Monday, April 25, 2011

Eighteen Months!!

My little man is 18 months old today. It's so bittersweet. I can't believe how he is growing and changing every day. Today he weighed in at 20lbs 6oz and 32" long. That's 12.8 lbs gain and 12.5 inch gain in height since birth. Luckily while he was gaining that, mom was losing a whole lot more weight!


Nolan has been a notoriously horrible sleeper since birth. I thought we were on track because he had fallen into a pattern of going to sleep nicely on his own, waking twice during the night, and then sleeping until about 7am. He also never was a big napper but would at least go to sleep nicely even if his nap was short. Not anymore!! The past month he has only taken a handful of naps the entire time. He also started not going to bed nicely and taking up to two hours to finally go to sleep. Then of course once he is asleep he doesn't stay that way for long. Last night it was up every two hours then wide awake for a 1.5 hour stretch in the middle. He's exhausted and it is showing but nothing seems to be helping.

I tried putting him in to my bed for a nap this afternoon but after a few minutes he was jumping and crawling off the bed. I'm hoping this is a phase and maybe his canine teeth are about to erupt. Let's hope the next 18 months bring a little more sleep for both of us!!!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Shopping Trip 4/20

Nolan and I headed out bright and early this morning after I spent the evening preparing coupons and putting together my shopping list. Overall it was a great trip with lots of savings!! We've been buying produce at the local Art's Market and last week i had coupons which got me $8 in free produce! That meant we have a pretty good supply on hand right now and didn't need much fresh this week. I also buy most of my meat when it's on sale and freeze so no meat purchase either.

This weeks grand total came to $31.28!!
My haul included:
   8 large cans of tomatoes
   2 bottles of ketchup
   4 jars of Bertolli pasta sauce
   4 jars of tiny dill pickles
   2 ears of corn
   4 sweet potatoes
   1 - 4pk of butter
   1 bottle of strawberry jelly
   2 boxes of Ritz Crackerfuls
   1 pack of American cheese
   1 pack of Bratwurst
   2 packages of lunchmeat (turkey/chicken)
   2 -25pk of Dishwasher Detergent (Finish Quantum)
   1 Bottle of Rubbing Alcohol
   1 small hand sanitizer
   1 bottle of coca butter lotion

I used $28.97 in coupons and saved $35.67 due to sale prices. Since I wouldn't have bought a lot of these specific brands without sales I tend to discount that and mark savings as ~$30 on a ~$30 purchase!!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

A day at the beach

Nolan hadn't yet experienced the beach as a walking...who am I kidding running... toddler! Today was his first chance to play with his friends and see the beach again.

He started off the day a little scared. I tried to have him walk the dunes out to the beach but the combination of sand, new flip flops, and mom who was helping to carry a baby stroller out was too much. I ended up having to carry him. After his initial reaction he was in love with the sand. He sat playing and digging for what seemed like an hour all by himself.

We ventured towards the water but he was not very brave. Of course it didn't help that the first time I had him stand on the edge of the surf he fell to his butt when a tiny wave came in. After landing on his bottom he went ahead and made the fall complete by lying all the way back. The water was only an inch deep but it was enough to scare him away form it for the day. Besides who wants to play in cold salty water when there is a huge fun sandbox all around!
Chasing and watching birds was also a lot of fun!
Thanks to our friend Cindy for this pic.
 All in all it was a fun day. Nolan's sun protective clothing and sunscreen kept him nice and pale but mom's sunscreen somehow didn't do the trick!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Easter Party

Nolan had a fun baby Easter party with his little friends today. It was complete with an egg hunt. My kind little boy was content to find the eggs and put them in other peoples baskets.


This makes me think back to last year when he wore these same ears...and a blue diaper instead of the orange one peeking out.


Monday, April 4, 2011

Berry Fun!

Nolan and I headed out of Jacksonville today and into farm country for some berry picking. Here in Florida strawberry season is at an end. We were the only people at the u-pick farm and when we called ahead they were worried it might be too late. Luckily the berries were still sweet!!

Today was mid-80's and slightly breezy which turned out to be fabulous berry picking weather. After we arrived in the field, I sat Nolan down in the row I was going to pick in, grabbed my water bottle, and found a nice berry. As I was washing it off to hand to him, I turned back and in those few seconds he had found himself two berries and gone to town eating them. Throughout the picking time he ate a minimum of ten whole large strawberries! That's a lot for any baby but for my tiny toddler that's a huge amount of food!!

Needless to say a bath was in order as soon as we got home!! The berries are all cleaned and prepped and a no-bake pie is setting in the fridge. YUM!!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Hats!!

I love having Nolan try on different fun hats!! Here are a few from recent trips to different stores and one I made.
Homemade Teddy Hat

Bunny with his blanket!




Nolan has been wearing his scarf all week. Apparently it's "in" with the toddlers.