One month in

Well, we're one month into being a family of four and you know what, it's going pretty well. When people hear how far apart the boys are, 17 months, they tend to say, "you must have your hands full". We do, but we wouldn't have it any other way and we don't know any different.

Elias is a great older brother. He rocks Oliver, checks on him when he's crying and rips his socks off. Okay that last part isn't super nice. Sometimes Elias gets frustrated but that's to be expected. He tries to smack Oliver on the leg when he's nursing or pokes him in the head. Overall, not too bad.

The Big Man just turned 18 months old. He can pick out some animals when asked, knows some numbers and can say plenty. Mostly we don't understand what he's saying, but he sure gets a kick out of it. He also LOVES Wheel of Fortune. When we say, "Pat and Vanna" he runs to the TV. I know, I know kids are not supposed to watch TV but that's really all he watches and he shouts out letters, so he is getting educated.

Oliver, the Little Man, is getting big as well. He's just four weeks old. Since we're veterans in the parenting biz now our Doc said we could skip the one month visit and move right on to the two month. He was back to his birth weight by his 2 week appointment and looking good.

Brad and I and the boys have had plenty of adventures. Oliver is already a man about town. The Arboretum, the splash pad and about 500 trips to Target. He are some pictures and to top it off my lovely, wonderful, adorable boys!

Now for seconds...

For those who've followed our blog over the last 17 months, you'll notice a significant change. The blog name is now plural, reflecting the very recent addition of our second son, Oliver.

As we move forward in another exciting phase of our life, we'll chronicle the adventures of Oliver and older brother Elias.

Stay tuned.

Our little Tiger

neglect

Okay, so I've been neglecting the blog. I can't help it. We've had a lot of things going on recently. First, Little Man had his procedure. All went well but it was the scariest thing I've ever had to go through. I'm sure it will be followed by broken bones, stitches and many more trips to the hospital but he's still so little. He took it like a champ. The whole family spent the night in the hospital and Gramma Bette came down to help on Thurs. Little Man got to watch a lot of TV for a couple of days since he was supposed to stay off his feet.

We head back to the Doctor on Monday to make sure the plug is still in place in his heart and then he doesn't go back for a year. By that time the tissue should have grown around the plug and it is like another working part of his heart.

Also six months from now we should have a 5 month-old in tow. Baby Oliver is due in four weeks. I'll have to say, boy am I ready. This pregnancy, even thought it went faster, was tougher. No leisurely naps or sleeping in until 9 a.m., but in the end it will be all worth it.

So I'll leave you with Elias eating a Popsicle.

New, new, new

New haircut, new basketball hoop, new picnic table, lots of smiles!

Nice to see you again....

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Happy Easter

Hope everyone had a great holiday. At our household the Easter Bunny came and Elias did a little egg hunt in the backyard. He also got some wonderful things from the Grandparents.

I enjoyed the day waddling around behind Elias. Oh the joys of the third trimester. I had a nice bought of sciatica today that was nearly debilitating. I actually had to lay down for a while to be able to walk around. Thankfully it went away. Hopefully I can convince my Ob/Gyn to send me to message therapy.

I never had sciatica with Elias. I've talked to a couple people who've had more than one child and they've told me the second is much harder than the first pregnancy. I think the second is harder just because you're chasing the first (or second) one around. Just like other things in pregnancy I guess it prepares you for all the running around you'll need to do when you have two!

Shout Out

Congratulations to Gus, Michelle, and big sister Liza on the birth of Jake on Tuesday March 31st. He was 8 lbs. 2 oz. and 21 inches. Elias can't wait to meet you!

Slacker

Okay, so I've been totally slacking on the blog but I'm tired. Seriously! I haven't had a good nights sleep since November and I'm chasing a 14 month-old around. But enough of my complaining, here goes.

Elias is doing wonderful! He's walking like a champ. He can say about 20 words but his favorites are "I'm done", "down", "Mom", "Dad" and a whole handful of others. He can take our keys and try to unlock the doors, attempt to put on his shoes and socks and even tries to take his own shirt off. Elias knows how to comb his hair and is getting so big I'm thinking he'll be monkeying his way out of the crib pretty soon.

