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. :)