Two-Month Checkup

I took Nolan in for his two-month checkup yesterday. I was both anticipating & dreading this appointment; I was very curious to find out his weight, but I was less than thrilled about the impending vaccinations. Good news first: Nolan weighs 12 lb 6 oz, which is the 75th percentile. After all we went through with Aiden's weight issues, I didn't even realize the percentiles went that high! Also, he's 23 inches long, which puts him in the 5oth percentile for height. And I can't remember the measurement, but the size of his head is also the 75th percentile. Apparently he has a big head. :) While doing all his muscle checks, Dr. Brown also let me know that he's very strong for his age. Maybe we really do have OSU's next linebacker on our hands!

Then came the not-so-good news: shots. I tried everything I could think of to make this easier on my little guy--Tylenol beforehand, pacifier in the mouth, letting him look only at me--but to no avail. He still SCREAMED bloody murder, and actually used a new cry that I'd never heard before that had me seriously contemplating driving to a bar & downing a beer immediately after we left the doctor's office. He seemed to deal pretty well the rest of the day, though; two long naps and then he was his cheerful, smiley self by mid-afternoon. WHEW.

While waiting for Dr. Brown to examine him, I did manage to take a two-month "mugshot." I love that silly face. :)

Because I LOVE my Mommy...

...I spent a good part of my day going to three Columbus Kohl's to find this ornament:


A cow. In a bikini top & a grass skirt. With dangly little legs.

Merry Christmas, Mom. :)

Christmas 2010

It's hard to believe that another Christmas has come and gone. There's always so much preparation & anticipation leading up to the big day, and then the actual day seems to fly by in a whirlwind. That's especially true this year as my two out-of-state sisters & their families came to visit. Since I'm still on maternity leave, I was able to go up north twice in the week leading up Christmas to see them & introduce all the cousins to one another. We had a great time! There was cookie-baking and movie-watching and all kinds of good stuff.

We also made it over to PooPoo Jo's for the ornament exchange and food and just general rowdiness. Santa even stopped by for a visit!


After that, it was back to my folks' house for our Beer & Wine "Dirty Santa" game, and then to watch all the boys open their presents. We headed back to Columbus not long after that with two VERY tuckered-out kiddos :)


Christmas morning was pretty laid-back as everyone was really tired from the day before. But Aiden was very excited that Mimi & Grandpa came over to watch him open gifts (as well as bring him plenty more!). Nolan was in a great mood for the festivities--I like to think that maybe he understood some of what was going on.










We'll be spending most of this week digging ourselves out of all these new toys! It's also supposed to warm up a bit, so we'll probably venture out to do some shopping with our gift cards. I hope everyone out there had a wonderful Christmas!!!

Good help isn't hard to find around here

Aiden helped me decorate some cut-out Christmas cookies last night. He did a FANTASTIC job. And I'm pretty proud of myself for planning it well, too; I made the cookies so he wouldn't hear me cursing while he took his nap, and so the cookies were cool and ready to frost/sprinkle not long after he woke up. It was a memorable afternoon spent with one of my favorite people.

These Two...

...crack me up. Aiden is so in love with his little brother; he wants to hang out with Nolan all the time, and will even check to see what's wrong when he's crying. It's so nice to have another "little mommy" to help me out. :)

Two Months Old

Holy crap. He's two months old already?! I think the time goes by much more quickly when you've got two kiddos to worry about. Life with Nolan has been interesting this month. He is soooooooooo different than his brother was at this age--to the point I was actually in tears about it last night. You see, Nolan's not much of a cuddler; truth be told, he's not much for being held at all (unless you happen to be my mom). And that makes me sad sometimes; there are moments when all I want to do is hug him, and he'd rather just scream in my ear. We're doing our best to reach some common ground, but we're not there yet.

At two months, Santa Nolan:

--is a bit of a chunk. We don't go in for his two-month checkup until the 30th, but I'm pretty sure he's over twelve pounds already. At least that's what my lower back has been telling me.
--has been sleeping through the night pretty regularly. We still have a hiccup every once in awhile, but this week has been especially great: 4 nights in a row with 8 hours straight, followed by last night's 9-hour stretch. He's a good sleeper. :)
--still will probably have dark-blond to light-brown hair, but I'm on the fence now about his eye color. Before I would have said blue, but now I'm wondering if they might go a light brown instead. Time will tell on that.
--HATES tummy time. He maybe gets about a minute or two in before he starts screaming like a banshee. Like I said, sooooooooo different from Aiden.
--is really getting the hang of using a smile for a happy reaction. He greets me with a smile every morning when I come to his crib, but my favorite is that lately he's been smiling at Aiden. Must be something about the little face.
--would probably rather munch on kitty litter than take a pacifier. Not a fan.
--thinks his Aunt Abby might be the the funniest person he's ever seen. He laughed out loud at her yesterday :)
--is just the cutest thing ever. Despite the cuddling "issue," I love every second I get to spend with him.

