a few new videos...

Nolan is learning his consonent sounds.  We've been trying to get him to make other sounds outside of "ooohhhh" and "ahhhh" and he just busted out with "da da da" recently.  Check it out!

He's also rolling over like crazy.  We took this awhile ago when he was just discovering that he could roll.

budding musician...

Nolan practices playing piano with Grandpa Harry a few weeks ago during our visit.

Easter and Solid Foods!

It's been a really busy couple of weeks! Nolan had a great Easter at my parent's house and then we got home and Nolan had his first taste of rice cereal.

He loved his little chicky in the Easter basket and he got a book and some sunglasses which he wasn't too sure about but he tolerates them pretty well and he looks so funny!

Outside at my Grandmas on Easter sunday. It was sunny and a bit chilly but we had a good time!

His first taste of rice cereal...he was not a fan. But a few days later he LOVED it. And now he eats all kinds of things--rice and oat cereal, carrots, peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, pears, bananas and he loves it all. We are introducing new foods every day!

Stay tuned for pics of Nolan's first Cubs game (go Brewers!) and his first swim "lesson"

new things for nolan

We borrowed a jumper from Nolan's friend Ben to see whether he likes it and he loves it!  He doesn't quite grasp the concept of jumping but he definitely moves it from side to side.

He also got a "highchair" this weekend.  It's just a little seat that attaches to our countertop.  He likes that too!  We'll be starting to introduce solid foods after Easter.  Exciting stuff!

Joel got a new guitar from Harry for his birthday and Nolan loves listening.  He even got to strum a bit!

Shake, rattle and roll

Nolan loves his new rattle...

Shawano...Colds...Aunt Nora

The weekend of the February 21st, Nolan made his first trip up to Joel's hometown (Shawano, WI) for the annual ice fishing derby.  We saw lots of old friends and Nolan met everyone and was in good spirits despite coming down with his first cold on Saturday.  He had such a bad cough but he handled it like a champ.

Sunset in Shawano...

He met lots of new friends!

Leonard and Carol Kary with Nolan (above) and Joel's goddaughter Elizabeth and her dad Chad with Nolan.

He's been really vocal lately-making lots of noise but it seems like I just can't get it on camera!  Everytime I turn on the camera he clams up.  In the video below he stares at the camera for over a minute and doesn't make hardly a peep.  What a stinker.

I did catch him making a few noises in this video!

Finally, Aunt Nora (my sister) came for a visit from Tallahassee last weekend and enjoyed lots of time with Nolan.  He stayed home from daycare just to visit with her!

It's been awhile...

A long while since I've posted anything...I never finished posting about France...maybe someday. Highlights included the 36 hours in a French hospital because Nolan (then referred to as Baby Krueger) made me really sick and I couldn't stop throwing up (a mix of exhaustion and morning sickness). But outside of that little detour, we spent some great and relaxing days in Paris.  Nora and I spent a lot of time in cafes.  

Summer was pretty low key with no other big trips although we did travel quite a bit around the midwest for three weddings (my cousin and two of Joel's childhood friends-see below). Also, the summer saw my belly expand to monumental proportions AND my parents move out of our childhood home into a condo. I also had two really nice baby showers in the late summer/early fall.

Travis and Barb at the reception.  Yea!

Tina, Chad, Greg, Joel and Eric celebrating Chad's wedding. Congrats Chad and Cheyna!

John giving a speech at his wedding.  Gina is on the far right.  Congrats you guys!  

And now onto the best part. Nolan was born on November 12 at 3:33pm. I went into labor at 1am. He was 9 lbs. 5 oz and 22.5 inches long! Yikes!

On to more recent events. My parents were up for a visit this past weekend and it was so nice we went downtown to the Art Institute and Milennium Park.

Nolan, Joel, me, dad and mom all reflected in the bean (officially Cloud Gate in Millennium Park).

Papa Mike and Nolan at the art museum.

Riding in the stroller like a big boy (his first time)!

This is his favorite expression! Lots of smiles!

He got a new chair from some friends (thanks Jeff and Beth!) and I put him in it for the first time.  It should help him learn to sit up.  He was a little unsure at first but now he loves it (please note the buddha belly)!

I'm going to try to post every week or so to get some new pics of him up and update on what we've been doing...and for those of you on facebook...I'll try to put some different pictures up!

Viva La France! Part Trois

Friday May 2: The Loire Valley continued...

We decided to stay in the Loire Valley in the morning because we wanted to check out another castle and see a winery. Our next castle was Chateau d'Azay le Rideau. It was built by a French finance minister and when the King saw how elaborate and expensive it became-he confiscated it. The inside of the castle was much better kept than the prior castle because this castle was a national monument and one that the French government maintains.

