J.O.Y.

Wishing You & Yours a Merry & Peaceful Christmas on this Very Holy Night.

 And, Happiness & Joy in the New Year...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS! 'But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”'

- Luke 2:10-12

One Man Band

This year, Nolan has graciously asked Santa to bring him: a guitar, drums, & a piano. As of today, he's 2 for 3, which I don't think is too bad. His Meemaw & Papa are surprising him with a real drum set. They couldn't wait to get it once they saw how much it made him smile when his best buddy, Tyler, got them for his 3rd birthday back in September - thanks, Aunt Paige & Uncle George...really. We've been told that Santa is bringing him a toy guitar, and as of this morning he is without the piano. Although, Brian has mentioned on a daily basis that he thinks we need to get one. He's very much into "rocking out" and did this at our Christmas service at church this year (especially this version of The Little Drummer Boy). This morning I walked in the living room to the end of his movie and witnessed this (of course, is a repeated version since I had to grab the camera):

(P.S. Don't mind his Daddy's T-shirt he's wearing or the blankets he has strung on the floor for his homemade tents)

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Today was an exciting day for the Curry family. Nolan got to come with us to our midway through ultrasound & see his baby brother/sister for the very first time! Our appointment was first thing this morning and I felt like a child trying to sleep on Christmas Eve...I was so anxious for the appointment. Baby #2 looks great - brain is developing properly, 4 chambers of the heart were present, organs all looked great, & he/she did not want to show off his/her face...the baby insisted on keeping in a ball form with legs and arms/hands in front of face. Also,  making it more difficult to NOT show us below the waist since we wanted another surprise. Luckily, our ultrasound tech was pretty quick and didn't reveal anything to us! It just cracked me up though, knowing how badly some mothers want that information and their babies do the complete opposite making it a challenge to even see the gender!

Baby was also measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I had a routine appointment on Monday and spoke to the dr about the possibility of our due date being off because I've felt SO much movement already...already on a daily basis and well past the first butterfly flutters. They informed me that unless this ultrasound showed a difference of over 2 weeks that they usually will just stick to the original date since the first ultrasound pics are typically more accurate. So, we'll see! We'll also get to have another peek at baby in 3 weeks due to my placenta currently being low lying. We were told this is something that can move on it's own, but until then I need to have a somewhat "partial" bedrest...no extended work and no going to the malls shopping all day (good thing Christmas shopping is complete). If the placenta does not move on it's own then our delivery becomes an automatic c-section...which I am really not wanting & already feeling nervous about, especially since L & D was so quick and smooth with Nolan. I'm going to keep a positive attitude though & remember the key is for baby to be healthy.

As for the title of this post...while watching the screen, Nolan commented, "Why is our baby black?" We all couldn't help cracking up & tried to explain it just looked that way because the picture was in black & white. We'll see how that goes. He was also curious about how the baby got a bottle in my belly...he thought he saw the baby sucking on a bottle!

All in all it was a great day & my heart is filled with so much JOY. These days off with Nolan have been great, Christmas is right around the corner, and there's a healthy baby boy OR girl growing inside my belly. My cup runneth over.

Snow Day #1

I truly love my job, so don't get me wrong...but, unexpected days off that create extended weekends are absolutely WONDERFUL. Especially when they happen the day after a certain little boy was sick and you were going to have to take a day off just for the mere fact that he hadn't been "fever free" for a full 24 hrs (trust me, a reason I totally respect because of being a teacher, but it can be irritating when you see them bouncing off the walls). So what's the perfect way to spend a cold day off?

1.) Making homemade snow ice cream...

2.) Taking your 1st trip to Build-a-Bear...

Pumping...

Stuffing...

Bathing...

3.) Loving...

See...I told you he really does love the "Bominal No-man"

P.S. Did I mention that I may just love snow days more this year than other years because I don't have to make them up this May due to Baby #2?! :)

Santa's Message to Nolan

Nolan's response to this was priceless this year. He answered every question Santa asked and was grinning from ear-to-ear, while looking somewhat nervous, too! I highly recommend this for anyone with young kids!

Portable North Pole Message

Abominable Snowman

The other night, Nolan was in the car for his first fender-bender when we were unexpectedly rear-ended on our way to church. When I looked back to see if he was okay, he had the biggest frown on his face (the one he gets when he's using every bit of energy & strength to fight back tears) and his eyes were quite watery. When I explained to him that it was okay and what had happened, he could no longer contain his tears and weapily said, "I thought it was the 'bomimal no-man' getting us!"

