A Trip to Grant's Farm

This morning Bill woke up wanting to do something today.  After much deliberation, we decided Grant's Farm would be the best option.  The location is close, in case I went into labor, and Nolan hadn't been yet.  I don't remember going as a kid, but I do remember seeing pictures with the clydesdales.  It was settled, Grant's Farm it was.  We loaded up into the car and headed out.  I overheard a section on the radio about road delays, but I didn't catch which road it was.......

We soon found out.  As soon as we hit 255, we were backed up in slow moving traffic for about 30 minutes.  So much for being close by in case I went into labor.  Bill was discussing emergency delivery in the car and I told him to stop because it wasn't going to happen!!  Nolan was able to catch a quick cat nap with the traffic delay though.  When we pulled up to Grant's Farm he was still sleeping, so we carefully loaded him into the stroller and then arrived at Grant's Station to jump on the tram.

Nolan slept through most of the tram ride, which was kind of nice because Bill didn't have to wrestle him.  I was able to listen to the tour guide and hear some interesting information about Grant's Farm too.  For instance,

The gate along the outside of the farm is constructed of sawed off rifle barrels to honor those who fought in the Civil War.  I can't remember the exact number of barrels, but I thought the guide said somewhere close to 2,500 and the fence stretches a 1/4 of a mile.

This male's antlers weigh around 35 pounds.  I can feel his pain because I've gained about that much with this pregnancy, but I couldn't imagine carrying it all on my head!!

An albino male deer.  During the mating season, the albino deer are kept from the brown deer to prevent cross-breeding.

 Deer from China.  Their antlers are ground up and used by the Chinese to treat burns.

 Texas Longhorns

Here is the point where Nolan woke up on the tram ride.  This Longhorn was awfully close.  As soon as Nolan's eyes focused he said, "OH WHAT'S THAT?!?!" as the Longhorn continued to come closer and closer to the tram.  We arrived at our destination and jumped off the tram.  First thing we did was EAT!!

The traffic delay made us hungry, so we made our way to the hospitality area and ate lunch.  Nolan was starving, he ate a whole peanut butter and jelly sandwich and chips!  Bill had been craving a braut, so he ate at the braut house.  We finished our lunches and decided to walk back through the farm backwards.  First stop....the camels and llamas.  Nolan really liked the camels!  He could of cared less to look at the llamas.

 Nolan was hesitant to feed the camel at first.  He kept laughing as the camel moved it's lips around.

Bill was much more fun with the camels.  He was making the camel open it's mouth and then tossed in the food.  Nolan got a kick out of it!!  Nolan even tossed some food into a camel's mouth!

 Nice toss Bub!

Nolan had some food left over and kept trying to put it back into the machine.

Nolan really liked walking around on his own like a big boy.  He did get into some mischief picking flowers.  He would find random nut shells on the ground too and kept trying to feed them to various animals.

 Whoops.....how did that come off?

Right next to the parrots was the carousel.  Nolan loves carousels, so Bill took him for a ride on it.  I love how serious Nolan becomes as soon as it starts up.

 Petting the horse's mane

After the carousel ride, the only thing left to do at the farm was to bottle feed the goats.  Nolan has helped Papa T bottle feed the baby calves before, so he wasn't scared at all.  Until they decided to mass swarm him  and jump on him.  I felt so sorry for Bill because he was trying to keep Nolan safe, man handle the goats, and still feed them at the same time.  Nolan kept saying, "Drink Drink" to the goats.  While I was taking pictures, a goat started to eat Nolan's stroller and a guy had to yell at the goat.  It all ended well though.

 Talented Dada....

We headed back to the tram pick-up and decided to walk through some stables real quick.  Nolan kept trying to open all of the stable doors and let the horses out.  He was literally turning red in the face trying to pull those bars open.

Of course,  I made Bill stop at the gift shop on the way out.  I found the perfect shirt for Nolan it said, "I survived the goat feedings." haha I couldn't stop laughing.  Bill thought we should buy a toy for Nolan since he would outgrow the shirt soon enough.  I gave in and we bought Nolan a huge stuffed snake, which he thinks is pretty cool.

Bill and I did not realize the clydesdales were kept in separate stables until we were exiting the park in the car and saw the signs.  Bill said we will have to make another trip back to see the clydesdales.  Fine by me.  I had a lot of fun today, as I am sure did Nolan and Bill.  Now it's time to relax and hopefully welcome Baby P soon.

Baby P Update

Well there isn't much to update on Baby P.  The last three weekly appointments I've went to have gone the same.  I've weighed the same, still dilated at 1.5cm, and my cervix is 80% thinned.  I've been having contractions like crazy at night, so I figured the last time I went, Sept 7th, I would at least be dilated to 2cm.  Not a chance!!  Oh well, I got my wish.  I wanted the baby to have it's own birthday and not have to share one with me.  We made it past my birthday!!

 39 weeks

I'm huge and uncomfortable, but keep going because it will all be worth it in the end.  Bill said to me yesterday on our walk, "It seems like you've been pregnant forever.  I'm ready for you to have this baby!"  No kidding.

