We are Proud of You, Say We are Proud of YOU!!

Last night my boys and I attended Aunt Kelby's LPN pinning ceremony at Kaskaskia College.  Kelby has completed yet one more step on her journey to becoming an RN.  She found out last weekend she has been accepted into the RN program and will be starting her classes in January.  My entire family is so proud of Kelby for all she has accomplished and we know she is going to be an amazing RN!!

 Kelby's Class

Nolan did great during the pinning ceremony!  He hung out with Papa and Nana, while mommy took pictures and recorded the event.  Bill had to take Carter out into the hall because he was a little fussy, but liked taking a snooze on daddy's shoulder.

 Hanging out with their boys before the ceremony started.

Kelby not only completed her LPN requirements, but she excelled in her clinical performance. Two awards were presented at the ceremony; the awards were for Academic Excellence and Clinical Excellence.  The awards were decided on by the instructors and the students had no idea awards were being presented.  Kelby received her award for Clinical Excellence!!!

Of course, I had to take a ton of pictures because we are so proud of Kelby!! 

Nolan and Carter congratulating Aunt KK

Even Bill snuck in a hug.

 Nolan kept pointing at Kelby's candle and saying, "hot" then he would try to blow it out!

 Nolan also enjoyed the refreshments at the reception..... especially the cupcakes!

Kelby and James

(KK and KK-Jame in Nolan's words)

Some of Kelby's support team during the LPN Program:

 Joe, Carol, and James

 Gpa and Gma C

 Gma and Gpa Y

 Instructor Kim 

Mom and Dad

My Family

Carter hung out with Papa.  He's still too young for cupcakes.

Congratulations Kelby!! We love you and are so proud of all you have accomplished.

Love,

Bill, Jenna, Nolan, and Carter

No More Binky-Pah

Nolan is celebrating a new milestone.  He has gone THREE consecutive days without his binky-pah!!  Let me explain the word, binky-pah.  The babysitter calls the pacifier a binky, Bill and I refer to the pacifier as a paci, hence Nolan coming up with the word binky-pah for his pacifier.

The last known picture with the binky-pah

Nolan used his pacifier so much he was starting to develop a rash around his mouth.  Hydrocortisone cream would partially help heal the rash, but the best result of ridding the rash would be to remove the culprit, the pacifier.  

We started by weening Nolan off of the pacifier.  Nolan was only allowed his paci when it was either nap time or bedtime.  I knew it was time to permanently take his paci away when he came out of his room one night and I said to him, "If you don't want to go to bed you need to give me your paci."  Nolan took the paci out of his mouth and said, "Binky-Pah Momma" and handed me his paci so he could stay up later.  I no longer had the paci as a bargaining chip for Nolan to stay in bed!

He is doing great without the pacifier.  Nolan will ask for it when he is tired, but we tell him its all gone and he no longer asks for it.  Sometimes he will say, "Binky-Pah Room" and will look under his bed for one.  I think I confiscated all of them, but I'm sure Nolan will find one sooner or later.

 Paci free and happy!

Congrats Big Poot on overcoming your habit! 

Night Night (for some)

Lately, I have been staying up later than normal.  I like to have quiet time to myself at the end of the day.   The only problem is everyone else falls asleep before me.  Usually this wouldn't be a problem, but in my household everyone likes to snore, grunt, or whine.  Bill and Nolan snore, Carter grunts, and now that Stella has joined our family, she whines and barks in her sleep.  I keep telling Bill our bedroom sounds like a band playing with the different noises.  Bill, of course, doesn't believe me, so last night I had the genius idea to record them all snoring and grunting.

I go back and forth from Bill and Nolan snoring to Carter grunting.  Bill is obviously the louder snorer and Nolan is the softer one, they even take turns snoring.  Stella wasn't dreaming at the time, so no noise from her.

Try falling asleep with this noise!! It's not easy.

Nolan and Bill snuggled together

I have a feeling Bill is going to kill me for posting this, but I couldn't resist!!

Happy Baby Boy

Carter is such a happy and sweet baby boy!!  When he is awake and fed, there is always a smile on his face.  Carter is starting to become a lot more active; smiling and cooing when someone talks to him.   Carter loves the sound of Nolan's voice too.  Even if Carter is sleeping and Nolan is laughing or talking, Carter will smile in his sleep.  These boys are going to be great friends!

Nolan loves his little brother so much.  I sat Carter down in the chair and ran into the kitchen for something.  Nolan very carefully climbed up in to the chair and sat next to Carter to watch a movie.  Nolan gives Carter kisses and pats his head all the time!