He's been very into holiday movies lately, and just happened to watch Rudolph that very day at preschool during "rest time." Typically, to my surprise, he's quite fond of the guy...I guess just not when he thinks his car is being lifted/hit by him.

It's Fitting...

Okay, so 2 posts in 1 night...I know, but it is SO fitting & SO cute (at least in my biased opinion)! He learned this at preschool.

P.S. You'll have to pardon the hiccups!

Duties of a Citizen

 We want to make a difference...do you?

Compare the above picture to the one in November 2008...think he's changed?

This year, he wanted Mommy to be included, also! One of his new hobbies is taking pictures.

"I Can't Tell You..."

"...it's a SEEECWET!"

Another endless saying from Nolan that was left off of the last blog! I'm not quite sure how I was even able to leave that one off considering I hear it almost daily. Everytime I pick him up from Preschool and ask him what he did, automatically that is ALWAYS his reply! But, Nolan is not the only one keeping secrets. Brian and I (and now Nolan, too) also have a secret. A secret that we've been carrying around for 41 days to be exact. A secret that is now, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, protruding out of my midsection. Pretty unbelievable for something that is (according to the books) only the size of a lime! So, yes, we are happily expecting and over the moon with "Walnut*" #2. After taking a much needed break for nearly 7 months, the faithful Lord has surprised and blessed us.

I woke up the morning of September 11th because of a dream that I was pregnant. I had 1 out of the probably 245 pregnancy tests left, and before I even set it down this is what I saw:

and the next day, just for good measure, we saw this:

Unfortunately, it wasn't just pure joy from that moment on because we had some complications. But as of yesterday (plus, countless blood draws and ultrasounds later), I'm almost 10 weeks pregnant and we saw that we have another finger/thumb sucker on our hands. A battle many of you know we've been fighting with Nolan for months, but we gladly accept with a new, healthy addition. The heartbeat was even stronger this time than a couple of weeks ago, measuring in at a whooping 170 bpm. We saw "Walnut*" wave to us, and suck his/her fingers/thumb. Upon seeing what's below, one simple moment created tears of joy and hearts full of abounding love and have now replaced days, months, and even a couple years of frustration, disappointment, worry, and fear.

He makes all things work together for our good. -Romans 8:28
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. -Hebrews 11:1

*While sitting on my lap the other night (before he knew) Nolan said, "You have a baby in your belly." When I asked why he thought that, he replied, "...because your belly is getting big!" He then later told Brian, "Shhh Daddy...the baby is sleeping in my Mommy's belly!" A couple nights later we told him the news and ever since he's insisting on naming the new baby "Walnut."   What do you think?

Long Overdue

So, this is completely long overdue, and the longer I've been away from blogging, the harder it is to get back into the swing of doing it. The biggest problem with that being the fact that when I'm now getting angry at myself because I've missed "journaling" about some of his latest stories and milestones. So...I'm going to keep these stories short & simple & try to share a few of his latest laughs that he's offered us!

* He'd been continually & at random times saying, "Thousands of Americans..." FINALLY Brian came to realize what this came from...the "Your Baby Can Read" commericals!

* Coming home the other night, he got super excited to see a star in the night sky and said he needed to make a wish. Upon turning the radio down this is the wish that I heard whispered from his lips, "I wish I was at school...I wish I was at school..."  Did I mention he nearly cries everytime I pick him up because he isn't ready to leave?!

* One that I'm a little less proud of and we had a BIG discussion about happened the other day. The local ice cream place has a huge blow-up cat on it's roof for Halloween. After getting past it a little ways down the road Nolan realizes he didn't see it and suddenly shouts out, "Damn it! I missed that big cat...ugh, I wanted to see it, Mommy!"  On the bright side, at least he used it properly?!? But seriously, it was bad & I hope in our past!

* He is constantly using the word, "AWESOME!" at any given opportunity.

* He's completely & utterly obsessed with superheroes right now.

* We had our saddest parenting moment ever the other night....his favorite fish, Connie (which he named on his own & we have no clue where this name came from) passed away. We noticed right before bedtime when he does his nightly ritual of telling his fish g'night & feeding them. In 3 1/2 years, I've never seen my son cry so hard and so sadly at anything. It literally broke my heart and we both cried together in his bed. On a lighter note, we got 2 new fish last night and he named them "Joker & Batman."

