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.

No more hospital visits - twice in one week is enough!

This past week was a tough one on Nolan. He had to stay overnight at the hospital two different times this week for two procedures. Two Fridays ago (10/17), Nolan had a follow-up appointment to check the progress of a boil that he had on his groin/diaper line. It had started has a pimple and within a couple days had turned into a boil. We thought they would say it was fine since it seemed to be draining on its own. They didn't like that it was still pretty big and they were convinced it couldn't completely drain on its own....so we had to go the ER to get it lanced. Ugh! We went to the ER at 3:30 in the afternoon and the procedure didn't end up happening until after midnight. Nolan was such a little trooper. He then had this 3/4 inch incision that needed lots of TLC while it healed. In come George and Becky to the rescue! They drove to Chicago with hardly any heads-up so that Nolan wouldn't have to go to daycare and Dave and I didn't have to use vacation days. Nolan loved all the attention from Grandma and Grandpa...they are so wonderful with him.

Then six days later (Thursday) Nolan had to be a back in the hospital for a planned EGD (endoscope) and a 24 hour pH study to look into the acid reflux that Nolan has been having since he's been about 4 months old. The doctor said that everything she saw in the camera (esophagus, stomach, small intestines) looks normal, so that was great news. He definitely has reflux but it doesn't look like there are other underlying issues. The doctor will go over all the official test results with me on November 6th. She took a biopsy of each of the three different areas so we'll see what those show. I'm assuming she'll tell us to just keep him on the Prevacid and just hope that he eventually outgrows it.

Becky and George stayed in town for this procedure as well and we really appreciated having had all the help. Nolan is hoping we don't have to go to the hospital again for a long time!

Walks with Grandpa George

Whenever we visit Becky and George or they come here, one definite is that George will take Nolan on multiple walks a day. It's definitely "their thing" and it's cute to see how much they both enjoy it. Nolan usually rides in a Radio Flyer wagon (that used to be Dave's when he was little)! This past visit Nolan also enjoyed Grandpa pushing him around in his toy car.

Hair Cuts

Nolan's hair grows so fast and we end up taking him for a haircut every 6-7 weeks. We go to a place called KidSnips where he enjoys sitting in a car and getting to watch a video while getting his hair cut.

Watching Thomas the Train with his buddy Andrew.

Play Time!

Nolan having fun with his friends Ronan & Josephine Marsh and Luke Honda.

Nolan's Fun-Filled Weekend with Grandma & Grandpa!

Dave and I were in Michigan last Friday - Sunday for Dave's cousin Michael's wedding. My parents were wonderful and watched Nolan all three days. Nolan had a great time with them and they kept him busy with all sorts of fun stuff! My dad watched Nolan on Friday while my mom was at school. He took him to Phillips Park Zoo in Aurora and Nolan got to see all sorts of cool animals. He even pet a snake! He's much braver than me!

Then on Saturday they took Nolan to Sonny Acres Pumpkin Farm. My mom was a trooper and took him on a ride in a mini-train. And check out the pictures of my dad taking Nolan down the giant slide! My dad even took him in a little haunted house. The only thing that Nolan wanted no part of was the pony rides. Maybe next year.

They had a great weekend!