Easter Weekend 2012

       After two busy weeks at work, I finally have some time to play catch up here. For Easter weekend this year Nolan and I headed down to the Bay Area while Jon stayed behind to work an overnight shift. I'm still a bit scarred by the 3 hour trip down and back by myself with Nolan in the backseat. It may be quite a while before I try to make the trip alone with him again.
       The day before Easter my sister and I headed off to the Oakland Zoo with two wee ones in tow. Nolan is currently loving animals so I thought it would be a fun day for him. 

Our first stop at the zoo was the train.

And our first challenge was trying to get these two to look at the camera at the same time.

We never had any success with that last one. 

Living where we do, we never frequent places like zoos, play centers, 

amusement park, or malls, so this was quite 

the adventurous day for me and Nolan.

There's my boy.

His mouth on the wire fence, 

that was no doubt covered in dust, dirt, germs, and gosh knows what from the animals.

He insisted on taste testing several of the fences around the park.

I'll spare you too many pictures of the animals. 

In reality all of the animals seemed quite sad to me. 

(In this shot I had to try to avoid a truck that was parked just behind Mr. Zebras fence). 

There was a petting zoo too. 

While all of the other kids were in the small barn petting the animals, 

my wild one was out running on their lawn. 

I don't really blame him. 

Grass is exciting for us mountain folk.

The day was definitely a successful one. 

It was followed by a playdate in Roxy's backyard, 

checking out all of her toys. 

The next morning, before all of the cousins arrived, 

Nolan had to hunt for his Easter "basket".

Nolan's bunny was feeling quite nautical this year.

My boy doesn't do much without his baby and bottle in tow.

He dug into the gold fish treat immediately.

His basket started out looking like this

(which may be quite sac-religious).

I have a few of these left over from an event I did years ago, 

and I figured I would put them to good use at some point.

In the name of watching our pennies this Easter,

 I cut up an old burlap bag that I had (also inherited this from something at work),

and got to work with my hot glue gun and a stencil.

I was happy with how my thrifty creation turned out.

After the whole gang arrived,

we had our annual Easter egg hunt.

Here's the line up before the start of the race.

I was a little bit busy helping curly find his eggs, 

so I wasn't able to take any photos myself. 

I think next year he's going to be a force to reckoned with during the hunt.

Nolan was a busy bee all day, 

and spent a lot of his time checking out the backyard fountain.

Grandma and Grandpa's house hosts the perfect little garden for 

small kiddos to trek through.

This weekend, Jon and I were spoiled to both have a few days 

off together. What a novelty. 

We were doubly spoiled by 70+ degree temperatures. 

Weather like that in April in these parts really gets people excited.

As Nolan creeps toward two years,

we're able to do more things and go out for longer

which has already been a lot of fun for us. 

I think this Summer may hold in store lots of time

on our bikes and at the beach (when we can find it). 

Little bit of this, little bit of that

       In the spirit of keeping this blog updated, here's a bit more!

I have started to try to incorporate Nolan into cooking and baking with me. 

This isn't the easiest task, as he's a little bit wobbly in our dining chairs, 

and perching him on our island makes me very nervous (and Jon even more so). 

But, I think its a good way for him to learn his food words, and possibly appreciate

different foods a bit more. 

Last week, we made him some healthy mini-toddler muffins, 

for quick breakfasts and snacking.

He was the perfect bakers assistant. 

(Tonight he helped me to make homemade Mac' n Cheese 

and that went downhill fast when he put a bunch of 

mustard powder in his mouth!)

I think I failed to mention back at Christmas time that we received a 

beautiful addition to our kitchen for the holidays. 

It came in the form of a Kitchen Aid.

I asked for a basic old hand mixer to replace a broken second hand mixer that 

I had been using, but my upgrade came in the form of a Kitchen Aid. 

It is luxurious. 

I bake every week or two so that Jon has something to take on shift 

or to his paramedic class. 

