These Boots are Made for Walkin'

Today Grandma Donna and Rick stopped by for a visit.   We all went out to eat at La Casa, Nolan's favorite restaurant, and then came back to the house to hang out for a little bit.  Grandma Donna bought Nolan a pair of rubber boots to wear around the farm when he gets a little older.  Nolan cannot wait to stomp around in mud puddles with his new boots!! Thanks Grandma Donna!!

After Donna and Rick left, Bill and Nolan settled in for a relaxing Sunday read.  The magazine is Linux, of course.  Nolan and Daddy had a nice long conversation about dealing with spaces in filenames.

Growing, Growing, Growing......

Tuesday, January 25th Nolan had his one month check up at the pediatricians office.  Bill took Nolan to his appointment because I wasn't feeling the best.  Nolan is growing up so quick!! He now weighs 10lbs 3oz and is 22 1/4 inches long.  He had his second shot of the Hepatitis B Vaccine and Bill said he did great!! Only a little whimper when they first stuck him and that was all.  Nolan is now rolling over to either side, smiling, and he even had his first little coo!!  I cannot believe how grown up my baby boy is.

 

Since being on maternity leave I have begun to become a little stir crazy being cooped up inside all day by myself with no adult interaction, so Bill and I decided it would be good for Nolan and I to spend a few days at my parents house.  Bill and I loaded Nolan up and we made our first official trip back home with our baby boy.  I swear we packed half of the house, thank goodness for our truck.  Nolan did great with the drive, he slept the entire way. 

Nolan and I had a fun week at Papa T and Nana's house.  We had a lot of visitors stop by and see Nolan.  Papa T, Nana, and Aunt Kelby sure knew how to spoil us!!  Nolan and I started to miss Bill on the second day, so we had to make a trip to Glen Carbon to see Daddy for a little while. 

After work on Friday, Bill and I went out on a date night while Papa T and Nana watched Nolan.  Bill and I had a great time.  We went out to eat at Ruby Tuesdays and met up with Aunt Kelby and her friend Chelsea to go bowling.  Bill and I are getting old! We both had sore knuckles the next morning from bowling. haha  We all had a great time.  Bill and I loved catching up on old times and talking about Nolan and our future together as a family.

It was great spending time back home in Coffeen with family, but it feels AMAZING to be home in Glen Carbon again.  I love having both of my boys by my side watching TV on a Saturday night!!

Hair Woes

Nolan has a little bit of a hair issue.  If you don't comb it down AS SOON AS he gets out of the bath, it ends up all over the place.  I'm not complaining though, I am glad he has hair!!  Since, I had my appendectomy I haven't been able to move as fast, so I wasn't able to get his hair combed in time and a photo opportunity arose.  After looking at the pictures, we decided he has Kate Gosselin's old hairstyle. You know, the one were she combed it over in the front and had the spike in the back sticking straight up like a rooster.  LOL We thought this was quite funny.

Today, we did tummy time again.  It is not a fluke, Nolan has been rolling over like a champ!! Bill and I are so proud of him. hehe

 Love, LOVE, Love this picture!!

Nolan was done with tummy time....

Not Quite Picture Perfect

Friday, we attempted to have Nolan's newborn pictures taken.  ATTEMPTED is the important word here.  The pictures didn't go the greatest, but the photographer, a friend of the family, was able to make a collage out of a few shots.  A few of the downfalls were, Nolan was awake for the pictures he was supposed to be asleep and asleep for the pictures he was supposed to be awake.  He decided to pee all over the photographer's tulle, blanket, carpet, and even mommy.  Poor little guy was exhausted after the whole ordeal. I think we will wait until Nolan is 3 months to try another photo shoot.  He did look adorable in his little outfit though!!

Before the photographer got to the house, we had our own photo shoot with  mommy's iPhone.

After the photo shoot was finished and we had Nolan calmed down and fed, Papa T, Nana, Aunt Kelby, Uncle Jaron, mommy, daddy, and Nolan went out to eat to La Casa Mexicana for Aunt Kelby's 19th Birthday!! Nolan is a native to La Casa, he has been there at least four or five times already, compliments of daddy's love for Mexican food.  We were teasing that his first word is going to be "Hola!"  The restaurant is very bright and colorful, so he is very alert when we eat there.

