Birthday Shenanigans!

whew!  the last few weeks have been a great whirlwind of birthday fun  :)

On Nolan's actual birthday, we just kept it low key - opening gifts from grandma, grandpa, aunties and uncles.  It was a nice, simple day of just remembering this time last year.

The following weekend we had friends over for a baby birthday party!  It was a mix of grown up friends and baby friends and was such a great time.  Thank you SO much to those of you who came to celebrate Nolan's special day with us!!  Unfortunately, Nolan woke up that morning with his first winter cold  :(  so he was pretty snotty and red-nosed through the party, but that didn't stop him from having fun!  Here are some pictures from the day.

The theme was The Very Hungry Caterpillar - thanks Uncle Kev, Autumn and Logan for the book and stuffed caterpillar!  The foods served were all from the book and I made cute little tags for them.

I made a little caterpillar banner with my favorite pictures of Nolan newborn-12 months

This is Nolan's very best buddy, Owen.  Owen's mom, Angela is one of my best buddies.  We met in mom's group when the boys were just a few weeks old.  Oh and Nolan is WAY into hugging other little kids now (not so much mommy and daddy) but he LOVES hugging other kids! 

This is another one of Nolan's best buddies, Tabitha.  Tabitha is a friend of mine and she watches Nolan 2 mornings a week while I teach.

 mmmm, cake!!!  Unfortunately this is about as much cake as he would eat.  He did not like it!  Shocking!!  Is he not his mother's child??!  Guess we should have practiced for the big cake-smashing day...

the bows and ribbons on the other hand were a big hit!

here mommy, you try it!

hugging his big boy friend Marshall

more hugs for baby friend Nathan!  (though Nathan isn't too sure about all this hugging)

a boy and his balloons

Then this past weekend we hosted a big birthday celebration for all of the babies in our mom's group.  All of the babies are right around the same age.  

Playing peek-a-boo with Owen under the table

we did a book exchange so all of the babies got to open a gift

 whew!  getting the hat on for 20 seconds to take this picture was a big deal!

 he ate some cupcake!  

and finally here is a youtube video of us singing Happy Birthday to the babies.  I did not take it so it kind of focuses on one of the other babies, but still cute nonetheless.  Enjoy!

August Visit From My Aunt & Mom - getting ready for baby!

Late August we were so lucky to have a visit from my aunt and mom. The did so much work helping me prepare for our little guy! They helped us get our crib put together, bookcase built and painted the baby's room. So exciting!! There is still a bit of decorating to do in the room - I'm going to hang some pictures, get one more little storage shelf etc, but here are some pictures of the current progress. (I think if you click them you can see them bigger)







They also threw me a great baby shower with my girlfriends here in Portland. Let me start with saying that I really was unsure about having a shower. I didn't have a wedding shower and I just feel funny being "in the spotlight". (It was nice to share my Wisconsin shower with Andrea!). But I let them convince me to do it and I'm SOOO glad. It ended up being one of the best days I've ever had. I was emotional all weekend and am just so thankful for the friendships I have made here in Portland. Here are a few photos from the shower.

with my Aunt - by the way I was 25.5 weeks at the shower

just chatting

Allison & Angie trying to free their babies in the "my water broke!" game. Allison was super competitive and won all three of the games - hilarious!
check out Parker snoozin' on the back of the chair - he wasn't so into the game ;)

Kara & Sarah

Michelle & Gayle

We also had a great time just running errands, picking up baby items and of course celebrating my 31st birthday!! (that's hard to believe - wow I'm getting old). Here are some pictures from the rest of the week.

8 weeks

So yesterday I was officially 8 weeks pregnant. I still can't believe it. I've had NO morning sickness and very minimal symptoms otherwise (well, aside from the fact that I'm expanding at an alarming rate, and I'm exhausted all day). In a crazy way I have wished to be sick as it would provide reassurance that there is indeed a little one growing inside of me. The past few weeks have dragged on so sloooowly. I'm dying to shout it from the mountain tops but wanted to wait until my first ultra sound which is TOMORROW!!!!! I am so excited and nervous to see our little one. We should be able to see/hear the heartbeat too which has me just giddy! I want to go home now and sleep until 2:15 tomorrow so the appointment can just be here already.

In non pregnancy news, we've been carrying along just fine. We went to the tulip fest with my friend (and biz partner) Kara and her husband Dominic. It was so beautiful and we had a great time visiting, wine tasting (well, I watched everyone else wine taste), and eating delicious fresh made sausages & brats. Here are some photos from the day!

Jan-March 2010

In January I hired my first employee. It's been a really great, yet terrifying experience! Her name is Shannon, and she's a really lovely gal. (You can read about her on the biz's ABOUT US page). Right now, it's been a ton of work to train her and get her caught up to speed on things. But slowly but surely things are going more smoothly and I am so thankful to have the help!

In February we went wine tasting with some friends for Valentine's Day. Wine tasting has definitely become one of our favorite weekend past-times.

In March we took a few hikes as the weather started to turn nice. We hiked Angel's Rest in the gorge and it was amazing! The hike is billed as "moderate" but I found it pretty tough due to the constant incline. In the end it took us about 3.75 hours round trip and was worth the views! Here are a few pictures:







Finally at the end of March I spent 5 days visiting my family in San Antonio. It was great to see everyone and just spend a few days relaxing!