how long his first nap was. His afternoon nap was usually 1-2 hours as well. He goes to bed between 7-8 and was waking up about 2-3 times a night which is a great improvement!

He is also a champion eater! 3 meals of baby food a day along with snacks and nursing on demand.

We love this little guy so much! I can't believe how much fun he is these days!

february resolution & review: create a healthy home PART I

Since February is almost over, this post is both the description of my resolution AND the review. I promise I've been working on it all month though! :)

So...my new years resolution was to be more healthy in all aspects of my life. I found out at the end of January that we would be moving in February. So, I wanted to find a resolution that I felt like I would really be able to keep this month. I decided to focus on creating a healthier home. By this, I really meant I wanted to focus on de-junking. I know I have a tendency to hang on to things for sentimental reasons. I have a hard time getting rid of things from my childhood that I really don't need and I won't ever use again. BUT, they hold so many great memories that I just can't seem to part with them. So I've ended up with several boxes full of things like this and I have nothing to do with them and no where to put them.

In Provo, we lived in a three bedroom townhouse with plenty of extra storage space. But, we planned on getting a two bedroom in Phoenix to save on rent. So, I planned to force myself to part with some things so that we could have less storage. I spent a couple weeks before we moved going through all of our things and boxes of storage. We got rid of probably 6-7 boxes of things. Honestly it felt great!

Now, as I'm unpacking everything in Phoenix, I am getting rid of even more things! I've still ended up finding things I just can't bear to part with yet. But hopefully next time I go through things I'll be able to cut the ties! :) I really want to try to be more of a minimalist in my life, but I feel like I'm going to have to take baby steps to get there.

Hurray for less things to store! :)

january review: healthy eating

So....February is almost half way over and I haven't posted about my January resolution to eat more healthily OR what my February resolution is. Things have been super crazy lately! About a month ago Scott was offered a job with the Red Cross in Phoenix and since then it has been crazy trying to get everything ready for the move. So, although everything is still pretty crazy around here, I thought I'd take a minute to catch up on blogging before I get too far behind.

To kick start our healthy month off right, I wanted to try going meatless for a week. Scott wasn't quite as enthusiastic, but he agreed to do it with me. :) Probably because I do most of the cooking! Ha! Anyway, it was a great experience! I definitely don't plan to become a vegetarian anytime soon, but it was a great way to experience some new foods! I made six different vegetarian meals and we were in a rush one night and needed something quick. We went to Cubby's Chicago Beef (probably one of the restaurants we'll miss the most in Provo!) and grabbed a couple of their vegetarian "Portabella" mushroom burgers. They are awesome. Anyway, when I finally unpack my vegetarian recipes, I'll have to post a couple of our favorites. I think there was one we didn't really like as much. Oh well. Overall, I am SO glad that we decided to do this! I seriously felt great afterward - so much lighter and healthier! I even lost 5 lbs!

In addition to doing a meatless week, I also tried to curb some of my bad eating habits :) and just try to be more healthy overall. I complain about not being able to lose the last 5-10 pregnancy pounds, but the truth is, I know why. I love my comfort food. I love to eat potatoes, breads, pastas, pastries, and chocolate - and they are definitely not helping me lose any weight. So, I decided to cut back. I only let myself eat potatoes once or twice a week at the most. I've also switched out a lot of our pastas for wheat pasta. I've also made an effort to only buy whole grain breads (except on special occasions - like when I want a croissant :). I love to bake, so giving up pastries and baked goods would be really hard for me. I'm still working on this one, but in general I'm just trying not to eat as much.

Since our vegetarian week, I've also been much more motivated to include more vegetables in our meals. I word to the wise: Although it probably helped me to dive right in to a vegetarian lifestyle & eating only whole wheat and whole grains, it is probably best to make the changes more slowly. Your digestive system will thank you. Trust me. :)

the ninth month

**Note: I wrote this post a couple days before Nolan turned 9 months. All I needed to do was add the photos. BUT, we have been SO busy that I hadn't gotten around to it until now. And Nolan is almost 10 months now! Oh well, better late than never!

Nolan has officially been outside of the womb for as long as he was inside! Crazy! It honestly feels like he has been with us for so much longer than nine months!

Sometimes I feel like he's already a teenager! :)

This past month was so fun with him! He is getting around so quickly! He loves to stand while holding on to whatever is close by. He cruises around the room holding onto furniture.

He plays with this dresser handle every morning after he gets dressed! :)

Nolan standing in his crib after a nap. He didn't even notice me when I turned on the light.

I had to call his name before he would look at me. :)

Nolan LOVES to pull anything and everything out of drawers and baskets. Here he is unloading our dirty laundry....

Nolan has discovered stairs! He crawled away while we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house. After about 20 seconds I followed to see where he had gone. He was already 5 stairs up before I got there! He is a pro!

He'll do anything to get to the stairs. Here he is climbing over his car seat...

Nolan is so fun to play with and his little laugh is so infectious! He is super ticklish and loves to wrestle around (gently). He loves to come find us when we hide and he LOVES riding on dada's shoulder's.

Here he is on my shoulders...trying to keep him happy before bed.

He says dada all the time and has started calling me "nama" this month. When he gets upset he says nam or nama over and over while pleading me to pick him up with his little eyes!

He is eating more and more baby foods and finger foods. Anytime we are eating he thinks he should be eating too. We discovered that he loves oranges. He found one in our stocking stash and started peeling it with his little teeth! We've since peeled some and let him have a try. Whenever he sees the bowl of cuties on our table he lunges for them!

Eating snacks and watching TV!

Nolan is getting more and more coordinated. He started waving bye bye this month, but only does it when he feels like it. He's also learning to give high fives!

Nolan loves his grandpa!

Nolan had a lot of fun playing with his cousin Carter over the holidays. They loved to follow each other around, steal each others toys, torment Pookie together! They only ever got jealous when the other was being fed.

Talking to each other at Cafe Rio.

Unloading the dishwasher - such good helpers!

Playing with (or fighting over) toys. ...In matching outfits. Thanks Grandma!

One of my favorite developments so far is Nolan's love for music! He loves his toys that play music! When one of his toys (or any other form of music including commercials, radio, whistling, or singing) plays music, he bobs up and down dancing to the beat. It is the cutest thing ever! He gets this big grin on his face and sometimes dances with his hands too!

He loves to play the piano!

Nolan also celebrated his first Christmas! We spent Christmas morning with my family. Nolan had some fun ripping the paper and he loved the new toys he got. I am especially happy that he loves his rocking moose that Santa brought him.

Nolan and his car/walker from G & G B.

Nolan and the rocking moose!

Batman in training!

Nolan and Carter in their superhero jammies from Aunt Megan! :)

A few days before Christmas, Nolan started getting a cold. I'm pretty sure he developed a low grade fever by later that day. So, Christmas day at Nana and Pappap's wasn't quite as enjoyable. Nolan was pretty fussy and not willing to nap without a crib. So unfortunately, we had to cut the visit a little bit short. Even as sick and tired as he was, he still loved his gifts from his Nana!

The Sunday before Christmas, we went with my family to see the lights at Temple Square

On Christmas Eve, Nolan went to the mall to meet Santa. He did really well - even smiled for the picture! ...Until I walked out of site (behind the photo booth). Then he started crying.

Christmas Eve dinner with my family ... yes, we are all wearing sweats.

Nolan opening his Christmas Eve box. He got a Christmas board book and some jammies!