Tuesday, November 30, 2010

A Swinging Thanksgiving

       The holiday's are getting more and more chaotic at the Hay-abode. But with chaos comes fun and entertainment. Imagine four kiddos added to our already busy Thanksgiving table; an almost three year old, a just one year old, a two-and-a-half week old, and our nearly five month old!  This combo certainly doesn't lend itself to peaceful Thanksgiving conversation. More like crying, fussing, and parents taking turns eating, but clearly we have a lot to be thankful for.
Like big cousins, who help watch the little cousins.

Like the newest member of our family...Colby. 
Like birthday gifts.
{We have an absurd number of family birthdays 
in November & December.}
And grandma cuddles.
Like cousins sharing toys.
Nolan took Roxy's ride for a spin.

And so she bit him. 
Kidding...she went in for a kiss and a little face grab. 
He survived. 
Like first holidays as a family.
And dogs that wait patiently for leftovers.
Like babies that are becoming experts at the 
3+ hour ride to grandma's house.
. . . . . . . . .
On Friday we took Nolan to the park for his first time. 
Him and Roxy tried out the swings together. 
I think Nolan may still be just a wee-bit small. 



Now we're getting started on our Christmas to-do list.
There's a tree to cut down.
Cards to make.
Cookies to bake.
A house to decorate. 
Gifts to be shopped for.
Just to name a few.

Happy Holidays!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Project: Loose the Baby Weight. Final Update.

       I know it's been a while since I've talked about the post baby body project and I'm back with my last installment. Losing the last few baby pounds became pretty low on the priority list when I returned to work. And it's remained low on the list. Happily though, on a whim, I slipped on my last few pairs of jeans this week... and they all fit. Kinda tight... but they fit! So, in my book I've achieved success. I'm going to stick with healthy eating and walks with the boys, as a means to maintain. Once Nolan's schedule normalizes, I'm planning on re-joining up at the gym and getting back into hitting the gym early in the morning before Nolan wakes up. But that is surely a few months off. This week,  I'll trying to fit in a few runs, to help counterbalance the Thanksgiving feasting that is just around the corner!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Give Thanks

       In our house, it's official. The holidays have arrived. Snow is on our doorstop and we've had our first taste of holiday festivities. This is the fourth year that we've hosted a Thanksgiving get together for our friends. Although, this year it was an edited version. Chalk it up to the new baby and the fact that I'm always sick of turkey by the time the real Thanksgiving comes around, but this year we decided to opt for an easy-peasy, no fuss, appetizer-giving. We asked all of our friends to bring an appetizer to share and we whipped up some fondue and some pulled chicken sliders. And on top of all of the Thanks we were celebrating not 1, not 2, but 3 birthdays! So that called for some special dessert. But let me rewind a bit- there were a couple of other highlights this weekend that shouldn't be overlooked.
       Such as, the white stuff. And lots of it. True, we got a dusting a couple of weeks ago, but we've been getting buried by this stuff since Friday. And it's now Monday. Yeah, do the math. We've ended up with about 3 feet at our house and it's forecasted to continue through tonight and tomorrow. Sunday morning, Jon hopped out of bed and assumed the role of shoveler (It's one of his best roles). After getting Nolan bundled up, we joined him for some family fun in the snow. And can I just get an "Amen" for hand-me-downs? We received this amazing Patagonia snowsuit hand-me-down that I've already grown quite fond of. 
       After snow play and bickering with the husband about all the chores that needed to get done (insert: I was frantically running around the house, with a baby strapped to me, trying to get everything cleaned up and Jon comes to the door to tell me to come and watch him and Blue playing in the snow ), I headed to the grocery store for our last necessities. About a block and a half from our house I proceeded to slide myself and my jeep into a big snowbank. And get stuck. Bad. I walked back up the hill to fetch my dear husband to help 
un-stick me. Unfortunately we didn't take the camera with us, but picture the two of us digging, pushing, trying and re-trying until the jeep was freed. Eventually, I made it to the store.
Okay, enough babbling already.
Let's get on with the photos.
That's my boy in his snow suit.
And my car in the back, buried in snow.

Have I mentioned that babies don't
 look at cameras when you ask them to?

Okay, enough with the snow already.
I failed to take many good photos of the party.
The lighting was terrible. 
I was busy talking, baby bouncing, and eating. 
But, here's a few.


And there were baby friends.
For the special occasion, I opted to make miniature Boston Cream Pies.
{Note: I didn't get around to taking a photo until most had been eaten.}
They hit the spot.
And there you have it. 

Can I just say how much I L-O-V-E short work weeks?
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

A Healthy Boy

       Yesterday, we took Nolan in for his 4 month appointment and his next round of vaccinations (oh joy!). Our growing guy weighed in at 13 lbs 10 oz. and was 25 3/4 inches long, and the doc confirmed for us that he is P-E-R-F-E-C-T. We took some pics as we waited for the doctor and the needles (ouch!).


Nolan and I looking over some paperwork...
More waiting...
       A storm is blowing into Tahoe at the moment, and they're calling for 2-4 feet of snow over the next few days. That means we'll be spending a lot of time at home by the fire this weekend. I'm thinking of whipping up some scones, making some homemade soup, and working on my online Christmas shopping. And definitely enjoying all the time I have with Nolan because it's zipping by. 

Monday, November 15, 2010

Let Them Eat Cake!

       Whew. We're back from a busy weekend. On Friday we headed down to the bay to celebrate Roxy's 1st Birthday. We also fit in a trip to Target (where we dropped some bucks), had some Starbucks (a rare treat for us), and even had some In N' Out. I think it was the first time I had had fast food in about 5 years. And I'd say it was worth each drop of burger goodness. So, where oh where to begin. I guess I'll start here...
My sister went all out for the party.
{no surprise there}



Oh, and there was cake and cookies.
Lots of cookies and cake.
Homemade.
These are giraffes, in case you're wondering.
The yellow and pink variety.
My teeth hurt a bit just looking at all this sugar. 


Roxy enjoyed her first cake. 



We partied down.
And there were some baby kisses. 
'



Blue entertained Nolan and the cousins to no end.
And we very ambitiously tried to get a photo of the cousins. 
(Note: Only 50% of the cousins were there, 
but everyone will be in tow at Thanksgiving).
This proved to be a big order.
I don't think these shots will be the cover of any Christmas cards anytime soon.


       Every time Heather throws a party, 
we go home with a box full of baked goods. 
Not good for this ole' mom body. 
Not good at all. 
We hated to leave the 70 degree temps in the bay. 
And were not pleased when we pulled up to our house 
and the thermastat read 42 degrees outside. 
       I CANNOT believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner. As in, LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY. We're having friends over this Sunday for our 4th Annual Tahoe Thanksgiving, so we've got a little work to do this week. In other exciting Milam news, we're begrudgingly adjusting to the cold weather that has arrived, we took a look at a new camera (possibly a much needed Christmas gift to ourselves!), and we're just trying to keep up with all the growing that Nolan is doing. 

Love from Tahoe!