 The boys and Stella

Every one says Carter looks like my side of the family, but in the picture below he has Bill's expression down to a T!  I didn't notice this at first, but Aunt KK said he has Bill's smile.  Upon further analysis Carter does have Bill's smile, with the one raised eyebrow and crooked grin!  I let Bill know Carter does contain some of his DNA.  Love it!!

Like I said, Carter is much more active.  He is even starting to swing at his toys on the floor gym.  Big boy!

Carter's Baby Blues

No, Carter isn't sad. I'm referring to Carter's baby blue eyes!! Carter takes after me, and has dark blue eyes.  Any time he has on blue, his eyes really pop.  I took some pictures of him wearing his blue doggy robe after his morning bath.  I must say, my baby boy sure is beautiful.

Not only does Carter have baby blue eyes, but also a heart of gold!  He is such a sweet baby boy.  Recently, he has been smiling and starting to giggle a little.  The picture doesn't show it, but he has a huge dimple in his right cheek.  Love him so much!!

 Smiling into the mirror

Meet Stella

Bill and I have been looking into adopting/buying a dog for Nolan for a few months now.  After much deliberation we decided to adopt a dog from the humane society.  We looked on the internet and thought we had found our dog.  His name was Duke and he was 3 years old.  Tuesday night we went to meet him and the meeting didn't go so well.  Duke was very hyper and not the greatest listener.  Bill and I left wanting to give Duke another chance and decided to see him at PetSmart on Saturday. 

Yesterday I decided to stop by the Metro East Humane Society to look at the dogs listed for adoption.  Something/Someone kept urging me to visit the clinic.  I'm glad I listened because this is where I met Stella!!  I walked into the dog kennels and there she was sitting with her floppy ear staring back at me.  I asked about her and the worker said she was 12 weeks old, German Shepherd mix, and had been dropped off the day before.  A boy bought her as a gift for his girlfriend, but the girlfriend's mother said she couldn't keep her.

I called Bill right away and we discussed her age and the boys.  We decided to adopt her and give her a permanent home!  I made the stop at PetSmart to buy the essentials.  Nolan has been watching the movie, Bolt.  In the movie, Bolt, the dog, has a carrot for a toy to play with.  I walked down the toy aisle and there was a stuffed carrot.  I had to buy it so Nolan would relate Bolt to Stella.

Everyone thinks I am crazy because I now have a toddler, a newborn, and a puppy to take care of, but most of my fondest memories are playing with our dogs on the farm!  Also, I have an amazing husband who backs me 100% and is a great father!  I want Nolan and Carter to grow up with a dog too. 

Bill picked the boys up from Stacy's, so I had time to let Stella adjust to the house without crazy man running around.  When Bill brought Nolan inside, I brought Nolan into the living room to show him Stella laying on her bed under the TV.  Nolan didn't even notice her, he looked at the TV and said Shrek! lol  After I pointed her out to Nolan, he smiled and said, "dog."   Needless to say he wasn't too excited and kind of ignored her.

I've been so worried about Stella going to the bathroom in the house, I didn't even think about Nolan.  Stella has whined every time she needs to go out to potty.  Nolan on the other hand, likes to rip off his diaper and run around the house bare butt!  I was in the boys' room, dressing Carter for bed.  I came out into the living room and to find Bill had moved the recliner out from its spot and was wiping something up from the floor.  I looked at him with horror! He said, "The dog pooped!" I said, "No way!"   He started to laugh and said, "No, your son went behind the chair and dropped one."

 Stella is like the rest of my family and doesn't like me snapping pictures all of the time!

I'm sure Stella will be a lot to handle for the first couple of years, but we are starting obedience classes this week.  I'm sure with lots of love and patience she will be an amazing companion to the boys.

Carter's First Halloween

Happy First Halloween Carter!!  Carter celebrated his first Halloween by dressing in an outfit Gigi gave to him and attending a parade.  The fleece "My First Halloween" pajamas were perfect to wear around the house and to the Halloween Parade.

 Little turd wouldn't take his finger out of his nose for the picture

Since Halloween was on a Wednesday, the boys and I didn't do too much during the day.  Later on in the afternoon we started to prepare for the parade though.  I had to dig up several blankets, winter coats, hats, and gloves.  Edwardsville has an annual Halloween Parade and all of the floats go above and beyond.  I went uptown around 5:00pm to lay out a blanket to reserve our spot.  Thank goodness I did because most of the spots were already saved up.  The Keller and Sisk families joined us as well.  Nolan kept saying, "I don't like it" when the band went by, but loved the BIG trucks that drove past us. "BIG TRUCK WHITE!!" lol  Carter did good for the first hour and towards the end became hungry, so we left a little before the end of the parade.

 Daddy with his boys

 Mommies with their kiddos!  

The question of the night was, "My do we do this to ourselves?" As we chased Nolan and Grant around.  The answer, "For the kids!!"