I will continue to keep everyone posted on Baby P.

A Birthday Party for Two at the Zoo!

Today Nolan helped Brittany and Brendan celebrate their 3rd birthday at the Zoo!!  What a neat idea for a birthday party.  Nolan really enjoyed the different insects, animals, and of course the cupcake!  The party started out with a scavenger hunt at the Insectarium.  Nolan really enjoyed the different insects.  He was running from window to window asking Bill, "Oh, What's that?"

"Yee Haw!!"

After the scavenger hunt we went to the party room, where tons of activities were set up for the kids to do. Nolan loves to color, so he stopped at the coloring table first thing!

The kids were allowed about 20 minutes to play before the animals were brought out.  The animals which were brought out for petting were a rabbit, a lizard, and an owl.  Nolan has started closing his eyes when he doesn't want people to see him, so he missed the rabbit.  Dada thought quickly and put his sunglasses on Nolan.  It worked!!  Nolan didn't play shy anymore and was able to see the lizard and the owl.  He liked the owl the best!

 Shy Boy..

 You can't see me...

 Birthday Boy with the lizard

 Smiling at the owl

Birthday Girl petting the owl

The animals were put up, the kiddos washed their hands, and everyone was seated for the delicious cupcakes.  The cupcakes were huge and decorated like lions.  Of course, Nolan had to growl while eating his cupcake.  Nolan LOVED the icing!!  He did eat some of the cake too, but mostly the icing.

While Brittany and Brendan opened their presents, Bill and I took Nolan to the front room to play with the toys again.  Nolan was wanting to open their presents and play with them.  Instead we distracted Nolan with more coloring, playing, and visiting the animals.  Nolan thought the guinea pigs were pretty cool and kept trying to climb into their cage.

After playing and snacking, Nolan was exhausted.  We said our goodbye's to the birthday girl and boy and headed home.  Nolan was asleep before we reached the interstate.  What a fun way to celebrate a birthday.....at the zoo!!

A Beautiful Day for a 25th Birthday!!

Saturday, September 8th, was my 25th birthday.  I awoke with the sun shining, Nolan laughing, and my customary pancakes from Bill.  Every year since Bill and I have been married, he prepares pancakes in the shape of the year I am old, 25.  He is the pancake master!! Along with my pancakes were two very loving cards, M&M's and Flipz.  Yummo!  Bill knows the way to my heart.

After we all finished our delicious breakfast, we decided to take a walk down to Miner Park, so Nolan could play outside in the beautiful 75 degree weather.  Nolan had a blast at the park as usual and I was glad to be able to stretch my legs (cankles).  We were exhausted from playing so hard, we all laid down for a nice nap when we arrived home.

I awoke to Nolan in my facing saying, "mama rock."  This is his new ritual.  Every morning he comes to my side of the bed and asks me to rock him in the recliner.  Oh well, I will take any snuggle time he has to offer!!

Bill decided it was time to mow the yard and work outside.  All the rain we had acquired in the past week brought everything back to life.  Bill, Nolan, and I all worked outside in the yard.  Bill was a little overzealous with the trimming of the shrubs, but the leaves will grow back.  I cut anything off at the base that looked remotely dead.  Did I mention I HATE gardening, but it felt so good to be outside working.

 Nolan "mowing" with his mower

 Silly boy

"HOT Mama"

I did have a little bit of a scare while we were outside.  I looked over to see Nolan holding something in one hand and licking his lips.  I raced over to him and swatted out of his hand a little berry, which was on one of our shrubs in the front yard.  I freaked of course!  I ran inside called the Poison Control Center and they informed me since the leaves weren't in the shape of an Evergreen needle, a Yew shrub, he should be okay, but if I wanted peace of mind I should go to a local nursery and have them identify the plant.  You guessed it, I drove to one nursery down the hill and the man could not identify the plant, so he directed me to another nursery.  The second nursery wasn't for sure, but said the same thing as the Poison Control Center and assured me, Nolan would had to have eaten a BUNCH of berries to make him sick.  Also, he asked me if birds live/eat from this shrub and I said yes.  He informed me birds wouldn't eat a poisonous berry, which made sense.  I was relieved.  I came home to Bill and Nolan laughing........this child is going to give me a heart attack some day.

A picture of the actual plant and fruit

I finally calmed down when Nolan didn't show any signs of illness/poisoning after 20 minutes and so on.  Bill wanted to take me out to eat and to see a movie for my birthday, so we called Grandma and Grandpa Funderburk to come and watch Nolan for the evening.  I wanted to take a family picture since it was my birthday, but of course Nolan didn't want anything to do with the camera.  He wanted to play.  

Bill and I went out to eat at Andria's in Edwardsville and it was amazing as usual!!  After I finished my dessert, an oreo cheese cake, we went to watch the movie, The Words.  The movie was interesting to say the least.  We made it home a little before eleven; way past our bedtime!!  Thanks Grandma Donna and Grandpa Rick for watching Nolan, so Bill and I could have some alone time.