Elias had his first sleepover on March 21st at Gramma Sonny's and he was a wonderful boy. Mom and Dad got to go into the city have some lunch, shopping, dinner but that was the extent of it. Being six months pregnant doesn't allow for too much clubbing.

Oh and Elias loves to dance. When you sing "dancing, dancing, dancing" he'll move his feet like Fred Astaire. He has also developed an attachment to Elmo, which I find strange since he's only seen Sesame Street a handful of times. Those toy product designers really know their stuff.

The new baby is also growing, kicking and having fun with my bladder. He's different than Elias in that he does sleep at night and not have a soccer tournament but I still don't sleep. He loves to kick when he hears Elias talking so he already loves his big brother. I'm not too sure the feeling is mutual yet but hopefully in about 20 years it will be :)

Other than that we're headed out to visit Anna, Katie and new baby Mikey this weekend so Elias can flirt with the girls and meet a new friend.

I forgot to add Elias got two teeth yesterday. Count 'em, two!

Weekly Giggle

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Shout Out

Congratulations to Ken & Carla on the birth of their daughter Abigail. Check out Ken's blog for pictures and story!

Also, stay tuned for my post on our first night away from Little Man. We had a wonderful time and stayed in a sweet suite!

Shout out!

Congratulations to Jon and Meera on the birth of their baby boy Nathan. He was born on March 10, 2009 at 2:50 pm. He is 20.5" long and has a full head head of hair!

The Irony

I just clicked on the blog and lo and behold in the upper right hand corner was an advertisement for AirTran Airways having a sale. I find it funny that they decide to advertise on the blog after I ripped them a new you-know-what. Again, I repeat, DO NOT FLY AIRTRAN, EVER! I guess some companies will take bad publicity over no publicity!

Holiday Road

Okay, now that I have decompressed from our Florida vacation a bit I can tell you why I hate AirTran airways and why all our vacation was missing was a Family Truckster.

We set out at 4:30 a.m. last Thursday for our Florida getaway. AirTran has a policy you arrive for your flight 40 minutes before take off. Well, we arrived 45 minutes before take off and the AirTran (ATA) customer service representative proceeded to tell us we needed to arrive 40 minutes before take-off so that our bags would be on the plane. When I kindly told him it was 45 minutes before take-off he basically said too bad. So without letting us know if the bag would be on the plane, what flight the bag would be on if it wasn't on the plane or what to do he shuffled us off to security.

Of course the bag wasn't on the plane and no one at ATA knew where it was. Long story short it wasn't until 7 a.m. the next morning that they located the bag and told us to come pick it up. That was after spending $150 at Target buying the shorts, t-shirts, suits and the toiletries we needed to actually start our vacation without our luggage.

Things were going beautifully until Friday night when my poor baby boy got the flu. He spent the entire night with his little head in a sand bucket throwing up every hour until about 3 a.m. He recovered beautifully and off to the beach we went on Sat. I did forget my camera but am hoping to get pictures from someone who didn't.

Sunday rolls around and we are going to meet our college friend Greg and his wife, who we haven't seen in 7 years. Guess who gets the flu! I spend the day throwing up. I do make it to lunch but gave Cafe Boulud bathroom a work-out.

Finally, Monday we're supposed to leave. As you all know, the East Coast gets slammed with storms and since ATA sucks our plane coming from White Plains, New York, is delayed 5 hours. After speaking with 3 different ATA people, telling me 3 different things, I finally get a supervisor on the phone who informs me, I'm supposed to be at the airport for the last 7 hours. When I proceed to ask him why, he tells me that if we're not at the airport an hour before our ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED DEPARTURE, not the delayed departure, they can give up our seats. I kindly explained to him that I'm not going to sit at the airport with a 13 month-old for 7 hours, and then asked him why they tell you to check the status of your flight before leaving the house. He explained that it is for the convenience of the people picking you up and not for the passengers. I again KINDLY told him if he saw the irony in making it more convenient for people who pick you up than the actual paying customers. He didn't find it funny.