Up next for Nolan? Meeting A LOT of family next week for the holidays. He'll be sporting that Jolly Old Elf outfit as well, so just remember that he knows if you've been naughty or nice...

Seeing Santa

We had grand plans to go see Santa on Monday, and then again yesterday, but the weather just wasn't cooperating. Finally we made it today. The boys did great! We were first in line, as we got there at 10:20 and Jolly Old St. Nick wasn't scheduled to arrive until 10:30. Turns out he was a bit later than that, but no worries. Aiden was all smiles with Santa, but refused to sit in his lap (hence the rocking horse). Nolan did great; he was just as content as could be. I think we were pretty successful in this endeavor!



While I'm sharing holiday photos, I'm pretty sure our Christmas cards have reached all of their intended locations by this point, so here you are:

Because I forgot my camera takes videos...

...I haven't posted any of Nolan yet! But suddenly it popped back into my head, as I was giggling at his silly faces while I changed his diaper. It cracks me up that not even a month ago, this kid H.A.T.E.D. getting a diaper change--to the point that I got desperate enough to go out and buy a wipe warmer (good investment in our case, by the way)--and now he likes nothing better than to be on his changing table. For some reason, he starts smiling the instant he looks up. I don't get it, though--I've looked from his vantage point, and all I can see is the underside of a green shelf. Apparently, this equals hilarious to a nearly-two-month-old. Whatever works.

Anyways, sorry for the bad light and horrible focus (I told you I haven't used the video option in awhile--need to go consult my manual), and also for my creepy-quiet mom voice (trying not to wake up a napping Aiden in the next room). But grab a comfy chair and a tub of popcorn, folks; here is the cinematic debut of one Nolan Cotter.

Smiles :) from Kimberly Cotter on Vimeo.

Messing around with the new lens

I promise to blog about something a little more interesting soon, but for right now, I'm having fun with the new lens :)

Getting to Know Me

For some reason, I decided that the teensy amount of information about me immediately to the left is just not enough. So for those of you who'd like to delve a bit more deeply into the things that make me me, feel free to click above. :)

Also, inspired by my seester, I'm hoping to tackle a picture-a-day project starting on January 1st--hence the "Project 365, (c)2011" page. We'll see if I can stick with it.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

'Tis the Season

I love that our Christmas tree is right next to our computer. All I have to do is look to my left, and I see these:


I was pretty excited that Hallmark had a "Baby's 1st Christmas" for 2010 similar to the one I got Aiden in 2008. Now my boys can hang next to each other in all their Santa-fied glory.

Another decoration I'm loving? These:


Since we're pretty adamant that our family is complete, I wanted to get us matching stockings, and I ordered these not long after Nolan & I came home from the hospital. I love the retro-ish feel, and the personalization turned out so cute.

We've also started a bit of a tradition this year; every morning, Aiden gets to change the number on the "Countdown to Santa" sign:


I told him next year he & Nolan can take turns changing the numbers, to which he responded, "Yeah, because then Nolan will be tall like me!" Oh, to have the innocence of a two-year-old.

10 Things I Think I Think, December Edition

10. Operation Lose the Baby Weight has commenced. During the holiday season. Good call on that one. I'm actually a week later at starting this than I wanted to be, but at least I'm starting. I'm going to do a combination of our treadmill & an ab workout DVD I bought before we got married. The goal is to lose 20 pounds. I'm not giving myself any kind of deadline, but it would be nice if I could fit into my clothes better. Wish me luck as I am HORRIBLE at keeping to any kind of workout routine.

9. Aiden only has two days left at his daycare after today. I sure hope I'm ready for four weeks at home with both boys. Yesterday was a trial run, and it was a bit rough.

8. I'm having way too much fun playing with my Christmas gift(s) from Mike--a new lens for my camera as well as a new tripod & mount. I still need to work at using the lens (hopefully Megan will give me a bit of a tutorial when she's home in a few weeks), but for now, I'm enjoying the experimentation.

7. I was lucky enough to attend my office Christmas party--my bad, Holiday Mixer--yesterday. It was held at a Dave & Buster's-type place. Surprisingly, I had a blast! Lots of folks kept asking when I was coming to back to work, to which I cheerily replied that I still had 4 and 1/2 weeks. It's going by awfully fast, though...