* Since the firefighters visited his school, he's been talking about fires and hot things nonstop. He told us if our house is on fire it's okay to throw something at the firefighter, so that he sees me and I won't even get in trouble!

* In the last week, we've probably played 250 games of Go Fish.

* He is BEGGING for a Nintendo DS from Santa. Really...already?!?

* He's very much into rooting for teams other than the ones Mommy & Daddy like and no one even put him up to it. Towards the end of this summer, he went from an advid Cardinals fan to a complete Cubs fan (*Barf*). Now that he understands Daddy's passion for the Packers, Nolan cheers for Da Bears, luckily he'll root for Mommy's Colts, too, though. He can name SEVERAL Nascar drivers and Kyle Busch is his favorite (because he drives the Purina car which has dogs & cats on it).

* He can write his first name on his own and can now spell his last name. One of his favorite hobbies in the car is to look for signs that have "his letters" in it (letters from his name).

Ring BEAR

Over the weekend, Nolan was in his very first wedding! He'd been very excited in the days leading up to it & could often be heard telling people that he was going to be a "ring bear" for Nicole & Jay's (Brian's cousin) wedding. I'd been telling him bits & pieces about what that important job involves. He was quite insistent that he wasn't walking down the isle with his cousin, Kyleigh (the flowergirl)...when I finally got an answer out of him about why he wanted to walk alone, he told me because he didn't want to marry Kyleigh! Once that was clarified I thought we were ready to roll and that he'd do just fine....until Friday: Rehearsal Day. On our way to Tremont, Nolan asked me when he was going to get his bear costume! The entire time, in his mind, he thought he was going to be dressing up as an actual bear! Upon hearing this, I was afraid that he would be disappointed once he was dressed in his little tuxedo. Fortunately, he did WONDEFULLY & turned out to be a very handsome & sharp dressed man! AND, he did walk down with Kyleigh! Congrats to Jay & Nicole...we love you dearly & wish you nothing but happiness in your new & sacred journey as man & wife.

Caterpillars, Racoons, & Butterflies

The other day I happened upon Nolan "reading" to himself. He was reading, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Nolan reading is one of my absolute FAVORITE things to eavesdrop on (could it be the teacher in me?!)! After he got through reading everything the caterpillar ate Monday - Sunday here's a little preview into how the rest of the story went:

"Now he a BIG, FAT cat-a-piwar..."

"He built a big RACOON on himself..."

"Then he was a BOO-ti-ful budderfly!"

Berrylicious

Once again, summer slacking has most definitely taken over.

Today we went and picked blackberries...and of course, we chose and extremely hot day to do so! I think the thermometer read 98 degrees when we pulled up at the farm (bare in mind that is not including the heat index). Regardless of the heat, this is becoming a tradition that we not only love, but also look forward to.

Although we've always known how great Nolan's memory is (the kid can recall things from SO long ago that I have to really think about to remember), he immediately reminded us to only pick the black ones, not the red ones, and to make sure they aren't mushy!

After picking 6.5 lbs of blackberries and 5 lbs of peaches we were on our way home again. To top off the afternoon, Nicole sent us Grandma Webb's Cobbler Recipe, and I must admit it made my day. It's nice to know that even though I never got a chance to meet my grandma, that part of her memory & tradition is being passed along to my son. The oven just dinged, so it's time for Nolan & I to checkout our creation and enjoy a scrumptious dessert for after dinner tonight!

Vices

Yes, I know it's been quite some time since I last posted anything, but can you really blame me...it's summer break!

We're off to a GREAT start this summer (minus the occasional TRYING 3's moments)! However, we're really trying hard to get Nolan to quit one of his most beloved vices. The child was doing this in his ultrasound pictures at 18 weeks! We tried & tried to push the binky on him with the hope that it would be much easier to get rid of, but as soon as he learned to take the binky out it was back to those same two fingers. I'll admit, I used to think it was somewhat cute, but now I'm desperate to break this habit and am open to ANY & ALL suggestions! We've tried sticker charts, positive rewards, taking things away, ignoring it, but I think I am at a loss. I'm not sure if he's too young for the nasty tasting stuff that you rub on the fingers or not. I'm beginning to fear that because Nolan's been super easy with all other transitions and really most aspects of being a baby & toddler that this is going to be our one major battle. Which, in the grand scheme of things, I gladly take on...we really have been blessed.
(Click on the collage to enlarge)

HE is Strong

While sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner a couple nights ago, Nolan told us he was going to eat all of his food because that would make him "BIG & STRONG!" We were excited at this news, but also a little perplexed! Then, as if Nolan were reading into our confusion, he added, "If I eat this, I will be BIG & STRONG like Jesus...then, I can make it RAIN and I can make all the dinosaur and dragon CLOUDS I want!"