Hanging out on daddy's shoulder at La Casa

A Week of Recovery and Play

This week has been a week of relaxing and recovery for me.  A week of playtime and learning new things for Nolan.  I assembled the first of many toys for Nolan to play with.  The play mat is compliments of Nolan's cousins from Tennessee, The Pfiefers.  Nolan really enjoyed laying on his back and looking up at the bright colors.  He would get his arms moving like crazy and hit the rattle a few times.

Nolan even rolled over from his belly to his back THREE times.  I don't know if it was an accident or not, but he did it!!

After all the playtime, Nolan settled down for a nice long nap on daddy's shoulder!!

Nolan's Henry Golden Boy

Papa T decided Nolan needed his first gun at the age of 3 weeks, so he ordered the Henry Golden Boy from Cabela's last Sunday.  Bill and Papa T went and picked the gun up tonight, since he had to wait for the grace period.  Nolan was super excited about his first gun, I think daddy was a little bit jealous.

Daddy won't be able to wait until Nolan is old enough to hold the gun, so he might have to site the gun in a little early for Nolan.

 Nolan looks a little trigger happy.

 Papa T showing off his two favorite boys, Nolan and Henry.

Back to Anderson Hospital......

Well, the Purcell family has had yet another eventful week at Anderson Hospital.  Late Wednesday night I started to have severe abdominal pain, but thought it was just the flu.  Around 3:00am Thursday morning, the pain was so intense I woke Bill up to take me to the ER at Anderson.

Nolan was such a trooper, we bundled him up in his carseat and took him with us.  He didn't fuss one time, just hung out at the hospital until my mom was able to pick him up.  Nana got to Anderson around 4:30am and took Nolan back to the house, while Bill and I awaited a CAT Scan.

The CAT Scan results showed acute appendicitis!!  I was scheduled for an emergency appendectomy right away.  I'm finally back home, but still recovering.  Apparently, it is common to have appendicitis while pregnant or after delivery. Who knew!!

Nolan visiting mommy in the hospital. He made me feel a  whole lot better!! :)

'Tis the Season to Be Freezin

Today, Nolan and I had to get out in the freezing cold weather to go to the store to buy bare essentials.....FOOD.  Awhile ago I bought Nolan an adorable snowsuit from Old Navy, and I decided today would be the perfect day for him to wear it.  The snowsuit kept Nolan WARM and COZY.  After I got him all bundled up, I took a few pics and he reminded me of the little brother from the movie A Christmas Story.  Does anyone remember the scene from the movie where the mom bundled the little brother up in about 10 layers? haha

The Past 3 Weeks.......

Since I have been behind for 3 weeks, I decided to post a few pictures of Nolan at different stages.  We had a lot of firsts and are excited to experience the many other firsts to come.

 Our first family photo!!

First official picture of Nolan Henson

 Nolan's first sponge bath. There was quite a bit of screaming, but the paci

calmed him down quick enough to let mommy finish with the bath.

 Nolan's first kiss from a pretty girl, Madison Keller.

The Keller's brought us breakfast Christmas Eve morning and hung out for awhile.

The breakfast casserole was delicious!! Thanks Kellers

 Nolan's first Christmas Eve. Grandma Donna bought Nolan a recordable book,

so Donna read Nolan 'Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.

 Nolan's first visit to Kellerman Dental.  Virginia said Nolan has great

oral hygiene!!

Our first New Year's as a family.  We actually stayed up until midnight!

HAPPY 2011!!

 Nolan's first REAL bath.  Thanks to a couple of tips from the Keller's,

Nolan's bath went great!!

 Nolan's first pair of shoes.  Nana and Aunt Kelby know how to keep

him stylin and profilin.

 Nolan and Grant's first hang out.  

 The momma's with their boys.

 Proud dad's with their boys.  Bill and Mark are already making plans for the boys

to get into a little mischief.

Nolan's first photo shoot.  I took way too many pics, but only

have one that I will put up!

Best Christmas Present.....

I've decided to start a blog to document the growing up of our son, Nolan.  He is now 3 weeks old, but it's better late than never.

Nolan was born Monday, December 20th, 2010 at 6:20pm in Anderson Hospital.  Nolan weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.