To make an even longer story short, we rush to the airport and they end up bumping us off our flight and want us to sit stand-by with a 13 month-old in Atlanta. If we don't get on OUR flight, the one we PAID to be on, the next flight doesn't leave Atlanta for 10 hours. Of course ATA will not pay for a hotel since it is weather related. So as you all know, you can't really sit in an airport for 10 hours with a 13 month old so we opt for the next flight which isn't until WEDNESDAY. Yes, Wednesday. They could get us on a flight on Tues. but we would miss the last connection in Atlanta and have to spend the night there. Wow, thanks, that helps.

We opted for the Wednesday flight. Unfortunately the weather in Florida did not cooperate and it was about as warm there as it is today in Chicago. However, Brad, Elias and I had a nice day shopping in Palm Beach.

After all that we're home and yesterday night Brad got the flu! You gotta love traveling.

Doggate

So silly me. I really want to get Elias a puppy. I was scouring adoption sights, filling out applications and making contacts. A beautiful chocolate lab puppy caught our eye in Indiana. We filled out an application and was in strong consideration. That's when I realized, "Oh My God" I don't think I can handle a puppy and two kids under two. I think when the realization of actually getting the dog hit me, I freaked. Believe me I really want the boys to grow up with a dog, and they will, but I don't think I can handle it right now. A newborn keeping us up all night, a puppy waking up the other hours, chasing after Elias, chasing after the puppy, my head is already spinning.

Brad and I talked it over and decided we're going to look into adopting a puppy next spring or summer. That way Elias will be 2 1/2 and the New Nolan will be about a year. I'm sure things will still be crazy, I have a feeling they are going to be around here for a while, but at least a bit more manageable.

However, if anyone is looking for an adorable chocolate lab puppy, or any dog, check out Petfinder and Sklyer. My heart breaks every time I look at him but I know that we can not provide enough time and love for him at this time.

Welcome Number 2

So it's official. Brad and I are expecting our second boy. I always envisioned myself surrounded by my boys. Brad and I in the backyard playing football and soccer with the boys. Sounds like a dream to me. Plus bunk beds! I always wanted bunk beds and now I can get them for the boys. So here's a preview of Mr. Nolan.

Also, we're have a name debate and we want to know what you think! The middle name will be Dele (pronounced Dell)for my Grandmother Adele, but we want to know your opinion on the first.

What should we name boy #2
	Silus
	Oliver
	Everett
	Other
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Horrible Mother

Okay so I'm a horrible mother. I never did a birthday post. Well between planning the party, picking up the food, running around, then taking a weekend for us, I just didn't have time. So here's my birthday post a few days late.

The party was fantastic. Elias had lots of friends come over including Carla, Ken, Liza and her parents, Alex, Auntie Erin and Mike, all the Grandparents and more.

At one-year-old Elias can say, Dad, Mom, duck, all done, nite, and red. He's almost walking and actually brings me things on command. When he picks up things off the carpet I tell him, "bring them to mommy" and he actually does. He can also give himself a round of applause (clap), raise the roof (so big), dance (he's got major rhythm). He likes to sort things on his shelves at Gramma Sonny's and our house and like Gramma Bette he loves coasters.

Elias eats almost everything. Tonight he had pasta and spinach with Mommy for dinner. He also loves Gramma Sonny's beef stew, pizza, bagels and a whole slew of other things. He took to whole milk like a champ and loves his water during the day and snacks.

After dinner tonight Elias and I danced. He boogied to Lauryn Hill and Mark Knopfler. Like his Grandpa Bill he's got great taste in music (except country music, still yuck).

So here's some pictures from the party and Little Man having his first taste of sugar. Surprisingly he liked it but didn't go crazy. I'm proud of him for that. I'd love to keep him off sugar as long as possible.

Finally, I apologize for the late post. Our laptop is finally back up and running so it's much easier to post when Little Man is sleeping. Hopefully I'll be updating more. See you soon!