It's giving me the chance to try out lots of recipes.

Tonight I'm giving a Twix Brownie recipe a try.

The most exciting business in our neck of the woods

is that we got to meet a very important little girl today. 

We'd been waiting to meet her for 40 weeks and 1 day. 

Our good friends gave birth this weekend, 

and today we got to stop by the hospital for a quick visit. 

When we arrived both parents were looking SO tired. 

It brought back lots of memories!

Lyla Scout was gorgeous!

And oh-so-tiny compared to our rascal.

The parents were in amazing spirits after a long 24+ hours.

They were in the same room as us in the hospital 

so it felt like a bit of a roles-reversed-flashback. 

We're so excited for them to now be parents. 

Nolie wasn't allowed in the maternity ward (apparently kids carry germs),

so he did lots of walking around the hospital while we 

took turns visiting. 

He also finagled a couple of cookies from the nurses

so he was pretty H-A-P-P-Y about visiting the hospital.

Thats all this week!

XOXO from Lake Tahoe

Photo Dump

       Sorry. So so sorry. I know out blog has been lacking in new posts, in a major way, but I was giving myself a little blog breather. I've caught my breath (just a bit!) so I thought it was time for a photo dump and update.
       The Milam's are busy. Too busy. Not enjoying life enough busy. We wish we could stop to smell the roses (or play in the snow) a bit more, but we're trying to keep a lot of balls in the air at the moment. Jon is in school 3 days a week and working anywhere from 20-40 hours most weeks on top of that. Throw in lots of reading and studying and his days are full. I've had a busy load at work since the New Year, meaning long weeks and long days. With our schedules, we've just been keep on keep'n on. I have been oh-so-lazy on the taking pictures front (something I need to work on!), but we have a few to share. Here are some images from our neck of the woods.

Our boy is a boy, through and through. 

He is growing crazy fast now. 

His feet are getting bigger. 

His vocabulary is getting bigger. 

His personality is getting bigger. 

He loves spending time "ouside."

On the rare day off, while he explores

his dad is usually nearby, tinkering.

He just hit the 20-month mark  (how-oh-how will he be 2 years old in 4 months!), 

and we're very much loving getting to know the kid that he is becoming.

He's our monsty. 

He loves his dad more than anything.

He's a lover. 

But he's also a biter.

A few weeks ago I scooted out of work for a few hours

and came home to join Nolan and Jon for our annual local Snowfest parade.

One of the perks of our house is that its steps to the main street.

We're looking forward to lots of sunny walks this Summer with 

our now very good-on-his-feet toddler.

One of the departments that Jon works for was in the parade, 

and we found the truck just at the bottom of our street

(Yes, I'm aware his hair is insane. A week after this photo, his dad gave it a good cut). 

In our local parades there is snow moving machinery. 

Not sure if this is normal?

Because Nolan only lasts outside for about 15 minutes in the cold and snowy temps, 

we've been doing lots of playing inside. 

Enter a tent set up in our living room. 

This kid loved it. 

As in, laid down in it and fell asleep. By himself. 

(I personally could eat those little baby boy legs).

This winter has certainly been a light one, as far as snow goes. 

This is about as bad as it ever got at our house this winter. 

VERY manageable, which we have enjoyed. 

This is what our yard looked like on January 8th this year. 

Dry as a bone.

Crossed fingers that Spring temps will be here soon!

Our latest big news is that we had a day off. Together. To play. Sans child.

It was amazing. 

Jon and I landed ourselves with a Monday off so we 

were able to snag some complimentary tickets to Squaw. 

We dropped Nolan at daycare (which I had some mothers guilt for),

and headed to the mountain. 

We were happy. 

Our first day on the mountain in 2 years. 

2 years! That's insane. 

We live within 25 minutes of about 6 ski resorts, and it's been 2 years!

Needless to say, we had some fun.

