Baby Nolen's Journey

The talk of an 'almost' 2 year old

2012-01-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

(Nolen decided 2 sleeves were overrated.)

It seems like everyday Nolen is coming up with some new words. Pointing, naming, counting... he's slowly figuring out this big world. There's a couple of words that still need a little practice. I can tell what he's trying to say, but it's coming out a little differently. We'll need to get these polished up before he goes to preschool in the fall.

Examples:

CLOCK: pronounced "Cock"

FROG: pronounced "Fu*k" :(

Astor: pronounced "ASSter"

Daddy: pronounced "Tim" seriously. After a time out we always make Nolen say sorry. The other day we said "Nolen, you need to say sorry to Daddy." Nolen: "Sorry Tim"

17 weeks

2012-01-14T09:31:00.000-08:00

If there's one thing we're quick at, it's picking names (well making babies AND picking names.) We had it narrowed down before we even knew little bean was a boy. Hudson is proving to be a kung-foo fighter just like his big brother. Yesterday after a cup of coffee and some juice, he bounced around the rest of the day. Pretty strong movements considering he's only the size of a sweet potato!

I. LOVE. being. pregnant.

Ducky

2012-01-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

Ducky is our pacifier. A Wub-a-nub to be exact. For all you non-mommies, it's simply a pacifier attached to a cute little animal, in our case a duck. Around 6-7 months Nolen started loving this thing. Needing it to fall asleep for naps and night. It's been a necessity ever since. So much so, when we went to Italy we purchased a back up ducky in case we lost one in our travels. As a result we now need 2 duckies. sigh
Well there comes a time when everything has to go. Bottles at 12 months, pacis at 2. We're getting uncomfortably close to the cut-off and I'm not liking it. That's a battle I'm just not ready for, really whats the harm. I think we'll just hold off a couple of more months. Don't' be alarmed if you run into 20 year-old Nolen still rocking a "duckie."

What a year 2011

2012-01-01T04:45:00.000-08:00

2011 was a year full of growing, fun, and change. Can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us! Here's a quick recap of 2011:

January: Snow day in Augusta, GA. Something we didn't have in Florida!

February: Happy 1st birthday little man!

March: Look who's walking!

April: Happy Easter, Spring break visiting Orlando!

May: Best news ever...guess who's moving back to Florida, YIPPEE!

June: Nolen explores Paris and Italy

July: Loving this Orlando Place, 1st time (of many) to Disney!

August: One of our daily playmates with my Bff Joshua.

September: Go Noles, it's football season.

October: Look "Whoo" went trick-or-treating for the 1st time.

Novemeber: Superstar, in Parenting magazine.

Found out I'm going to be a BIG brother!

December: waiting for Santa on Christmas eve.

It's a...

2011-12-27T06:53:00.001-08:00

BOY! Nolen is having a little brother!!! I'm stoked for little man to have a little brother to hang out with. Now let the shopping and nursery decorating begin! We've got the name...but you'll have to wait a little longer to hear :) I can't believe how much these 3D pictures look like Nolens!

Merry Christmas from the Astor's

2011-12-22T09:20:00.001-08:00

I wanted to be sure everyone received our card before sharing it on here. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-12-16T07:23:00.001-08:00

Not such a fan of Santa this year, teary eyes :(

It's snowing (or soaping) in Celebration!

Soap angels!!!

Hollywood Studios Osborn lights, our own personal photographer.

Whole different ball game this time!

2011-12-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

This time around is a whole new ballgame, I'm talking about pregnancy with a toddler running around. When your pregnant you have the joy of a little something called the 1st trimester. A trimester full of exhaustion, nausea, food aversions, and lots of other fun things! With Nolen, these dreadful weeks lined up conveniently with summer vacation, allowing me to sleep the days away. With this little peanut the timing wasn't as nice, it was right smack dab in the beginning of the school year. Exhaustion is an understatement. I've managed to keep my eyes open at school, but am ready for bed by 4pm. The same time that Nolen is ready to run and play with his Mommie!

