Hamman Christmas Party

The extended Hamman family gets together every year the week before Christmas. It's always nice to see everybody. The party rotates between my parents' house and my dad's siblings' houses. This year it was at Aunt Joyce and Uncle Jim's house. Nolan had a blast. Here is Grandma Hamman (Nolan's Great Grandma) with all her grandkids and great-grandkids that were able to make it to the party. Everyone was so generous and Nolan had fun opening presents.Reading his new Thomas the Train book with Uncle Ryan.Grandma Hamman with her kids.Then came the highlight of the night for Nolan....Santa Claus made an appearance at the party to hand out all the presents!! We had seen Santa the week before and Nolan wanted no part of him, but this time after taking a few minutes to warm up to him, he talked to Santa, sat on his lap, and even gave him a hug!

Lincoln Park Zoo Lights with Uncle Bob & Aunt "Lulie"

Dave and I took Bob and Laurie up on their offer to babysit this past Saturday. So while we enjoyed a nice dinner in the city, they took Nolan over to Lincoln Park Zoo to see all the cool lights. Nolan had so much fun and just adores the two of them. Aunt "Lulie" as he calls her is Nolan's new favorite person. He asks for her all the time...so cute! They got him a box of animal crackers at the zoo and a wooden animal puzzle so he was loving life! Thanks Bob and Laurie for a fun night!

You can click on any of the pictures in the slideshow to see it bigger.

Wheee!!

Ever since the first snowfall of the season, Nolan says "Walk on snow!" anytime he looks out the window and sees snow. He loves telling me all about his boots and snowpants. We took him sledding this weekend and he went down a pretty good size hill all by himself! He has a toddler sled that is the perfect size for him. Whenever he sees a sled he says "Wheee!" So Dave stood at the top of the hill and I caught Nolan at the bottom. Nolan thought it was pretty fun the first few times, but then said "bye-bye" and looked at the car in the parking lot. He had his fill and was ready to go home. Granted it was pretty cold out too. Here's a video clip of Nolan's sledding debut:

'Tis the Season

We took a trip out to the farm this afternoon for our tree. We went with our friends Kevin, Susan, and thier boys Andrew and Brandon. Afterwards, we took the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese for lunch where Nolan and Andrew loved going on all the different rides.
We had a few ornament casualties since Nolan thought the round bulbs were balls that he could throw!
Becky and I turned my wedding dress into a Christmas tree skirt a few years ago. It brings a smile to my face when I bring it out each year.

The Prince

Nolan made this crown at daycare awhile back. We found it in his closet the other day and he now wants to wear it all the time! This is the same kid who until recently would never keep a hat on his head. But now he'll actually keep on his winter hat without putting up a fight. I'm hoping this means he'll wear a hat next summer (along with his sunglasses).

This absolutely cracked me up!

So after a long seven hour drive home on Monday night, Nolan was completely wiped. It had been a busy week and he was such a trooper going from place to place and seeing new people each day. After I put him down for bed, he decided it was time for a meltdown. He cried and cried and wasn't very consolable. He finally fell asleep (several hours past his normal bedtime) and when I peeked in his room, this is what I saw. Nolan fell asleep sitting Indian style with his head practically in his lap.

Please keep Aunt Linda in your prayers

Dave's Aunt Linda (Becky's sister) got a call at 1:00 in the morning on Sunday, 11/30 that a kidney had become available and that she was #1 on the list. By 7:00 that evening she was in surgery having a kidney transplant. The surgery went extremely well and the doctors are thrilled with her recovery. Please pray that it continues to go well for her. We love you Aunt Linda!

Thanksgiving in Cincinnati

Thanksgiving dinner with Grandpa George and Grandma Becky:Yummy food!Playing with Grandma's decorations:Taking a walk after dinner with Grandpa George:I love wagon rides!Being silly:We went to the Cincinnati Children's Museum on Friday where they had a "Holiday Junction" model train exhibit. Nolan thought it was pretty cool.They even had toy trains there for me to play with!Nolan went right up to Clifford and gave him a big hug. It was so cute!


On Saturday, Becky's cousin Melanie and her husband Jeff had us over for a delicious brunch. Melanie's sister Rosanne, her husband Larry and their three boys were there as well from North Carolina. It was great to see everyone. They were so good with Nolan and had so much fun meeting him and playing with him.On Saturday night, we went to George's friend Otto's birthday party. Happy Birthday Otto! Thanks for the toy truck!
On Sunday night, Nolan got to play with Drew Rohner. They had a lot of fun together.

Nolan loves elephants!

Over the past month or so, Nolan has been all about elephants! He loves reading about elephants, pointing out elephants in books, talking about elephants "long noses", playing with toy elephants, making elephant noises while pretenting he has a long nose. Given this new obsession of his, I thought it would be fun to take Nolan to the Rainforest Cafe. Dave and I had never been to one, so we didn't really know what to expect. Nolan was all about it and loved it!

Fun times at My Gym!

Nolan went to Henry Cabage's 1st birthday party at My Gym and had a great time.

Mr. Cool!

Nolan loves wearing Mommy's sunglasses these days. He despised his sunglasses the last couple summers. Maybe this means he'll actually start wearing them next summer.

Playdate at the Honda's House

Best Buddies

Nolan and Andrew showing support for their favorite teams. It looks like they're being brainwashed by their dads already!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Nolan helping Papa blow out his birthday candles. My dad's birthday cake of choice is the rum cake that my grandma makes for him most years.
Thanks for having us all over for a delicious lasagna dinner Grandma! It was yummy!
Grandma bought me these cool Elmo apple juice boxes!

Russell's BBQ

Russell's Barbeque is in Elmwood Park and has been around since 1930. My mom loves this place and has great memories of going there as a kid. I don't think Nolan enjoyed the beef as much as my mom, but it was still fun taking him there. All the kid's meals come with a token that you put in a big machine on the wall and it gives you a prize. I remember that being a big deal when my parents took us there when we were little. Nolan's prize was a stick-on tattoo...woo-hoo! =)

Nolan loves his Dadda!

Election Day is Finally Here!

Dave and I did our civic duty this morning. The lines weren't as bad as we expected. Dave got there about 30 minutes before the polls opened so he was in and out really quickly once the doors opened. He said there were only a few other people there waiting. I went over as soon as Dave got back home and there were about 20 people in line ahead of me. It took about 40 minutes from the time I got there until I was done voting. It feels great to have voted and to be part of such an important election. Energy and excitement was definitely in the air this morning at our polling place. I have a feeling lots of us will be glued to the TV today and will be useless at work tomorrow!

Big Helper!

Nolan helping Dad rake the leaves.

Happy Halloween!

I can definitely say that Nolan loved Halloween! He loved every single aspect of it...everything from wearing his Elmo costume, handing out candy, going trick-or-treating. He had a blast.