The clear weather that was forecasted for the day

ended up being cold and blustery with some snow, 

but that didn't really bother us one bit.

We saw some little kiddos skiing and it had us very much looking 

forward to getting Nolan out on skis next season. 

We even nabbed a very dorky couple photo up top.

Oh, and afterwards. 

Afterwards, there were beers and apps at a favorite restaurant, 

before we grabbed a brief nap and picked Nolan up. 

Beer has never tasted so good.

So that's it. 

Nothing earth shattering. 

Normal run of the mill life. 

But now your caught up!

And maybe I'll do better to keep this blog up. 

Crossed fingers!

Checking in

       So sorry for my absentee blogging. My boys and work have needed some extra attention these past few weeks, so the blog has taken a back seat. I have a day off though and Buzz is down for a nap so I thought I would check in and touch base. Unfortunately I only get half credit for this post though, because I'm not sharing pictures (boring, I know!).
       Jon has started Paramedic school!!! Woo-hoo. It's exciting. It's busy. It's demanding. But hopefully in 10 months it will be a thing of the past (6 months of classroom work + several months of hours on the job). I'm already counting down the weeks! On the upside, he's home most weeknights now and he is at home with Nolan a couple of days a week, and Nolan LOVES that. It's already apparent that the program will require lots of hours studying but it's an exciting change.
       Nolan is 18 months (going on 19 quickly!) and he is as crazy as ever. He is babbling, imitating, and getting in to everything. The past couple of days he has started saying "thank you" and it.is.charming. He regularly asks for Dada, Mama, and Blue and his go to word is "ouside?" To him we aren't at work, we're "ouside". He loves reading books on mamas lap, LOVES playing with Jon, likes to store food in his cheeks and keep it there, loves playing in our cars, and spinning in daddy's office chair. Unfortunately this winter we've already been visited by the flu and a couple of bad cold viruses, which makes babyland a bit more fussy and challenging but we're making it through.
       I'm in the midst of a few busy months at work, so between long work days and weeks I'm just trying to keep it all balanced and together.

I'll be back to share more soon....promise!

Our 2012 Goals

       I'm baaaaaack, with another installment of our annual goals. So grab a cup of coffee and let's see what we're hoping to accomplish in 2012!

1) Survive

        2012 means some changes are taking place in our neck of the words. Jon is setting out on a goal that we outlined on our 2011 list, of going through Paramedic school. After a couple of months of applying, testing, and interviewing, he was accepted and classes start in a few short weeks. Paramedic school has a reputation for being demanding, and it also means Jon will be cutting back his hours at his full time job. So for the first 6 months of 2012, our biggest challenge will be to survive and conquer. Survive and be happy as a family. We're hoping that by taking this risk, and sacrificing some comfort this year, it will lead to bigger and better things!

2) Buy a House
       This. is. HUGE. And, kind of funny given that above I outlined surviving! But hopefully we can survive AND buy a house. I'm dying to own a house. Re-do a house. Decorate a house. Make a house a home. Hopefully (crossing fingers and toes) 2012 will be our year! I'll keep you updated on our house hunting progress (which will certainly be pretty quiet during the beginning of the year)! I dream of celebrating our next Christmas under a roof that we own.


2) Buy Meg a Car
        Apparently we're going to be doing a lot of buying in 2012! This is something that we didn't check off of our list in 2011, and its a more prominent goal for 2012. My cars performance is slowly but surely getting more questionable, and I'm 30 years old for goodness sakes! It's time for an adult vehicle! And I think a more reliable and family appropriate car is necessary because another goal is... to...


3) Grow our Family
        That's right...that means we're hoping to have another bun in the oven at some point in 2012. It won't be this month or next month, but it's high on the list (or my list anyway, as Jon is still completely exhausted by Numero Uno)!


       So it will hopefully be doubly a year of survival and growth for us! What are your goals for 2012 and more importantly, how are you going to tackle them? Do share.

Best wishes from Tahoe!