It's a Fence!

Pat and his friend Josh worked tirelessly this weekend to install our baby/possible dog proof fence. We still have to paint it so it's all white, but this is a HUGE improvement over the old rickety country fence and the 11 foot hedge that was the previous barrier. Other things in our yard that I love: My peony tree with the 9 inch blooms, that is unfortunately done for the season. The alien plants that I still have not been able to identify.
The fragrant clematis arbor that almost never was. I saved it from my overzealous gardener who thought it was a honeysuckle and almost ripped it out.

We've made some huge improvements to this yard in the last month and all of this hard work has made me fall in love with our little cottage all over again.

Baby Swap

A plus to joining PEPS other then meeting other new people who have recently joined the "parent club" is baby swapping. A fellow mom in the group, Heather is an interior decorator and works from home with her little girl Anabella in tow. When Heather simply can't bring her with her (construction sites, client meetings, etc) she drops her off for a little play date with Nolan and I watch both of the little babies. Then when I have a meeting or Pat and I want a date night we drop him off at her house. They both love this and have developed a little game where they hold hands and then see who can pull both hands into their mouths first. Of course since they are practically the same age (3 days apart) they are on pretty much the same routine and want to eat, sleep and be held at the exact same time which is a problem when you're all alone. But we get through it, and have a great time in the process. I do have a new respect for parents of multiples.

Where's Cortez

Cortez loves his brother Nolan, so much so that he almost never leaves his side. At first I thought Cortez was hanging around Nolan because he was always with me, but I was wrong. Lately, when I put Nolan in his room for nap time, Cortez has been sitting outside the door crying to be let in so that he can play with his brother. When I bring Nolan into bed to get a few extra minutes of sleep, suddenly Cortez wants to sleep on the bed too. And when I try to do portrait sessions with Nolan, Cortez pops up so that he can be in the pictures too. Note below:

Well the other day it finally caught up with him. Nolan reached out and grabbed a big handful of Cortez's ear and wouldn't let go. I have been training Cortez for this moment for months, when we first found out I was pregnant the cat training began. Even with all that time of preparation I didn't know how he would react when the real thing actually happened. He was perfect, he pulled at first and then realized that he wasn't getting out of that vice grip anytime soon and just laid down to wait until Nolan had his fill. No scratching, biting or claws from him, not even a meow. I was so very proud.

4 Month Appointment

Nolan turned 4 months old on Tuesday and with that came a doctor's appointment this afternoon! He now weighs 14 1/2 pounds which is 2 pounds more then he was at his 2 month appointment and keeps him at the 50th percentile. He measured 26 3/4 inches which is about an inch and a half longer then he was at 2 months and puts him at the 95th percentile. And finally his head measured in at 44cm which is in the 95th percentile. This means we have a baby with the proportions of a long toothpick with an orange on it and makes me think that Giada De Laurentiis is his real mother.

Mother's Day Weekend

What a weekend we had! Emily wanted to host Mother's Day at her new house this year so we decided to make a weekend of it and stay up in Lynden for a few nights. It had a rough start though with Nolan crying most of the way up there (3 hour drive). Then the hotel didn't have any cribs for us to use so Nolan and I slept on the bed while Pat slept on the couch. This completely threw Nolan's schedule out the window and he made sure to tell us how much he didn't like that every few hours, day and night. So we didn't get much sleep or down time this weekend but we did get to have a little fun.

On Saturday we had lunch at our friend's Libby and Evan's house. And then that afternoon we took our very first swim in the pool with cousin Clementine. They both loved it in there!

The next day we went to Cam & Emily's house for Mother's Day Brunch. The food was great, Nolan slept most of the time and the house is beautiful. Then we made our trek home.

Nolan slept the entire way home which finally provided Pat and I a little time to relax. Needless to say we were super excited to get home and back on the routine. A nice surprise was that my favorite plant in our yard was in full bloom when we pulled up, not to mention the diamond earrings that Pat got me for Mother's Day. All in all it was a good weekend. Here are a few pictures from our adventures.

The reintroduction of the cousins, this time it was much better. No jealousy or head rubbing, just a lot of hugs and kisses.

Nolan wasn't quite so sure about this pool thing at first...

but he caught on!Nolan in his special Mother's Day outfit that YaYa picked out.And finally our beautiful yard welcoming us home!

Rollin' Nolan

Nolan has made his first step toward mobility...he rolled over!

He's been working on this for weeks. Look at that determination and grace. Rolling over without letting go of his rattle. I'm so proud!

A Toy Story

Nolan has finally hit the fun age. He is interacting with those around him, trying new things and playing with toys. Since he is showing an interest in everything, we have started trying everything out on him to find his likes and dislikes. First we tried the Johnny Jump Up... He didn't that one very much, we'll keep trying though! Next we tried the excersaucer...

This one had great results, he hangs in there at least 30 minutes at a time a few times a day. He hasn't quite reached out to grab anything. So far he just enjoys spinning around and looking at everything. But i reluctantly have discovered Nolan's most favorite toy...
Let me introduce, Piper his pink, giggling bunny. His friend Annabella has a pink giggling elephant that Nolan loved so I trekked down to Babies R Us to find him his own giggling animal. I tried desperately to find something blue, green or yellow before giving into the pink. He loves this thing so I don't care!