6 hours in the car...

We have returned! Our 6 hour car ride home turned into an all out traffic battle lasting a very long 8 hours...but we made it all in one piece and thats something to be thankful for. Our trip to Maryland was fantastic. We saw family that had yet to meet Nolan and my Auntie Barb made a delicious meal. Fun times. Barb is a photographer and owner of Studio Eleven Photography so we had fun making a little stop motion movie. Very fun. Very exhausting. Now onto the Christmas festivities! Bring it on.

my bff...

My best friend Katie is moving 20 minutes away from me. For the past 7 years she has lived an hour and a half away.

 I. Am. Stoked!!! So without further a due I present to you: Muh BFF

Yayyyy!!!

ketchup face

Were heading out of town for a turkey day adventure. 6 hours in the car...wish us luck!!! Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving :)

 

Creeper TV Characters

Colton has been on a Bob the Builder kick here recently...Its an alright show. But this one character gives me the heebeejeebies

His name is spud. Look away if you need to take a moment.

Why? Why? Why? Did they decide to add his character to a construction show with talking trucks?

This got me thinking about other TV characters that make me uneasy...examples:

 

 

In the wee hours of the morning Nick Jr. likes to play the show Oswald. It. Is. Scary. Disagree? Take a little looksie...

The seal is OK, weenie the dog..eh no biggie. Now please notice the pumpkin head man. He's not the worst. See those paper people in the background? Yeah they're alive.

 

 

I love Sesame Street just as much as the next 80's baby, but you have to admit...

If you ran into this guy at 2 years old you'd freak.

 

 

Which brings me to The Muppets. Honestly I'm not a fan.

Not appealing.

 

 

What about an oldie but a goodie? Mr. Rogers. I have no issue with Senor` Rogers. He rocks. Its his demon puppet Lady Elaine that has inspired plenty of nightmares.

WHYYYYY????

 

Then his human always on the run delivery man/child snatcher

Mr. Mcfeely

nuff said.

 

 

Last but not least is one childhood show we all wish we could forget. Be warned  what you are about to see is disturbing. Mature audiences only.

 

 1 in 3 readers just slammed their laptops shut.

 

 

 

Lately (in pics)

Nolans 1st lesson in trucks



And now his lesson on crashes...



the swede being super swedish



spagetti face and his loyal sidekick tooter



???



I promise we give him a bath at least once a week :P

Nolan 7 mos

WW: naptime

What I didnt know

We were the first of our immediate close friends to have a baby. Then we had another one! Every time someone announces they are expecting, I think back to my life while pregnant with Colton and those first few months as a new mom. I just *wish* I could tell myself what I know now:

1. The greatest day of your life is coming. You will have dirty hair and no make-up on. 
2. Hate to break it, you don't turn out to be one of those all belly pregnant girls.
3. Prepare thyself for the unexpected bumps in the road during pregnancy and delivery. Or at least have a bag packed by 32wks...no seriously go pack.
4. You will fall in love with your husband all over again the day your son is born.
5. Feeling like you're gonna die everyday after work is a good indicator that, indeed, you might die after work! Listen to your body chick!
6. Your family will take turns babysitting you in the hospital. Appreciate them.
7. Just because you think you know about preemie babies from work does not mean you know about YOUR preemie baby. (sidenote: calling your boss while on a pain pump & mag to tell him the nurses stole your baby is a bad idea, see #14)
8. Cloth diapers are a great investment. You rock!
9. When they tell you in the NICU to let the baby rest and quit holding him, ignore them. Cuddle on mama, cuddle on.
10. Speaking of...when wheeled into the NICU just after surgery you will insist on doing the Miss America wave the whole way. Your entire immediate family will see this. So remember elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist...
11. You will go apeshit slightly crazy when you have to leave the baby with your Gammy and go back to work. She loves that baby as much as she loves you; ALOT.
12. One day in the not so far future you get to stay home with your children. For real!
13. It's OK that he isn't even on the growth chart. He's cuter longer.
14. Do yourself a favor and have someone take your phone away from you while in the ICU. Calling your bff 4 different times to tell her you had the baby will one day be an embarrassing story.
15. Your body is never the same, its better!!!
16. You're going to love being a mommy.
17. You're never going to sleep again.
18. Just kidding...
19. But really...
20. Sleep now. Sleep for 12+ hours if you can. Then after you've been awake for a good 3 hours, lay down and take a nap. In your clean no baby puke bed! btw baby puke is gross, your babies puke is grosser. yay!!!

rambles and such

Brandon and I recently stumbled into a conversation about "weird" kids and how different our upbringings were. I never considered my childhood as being different from the norm up until recently. Apparently having a rock collection as a 12 year old girl is not the thing to do. Who knew? By the way, I still have that collection at my moms house and it includes fossilized dinosaur poop. I dare you to say that's not wicked awesome. I also didn't learn to ride a bike until I was 11. Yes ELEVEN. He discovered this while we were vacationing and I attempted to ride on sandy terrain. Car. Car. BRAKE LEIGH ANN BRAKE!  (insert me jumping off and putting the kick stand down...) Per Brandon it is also not usual practice for one to watch The Exorcist in 4th grade or know all the lyrics to every song from The King & I by age 7. Hmm...

My husbands childhood was slightly picturesque. His parents are still married, he grew up on a farm, he ate his pets...SAY WHAAA??? Yeah round the apartment communities I dwelled in growing up we did not have a Bessie milk cow and Pete the dinner steer. nah ah. Brandon also drove a car to the bus stop and has been dove hunting.
True story: We would have meet eventually had our paths not crossed when they did. His Granny and Paw Paw and my Pa Pa Bill grew up together in the same orphanage.  They have literally known each other majority of their lives and have remained friends sharing stories and pictures of Brandon and I throughout all these years. We had no clue when we started dating until Granny put two and two together a few weeks into the relationship. Small world :)

Given our very different (but the same) backgrounds we still agree on our parenting Do's and Don'ts: No, they will not watch life changing terrifying movies at the age of 10. Nor will they have a pet cow (maybe a chicken). Nolan better like rocks because I'm leaving them to him in the will. They'll have to share custody of the dino poop. They're going to ride bikes and even learn to roller blade before middle school. When asked if they can drive a stick shift they will say yes!

and they will be productive members of society who love and respect others and all that good stuff too....

WW: the outdoorsman of the family

curious vs nosey

Colton is at that stage where he can't just accept that something is the way it is. Colton take a bath. Why? Colton eat your dinner. Why? Colton keep all hands feet and noggins in the wagon while it is in motion. But WHYYY? This I understand and it doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that the kids not just curious he's nosey. He doesn't just want to know the facts, he wants juicy details on all the happenings so he can report them back to Nolan (no way that ones spilling any secrets...)

Today our neighbor across the street had a maintenance man of some type at their house. Colton, being the curious kid he is, wanted to know who he was and what he was doing? Oh and of course why his hair was gray, why his truck was white, if he has no teeth like Nolan (his new discovery of Nolans lack of teeth is very disconcerting)??? etc...I was busy feeding the baby and simply told him he was working and I wasn't sure about his age or favorite color. Which then lead to this...

(Colton opens front door and begins to yell at the top of his lungs) Hey worker man!!! Why you doin dat!?!?!? You gots Teef??? His voice was quite alarming as it rang throughout the neighborhood. I made it to the door just in time to catch the I bet you let him play with real hammers and nails in the street too look I've become oh so familiar with. Guess he'll be asking Santa for a monocular this year.

Hangin' @ the patch

Halloween 2012

I present to you:

 

Coltonosaurus & Baby Tigger

 

Halloween 2012