Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Roaming Nolan

        Before baby came along I kind of promised myself that I wouldn't become baby photo obsessed. Well, I have failed. Terribly. Because I am baby photo obsessed and I love to share them. So bare with me friends. 
       This little guy has become my very own "Roaming Gnome." I mean, he gets around. In the first two weeks of life he enjoyed his first vacation with the Hay family, had a couple of lunch dates on the lake, went to church, made lots of introductions to family and friends,  enjoyed a bbq at the lake and went to a concert at commons beach. Yes, I'd say this kid has been living the Tahoe life.  
       Every year the Hay's come to Tahoe for an annual family getaway. The timing worked out great this year, as everyone arrived at the lake just a few days after we brought Nolan home from the hospital. That means introductions galore and I guess you can say, Nolan had his first vacation. We spent the week down at a nice rental house on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe and my family got to pass him around. 
Uncle Neal and Nolan
Nolan meets his cousin, Katherine.
Grandpa Hay gets his hands on him.
Nolan got to meet his cousin Roxy too. 
My sister, mom, Roxy,  Nolan and I all went 
out to lunch at Jakes on the Lake. 
Yes, we survived a lunch date with two kiddos under 8 months.
We also took these kiddos to the beach for some summer fun in the shade. 

After my family departed, Jon's dad arrived for a visit. 
With Jon's family and Nolan in tow, 
we had a BBQ at our favorite beach. 
An amazing summer storm rolled over the lake, 
just as we arrived at the beach. 
Luckily though, we (and Nolan) stayed dry.

On their last day in town, we had lunch on the lake and
Nolan was the perfect lunch date.
That evening we went to a concert at Commons Beach. 
The music was a bit loud, but this kid slept through the whole thing. 
All of our family has departed now and life has slowed down. 
Nolan, Blue and I have started taking long daily walks to help Mama get back in shape and we're tackling lots of little projects around the house. 

Lots of love from Tahoe

Monday, July 26, 2010

2 Weeks Old

       Yesterday Nolan celebrated his two week birthday. 
Where in the world did the past fourteen days go? 
I whipped out my camera to capture the momentous birthday. 



Blame it on my crazy post pregnancy hormones 
but I think this guy is already growing up too fast. 
I love all that hair and those baby blues. 

Friday, July 23, 2010

Project Nursery: The Reveal

       Its been a few months in coming but the nursery is now ready for its big debut. Its stuffed to the brim with homemade decor, hand-me-downs, and everything a baby could need...and then some. Perfect, it is not (just look closely at some of my sewing work), but welcoming and ready for a baby it is. By far, more care and energy has gone into this room then any room in our house, and now I've got the itch to move downstairs and tackle some more design projects. 
So....Welcome to the Nursery.
Our changing nook.


 His comfy nest where he'll sleep the night away (crossed fingers), 
and our comfy glider for when he won't sleep the night away.

The perfect storage basket for his toys, 
compliments of Grandma Babs.
Some bike love.





The sunny window seat.



And lastly,
 our hand-me down armoire, turned baby closet.

I found these great storage pockets that 
Jon fastened to that armoire for additional storage, 
which I've already discovered is much needed.
       The grand total spending on our nursery rounded out to....drumroll please...$488.48! Give or take a penny or two. By far the biggest costs for the nursery were the area rug, the collection of bicycle prints, and the glider. We walked away with so many steals in this room: the crib and mattress were very generous gifts from Grandma Babs, the armoire and wooden chest are hand me downs from my sister, the glider and ottoman were a craigslist find that we scored for $60.00 (they threw in clothes and a bumbo too!), the rocking chair was a second hand gift from a work friend, and the dresser was free(!) after being adopted from my old bedroom. 
      Maybe you realized that I have an obsession with prints and textiles, hence all of the  pillows, curtains, rugs, bed skirt and runner. Whenever we make our move, these things should all be able to fit well into another house too. And hey, if there's a baby number two in our future (not immediate my friends), many of these things can transition for a little girls room too. 
Oh, I almost forgot our last addition to the nursery.
We saw him at the hospital and decided he was a keeper.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Welcome Home

       Week one at home with Nolan was a rollercoaster.
We learned how little sleep you can get by on.
Blue had a bit of a reality check.
We realized that showering is a luxury.
We were spoiled by generous friends that brought us amazing dinners.
I learned that to be a mom, you must be a multi-tasker.
We decided that time moves at triple speed with baby.
I nursed my recovering and transforming body.
We fell in love with our little boy. 
Here's the week at a glance.


Leaving the hospital I was advised to R-E-S-T.
 I had a lot of healing to do. 
So when we got home, Nolan, Blue and I curled up for a nap. 
Jon turned on the oven so that he could warm up an early dinner. 
He walked into the kitchen to discover the smell of gas.
 Due to construction on our street they had turned off our gas...
and completely failed to mention it. 
Enter construction workers. 
We then had a couple of dirty construction guys in our living room, 
lying on the floor trying to get our gas turned back on. 
Sorry about this Nolan. 

With a sad yellow lab staring up at us, 
it was time to get outside with Baby and Blue. 

Nolan hanging at the lake, 
while Mama and Blue play in the background.

Nolan had his first doctor's appointment. 
And the doctor confirmed for us that he
was the most perfect baby he'd ever seen. 
Okay, maybe not in so many words, 
but I think thats what he was getting at.

Here's Nolan, waiting for his check up.
The wait was real torture.
Coming home from our doctors appointment Jon discovered that sewer water 
was backing up in our downstairs bathroom. 
Lovely. 
We invited Mr. Roto-Rooter over to check up on the situation. 
After several hours in our yard, 
he realized that the gas company had struck our sewer line. 
Double lovely. 

Friday morning a gas company representative was
 at our house to check on the situation.
That led to this:
This:
And this:

Yes, this is our driveway.
For 8 hours on Friday there were jack hammers sounding, 
construction workers at our door, 
and we weren't allowed to use water in our house.

By 4:00 pm I needed a shower and I
 needed to get out of the house.
So we packed up the family for a little time at the lake.







Nolan also had his first bath. 
And although he didn't love the water, he did love cuddling afterwards.



Yes, I'd say that week one was packed full. 
We're savoring everyday, because its going by so fast. 
More to share soon!