February Happenings

I often fear that February will be the longest month of the year (besides January... that's the worst), but we've had a good time and taken some cute pictures of Nolan. Here's a little collage of Nolan playing in the snow. Hopefully we won't have too many more snow days. I think this is the first time he's tried eating it.
Grandma Kathi came for a visit over Valentine's weekend. Nolan was so excited to see her van pull up. He kept yelling "Baa-bo!" He used to differentiate, but now he uses the same word for both grandma and grandpa. Anyway, Grandma played non-stop! Justin and I were able to go to lunch at P.F. Chang and see the movie Australia (which we enjoyed, but it's long). We even got to shop around a little bit and then go to our stake Valentine's Dance. It had been so long since we've danced the cha-cha or swing so we had a nice time. I don't think Nolan gave a hoot that we were gone because Grandma was keeping him so busy. Thanks, Kathi! Here are our Valentine's Day pictures. Nolan was happy to receive some "ba-dooo" (balloons).
Justin had to go on a business trip to Los Angeles on short notice but luckily I had been planning a trip to St. George soon anyway. Nolan and I just bumped it up a few days and drove down to visit Grandma and Grandpa Ligtermoet for a week. Nolan did surprisingly well in the car, considering he only slept for 40 minutes. We did have a meltdown before Beaver and had to stop for ice cream. That made everything better! Here are pictures of the yummy eats we had while we were gone. We had to eat at In-n-Out, of course! Our time in St. George was relaxing and the weather was nice enough that we could go on walks and visit the playground. My mom and I would laugh about how much Nolan loved the basket of toys that they have. They're old and dinky but he just loved them so much. His favorite was the big, pink Barbia car. Go figure. One day at the playground, Nolan fell backwards and got a swollen lip. He's trying to show me in the picture below. His owie is hard to see, but the picture turned out funny! The best part was having someone to chat with all day (thanks, mom, for listening to me blab) and eating plenty of delicious food. My appetite is pretty big right now and my mom either cooked good food or my dad took us out. Nothing to complain about there! Justin flew in Saturday night to St. George and Nolan was so excited to see him and the airplanes. On Sunday we headed home and Nolan slept for over 3 hours in the car. What a sweetie!

I can't believe February is nearly over. We're already looking forward to an exciting March as we put in our fence and Nolan turns 2!

Jane Austen Book Club

Yesterday was one of the most blissful Sundays we've had in quite some time. We didn't have any church meetings and Nolan fell asleep during Sacrament meeting. Justin leaned over to me and said, "It's a Sabbath Day miracle." For sure. Dinner was simple and we had cinnamon rolls for dessert (Rhodes... I don't do breads). The highlight of the day was sitting on the couch reading our Jane Austen books for nearly two hours. Yes, Justin is enjoying Pride & Prejudice and I'm giving Sense & Sensibility a try. Nolan enjoyed sitting between us with his pop-up animal book. Such an event will probably never happen again so luckily we pulled out the camera. We later realized that Nolan was coming down with a fever. No wonder he sat quietly for so long! It didn't last though - he woke up as happy as usual.

I have to tell my friend, Kirsten, how grateful I am for a book she recommended a few weeks ago. I think it has honestly changed my mothering skills forever, at least that's the hope. I don't feel frustrated and fed-up anymore, and I don't dread the next meltdown. Nolan seems like a new kid (the naughty removed) and I feel like a happy mom. Here's the book: "Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood" by Fay and Fay. Our new discipline skills have made me less nervous and much happier about expecting another baby. Maybe I can actually handle it after all! I just thought I'd pass along the book title to any other moms out there who feel frazzled with their little ones. There's even supposed to be potty training help but I haven't gotten that far. So thanks, Kirsten, for helping me love being a mom again!

Here are some things that the "far away" family might enjoy. We've been impressed with Nolan's coloring lately. I did the bow, but Nolan did the rest, including each of the blue light bulbs. Pretty good, huh? Here's a typical play time with Dad and Nolan. It's amazing when the family room is clean of toys and cushions for more than 30 minutes.

My favorite animal impression of Nolan's:

Baby Brother on the way!

We had a great time at the ultrasound this morning. The technician said she got some wonderful views and everything looks healthy. It is such a wonderful feeling to see that heart beating. I was getting so excited to know the gender but the legs were scrunched up so tight that we couldn't see. She kept jiggling the hand piece trying to get the baby to move but it wasn't working. She told me to use the bathroom, move around a bit, and hopefully we'd get a better view with the physician (in a few minutes). Luckily we did! It's definitely a boy, but I won't post those pictures here. For a while I was afraid the baby would be too modest. We're so excited for Nolan to have a brother to hang out with. And I'm already feeling excited for pulling out all the sweet baby boy clothes that Nolan used. Here are some videos of the ultrasound if you're interested (most people don't love these images, but I know Grandma Kathi will want to see for sure).

Here is Nolan's reaction to the news: