Monday, February 27, 2012

Fun with Play-Doh

My kids have found a new favorite activity.... Play-Doh!
They love it.  One of the first things they tell me when they get up in the morning is the color they want to play with first!









After the first dozen times of telling Nolan not to eat the Play-Doh, he finally landed himself in his high-chair with an Oreo.  He didn't mind too much.  He had lots of fun making a mess with that too!


(And with all the Play-Doh that lands on the floor and the dogs eat, I can only imagine the colorful display we might have out in our yard!)

Thursday, February 23, 2012

20 weeks

(20 week ultrasound picture of the Little Miss)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Pink! Pink! Pink!

Yes, we found out we are having a
GIRL!! 
We had our 20 week ultrasound today, and everything looks great!
We are super excited!!!
The time is flying by!

Friday, February 17, 2012

16 Months Old

Hurricane Nolan is now 16 months old.  This kid is a hoot!  Always on the move.  Always into something.  Woe to anything that's in his way.  He just tears on through!  The kids get so frustrated at times with their little brother.  They pick up their room, and here comes Nolan- dumping over bins, pulling books off the shelf, emptying out their CD drawer, running off with their stuffed animals....  I think when he's sleeping, he's just dreaming of new ways to make a mess and get into mischief!  The problem is, he's so stinkin' cute.  I have to make a conscious effort to not smile or laugh when I'm getting onto him for something.  He always has that "Who ME???" look on his face.  He loves to give kisses and hugs.  If he thinks I'm irritated about something, he'll come up to me and give me a hug and pucker up for a kiss.  Where did this kid learn to be such a schmoozer??  He's added quite the spice to our household.  I thought the other kids were busy.  I had no idea!
He's getting to be such a big boy!
He loves to brush his teeth.  He throws a fit if he sees someone brushing their teeth and he can't brush his.
He loves to take showers.  As soon as we turn the shower on, here comes Nolan, running to hop in.  If you leave the shower door open for two seconds and turn your back, he's in there with his clothes on.  We don't have a lock on our master bathroom door, so he just charges on in!  Bath time is another adventure.  He loves to splash and throw toys out.  He gets water everywhere!  
He's a climber.  He learned to climb up on Talon's bed, so now the kids can't even get up there to read their books and get away from him.  He stands up on the top of the stool for their toy kitchen and thinks he's king of the world!  He loves the stairs.  We are constantly telling him to get off the stairs.  He will go all the way to the top in a matter of seconds, then slide down on his belly.  
This is his reaction when told to get off the stairs.  Not a happy little man!

He loves to terrorize the dogs.  They'll be minding their own business, laying on their bed, and here comes Nolan to cause trouble.  When he gets within about a step of them, they take off and run for cover.  He thinks it's just the funniest thing! 
He figured out how to drive the kids' toy cars around.  Now the hurricane has wheels!  He still loves to move furniture.  He hates riding in his car seat (Heaven forbid he should be strapped down!). 
He rubs his hands all through his hair when he's done eating if you don't catch him in time to wash him up.
He loves to bite things- especially Daddy's leather chair- with his mouthful of teeth.  He's getting in his molars, and has been a bit of a crank-pot during the process!

He loves to drag his blankets around and leave them in various places throughout the house.

He loves to take his sippy cup and shake it upside down- especially on the floor! 

Look at that impish grin!

But if you ever catch him sleeping.... he's such a doll!
Such an innocent little face.

He loves books.  And even more.... ripping pages out of them.  He's been restricted to only reading the board books.  Every now and then, he still gets a hold of the kids paper books and has a heyday!

"Did you call me, Mom?"

Cracking up!

We sure do love this little man.  Hard to believe he's getting so big so fast!  The kids are always calling him the 'Little Bruiser'.  So true!  He has no fear and has a very high pain tolerance.  A dangerous combo!

And I have to share this cute little story...
The other day, Talon says, "Mommy, can we have another Nolan James?".  I told him if we have a boy, we couldn't name him Nolan James because that would be too confusing.  The baby would have to be named something else.  He asked, "What about Nolan Jack, then?".

Happy 16 months, Nolan....
You crazy, adorable kid!!

Monday, February 13, 2012

ViSalus

As many of you know, we started on a nutrition program called ViSalus.  Anthony started looking into it because of the weight loss benefits, but I got very excited when I found it was based on good nutrition with great sources of protein, and we all could use it and benefit from it- even the kids!
So Anthony started on a 90-day Challenge.  His goal is to lose 75 pounds in the next 90 days, and he is well on his way to reaching his goal.  He started about a week and a half ago, and has already lost 15 lbs, and over 5 inches.  He's so excited!
I am not using the products to lose weight right now, but wanted the nutrition during my pregnancy.  As a result, I quit craving many of the junk foods and calorie dense foods I tend to crave when I'm pregnant, I have not been having issues with water retention, and have lost over 6 lbs.  Yeah!!

The kids love their smoothies! As soon as they hear the blender, they come running- just positive that I'm making them one.  Good thing I saved all the smoothie cups from last summer when we went to Dutch Bros.! Nolan very quickly learned how to drink from a straw.


One of Anthony's buddies from Bible School wanted to try it, and lost 3 lbs in his first four days.  Anthony's dad is a diabetic and has many health issues.  He got on the products and lost 7 pounds his first week.  His goal is to get off of insulin and many of his blood pressure and cardiac meds, as well as lose some weight.  I will be posting about Anthony's progress as he loses weight, but feel free to contact me if you would like information about the products!
You can also check out the links below if you want some more information!
and

A little disclaimer.... we have no control over some of the photos shown in the above links.  Sorry!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012