Still Tryin to Figure This Out!

Annika will be 10 months old on Wednesday! She is learning and growing so much, but she's still not crawling. She's soooo close and wants to soooo bad!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving! This year we spent Thanksgiving in Penn Valley and also in Sacramento, which means we also had two Thanksgiving meals! :) It was a little crazy, but lots of fun. We drove to Penn Valley late Wednesday afternoon and had a pizza party at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Spence came also. We played air hockey and had pies for dessert. YUM! We spent the night and spent Thanksgiving morning there also. Nolan loves picking stuff out of Grandpa and Grandma's garden. Even though there wasn't a whole lot left because of the frost, he was still determined to find something. I think he ended up finding some frozen strawberries and overgrown chard. :)

Uncle Spence helped Nolan construct this cool marble maze!

Annika had fun playing with herself in the mirror.

Nolan was so excited to start piano lessons!

Here's a couple of videos. Sorry, one of them you'll have to turn your head sideways to watch. :) Nolan's been wanting to golf with Uncle Spence. So, he brought his stuff and taught Nolan a few tricks.

Well, after we had a Thanksgiving lunch in Penn Valley we headed to Sacramento to Adam's parents house for more parties! There were lots of people over for dinner. I think they were expecting about 50 people there. Adam's sister, Tawny and her husband and 3 boys came out this week from Utah. The boys had lots of fun together. We spent the night a couple of nights so the boys could have as much cousin time as possible. I wish I got some pictures, but for some reason it didn't happen! :( Oh well. It was a lot of fun, even though Nolan's home sick today from school and Annika had a couple of rough nights being away from home. We love spending time with family!

An Adventure!

Last night, Adam was driving around the last sharp turn to the old mans house in the red van and all of a sudden it was really hard to steer and the breaks barely worked. He turned the radio off to listen to the motor but had a hard time hearing anything because it was raining. After he figured out the motor wasn't running he tried to start it. It wouldn't start. As he walked the rest of the way to the house wearing only a light hooded sweater, trying not to step in large puddles in the pitch black with no flashlight, he made it to the house and called his parents to find out if it's safe to jump start a car in the rain. They said yes, so he borrowed the old mans car to jump start the van. After arriving at the van he tried starting it again and it started. But, the motor was barely running. He tried the gas and it had no effect. He returned the old mans car to the garage and asked the neighbor for a tow and the husband was away so they sent him to the next neighbors. While this was happening, he was blocking 100% of the road, while the first neighbors who were not able to help, were trying to leave. The 2nd neighbors were able to push the van to the end of the road out of the way. All of this while raining, dark, and cold. His water proof shoes aren't so waterproof when the water comes up over the top of the shoes. :P Luckily the old man had a pair of sweats for Adam to wear since he was soaked to the bone. Adam called me that night to tell me about his adventures and tell me I'd need to pick him up in the morning. Well, with 9:00 church I new it would be a little tricky but thought it would be ok. Well about 6:45 a.m. the next day I leave to go pick him up. I made all the right turns, but once I came to the mailboxes I new I would have trouble finding it. I made some guesses and even called to see if it sounded like I was on the right path. But, I guess "the really steep road covered with leaves" is in more than one area. :P Well, I went down the steep hill but started to get nervous on my way because my breaks were even having trouble. All of a sudden I see a lake in front of me. Luckily there was a little spot for me to turn around. Going back up the hill was a different story. Pouring down rain + red dirt + wet leaves + steep hill does not = success! I was nervous because I didn't get any cell phone reception at the bottom of the hill and knew I'd be in trouble. Well, I floored the gas and made it about half way up the hill before my spinning tires gave up. :P Thank goodness for text messaging, that's the only way I could stay in contact with Adam because I didn't even have enough bars to make a phone call, but I could send him text messages. I was too scared to let go of my brake in case I rolled backward into the lake, too scared to turn off the car in case it didn't start again. Eventually, I put on the parking brake and turned off the car after about an hour. :P The car stayed put. The kids were doing pretty good, but Nolan was getting hungry and so was Annika. I was wishing that I changed the diaper before leaving the house as well as grabbing some breakfast. This was only supposed to take 30 minutes all together though, right? So, meanwhile Adam borrows the old mans car and is trying every little road to try and find me. No luck. My legs were shaking so bad because I was still too scared to let go of the brake pedal. It was pretty steep. Adam eventually found me with the help of a fireman who called his friend. About 2 hours later. Meanwhile, church has started... As I watched Adam slowly make his way walking down the hill, I thought to myself, please don't slip and fall. The last thing we need right now is another broken leg... Don't worry, he didn't fall. Well, when he reached me he assured me I could let go of the brake now. :) I did. He tried to make the car up the hill too, but couldn't. So, Adam leaves to go back to the old mans to call AAA to get a tow truck. He got there just in time to reassure the search and rescue people who were on the phone (that the old man had called :P) that his wife had been found! hahaha. Oh boy! Luckily, the old man wasn't making much sense, so they didn't leave to come find me yet! Well, by this time, Annika had had it so I got brave enough to get out of the car to get her and feed her. I could smell that she was poopy and could see the begginings of an exploding diaper. OH boy! Of course I wouldn't bring the diaper bag since I'd be back in 30 min...Well, Adam texted me to tell me the tow truck would be 45 minutes but, he'd come take me back in the old mans car to his house. So, we get in the house and Nolan asks the old man if he has any kid toys. :) He found him a few stuffed animals to play with. He's a nice old man. :) He looks a lot like Grandpa Wilson, his smile at least. Adam left to go meet the tow truck. Meanwhile, the beginnings of the exploding diaper were getting pretty bad by now...I just had Annika standing up the whole time so she wouldn't disturb it anymore. :P Poor girl, she didn't complain of course. Anyways, Adam eventually got back with the tow truck, which ended up taking the van instead of the car. The tow truck wouldn't have been able to make it down the steep hill because it had bald tires. Hmmm, that seemed strange to me. Why would a tow truck be allowed to have bald tires, expecially this time of year? What happens when it snows and people get stuck??? So, Adam ended up backing the car back down the hill and going up the hill backwards. No thanks! I'm not a backerupper. But, he made it. We made it back home, 4 hours later. I told Adam, "Next time, meet me at the mailboxes, rain or shine."