It's all about symmetry for the French-the view down the walk.

A castle is a castle is a castle...

The family seal above the fireplace: this castle was really well maintained. Some of the tapestries looked like they were practically new even though they were over 100 years old.

Mom, Dad and the castle.

After the castle, we headed to a winery in a nearby town. I wasn't feeling great so I stayed in the car while the rest of the family went to a wine cave where they age the wine. They ended up with these caves when they were digging out stones to build the castle. They all said it was a great day (and they bought lots of wine!).

Then we all piled into our cars and headed to Brittany to try to get to Saint Michel (a famous Abbey) before it closed...we made it and the pictures will be up shortly!

Viva La France: Part Duo

Thursday May 1: The Loire Valley

On the grounds of the first castle we visited, Chenonceau there was a 12th century farm. The buildings were covered with these purple flowers that I think my mom said were wisteria. They smelled like bubblegum. It was beautiful!

Nora stopped to smell the flowers...
The castle itself was built over the river for one of the kings mistresses. It was really crowded (even though we didn't get there until late afternoon). Nora and I took the audio tour which had some interesting facts...like that the hall that stretches over the river used to house soldiers in WWII and they used to fish in the river out the windows.
The gardens were along one side of the river-done in the French style, very symmetrical.

We spent that night in Tours, which was a really nice town. The hotel recommended a small little square with great old buildings and restaurants to eat dinner.
Stay tuned for more of the Loire Valley and then Brittany on the coast!

Viva La France!

I realize it's been way too long since I've posted anything-but I figure nothing like a 10 day trip to France to get a person back on the blogging wagon. So, I'll go through our trip posting two days at a time. That will give me a chance to put lots of pictures for each day.

The real planning for the trip got down and dirty at O'Hare airport while we waited for our flight (which was delayed due to a leak in the plane's kitchen). My dad had a huge map of the whole country of France spread out and Harry was reading the driving directions. We had plans to head straight to Confolens to pick up Nora as soon as we landed in Paris and rented the cars.

Once we landed, it took us about two hours to rent our cars and get our luggage. We passed right through customs without any questions because we were told there was "no staff". I think it was lunchtime so there was no one working the customs desk. In any case, it took a really long time to rent our cars (they were "big" by European standards...about the size of a Toyota Camry), both Harry and my dad got Renault Laguna cars that were brand new. We lost Harry on the Peripherique (the road that goes around Paris) and my dad, mom and I decided to take the toll roads (which was the quickest way) to get to Nora. The scenery got prettier and prettier as we headed away from Paris. Nora's town was about 6ish hours. We stopped at an "oasis" along the toll road for some food and gas. The oasis' in France are really nice. You can get fresh cafe and glasses of wine and most had bakeries. I could've spent a long time checking out all the goodies. They also had any kind of ham sandwich you could imagine (the French love their jambon).
We arrived in Confolens before dark and Harry arrived about 45 minutes later and Nora had ideas for dinner. There was a restaurant in town that is owned by a British couple that just opened. Nora befriended the couple and spent a lot of time there with them so we headed there for dinner. They were delightful and it was a great first dinner in France (I had mushroom risotto). The restaurant is below and a picture of Confolens is above.

Mom and Dad and Harry spent the night in town in a small hotel and I stayed with Nora in her apartment (which was on the grounds of the high school). A picture of Mom and Nora along the river in Confolens before we headed out to our next town Tours (with a stop in Poitiers...where Nora lived with Ben in the fall). Mom stepped in caca de chein (dog poo) along the banks...which Nora and I thought very humorous....

A stop along the way at an idyllic French village. The French countryside really looks like everything you've imagined-the buildings are amazing.




Next up....Tours and the castles...

Halloween is for Kiddos

Joel and I recently saw my godson, Anderson and his sister Ella at their house. It was trick-or-treat night and the kids were all decked out. I wanted to share the pictures because they are just so darn cute.

Brett Farve (he loved is Badger football)

Brett Farve explaining the logistics of football to Joel

Brett Farve and Blue ready to brave the cold for candy!

High School Musical

Only without the singing! I'm sure you've all been holding your breath for the pictures from my 10 year high school reunion. It was well-planned (thanks, Rebec!) and the venue was great. The Midtown Bar and Grill, we had the whole place to ourselves until 11pm. It was a blast-and I saw lots of people who I haven't seen in as many years and drank a bunch of wine. Fun!

Rebec and an old friend, Amanda

Julie, Gina and I

A friend I haven't seen in years (Tamar)
And there was dancing...

And what's a night out without Qdoba with friends?

All in all it was a great night but I was happy to leave everyone else behind and eat Qdoba with the people that I see every time I come home. My best high school friends!