...since taking him to see "How to Train Your Dragon" I've heard more about dragons than I could have hoped to hear in a lifetime!

NAC 3 Yr Pictures

Here is a link to Nolan's 3 year pictures! This year, we did the pictures around our neighborhood and at the Clubhouse. We're very happy with how they've turned out and still cannot believe our little boy is THREE! We've been very pleased with all of Nolan's professional pictures. This was our first session with this particular photographer, but we were once again thrilled with the outcome! ENJOY!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

Warm Weather + Cardinals Season = Less Blogging!

I do promise to upload pictures from Nolan's birthday party and some other spring events soon, but we've just been very busy enjoying the longer hours in the evening by being outside! (Except due to rainy weather today, we took advantage of the dreary day by going to see How to Train Your Dragon..which was FABULOUS!)

Here's a little preview of what Nolan's learned to do on his own at the ballpark this year:

3 Year Stats

I will post a better blog about his 3rd birthday and Easter in a couple of days. We had a great weekend with wonderful weather and fabulous friends...but tonight I have a sick little boy to tend to. He's grown a whooping 2 inches since his 2 year appointment...he is now 35 1/2 inches tall which puts him in the 8% and he is 27 lbs qualifying for the 10%. Dr. McG had no concerns and thinks he's developing wonderfully! He also couldn't believe how much more he looks like a "big boy" and not near as much like a baby anymore...*TEAR*.

Let's Go Duke!

Although we are most certainly Illini fans through & through...Daddy is a HUGE Blue Devils fan. So, it goes without saying that Nolan & Daddy were quite thrilled when Duke finally made it back into the Final Four after 6 years. For the sake of my bracket, I'll root for Duke this weekend.

Aside from all of the exciting March Madness that's been consuming our household...we're also in preparation for a big weekend...not the Final Four (although it'll be on)...and not just Easter...but also, my baby's third birthday! I know I say it each year, but seriously - where does the time go?! Nolan's birthday actually falls on Easter this year...so it'll be even more special! He's so excited about his upcoming big day!

NCAA Tournament

Nolan was slightly disappointed that Illinois didn't make the tournament.

Europe

Yesterday morning while watching Toot & Puddle together, Nolan had a question regarding one of their comments. They were talking about going to Paris, France. Here is the conversation that followed:

Nolan: "Where France is?" (Yes, we're working hard on putting "is" in the correct spot*)
Mommy: "France is in Europe."
Nolan: "MY-Up?!? That's silly, Mommy!"

I guess Europe does somewhat sound like "Your up."

*Side note: Nolan is constantly asking questions and the repeated one we've been working on so diligently is "Where it is?" For some reason he's having a difficult time remembering to say, "Where is it?" Being a teacher, it drives me absoluetely bananas!

School Days

My little boy is now registered for PRESCHOOL *tear*!

We registered him yesterday for 3-yr old preschool in the fall. He'll only go on Tuesday's & Thursday's for half days, and then remain there for daycare the other half of the day.

He was completely excited about being there and quickly started showing kids around the room when they would enter! After all, there was so much to show...they had baby chicks about to hatch; a fire-belly frog named, Jerry; fish; and a bunny rabbit named, Snickers.

Although it's very sad to me, after seeing him there and interacting with new people, I know he's going to love it. It will be a good change for him, but a hard one for me. I try to take some solace in the fact that he will be less than 1 minute down the street from my work.

One More For the List

This morning, when telling Nolan that he needed to hurry up eating his breakfast so we could leave soon, he replied, "Don't remind me Mom!" (He never calls me "Mom").