Quite often when Nolan and I are having a conversation a phrase will pop out of his mouth that makes me feel like I'm talking to a much older kid. For example, on the way home from school today, we were talking about how we needed to decorate the house for Thanksgiving and suddenly Nolan says, "Come on, let's just talk about this later and focus on driving."

Does Size Matter?

Today was no school for Nolan because of parent teacher conferences. It's hard to believe the school year is already 1/3 the way thru! Nolan is doing very well in school! He LOVES it! I'm very glad that we went on ahead and put him in this year! Everything his teacher said about him didn't surprise me one bit. She said, "Nolan has a serious set of skills for a child his size. He amazes me at the things he knows. It is evident that reading to him is a priority in his home..." Nolan struggles a little in the fine motor skills area, such as cutting and holding his pencil correctly, but he is improving and I know that'll just take time. Most everything else Nolan is right where he should be or advanced. The one thing that his teacher talked to me about that worries her a little, which is also my biggest worry and almost kept me from putting him in Kindergarten this year, is his size. Nolan is definitely one of the shortest kids in his class, sometimes by a whole head or more. :) She's a little worried that he'll get trampled over next year in 1st grade. She's not worried about in the classroom, but rather out on the playground. She suggested towards the end of the school year to come check out the playground for the first graders to see how he'll do. I'd hate to hold Nolan back though just because of his size and I honestly don't think he'll be doing a whole lot of growing in the next year to where he'll catch up. He's probably going to be even shorter than the Kindergarteners next year. I'm glad we don't have to make a decision right now, but it's hard to know that this decision could affect the rest of his life. I'd rather keep him in Kindergarten two years than in 1st grade for two years. So, we'll see...

Annika's 9 Month Doctor Visit

Last Friday I took Annika to the Doctor for her 9 month checkup. He's such a friendly Doctor and very understanding. I still remember when I took both kids in during one of Annika's first Doctor appointments. Nolan was playing with a little play stethoscope and pretending to be the Doctor. Well, he saw the Doctor check Annika over with his stethoscope and than Nolan went behind the Doctor and held the stethoscope up to the Doctor's bum. It was a little embarrassing and I tried not to burst out laughing, but the Doctor handled it very well. :) That's my boy!
Anyways, this time I went while Nolan was in school, so it was quite a bit easier. Annika did so well during her immunizations. At first I didn't think she would even cry, but after several seconds she let out a little cry that lasted about 5 seconds and that was it. Annika has kind of thinned out the last few months. Not as much roly poly to her, but she's growing and on the charts. :) She's 16 lbs. 2 oz. and 27 1/2 inches tall. Watch out Nolan, Annika only has 13 inches til she's caught up to ya!!! Later on that day I noticed a third tooth that's popped thru! Yay! Annika's not crawling yet, but she's starting to scoot backwards.