I'd had to get creative with our play. I've had to come up with laying down games. We have one where I sit (lay) on one side of the glass door, as he sits on the other. We send a piece of mail flying under the door back and forth (who knew mail could be so funny!)

I also like to play a little game called bridge. I lay across the carpet and pretend to be a bridge. Nolen has to walk across my back and try not to fall into the "water."

Nolen and I will both be grateful for the second trimester burst of energy!

Painting with a 1 year old

2011-12-07T17:07:00.000-08:00

A little painting on paper...

A little painting on Nolen...

"Am I allowed to do this?"

I LOVE painting...

Wooohooo!

Time for bath...

13 weeks with #2

2011-12-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

Updates on little bean #2...Growing right along, measuring right on track. I can remember when I had the NT Scan with Nolen, he was bouncing off the walls. This little one decided to sleep, not moving once. I had to ask if everything was okay because I wasn't use to such a calm ultrasound. The nurse assured me little bean was just sound asleep. Another difference is my belly. I guess things are all loosened up from last time, because it just all kind of pops back out, immediately.

I've finally been able to get some belly shots for you. Please ignore my beauty, it's been a long few months.

11 Weeks:

13 weeks: (13 weeks with Nolen)

Here's a picture of our little snoozer at 11 weeks. It's looking like mommies inutiton might be right, and Nolen may be having a brother. Although it's still to early to tell for sure, "All babies at nubs at 11 weeks," the doctor insisted. I'm going with boy, or else my daughter has a ding dong. We'll find out December 27th for sure! What are your guesses?

Nolen has some news...

2011-11-15T14:58:00.000-08:00

GQ model, Vogue

2011-11-14T15:48:00.001-08:00

A few months ago little man got to do a photo shoot with Parenting magazine. His December issue just came out, check out the cuteness on page 108!!!

Look whoo went trick or treating...

2011-10-31T18:05:00.000-07:00

2011-10-30T15:41:00.001-07:00

Someone found the Halloween candy...

I heart fall

2011-10-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Even though we're though the first year of little mans life, we're still having firsts, and I love it! Yes, we got to take him to the pumpkin patch last year, but this is the first year that he knew he was at the pumpkin patch. He even picked out his own mini, Nolen pumpkin. He picked it up so he could throw it, but that's beside the point...

BFF's

2011-10-05T06:43:00.001-07:00

My best friend, since forever, (seriously, we met in kindergarten) came to visit last weekend. Whenever we get together we immediately revert back to our 6 year old selves. We even go by our made up names; Tiffany Sunshine and Ashley Moon. Oh the joys of childhood! They brought their adorable little girl Scarlet along. Scarlet loved Nolen, but I think that's where the love stopped. Nolen wasn't so crazy about having another baby in his stomping ground and he really didn't like his mommy holding another baby. Hummm...a sibling one day might be interesting.

Beat up by a pony.

2011-10-05T04:20:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to a birthday party at Disney's Fort Wilderness. Wilderness, nature, ponies and all. We started the party off with a pony ride for little man. The instuctor was busy giving me detailed instructions while I was busy wondering how the hell a 1 year old was going to stay on a pony. "yeah, yeah, I got it, I know how to stear the pony" I assured the man. So off we go. We make it a whole 3 feet before Nolen almost falls off, I freak, pull up on the reins. Horse gets mad, kicks Mr. A in the shin and steps on my toe. Tim yells a few 4 letter words, Nolen screams, and that was the end of our pony ride. We're not a very outdoorsy family.

Go Nolen...I mean Noles!

2011-09-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Nolen is a Seminole by birth, the boy had no choice. I mean a boy named Nolen can't exactly grow up and decide to go to Florida now can he!?!

