25 Things

I've been tagged by my cousin, Alysa, to name 25 random things about me. I might not make it that far, but we'll see.
1. I had Lasik eye surgery when I was 21... so awesome!
2. I always wanted to paint walls when we were renting and now that we have a home I get really nervous thinking about it. And now I'm actually too lazy to care that much.
3. I'm tired of going to the bathroom so often. The baby isn't very big yet, but it sure affects my bladder!
4. I love looking at and drawing floorplans. Right now, Justin and I keep making plans for our basement when we finish it in a couple years.
5. I'm so sick of winter. I can't wait until I can let Nolan loose (especially because we're getting a fence in two weeks!).
6. I always dreamed about marrying a black man when I was a teenager. There just weren't very many to choose from at BYU. I don't think I ever personally met one the whole time I was there. I'm happy I got Justin though.
7. I watch Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightly version) every two weeks or so. Nolan loves the music and it gets more funny and clever every time I see it.
8. Lately I've had to give Nolan 2 or 3 suckers just to get through one hour of shopping at Wal-Mart.
9. I hate wasting water, using plastic (even though it's inevitable), and burning extra lights at night. I'm a reduce, reuse, recycle kind of girl. I even use hemp grocery bags when I actually remember to bring them.
10. I dream of having my own little business of some kind but I don't think I'll ever actually do it. I'm too scared of failing and succeeding.
11. I love the idea of gardening but it's really not that great in actuality. I don't like the feel of dirt under my fingernails and bugs creep me out.
12. I'm the youngest of 4.
13. My favorite apostle is Jeffrey R. Holland because he's from St. George (I do love his talks too).
14. I love neck and foot massages, but who doesn't?
15. I love the feeling of having a freshly vacuumed house before Nolan pulls out all his toys. I'm so sick of his toys laying around.
That's it for me...

Nolan, in the kitchen, with the vitamins

Justin has always had trouble swallowing pills so he takes children's chewable vitamins. He prefers dinosaurs. While doing my hair today, I heard suspicious noises coming from the kitchen. I found Nolan sitting on the counter eating Dad's chewable vitamins. He says, "yummy tweat." He plunged his hand in the bottle and grabbed a handful because he knew I was coming to take them away. I quickly took those away, but we don't know how many he managed to eat. I don't even know how he got on the counter. The chairs were neatly tucked under the table! Here is the scene of the crime:

Yesterday, Nolan and I road with some friends to Park City to look for movie stars (Sundance is going on). We didn't see any, but Nolan enjoyed seeing the sights on Main Street and I enjoyed my salad at Cafe Rio. I was completely exhausted when I got home because Nolan was either begging for treats or slapping me in the face during lunch and the car rides. Does anyone have advice for dealing with hitting? We always hold his arms tightly against his body, firmly tell him no, and if we're home we put him in his bedroom. This is not working and the slaps are really starting to sting. I don't think we'll be taking him to restaurants for a while. It's a rough stage.

Slow January

There's been little of excitement to post lately, but I'll give a recap of our life lately. We've had a cold inversion along with fog that's made it dreary for a couple of days now. Nolan is just itching to get out but the indoor pool is the only place I can think to go, but getting out of the pool and to the car sounds so dreadful that I can't make myself go at all.
We've recently gotten vinyl fence bids that came in around $7,500. I want a fence, but maybe not that bad. Yesterday morning I hung out in front of the TV watching Obama's inauguration. It was long and generally what I expected. I hope he does a good job in office. I feel for the guy... I never understand why anyone actually wants to be President.
Nolan's latest thing is to beg for a "tweat" all day long. I try to give only healthy things but I'm running out of ideas. I think he's asking simply because he can. If it's not a treat he's asking for, it's his "choo choo" movie. TV is a tricky situation for us. I want so badly for him to sit quietly for 30 minutes, but I don't want him glued to the TV all day either.
Justin's been working some longer hours and I've spent more time with Young Women's lately (we went to the Draper Temple open house and there's a pres. meeting tonight) so we're already looking forward to the weekend. Some of you already know I've been craving P.F. Chang lately... maybe we'll make it there.
In two weeks we have the ultrasound! I'm getting excited, especially because I've just started feeling the baby move. I'm going to post a poll to see what everyone thinks we're having. Be sure to vote!

Our Family Journal

I started blogging because a friend of mine told me of a company that could make a book out blogs. I figured it was a great way of getting a family journal done that would also include some favorite photos. I finally got one printed up and I love the way it turned out! In case you're interested in seeing what it looks like, and possibly printing one up for your family, here are some sample photos. It's very simple and easy to read. Nothing cutesy but that's just how I wanted it. The company is blurb.com. Mine cost about $40 for 56 pages.

"I love you"

Last night before tucking Nolan into bed, Justin and I experienced one of those most sublime moments of parenthood when your children seem to actually appreciate you. Well, maybe not but it certainly was special. I told Nolan to say goodnight to Daddy. Justin picked him up and said, "Nolan, look at Daddy." They looked in each others eyes and Justin clearly said, "I love you" so that Nolan might really understand what he was saying. Nolan stared right back and slowly said, "I love you." It doesn't quite sound like that yet, but you can see for yourself in this short clip. We both nearly got choked up because it was the sweetest thing we've ever heard Nolan say. It's been so fun to hear all of his new words and more actual phrases.

I'm 16 weeks along now and my tummy popped this week. It's bittersweet when Nolan sits on my lap because he won't be able to sit comfortably for long. It feels like I'm trading my baby for another one, but he was bound to grow up anyway! It just went so fast.

Holiday Summary

We've made it back from our trip to St. George and the cabin near Zion. We were gone nearly two weeks and things went more smoothly than I anticipated. Nolan even took good naps for us! The only rough night was Christmas Eve, however, but it felt like the good 'ol days when I couldn't sleep before Santa came anyway. Maybe Nolan did understand the whole Santa thing! Here are some pictures of Christmas Day. Nolan's favorite toys are his tool bench and stuffed Curious George monkey. We'll see how long he actually plays with them. The highlight for Justin was receiving not 1, but 2 sets of Legos! They're small, but he couldn't leave them alone. I was so happy to get the Pride and Prejudice sheet music and find that I might actually be able to play it! We love the holidays wherever we spend them, but I must say that I was glad to be where the fresh egg rolls and chop suey were being made. Delicious!

Between Christmas and New Year's, Justin and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. I surprised Justin with a couple's massage. I think it wasn't until it was finished that he realized he might have actually enjoyed it. It was nice to see a movie and go to dinner too. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for watching the little monkey for us.

New Year's (and then some) was spent at the cabin. We've never had so much snow and such a great sledding run. Nolan was actually a little nervous because it was so fast and he had trouble walking in the snow because it was too deep. He was happiest indoors pestering his older cousins. It was nice to have the time with family, even my Nana. We missed Rob and Lace because they ended up staying home because the girls were sick. Here are some highlights from the cabin:
That's my mom in the bottom left corner. She can still fit into her old red snowsuit after 30 years! I had to laugh, but isn't she so cute? After 3 minutes outside she started sweating and regretted going to the trouble of putting it on. But she sure looks great! Happy New Year, everyone!