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!

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. 

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!

Playing Catch Up

       Apparently finding my balance between working mom and blogger is taking a little bit longer then  I expected. Something about wanting to give my little guy my undivided attention whenever I am at home, and also liking to go to bed as early as possible instead of staying up on this ole laptop. While I continue to find my balance, here's a little update on recent Milam happenings.
       A couple of weekends ago, Nolan and I left Jon in Tahoe to work, and we headed down to Benicia to celebrate my nieces baptism. It was the first time since Nolan was born that we made the trip to the bay area and it was also my first realization that we really, truly, need a bigger car. Like way bigger. We planned on packing "light" since my parents house is already home to so many of my nieces baby things. With the way that the truck looked on this trip, I have absolutely no interest in seeing how it looks when Jon and Blue are in tow. And Christmas presents. And all of Blue's gear. Yikes. 
       My brother Neal and I were chosen as Roxy's godparents, so we were on hand, along with lots of family, to witness and celebrate with Roxy (whom I have nicknamed as the Diva). Roxy looked amazing in her gown and despite my nickname for her, behaved like a little angel. It had been a good long while since I was at a baptism (about 12 years, give or take). This go round, there were about 25 babies in the Church for the service, which made for a pretty interesting (and exhausting) hour.

Roxy, Nolan and my sister.

(My apologies for the terrible quality, 

the dim lighting and my aged camera were not the best pair)

Me and Roxy trying to maneuver the whole baptism thing. 

Some of us Hay girls. Plus Nolan.

Homemade treats back at the house.

I was able to snap Nolan with his oldest cousins. 

On Sunday, before me and Nolan headed back to the mountains we 

had a little play session with Roxy.

Here's my little Diva now.

It was a great trip and Jon and I are headed back to the bay

this weekend for Roxy's 1st birthday. 

It will be a house full of babies and if all goes according to plans,

Nolan will be meeting 3 of his cousins, all under 

the age of two.

I'll take lots of pics!

Gnome Sweet Gnome

       Halloween. It's never been my specialty. But I'm vowing to get better at it. For Nolan's sake. This year, I searched high and low for costume inspiration. I thought about theme family costumes. Costumes with a high adorableness factor. And costumes that were warm enough to be worn outside in Tahoe at the end of October. 
       Ideas that I toyed with included A) Jon the farmer, and Nolan and I as farm animals. B) Nolan as a Keibler Elf (We've always thought he resembled an elf), and Me and Jon as cookies C) Nolan as a bull, and Jon and I as Rodeo Clowns D) Nolan as a pig, and Jon and I as the sky, a la when pigs fly. There were a few factors that came into play when making my final decision: cost, convenience, and time. I had planned on ordering Nolan a costume online, but when it came down to it, I just couldn't click "Buy". I wasn't willing to spend $20.00+ on a costume, plus shipping. I also considered picking up fabric and making his outfit. But, after factoring in the 2 hours on the road to get to and from the fabric store, the cost of fabric, and the lack of free time for sewing,  I decided against that plan of attack. 
       So the costume I finally decided on was...a Gnome! The garden gnome variety. After seeing what we already had that I could use, a quick trip to Michael's craft store, and a little work after Nolan was asleep, I had a costume that I was happy with, and all for about 10 buckeroos. I bought enough supplies to make myself and Jon Mama and Papa Gnome costumes, should we need them. At the end of the day, Jon and I didn't really need to dress up  (no costume parties for us this year!), so I'll just be returning a few of the extra materials that I bought. Without furtherado... here's the little gnome now. 

My personal favorite, the sleeping gnome.

Oh, and of course Blue got in on some Halloween action. 

 Meet our dome.

 (That's a dog+gnome, 

for those of you who aren't up on your gnome lingo).

After our gnome was all tucked into his stroller, 

we took him downtown for some trick or treating.

Tahoe City hosts trick or treating at all of their shops.

Notice the ghost crossing below.

There were lots of kids and dogs out getting their treating on.

In Tahoe, the bad kids don't get oranges or coal. 

They get bear poop. 

(Yes, that's bear poop in our downtown).

An hour of trick or treating was just about all 
that our little gnome could handle. 
So we headed home to watch some Giants baseball, 
and hand out candy. 
It was an A+ for our first Halloween with a kiddo in tow.