This past weekend we took Nolen to his 2nd ever football game. He did better then last year. For one, mommy could drink till her hearts content, no nursing this year! He also made it a lot longer into the game then he did last year. A whole 15 minutes into the 1st quarter longer (we take our small victories.) He can also do the warchant now. This has nothing to do with the hours and hours Mr.A spent teaching him. Maybe after football season we can teach him something more useful, like his ABC's.

Overall it was a really fun weekend. Football, JoJo & Papa, and a little escape back to the college days. We <3 football season (and our little Seminole!)

Chatty Cathy

2011-09-02T05:46:00.000-07:00

I've read about this before, how language explodes after 18 months. Wasn't quite expecting this. This kid is talking, all day, all night, repeating words like a parrot.
Yesterday I told him we were going to the grocery store. He replied, "wine, cofcof (coffee), french fries." Sounds like a good grocery list to me!

Then there's his bedtime stories. His Favorite, I Love you Through and Through, he can read a whole page himself.
Me: "I love your happy side"
Nolen: "Sad side, sad side, sad side."
(Some call this memorizing...I call him a genius baby who can read!)

Then there's morning time when I leave for work. He follows me out making sure I have all the essentials, yelling "keys, cofcof (coffee), ice (my water), byebyes, byebyes, olive (I love.)"

Ahh..I know I've said this before, but THIS is my favorite age. Love this little man!

Roomates

2011-08-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

Mr. A and I both graduated from FSU, Go Noles! It seemed as though as soon as we graduated there was a slew of wedding from our friends, college friends included. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage..." You got it, babies were next. In fact 3 new Seminoles were born within a year. Well these little guys & gals will of course become Seminoles like their mommies and daddies. So we've devised a brilliant plan. Between our group of friends, we are going to buy a house in Tallahassee. As our littles grow up and go to college we will just start rolling them through the house. Brilliant! So far Nolen will be the ladies man, sharing the house with 2 girls! Don't worry, we're going to make sure they love each other like brother and sister.

Oh Pinterest...

2011-08-10T06:25:00.000-07:00

Oh Pinterest, only you would have me making bookshelves from gutters. I flipping love his new shelves!!!

Our week(s) in pictures...

2011-08-10T06:02:00.000-07:00

Every toy...out of the box.

Had to wear rain boots everywhere phase.

Target is Oh-So-Fun with my bff Joshua!

Banana Republics newest window model.

Out of rainboot stage, into flip flop stage....first pair of reefs!

First pair of mouse ears!

Nolen's new word!

2011-07-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

These days Nolen's vocabulary is growing each day. Everyday we find him saying a new word, wondering where he learned to say it. Well his newest word is one that we hope he quickly forgets. Lets go back to yesterday... my friend Terri was emailing me a video of Nolen from her Iphone...

T- "Oh man, I typed in the wrong email."
M- "what did you type in? Megan A*s" ;insert sarcasm; (our last name is Astor.)
Nolen: "A*s, A*s, A*s."

Clear as day, over and over again. We can look at this one of two ways. One, our son said his first bad word and we need to watch our language. Or two, he's a genius and just almost said his own last name! I'm going with the second one!

What have we been up to...

2011-07-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

Home sweet home...that's where we've been! After Italy we moved into our dream home in Celebration. Everything else has been a whirlwind of excitement.

Catching up with old friends and settling into old & new routines. It honestly feels like we never left, kind of like we were just on an extended vacation. So let me catch you up on the last few weeks;

