Wednesday, April 28, 2010

World's Largest....

CARSEAT!!

When we bought our carseat we looked for safety, durability, and ability to do extended rear-facing (check out ERF here http://www.joelsjourney.org/). Little did we know we could be getting a monster carseat. We ended up going with the Britax Advocate CS. As it is a convertible that fits from 5lbs to 55lbs, we  were covered and this is the only carseat we have ever used. Besides its size I really like it although Tim isn't a huge fan (simply because of the size)!!

Nolan and I are taking it with us on our first plane ride and checking it through. Since it isn't an inexpensive purchase and it is safety equipment, we wanted to be sure it would get there in one piece with no nasty stains or any structural defects. Of course NO carseat cover bags I could find in stores or even online would hold it. Eventually I contacted the manufacturer J.L Childress who makes a nice one that fits most every other carseat. They were familiar with my specific carseat and willing to make a custom bag to fit it. It is lined with padding even! Here are a few pics of the beast.

In the car we barely have room....

Now here is the carseat , the cover, and Nolan for perspective.

...and finally what I will be walking through the airport with tomorrow. It doesn't have wheels as the luggage tracks tend to rip those off and ruin the bag but it has a shoulder strap.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Melts my heart

Almost daily Nolan manages to do something that is just ridiculously cute. Here is just a small list of the things that make my heart melt.

Every now and again while nursing I will feel something a little strange. When I look down, I notice Nolan is still nursing but has managed to fit his thumb in his mouth too. Apparently eating and sucking your thumb is the best!

Sometimes when he is nursing, Nolan pulls off, looks at me with the biggest smile ever, and then goes right back to eating. It's like he is saying "Hi, mom!" before he finishes his lunch.

Nolan is starting to get a little fear of strangers, especially men, sometimes it's if someone other than mom or dad is holding him and other times it's because the "stranger" is a bit too close and talking to him. In the moments before his pitiful cries, he looks me in the eyes, curls his little lip up, and the tiniest little tears start streaming down his cheeks. The actual vocal cries don't start for a few more moments.

Here is a pic of how fussy faces can also be cute. 

Every morning when I wake up, I look over into the cradle a few inches away from me. Through the slats is the little man. As soon as he awakens, he looks for me and smiles the biggest smile every morning when he sees his mommy!

Nolan is starting to learn to give kisses. He leans in with an open mouth and when I make kissy sounds or kiss his cheek he giggles.

Besides the common laughs and giggles, Nolan has a deep pitched belly laugh that only lasts a second and sounds like tee-hee-hee. It takes a special funniness to get to hear that noise!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Yard Work

I really need to get better at updating this blog. You would think staying at home with only one little baby and 3 dogs to manage would give me lots of extra time but in reality that's not the case!

This week Nolan helped me to add some pizazz to our front yard. About a year and a half ago, I purchased 3 small queen palms. I planted one after about six months but ended up placing it too close to the house for long term success.

 I didn't get around to planting the other two because we decided in the mean time to completely redo our backyard. The place the trees were going to go is just going to get torn up in the process so no reason to put them in the ground yet. Of course, trees in pots don't grow like trees in the ground. The planted tree is now at about 20' tall and the others are not even 5'. Since the backyard remodel is going to take some time and involve demo-ing the pool house, I thought I'd just plant the 2 potted trees out front. This meant it was a great time to transplant the large palm too.

This week I dug up the grass where the new bed would go, installed a paver edge, and planted the bed. Let me tell you digging up grass is much harder than you would think. It took 5 garbage bags to dispose of it too! Luckily we have yard waste pick up each week.

I ended up planting the transplanted palm in the center and showcasing it with various other plants. It looks much better in person and will be even nicer once the plants take off and flourish. I planted one of the previously no-planted palms in a second location out front and the third will go in it own tiny circular bed once I have a chance to complete the work. For now the big garden bed is done though!

Living in FL it feels as though yard work is really never done. Things grow at crazy rates and weeds shoot up before your eyes. At least for the moment my little flower bed is nice!


If you look close, directly in front of the gate on the left side of the pic is the second palm I planted. You can barely see a single frond from it in the pic.