The Apples of my Eye

Nolan and Carter have been chowing down on apples lately, so I decided to take a few snap shots of my boys.  I've been working on taking more candid shots of them because both Nolan and Carter are growing up right before my eyes!  This pregnancy is making me an emotional mess.  I am constantly worrying about missing opportunities with my boys.  I want to be able to experience and record as much as possible while they're young, so we have fun things to look back on!

 Nolan thought he was pretty talented to hold the apple in his mouth without his hands!

The progression of Carter's photos show his silly personality.  He has such an infectious smile and laugh!  Nolan and I would laugh at Carter laughing, who in turn would laugh even louder and sillier! 

The day was nice, so I washed our bedding and was letting it air dry on our back patio.  Nolan and Carter saw a tent to play in.  At first, I was worried about their sticky little hand prints touching my comforter. Then I told myself I can wash my comforter again, but I won't ever have this exact fun moment with my baby boys!  I decided to skip the scolding and snap pictures instead.

Carnival Fun

The annual St. Boniface Bonifest took place this weekend.  This year was a lot of fun because both boys were able to enjoy the festivities offered.  The evening started out with a nice dinner, while listening to live music.  Once our food was devoured, Bill and Nolan purchased riding tickets.  Nolan wanted to go down the slide first.  Since Nolan is not tall enough to ride by himself, Bill had to ride 2 times with Nolan and then 2 times with Carter.  Daddy had as much fun as the boys I think! 

Nolan and Carter wanted to keep sliding, but Bill and I decided to try out the other rides.  The bumper cars were next in line.  I was hesitant to allow Nolan to ride these, but he said he wanted to and there were a lot of other smaller kids riding with their dads.  Nolan was all smiles at first, but wasn't braced and ready for the first bump.  Poor Nolan smashed his face on the lap bar and started to scream bloody murder.  Bill didn't even notice and kept ramming into other cars.   I was screaming for Bill to stop and hide in a corner, so the brutality would stop!  That was the longest 5 minutes of poor Nolan's life.

It took a few minutes for Nolan to recover from his bumper car trauma, but I let Nolan know Carter wanted to ride some rides.  Carter was super excited to ride the cars that go around in a circle!!!  At first, Nolan was hesitant to ride, but decided to join Carter after a few minutes of thinking about it.  For some reason, these cars are the funnest things at the carnival to the boys!  Carter and Nolan had a blast.  When the ride would come to an end, Carter would start screaming "Bo-ka", which means Kubota and couldn't wait to ride again.  Carter had a blast "driving" the cars and Nolan felt better about riding rides again.

All but ONE of our tickets were used up on the slide and cars, so Nolan found a booth to use his last ticket on.  Nolan shot ping pong balls over with a squirt gun.  Nolan thought he was big stuff because the kids running the booth were cheering him on.  Nolan won two necklaces for his shooting skills and gave them both to me!! :)

The Purcell family had a great time at the carnival and couldn't of asked for a better evening!

 

Nolan's Spring Program

Tonight Nolan partook in his Spring Program for school.  Nolan has been singing his songs for the past few weeks and was excited to put his practice to use.  Nolan's last day of Preschool was today as well.  Nolan really has enjoyed making new friends and learning lots of fun things with Miss Cassandra.

I wanted to take a few family pictures before we left, but of course one child wouldn't fully cooperate.

Papa and Nana needed their picture taken too! :)

Carter did NOT want to go to Nolan's Spring Program! lol

Luckily, when we all arrived at the program there were seats left open in the front row!!  Grandma Donna and Grandpa Rick came to watch Nolan as well!  All of the kids were running around and playing, but Nolan sat right by us and wouldn't budge.  I was nervous Nolan wouldn't even make his way to the stage and participate in the program.  After a few minutes of waiting, Miss Carrie asked for all of the students to go to the back of the building and line up for the program.  Bill took Nolan back and put him in line.  Nolan toughed it out and stood in line by himself.  As Nolan walked down the aisle to the stage, he had his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the floor.  At first, Nolan just sat on the stage and would not sing, but after the first song was finished and the crowd clapped, Nolan lightened up.  Nolan's class recited the Pledge of Allegiance and their class motto.  The class then sang, "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "It's a Small World", and "All I Really Need."

 The Pledge of Allegiance

 Itsy Bitsy Spider

 The students sang and signed "It's A Small World"

Once Nolan's class finished singing their songs, it was time for the Pre-K Graduation.  There was a small intermission for the Pre-K class to put their caps and gowns on, and Nolan's class was asked to take a seat with their parents.  Carter took the opportunity to stretch his legs a little.

Nolan intently watched the Pre-K Graduation because he knew once the graduation ceremony was over, it was time for snacks!!  Cupcakes, cookies, and lemonade.  Yummy!!  Nolan made several friends over the course of the semester.  I took a picture of him with one of his friends, Rileigh.

By the end of the program, Nolan was done smiling and started to make silly faces for his pictures.  I asked Nolan to take a few more pictures and then he could have his plate of snacks.  Nolan happily obliged, but I will say his smile is a little forced.  :)

While everyone was enjoying their snacks, Carter thought he was being sneaky and no one was watching him.  Carter snuck up on the stage and was playing on the chairs.  I love how he coyly starts by touching the chair, leaning on it, and then full out crawling on the row of chairs!  Love this crazy child!

I just want to say how proud I am of my big boy Nolan.  He has grown up so much since starting Pre-School and I know he will continue to grow and learn so much!  I love Nolan Henson to pieces and truly enjoy being his mommy!

Baby Purcell is a ....... BOY!!!!

Well in my last post, I announced we were not going to find out the gender during my ultrasound on May 12th.  Baby P made it very obvious he was in charge and wanted to be announced!!  The first shot on the screen was a nice butt shot, with the familiar "turtle" between the legs.  Baby P was very active, flipping and kicking all over the place.  The ultrasound tech had to take a little longer to be able to attain the images she needed.

After the ultrasound was completed, I met with Dr. Hulsen to discuss the images and make sure Baby P is developing on track.  Dr. Hulsen informed me our baby boy was perfect!  He is in the 48th percentile for size and weighs about 10 ounces.  All parts are present and healthy.  The baby's heart rate was at 160 bmp.  My due date is still estimated to be October 5th.  And Dr. Hulsen did confirm, yes we are having another BOY!!  

I took two stickers home for the boys and wrote "It's a boy" on the backing of the sticker.  I had Nolan spell out the letters on the paper and announce what the gender was to Nana and Papa.  Nolan is super excited because he has said since day one, "I want a little brother!!"  Today, Nolan informed me he wants to name the new baby Carter, so he can have two Carters.

Today I took belly pictures and the boys were much more cooperative! :)