Every time you ask little man a question the answer is always the same, "No." The tricky part is figuring out which no's mean no, and which ones mean yes. Mr. A and I have been using this stage to our advantage. "Nolen, do you think Mommy needs to lose weight?" "Nolen, do you think daddy should have to do the dishes?" Good times...
We took Nolen to Disney for the first time! One great thing about living 5 minutes from Disney is the fact that you can get annual passes and enjoy the parks year round. You quickly learn the good and bad times to go, and don't have to feel guilty is you go for only a few hours. Nolen loved Disney,I think we'll be spending a lot of time here.
~~Unpacking~~ urrr...reading us weekly and enjoying the Florida sunshine!
Swim lessons. We started Nolen in Infant Survival Resource lessons. Living in Florida we're constantly near water so we knew these were crucial. The lessons are 10 minutes a day for 6 weeks, and super intense. I start every morning with a knot in my stomach as my baby gets dunked and thrown underwater, helplessly searching for air. The good news is that they are working. After a week he can already hold his breath, swim to the wall and pull himself up (all while screaming bloody murder.)
Catching up with friends! When we left Orlando most of our friends were married and childless. Now every single couple has a baby. Ohh this has been fun, and so refreshing!
Shopping....ahhh...shopping....one thing that Augusta desperately lacked. We have outlets, we have malls, we have more outlets, we have more malls....ahhh...theraputic!
Settling into our new street. We couldn't have asked for a better one. We are a 10 minute walk to downtown (hello Starbucks,) within minutes of a pool and playground, and have some of the BEST neighbors. Young, fun, and get this...all have little BOYS! Our streets nickname is 'Boyee' court. (If your missing a daughter in 15 years you may want to check our street first.)
Trying not to pinch myself so I don't wake up from this wonderful dream! i.love.orlando.

Italia, ciao bella!

2011-07-06T04:16:00.000-07:00

How is that for a blogging hiatus? That's what happens when your in Europe for three weeks and come home, to your new home, filled with boxes. Craziness! Well we are back, mostly adjusted to Eastern standard time once again, and loving every minute in our new home! Three weeks in Italy left me with a ton to write about so I thought I'd break it down into categories: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good:

Paris, Venice, Florence, Tuscany...AH-mazing. There's something so amazing about the European culture. The history, the thought that these amazing cities were built thousands of years ago without any modern help. Amazing.
Food! It literally felt as though we were eating (and drinking) amazing food non-stop. Thank goodness we were walking everywhere or else I may have needed to purchase another seat for the plane ride home.
Family. What are the chances that 10 people can all arrange their schedules, and make it to ITALY together. Our first night together in the villa resulted in 11 wine bottles, and a bon-fire (don't ask.) Good times were had by all.
Experiencing Europe with little man. He has his first little passport (adorable) and already has more stamps then mommy did at age 25. If theres one thing we learned, it's that everyone speaks "baby." Nolen was making friends everywhere we went. 3 days into the trip he was happily announcing, "Ciao, Ciao."
Tuscan cooking school. Amazing experience, delicious food, great new friends (not to mention a hot Italian instructor!)
Our private Chianti region wine tour. Tuesday found Mr. A, myself along with my sister and her husband. MomMom offered to babysit so the parents were off, beginning our wine tastings at 10 am. Things we learned: Brunello is just aged Chianti (Brunello, means brown, so think brown Chianti.) Good balsamic vinegar should only have 2 ingredients and should NEVER include Caramel or coloring. The Italian version of Moonshine is called Grappa.

The Bad:

The stairs of Venice. Every other minute we found ourselves at another bridge filled with steps. Steps, stroller...not a good mix. Mommy and daddy now have biceps the size of Texas.
European meals. Most don't begin until 8pm. Then they last for hours, and hours, and hours. I do have to say, Nolen was a trooper for most of these.
Highchairs. We found that about %50 of restaurants offer high chairs, where do all the babies sit?
Time changes and babies...he didn't get the memo on the return trip home. Our days have been starting at 3am, oh my!

The Ugly:

traveling 24 straight hours, ALONE (Mr. A had to get back to work) with a 1 year old. Truth be told Nolen was a rockstar, for the first 19 hours. After the 10 hour flight from Munich he was done. Screamed all during the landing, screamed all the way through customs, screamed as we waited for our last flight home. We were "that mom." That mom who is sitting and doing nothing as her baby screams. I wanted to put a sign up that said, "we just traveled for 19 hours people!"