Nolan was able to visit the Bastian twins!! They are only five days apart. So cute!!! Nolan will be dating Avery in the years to come. And little Aiden is so freakin cute!! Thanks for letting us come over Jill. We love you guys!! 
Nicole took out her endowment on Wednesday night. We were able to go to the Salt Lake Temple for it. I have never been to a session down there. Amazing! So much fun.
After the Temple we headed over to Buca de Bepo (I don't know how it's spelled) and had some yummy dinner. Thanks Brad! It was fun to see Nicole and Courtland together. And we did get to see a different side of Courtland. We really like him alot! He will fit right in with the Rabe's. Especially if he is as weird as Blake. That picture of them is classic! Big dorks!!!
Tuesday was a great day! My dad took off work to hang out with us all day long. First off we decided to go to the Ogden River Parkway to go for a walk along the river. It was so pretty, even though the trees were still bare. Nolan had a great time with his Grandpa. They were going crazy off roadin' the stroller into the trees. Nolan just kept giggling.
Then when we got back, after his nap, we played outside some more in the yard. Nolan went crazy crawling up and down the grass. Then my mom got out this little car toy thingy. I don't know what it was called. Anyway, we got on it and took off. All you have to do is just turn the wheel back and forth and you go all over. It was a blast!!! I couldn't stop laughing because I had never seen anything like it. I'm sure I enjoyed it more than Nolan. We had a wonderful day!!! Thanks Grammy and Grandpa for hanging out with us!
Kendra arranged for a bunch of the old gang to get together for lunch as the cutest little deli called Jason's. It was so fun to see everyone. We are all in different places and in different times in our lives.
We all became friends through our sweet husbands because they were all best friends growing up.
The picture starts with Sophie and Kendra and they are in Tennessee. Then Melissa, she just finally got married to Braden in December after many years of dating. Then Heather with her cute new baby Tyler. And last, Jena and her darling little girl Lily, they live in Colorado.
I was so lucky to be able to stop by and see them. They are such cute girls and I love hearing about how they are doing. Times have definitely changed. Almost all of us have kids now and we are all off to bigger and better things. Love you gals!!!!!
It was so fun to see everyone. Nolan loved it!!! He went right to his grandparents without any fuss. It was fun to see Sophie and him play together. Well, it was more like they were just in the same area of each other. They don't really play together. Nolan was in to his thing and so was Sophie.
Blake brought his adorable girlfriend Taryn!!! She is the best thing that ever happened to Blake! We love her to death. She is funny, beautiful and just fits right in with the family!
I hope we didn't scare her away with our craziness.
That's right my friends. Nolan and I head off to good old Utah tomorrow!!! I can't wait! Jake will catch up with us on the 25th. He has finals going on all next week. Poor guy!
But on a happier note, I'm so excited to see my family and for Nolan to see both sets of grandparents. We are heading to Utah for a very special occasion.....Jake's little sister Nicole is getting married on April 26th!!!! We are so happy for her! We love any excuse to get back to see our friends and family. I probably won't be updating until we get back, so stay tuned!!!! It is going to be a very fun trip! Wish me luck on the plane ride. I think I'm going to need all the help I can get now that Nolan is more mobile. Yikes!!!
I was doing the dishes the other morning unaware that my Nolan boy was planning something very devious. Normally I do the dishes in the morning, because our dishwasher is so LOUD, and Nolan loves to help!! He likes to pull all the silverware out of the holder and then put it all back in. So when I started hearing the clatter of silverware I thought nothing of it.....
Then it got real quiet. I look down to see that Nolan has climbed on top of the dishwasher standing up to get the dishes on the top rack! As soon as I see it I yell to Jake to grab the camera! When Jake got it Nolan was already on the verge of getting down, because he knew that he was being a naughty boy. I mean, look at that face in the first picture. Doesn't that scream, "oh no, I'm going to be in trouble"? I thought it was so funny!!! It is hard to get mad at them when they are so DANG cute!!!
I think the reason why Nolan has started to climb on things is because I was trying to teach him how to climb up on his rocking chair. He would get so frustrated when he couldn't do what his friend Kate could, so I thought I would teach him. Probably not the best decision on my life, but at least he's happy now!
The other favorite thing to do of Nolan's is hide behind the living room curtains. He will get all lost in them and then peek his head through and wait for me to say, "BOO!" It is the cutest thing. Then he just giggles and giggles with excitement. He does this at least twice daily. The simple things that keep them happy.
I'm really enjoying this stage in Nolan's life! He is so happy!
We just had our Stake conference on Sunday and Nolan was so squirmy so we took him out in the hall to crawl around. Jake told me that he just kept crawling towards the door. He wants to go outside so bad!! It has been a very long winter and he knows it! He does the same thing at our place. He will crawl to the door and start pounding on it like his is in a prison or something. I can't wait to get to Utah! Hopefully the weather will be amazing for us and Nolan can get outside and enjoy the fresh air!