6. The weather forecast for the next week or so is incredibly depressing. I know I live in the wrong state for this, but I. Hate. Snow. WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING. If I'm being completely honest, I pretty much hate anything that has to do with winter. It's going to be a long few months. :(

5. I finally had to step back and agree with my husband that Nolan is a bit crankier than his brother was as a baby. For a few weeks, any time he was awake, he was very fussy, and Aiden was never like that. We've been seeing a bit of a reprieve as of late, though--lots more coos & smiles as opposed to irritated cries. I'll take it. :)

4. Has anyone else out there tried the Mint Hot Chocolate by Archer Farms at Target? I've gone through almost an entire canister in a week! YUM! YUM! Oh, and while we're on the subject of mint-flavored goodies, be sure to go get a bag of the Candy Cane Hershey Kisses. They're awesome.

3. I am so freakin' excited when the mail comes each day--I LOVE getting Christmas cards! And we sent ours out today. They're not exactly what I envisioned they would be, but I'm pretty stoked about them just the same.

2. Speaking of special deliveries, I just saw the UPS truck drive by as I typed this. That's the first day this week he hasn't stopped at our house.

1. I have a grand plan to take they boys to get their picture taken with Santa next week. Stay tuned for the photo. :)

Seven Weeks Old

Visting with The Vegas

My sister & her family are here from South Carolina for the weekend. While we unfortunately won't be able to make it up north on Sunday to see her, my BIL, and my other sister sing, I did want to make sure they could meet Nolan, so the boys & I drove up today. Cousin Gary was pretty impressed that Aiden can talk so well now, so he made a much better playmate than in visits past. Nolan was a hit, too, especially with my Grandma, who didn't put him down for nearly three hours! I could tell the boys had a good time, especially once we got home; someone was asleep in his car seat, while the other fell asleep on the kitchen floor. We can't wait to see the Vegas again for Christmas in a few weeks. :)

Cousins!!!

Someone was WIPED OUT.

Too darned cute. :)

The Girlfriend

When I was pregnant with Nolan, I was thrilled to find out my friend & coworker Julie was also expecting, and due two weeks before me. She & her husband decided not to find out the gender, though, so we didn't know if Nolan would be getting a girlfriend or a buddy. Well, Baby Lombardo decided not to come on the due date, and it actually looked like Jule would be induced on the day of my scheduled C-section. Instead, the Saturday night before, I got a text saying that Miss Anna Jean had arrived. BOOM! Instant girlfriend for Nolan, and only a day-and-a-half his senior!

Our two kiddos got to meet for the first time today, and I think they took to each other quite nicely (well, at least while Nolan wasn't being fussy). Another match made in heaven--so nice to have both my boys "married off" at such a young age. They have no idea how easy I've just made their teenage years! :)

10 Things I Think I Think, November Edition

10. I'm freaking out a little bit because Nolan is six weeks old today. HOLY CRAP. That means I only have six weeks of maternity leave left. This is going WAY TOO FAST. :(

9. To offset the scariness of #10, at least we have secured a new babysitter. I'm really excited about her, actually; our families really seemed to click when we went to meet her, she's located only 2 minutes from my employer, AND she was able to take both boys. That being said...

8. I'm a bit torn about pulling Aiden out of his daycare. We turned in our two-week notice last week, so next Friday is his last day. I love what they were able to do for him socially & speech-wise, but the financial burden was going to be too great. In the end, keeping him with his brother won out. He sure seemed to hit it off with the sitter & her little boys, though, so I think the transition will be easier than I initially anticipated.

7. SOOOOOO excited that I get a sneak peek at holiday family togetherness this weekend; my sister, BIL, and nephew will be visiting from SC this weekend! We've got a little munchkin to introduce to them...

6. How 'bout them Buckeyes?! The M*ch*gan game sure isn't what it used to be, but a win is a win (is a beatdown?), and we're back to the BCS. Another successful year for my boys!

5. LOVE having my Christmas decorations out. Aiden is really starting to "get" the holiday season (he's even been singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" randomly), and he was definitely excited to help decorate. The outcome is that we have A LOT of ornaments hung on the lower third of the tree. Oh well. :)

4. Thinking good thoughts for several folks dealing with both happy & sad news. And leaving it at that.

3. Thought the new Harry Potter movie was AWESOME; I knew it was going to be pretty dark, and it was, but they kept enough subtle humor in there to get the audience through. I'm both dreading and eagerly anticipating the final film this July...

2. Not sure how I feel about going in for my post-partum checkup tomorrow. I know she'll give me the go ahead to start losing the baby weight, and I have every intention of doing so, but geez, there's Christmas coming up, for crying out loud...

1. I'm going to be THAT person--I'm wrapping Christmas presents today. While drinking egg nog. In my pajamas. But it's only because I've only got a few days left before Aiden will be here with me. That and I need to take an inventory to make sure I'm truly finished.

