james

Nolan made his second trip to the circus today. He’s been really bored lately because Mel and I have been distracted with all the house buying/selling fun. It was good to have something we could do just for him. He deserved it. He also got to see my side of the family this weekend. A visit from Gran & Poppy always cheers him up. Unfortunately, they always have to go, which usually results in what Mel has named Nolan’s “ugly” cry.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Circus. Right.

In addition to being a spectacle of sights and sounds, the circus is a modern marvel of consumerism. Vegas has nothing on the circus. From the moment you arrive, you are faced with booth after booth after booth of the loudest and brightest merchandise on the planet. The most brilliant thing I saw was a movable booth for selling programs. Rather than set up in a stationary spot, the guy selling programs wheels his booth to wherever the people are and barks at them, carnival style, through his ShamWow! microphone. We were the proud owners of a program and a plastic four-wheeler before we made it to our seats. (It’s worth noting that there are not any four-wheelers in the actual circus, but that fact did not deter Nolan a bit.) He held on to the four-wheeler throughout the circus and all the way home.

When asked what his favorite part of the circus was, Nolan responded, “the four-wheeler.” That being said, he really did have a good time, but started fading — just like his parents — toward the end. For the most part, he was glued to all of the acts. Oddly, the tigers were completely unable to hold his attention. He started reading the program to see what came next. He loved the clowns and the FLYING MOTORCYCLES OF DOOM (I don’t think that’s their official name, but that’s what I like to call them.).

Early in the show, my lifelong, paralyzing fear of clowns was put to the test when one of them appeared out of nowhere in the row in front of us. If Melanie hadn’t pointed him out, I wouldn’t have known he there. Somehow, he had managed to lie down across several seats in the empty row in front of us. Had the clown looked like the one from Stephen King’s IT, I might have died of a heart attack right there in my seat. Fortunately, he looked more like a Disney-fied version of a clown than the old Bozo-style clown, so I was able to keep my cool in front of my four-year old son.Hooray for small victories!

This was the first time all three of us were able to attend an event like this together, and it might be the last time before Griffin is old enough to join us at these things. I’m glad we got one more in with just Nolan.

Click here to see some pictures from the circus.

Click here for a few more Easter pictures.

“I’m feeling sad” I call out to James from Griffin’s room. “Because you are packing up Griffin’s clothes he has outgrown again?” he responds. ” Yes” I answer sounding defeated. James responds again. “I would think all that organization trumps feeling sad about Griffin outgrowing his clothes.” “I would rather have a house completely disorganized than have the boys grow up” I say. I then quickly add (before James darts to the liquor cabinet in anticipation that I will say I want a third baby) “Don’t worry. I could have ten children and I would still feel this way. I just do not want Nolan and Griffin to grow up.”

I know I have written about this before, but I just cannot shake it. I feel so sad they are growing so fast. I told James yesterday that we only have a little more than four months before Griffin will no longer take a bottle. Unbelievable! Very soon Griffin will be crawling. His first real steps towards independence. He sits in a high chair, holds a sippy cup (sort of) and needs the straps adjusted on his already “big boy” car seat (the same car seat Nolan has). He is nearing one.year.old. It is just too much!

Nolan continues to grow by leaps and bounds too. This week he wrote “Happy Birthday Ms. Paula. Love, Nolan” on the inside of a card for his teacher. I think I stared at the card for a good several minutes in disbelief for the mere fact that when did this happen? My baby writes in his own cards! Nolan and I used to have this “thing” where I ask him who he is going to marry and he proudly answers “MOMMY!” Lately he has been talking about his wedding and wearing a tuxedo and shiny shoes; however, he no longer says he will be marrying me, but one of the girls in his class. He has been talking about how pretty Hannah Montana is. It crushes my heart that the innocence is wavering.

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My sweet sister-in-law and brother in-law are due to have their first baby any minute now, so to kill the time while we wait for the call announcing Lily’s arrival, I thought I would share a little story.

We knew it was probably a bad idea, but our craving for Mexican food from this place interfered with our ability to make a rational decision. Chuy’s recently opened up in Plano and I think everyone that lives within a 30 mile radius shares our excitement for this delicious food. The very long wait no matter what time you plan to go proves it! We have visited the Plano location once before, but my parents went early to get our name on the list. We have not been brave enough to actually go again on our own. We tried to go one other time and chickened out. Remember. Five. Month. Old. Baby.

On our way home from a birthday party in Dallas today we decided to call Chuy’s and check on the wait time. It was 5:15 so we felt good that maybe, just maybe, the wait would be slightly less. The hostess informed us of an approximate 30 minute wait. We decided to go for it. Griffin was asleep in the backseat. The game plan was that Nolan and James would get our name on the list and I would drive around the parking lot for 15-20 minutes and let him sleep a little longer. He had not had his afternoon nap so we needed him to sleep as long as possible. Here is what ensued.

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Wonders never cease. I managed to get the Christmas video for 2008 done before 2010. As you’ll see, this was the first year that Nolan didn’t need reminding that it was Christmas. He was 100% on board this time around, and I expect next Christmas will be the first where he has trouble sleeping on Christmas Eve.

These videos are getting harder to do now that he talks all the time. I can’t just edit random clips together with a song anymore. The upside of all the talking is that he says some pretty funny things.

Because we’ve posted so many videos this weekend, don’t forget these:

• Christmas 2007
• Nolan the Rock Star 2: Electric Boogaloo

Also, I think a lot of people may have missed this one from a few months back:

• Griffin’s Arrival

And now, here’s Christmas 2008. Enjoy!