I took Nolan in for his year check up yesterday to a new Pediatrician Dr. Kane!! She is amazing!! I like her so much more than the last one we had. Anyway, Nolan is doing great! He is a little on the skinny side so I'm going to need ideas on how to fatten this kid up. He is 20% for weight, 50% for height, and 70% for his head. So we have a skinny big headed boy. No, not really. His head isn't that big.
I don't think that this kid has a chance at being big. With his parents being on the lower end there is no way. I will just keep trying to stuff some food in to his little body. He is such a picky eater. He is sick of baby food but won't eat normal food. It's an endless battle.
If anyone has any tips on how to feed picky eaters, let me know. I can use all the help I can get. The doctor told me that I just need to be patient. It is just so frustrating when you make something for them and they spit it out and throw it on the ground. If my little boy wasn't so cute......
I'm glad we are done with shots for awhile. We don't have another appointment until the end of July! He did great with the two shots that he got! I have a brave little boy!
General Conference was wonderful!!! As usual. There was so much to take in and I was enjoying it all and then...... Elder Ballard!!! What a way to finish out an extraordinary conference! I don't know why his talked touched me so much. No really, I do. I'm sure it is because I am a mother right now that is by herself quite often and sometimes feels like the world is coming down on her. It really lifted my spirits when Elder Ballard said that happiness in motherhood comes in moments. It is not all the time that everything is wonderful. I loved that!!! It is so true. You have good days and you have bad days. But there is nothing better than being a mother.
It was funny when he started talking to the husbands about how they should help out their wives by giving them time away to recoup. I told Jake he needs to listen to this and then as Elder Ballard went on about what things a husband should do I realized that Jake doesn't need to improve an any of them. He already lets me go to the gym every night when he gets home, he loves to be with Nolan, he helps out around the house, he never complains if I just didn't feel like having a meal ready when he got home, he is always complimenting me. I really have the best husband in the world!!!! I'm glad I was able to realize what was right in front of me. My wonderful husband Jake! I am so blessed to have him. This is why we have these conferences, to get us to realize what we already have. Repetition is so important.
I love being a mother and even more being a wife to Jake. I think of how blessed I am that Jake makes so much time for Nolan and me. He comes home everyday at 5:30 and eats dinner with us and plays with Nolan and helps him get ready for bed. I know a lot a guys that are in med school that never see their families. I am lucky enough to have Jake who is able to retain information well and has wonderful, efficient study habits. That is why we are able to have him around so often. There are weeks when he is gone a lot more but it is usually only once a month. The Lord is blessing our home for sure! I know that Jake is going to be blessed for making time for his demanding wife and loving little boy. I love Elder Ballard for opening my eyes and hopefully a lot more. I love you Jake! And I am so grateful to be a mother. I enjoy all the moments with Nolan. He makes me laugh constantly. I really do love my life!
Our neighbors the Majors invited us over for breakfast on Sunday along with the Jay's and then to watch the morning session of conference at their place.
The breakfast was AMAZING!!! Amanda is quite the chef and made wonderful pancakes with a buttermilk syrup and bananas on top. We also had really good sausage and fresh squeezed orange juice. Who does that? Only Amanda.
After we ate Conference came on and we listened and watched it on the computer while the kiddies played around together.
During Conference Nolan was about to crash he was so tired. He just chilled out on Daddy's lap for awhile. Cute right?
Nolan, Kate, and Nathan gave us a very good piano recital before conference. It was so cute all of them fighting over the keys. Oh, our little pianists!
Of course we didn't go far without the "blue ball." Nathan was a big fan of it. He was throwing it everywhere and chasing it. I tell ya, this "blue ball" has been the favorite around our area and the cheapest too!
Ever since we got Nolan this "blue ball" for Easter he can't live without it. We take it everywhere with us. What is special about this "blue ball" is Nolan can actually palm the ball. I know, I know, it makes it easier because it is a little squishy but still. Wouldn't you be a proud parent if your son could figure out how to palm a ball?
I think Nolan is going to really enjoy sports. We took Nolan outside this past weekend a lot, because the sun has been out, and he just kicks or hits his ball and then chases after it. It is so cute to see! I will have to get some pictures of that later.
I am so looking forward to General Conference this weekend!!!!! I never realized how simple it was to watch it back in Utah. We either have to go to the Stake Center or watch it on our tiny laptop for all of the sessions. We don't have cable so we can't watch in on TV. It was so nice back home to be able to put it on the TV and sit and watch our wonderful Prophet speak and his Apostles speak.