Beyond Thankful

Newborn Photos

It seems like forever ago, but when Nolan was a mere six days old, we had a photographer come to the house to take his newborn photos. I had seen the work she did for several of my coworkers, and ended up booking her when I was only 4 months along. I couldn't be happier with the shots she captured, ESPECIALLY since Nolan was supposed to be sleeping when she arrived--and instead we had one wide-eyed little guy. I won't get too specific, but he also managed to poop FIVE TIMES, including once right in her hand (and as I was helping her clean that off, he peed on her shirt). Top that off with NO shots of Nolan and Aiden together since a certain two-year-old was in a horrible mood, and you get the idea of how the morning went. I think having that experience has made these shots even more precious to me. These are just a few of the images, but I hope you enjoy them.

One Month Old

This is freaking me out. Nolan has been here for a month already. A MONTH. How the heck did that happen?! It seems like we just got home from the hospital yesterday (well, it doesn't really seem that way--otherwise I would still be high as a kite on Percocet...). Honestly, though, it feels like Nolan has always been here--and maybe that's because from the moment we saw "Pregnant" flash on the little pee stick in February, we pretty much knew what to expect. I've said it before, and I haven't changed my mind--overall our transition to a family of four has been pretty smooth. That's not to say we haven't had our little bumps in the road, but I was expecting things to be much more difficult. I didn't expect Aiden to be So. In. Love. with Nolan; I didn't expect Nolan to eat so well; I didn't expect him to sleep so well; I didn't expect to have nearly five weeks of my maternity leave complete already. It's going too fast.

As I used to do with Aiden, I'll be taking Nolan's monthly picture with his bear Aiden made him & listing his stats. At one month old, Nolan:

--is a CHAMP at holding his head up; it's rare that I need to offer him support. He's got Aiden's sense of curiosity for sure.
--LOVES to eat; he sure doesn't seem to have any problem packing on the pounds. And you could set a clock to his feeding; he'll start fussing every three hours on the button!
--is chubbing up; he'll have an official weigh-in at his one-month checkup tomorrow, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's gained over two pounds since last we saw Dr. Brown.
--is a pretty good sleeper. His feeding schedule is the same overnight--every three hours--so with Mike & I taking turns to get up, each of us gets at least 6 decent hours of sleep at night. I call that a victory!
--has a few nicknames: Beanie, Mr. Bean, Grumpy Bear, Nolan-Shmolan (courtesy of Aiden), and Buddy-boy.
--is probably going to be blue-eyed and blond-haired like his brother; I can already see him lightening up. *SIGH* Neither of my kids is going to look like me. And I thought those were the recessive genes...
--is not a fan of pacifiers. I know this is a good thing in the long run, but it would be nice to be able to use the "baby plug" once in awhile, especially since he usually skips fussing and goes straight to screaming.
--already is a bit of a smiler, without gas to initiate it. :)

To sum it all up, we're pretty smitten. Being a mom of two definitely has its challenges, but I wouldn't change a thing. :) Until next month...

Football for Females

I got an early Christmas present last night. :)

My bestest bud Angie bought us tickets to the first ever Football for Females, an event hosted by former Ohio State linebacker Chris Spielman. We had a blast! We planned to meet at resterant where the event was being held at 6:30 PM, but I got there a bit earlier and decided to go ahead and check in; I'm glad I did because I was able to score us front row, center seats! Not long after, Angie arrived, and we bought ourselves some wine & started chowing down on the delicious appetizers.

The presentation itself began about an hour later. For those of you who aren't familiar with him, Chris Spielman is a former standout linebacker for the Buckeyes and is currently a college football commentator for ESPN. Sadly, he is also known for the public battle his wife Stephanie fought with breast cancer--a battle she lost a year ago this Friday. Chris spoke about her passing candidly, and I admit I had to fight back some tears. He then launched into the main program, which was basically a question & answer session with the audience; someone would ask a question, and he would explain the answer, usually using the dry erase boards as a visual aid. He also picked on Angie a bit, which was hilarious. :)

Once the presentation was done, they drew numbers for the door prizes. I'm sad to report that neither Angie or I won anything--we were really hoping to get the free booking on the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer in February--but it was fun to watch other ladies win. When the drawing was complete, Chris was available for autographs & photos, which Angie & I definitely took advantage of. We were somehow in the right place at the right time again; we were second in line (out of about 135 attendees!), so we got out of there pretty quickly.

In all, it was a great evening. It was nice to know that any money we spent was going to go a good cause (the Stephanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research); we got awesome goody bags (a T-shirt, Brio gift card, free massage at a new spa, etc.), and we met another famous Buckeye. I think the best part, though, was hanging out with Miss Angie, and I thank her for the Christmas gift! :)

It was only a matter of time...

...before I got Nolan into his first Buckeye jersey, and with yesterday's showdown with Penn State, it seemed about as good a time as any. I must say he looks rather dashing. He doesn't seem to care much for the game itself yet, as he slept through the first three quarters (much like the Buckeyes themselves were sleepwalking through the first half), but his OSU fanaticism will come to him. I'll make sure of it. :)