Busy Spring

This spring is off to a busy a beginning! We celebrated Nolan's 5th birthday at The Sports Academy with his choice of an Angry Birds theme. He had a wonderful time celebrating with so many of his friends and running around in the huge play area! He is currently very into superheroes, Sonic, Mario, & Angry Birds. Yes, my little boy is getting big!

(As always, click to enlarge)

He had his 5 year old well visit, and was not happy in the least about the 4 shots he received. In fact, I think this was by far the worst he's ever been with shots and the least sympathetic I've ever felt for him. The good news is he doesn't need anymore until like 6th grade now (aside for his yearly flu shot since he's not a candidate for the mist version). He weighed in at 36 lbs (20th percentile - YAY for us) & 41 1/2 in tall (15th percentile).

The day after Nolan's birthday party was Easter. We went to the Easter egg hunt at the clubhouse this year for the first time ever rather than the one at our church (it was the same day at Nolan's party). It was a good experience, except I messed up by telling Nolan to keep his eyes open for the "golden" egg! I didn't drill it in his head, but I guess I didn't specify that he needed to gather the other eggs, like normal, too. I just assumed he'd know. So...when it was his age group's time, he skipped around searching only for the one golden egg, and therefore, only ended up collecting like 5 eggs total! Ha! Luckily, he wasn't super disappointed that he didn't get the golden egg or at the fact that he only received a few eggs. Which was fine by me...he received plenty of candy anyway! He also questioned the "Easter Bunny" at the clubhouse. He asked if it was just a costume and since I've always thought the ones you get your picture taken with are a bit scary, we told him yes, that one was, and that the real Easter Bunny isn't so large! :)

Poor Parker looks like he's absolutely terrified by the Bunny, but in all honesty, he really wasn't! Brian twisted Parker's foot somehow placing him on the Bunny's lap for a picture and then he didn't want much to do with it after that!

Since we didn't use any snow days this year, school will be out very soon (May 15th). I'm excited for the summer with the boys, but that also means that my little man will be ONE already! I simply cannot believe it. He's changing so much, especially lately. He's finally pulling up (and now constantly). He's into EVERYTHING! He still doesn't get up on all 4s to crawls, he prefers the army crawl method, but don't let it deceive you - he's very fast at it! His favorite word is "YEAH" and he roams around the house "roaring" like a lion! He absolutely loves animals - which is great, but at the same time brings on the pain inside of not having Hunter with us anymore. Puppy dogs are probably his 2nd favorite (lions being 1st). Here is his delayed 11 month picture:

Another Year Passes All Too Swiftly

Here I am, once again, reflecting on the last few years and wondering how Nolan can be turning 5 years old tomorrow. I'm sure I've said it several times before, but it really does feel that each year passes by more quickly than the previous. My Dad always warned me of this growing up, but at the time, I honestly thought he was just crazy. Sorry, Dad...I now realize you were definitely right - you are old much longer than you are young. I recall my Uncle Lynn telling me the same thing, also.

It makes me cringe when I hear Nolan start talking about being even older than 5. I so desperately want to tell him to slow down...soak it in...enjoy this time in your life. Then, I realize, he's far too young to appreciate such a conversation - and after my own experience, I recognize that it's most likely just one of those lessons that you have to learn and experience for yourself.

I can still remember this time in my life (five years ago) so vividly. In fact, every April Fool's day since I think about waking up that morning after sleeping in, walking to the kitchen with a water bottle stashed away behind my back, squeezing it on the kitchen floor, & tricking Brian into thinking (for a split second) that my water broke and our first little one would be arriving. Low and behold, he came 3 short days later. I hope I can always recall these details so clearly. The memories of carrying my boys and the little moments that have happened since that take my breath away and make my heart skip a beat or two. I want to always feel these precious feelings of motherhood. They certainly make this life here worthwhile.


(Click to enlarge)

So, for tonight...
"The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child." ~Joe Houldsworth

Goodnight my 4 year old, Nolan. I love you as high as the sky and as deep as the ocean...sleep like a big boy!