Shout out

Congratulations to Carrie, Matt and big sisters Anna and Katie on the birth of their little boy, Michael Matthew. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 10 oz. Elias can't wait for another new buddy!

Grandparents

So now that we're approaching that milestone of one year it's given me time to reflect. Upon reflecting I realized I also have to give a big huge thanks to Elias' grandparents. Not only did my mom, dad and brad's mom take turns watching him when I went back to work, they also eased my apprehension, stress and worry. Thankfully we are one of the lucky few that gets to keep Elias out of daycare and the transition back to work wasn't as bad knowing he was in the hands his grandparents.

My dad, Bill, took the first shift and he fell back into changing diapers like a champ. He played Elias country music and they played lots of games. My dad also drives to see Elias once a month. Elias loves hanging out with Grandpa Bill. They dance, play and have lots of fun. I know my dad will keep him thoroughly entertained as he grows up.

Bette, my mother has been like having a built in nanny. She also jumped back into baby rearing like an old pro. Mom comes to stay with us for a week or so and gives this mother some much needed relaxation. The woman actually offers to change diapers, now you can't beat that with a stick. Mom has also let Brad and I have a couple of dates. She feeds, bathes and puts Elias to bed. Secretly I think he loves it because it's extra snuggle time with Gramma.

Finally, we have to thank Brad's mom Sonny the most. Sonny takes care of Elias two days a week when Brad works days. Elias loves Gramma Sonny and Grandpa Jim's house. Sonny has it set up like a grand daycare. He has great toys, wonderful food, and the loving care of Gramma. Sonny's taking care of Elias has allowed us to keep him out of daycare, let Brad and I see each other more than half the week, and to aid in raising Elias in a loving, caring environment. She also babysits on a whim! How much better can it get.

One last time, thanks! Brad and I truly, truly mean it. All the grandparents have been an invaluable part of Elias' first year of life. He has shared a bond with them that will never be broken. We love you all!

Another year

I can't believe Elias is going to be one year in 10 days. Wow, 10 days. The time has flown by.

Kids are amazing. I'll have to say Brad and I always talk about how our life has changed for the better and you never knew you could love something so much. We've adapted to parenthood quite well, I believe. I have to give my husband major props for being an all around wonderful dad. He watches Elias 3 days a week and I usually get a call around lunch time about all the fun things they've done that day. He puts him down for two naps, dresses, feeds him lunch and gives Elias plenty of Dad time. As a family we couldn't ask for anything more.

I of course love getting home at a reasonable time. Usually I get to be with Elias when he wakes up from his nap and we play, grocery shop, he helps me cook dinner and take his bath. Today he got a hold of the toilet paper while I was showering and wrapped himself up. He looked like a baby mummy.

Recently Elias has been waking (just the last couple of days) at 9:30 p.m. crying. I feel so bad for him because I don't know what he wants. Usually he comes into bed with us, falls asleep and then goes back into his crib. It's got me worried and frustrated so I had to rely on my infant rearing skills again on how to combat this issue. I told myself today, we've gone through this before just a LONG time ago (like 7 months but feels like ages). Tonight if it happens I won't take him into bed but rock him in his room, put him down and if he cries NOT take him into bed. See these skills are always needed ;)

Anyway, this is just a post on my reflecting. We're going to have a small party for Elias on the Sat. after his birthday. Nothing fancy, cake, food and great friends and family. E and I are also heading to Green Bay this weekend to visit some relatives who haven't seen Little Man in a while. I'm sure they'll be shocked to see he's not so Little anymore...

As promised...

New Year's Eve

Oh and if you want to see a video of me and my buddy Liza at our family New Year's head over to Liza's blog. Mom and I went out for dinner with Liza, her parents Gus and Michelle and some other friends. It was totally cool because they did a count down at 5:30 p.m. instead of midnight so us kids could have some fun too. I think we may do it again next year. Peace out...Elias

I promise...

I promise to post more pictures once I get my lazy butt upstairs to upload them from my camera. Hopefully it will be tonight (wink wink).