Nolan's 5th Birthday!!!

Nolan had such a fun birthday! He woke up bright and early, happy as always and ready to start the day! I decorated the house the night before and he was so surprised! :) It's kind of nice having his birthday on Veteran's Day because I got to spend all day with him and not send him off to school.

Nolan opened a couple of small birthday presents in the morning, but we saved the big one for the party that evening. I found several transformers at a Goodwill for a couple of bucks that I picked up. Nolan loved them and played with them for quite a while. Some of them are missing pieces or a little broken, but that didn't bother him. He was needing some bigger boy toys. :)

Nolan's Grandpa B and Great Grandma (Adam's Dad and Grandma) came down from Fallon, Nevada to stay with us for a couple of days. It was fun to have them join in on the party. Adam explained to Nolan that Great Grandma's brain was a little broken, so even if she asked Nolan the same thing over and over again, just to keep answering her. :) Nolan did pretty good, but towards the end after she had told him AGAIN that she was a teacher and how it was important that he learn his letter sounds (even though he already knows them), Nolan replied, "Grandma, we've already been over this..." haha. When Nolan saw Grandpa B, the first thing he said to him was, "Wow, you sure look a lot older than last time I saw you." Even though we saw him about 6 months ago. I just love how honest Nolan is. :)

Nolan earned a free bowling pass from school for reading 2,000 pages. We decided it would be fun to use it for his birthday. This was the first time Nolan's been bowling. He did pretty good. We hope to reach the goal of 15,000 pages by the end of the school year so Nolan can take a limo ride to a pizza party. I haven't even been for a limo ride!

For the past couple of birthdays Nolan's been wanting a pinata, but hasn't wanted to break it open. This year his "Grandma Doggy" (Adam's Mom) gave Nolan a pinata for his birthday. He really got into it this year. We ended up just doing a family birthday party this year, so Nolan was just about the only kid, except Annika and one other little girl who wasn't interested in batting at Sponge Bob. So, there wasn't any competition.

Nolan's been wanting a pogo stick for his birthday for months!!! I don't know where he came up with the idea or where he's seen one before, but that's what he really wanted, so that's what we got him. :) I showed Nolan some tricks some pogo stickers do from the internet, he thought they were pretty cool!

Nolan got several nice gifts from others as well.

Nolan's Aunt Jeanna made his birthday cake this year. She did a fantastic job!!! Nolan LOVED it and was so surprised! :) He requested a chocolate Simba cake. It was delicious!

This was Nolan's reaction when he saw the cake for the first time...

Building Fun

What's the first thing that happens when you build a tall tower with blocks for a baby? CRASH! Right? Or is that a boy thing? I don't know if it's just this girl's personality or what, but she'll just stare at it. The first couple of times she crashed it and learned that she didn't like the result, so now she let's it stand. She'll inch her fingers toward it, than quickly pull them away. It's funny to watch. Sorry about the red eyes!

A Visitor

Today we had a visitor. She didn't come too close today or bring her family with her this time. Normally she does. We get several deer in this area. Also, the picture shows the dumpster to the right. There are nails that are all along the top of the doors and walls to keep out wild animals, particularly bears. It must not be working too well though because most of the nails are bent and the lid of the dumpster is caved in. :P Great! Guess we didn't get rid of the bears when we moved. You won't catch me taking the trash out at night though. I learned that lesson already! The neighbor said the bears pass right by her bedroom window on the way to the dumpsters. We haven't seen them yet though. Hopefully it doesn't happen too often. Especially with the weather turning cold. Bears are supposed to hybernate during the winter, right?

This video wouldn't work yesterday, but here's an example of my quiet observer.

Annika 9 months old

Today Annika is 9 months old! She is so much fun to have in our family. She is my little snuggle bug. She would lay in my arms all day if she had it her way. Some days it does feel like she had it her way. :) She's going thru a phase where she screams every time I leave the room. I have a feeling this phase won't end any time soon. She's a pretty happy girl as long as someone is holding her, but she definitely prefers mom. :) I love watching her around her big brother. She watches every thing he does, which Nolan loves of course. My favorite time is while we're all eating at the table. Nolan and Annika sit across from each other and Annika watches him the whole time. She eats so much better when Nolan's home. If something is blocking her view of Nolan she'll bend or duck in whatever position she needs to so she can watch him. She'll stare at things for minutes without blinking. She is a quiet observer but loves to play and laugh and gives lots of sweet smiles. I love her so much!