Potty Training 101

Knocking on wood as I type, I think it's fairly safe to say that Potty Training 101 has been accomplished & completed! I am still very amazed at how quickly Nolan trained. We literally started over Christmas Break (2 weeks) and he did wonderfully. I was a little bit worried about going back to daycare after doing so well at home. After all, he isn't as preoccupied playing with several kids at home like he is there. Once again, Nolan has proved to be so easy going and deals with transitions so well! He's been doing a great job at Jen's house using the potty, and since returning from Christmas Break, has only had 1 accident at her house! YAY! I'm thrilled with how well he's done, but at the same time, a part of me...deep inside...is a little sad. Yes, I'm ecstatic that he's no longer wearing diapers, but that also makes it that much more real at how quickly he's growing up! It's hard to believe that he's going to be 3 years old 2 months from tomorrow. It's so cliche to say and you hear it all the time about how quickly the time passes, but until you actually have a child of your own I don't think you can fully comprehend this principle.

Meanwhile, I thought we were doing pretty good with the whole "Terrible Two's" stage. However, I have to say...as 3 is rapidly approaching, I'm starting to wonder if 3's are really worse than 2's?! Nolan has recently been developing an attitude which neither Brian nor myself are fond of. Yes, it has it's moments where it's hard not to laugh, but then there are other times that it's like nails on a chalkboard! Here are a few examples:

*Nolan was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing a couple weeks ago (probably talking back as much as he's picked up on that lately), so I told him "No, we can't do that."
To which he responded, "Well...I can do it all I want."
In turn, I quickly said, "No, you can't do that all you want."
Nolan: "Well...Daddy said I can do it all I want."
Brian: "No, Daddy didn't say that Nolan. You know better."
Nolan: "Well then, Jesus said I can do it all I want now."

*On the way to Jen's house early one morning last week Nolan asked me what that smell was (he's really starting to notice any and all smells lately). I told him that I thought it was the bus in front of us. His response: "You ALWAYS say that to me, Mommy!"

*His latest expression: "Seriously, Mommy."

Christmas Break Mini Recap

As usual, I slacked on blogging while home for Christmas break. You really would think I had time with having 2 weeks off of work, but...ok, ok, I did have time, but I was enjoying being lazy with my boys.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Nolan was very into Christmas this year and spent much of Christmas Eve sitting at our fireplace looking up and asking when Santa was coming. It was very magical this year. He was so excited to go and look at Christmas lights. He is still talking about seeing the Angel and repeats that she said, "Don't be afraid." Although he was fast asleep by the time we got home from looking at lights he quickly reminded us to set out cookies & milk for Santa and carrots for Rudolph. He was also a big fan of our Christmas Eve dinner...crab legs and cocktail shrimp in particular. It's the weirdest thing, you would think that a kid as picky as Nolan is would despise seafood and ironically, he LOVES seafood more than anything!

Perhaps the most bittersweet part of our whole break has been the realization that Nolan is getting older far too quickly. You are always told how fast time flies when you have kids, but until you actually do you cannot even grasp the severity of it. Dec. 19th was our first official day of break and also our first official day of potty-training. He's been going on the potty first thing in the morning and last thing at night for a good year now, and then here & there when he felt like it. However, 15 days ago we began pull-ups and big boy underwear. He has had only a couple of accidents w/ going #2 which were beyond his control...he was constipated for 3 days....so badly that he was breaking out in sweats at potty time and screaming in pain. It was horrible, so I'll spare you the details. We had to give him Miralax per Dr. orders and that got things moving a little too quickly for his little body to handle. He would full on sprint towards the bathroom and immediately start saying "Sorry...sorry, Mommy...sorry" the whole way. In spite of all of that, he's done so well with potty training like so many other milestones that it makes me fear the wrath of having another child in the future, for I know it could not possibly go as smoothly as this one has gone. He handles change so well and is really quite laid back. Our only real battle we had with him was over eating, especially at the baby food stage. It's been a very bittersweet process, and I'm somewhat clinging to his last major tie to babyhood...his crib. He hasn't attempted to climb out and is very content sleeping in it (he's always been a strong sleeper), so I haven't put a lot of thought into changing it over to a toddler bed yet, especially after hearing some horrific tales from other parents of toddlers who were forced to make the switch (by the way, those parents have converted back to the crib with the addition of a crib tent and have completely regained their normal sleep patterns for the time being).

Well, I'm being interrupted by Nolan telling me, "Mommy, my belly is telling me I'm hungry for chips." So, we wish you a very happy & blessed 2010! We are back to work and daily schedules tomorrow.