Nolan

Nolan’s Table Setting (His fabulous teachers get most of the credit for the decor)

Singing a Valentine’s Day Song for the Moms

Decorating sugar cookies!

“Mom!! I am decorating cookies here!”

Hmm. Pastry Chef he is not!

Always could use a few more sprinkles!

Face planting into the cookie!

The Class

Playing Valentine’s BINGO

The Goody Bags (Nolan gives a heart lollipop with his Valentine’s cards. Heidi gives everyone a balloon. SIGH)

BINGOOOOO! Too bad Nolan was the last one in the class to yell those words. Good news in Pre-K! Everyone is still a winner!

Best Buddy Ben!! (His mom was the other host) Notice that they are holding hands! So sweet!

And the best part of the Valentine’s Day Party? Well the snow of course!!!

A few weeks ago I came home from being gone for several hours. As I opened the door, Nolan ran to me filled with excitement and anticipation. “Look at what I made you!” he said. “A candelabra for your dining room!” He went into great detail describing to me all of its features. He was so proud and genuine in his hope that I would LOVE it as much as he did (and of course I did). We placed several votive candles in their respective places, dimmed the lights, lit the candles, and stood back to admire its beauty. And I must say, it was beautiful. I truly was touched that he had gone to such lengths, all on his own, to create something he knew I would love (the boy knows I love home accessories)!

Sweetest.Boy.Ever!!

Someday when Nolan is grown, I will not remember many of the gifts that he gave me over the years, but I will always remember his gift of home decor for my dining room!

Dear Nolan,

Happy birthday sweet boy. Today you are five and I know you are very excited. You have been counting down for weeks. The day is finally here and I am so happy to share in your joy of turning five. You have been most certain that waking up this morning would mean you have grown taller. In fact, you told the sales person at the sports store that you needed to go ahead and buy a bigger baseball glove because you will be growing overnight. Did it happen? Do you feel different? I know your heart believes things are different for you today. My heart feels different too. When you turned one, two, three, and four I always had such mixed feelings. It is no surprise to you (since I have been saying it for weeks) that I feel those same mixed feelings today too. You just seem SO much bigger and more mature and grown than last year. Something I probably say each year too, but it is so true. You no longer look like a little boy to me. Sometimes when I watch you swinging on the playground, talking with others at the grocery store, or finishing your work at the end of your school day, it seems like I hardly recognize that baby that was born five years ago.

Words cannot describe how much you are loved. Only when you have a child can you understand what it feels like to have your heart bursting with love and happiness. You give me that feeling every single day. Thank you for your unconditional love. Nothing is sweeter than hearing you say “I love you mommy.”

We also could not be more proud of you. We are constantly told by others how well behaved and sweet you are. Thank you for working so hard to make good choices and be a good person. Your Daddy and I will continue to try our best to be good role models for you and teach you what it means to have compassion, understanding, and strive to be the best you can be. We see so much potential in you and cannot wait to see how you use your talents.

Your creative side has really developed over the past year and I love seeing how your imagination works. From building a “Disney World” out of Lego’s to using Tinker Toys to create a candelabra for me, a tool box for Daddy, and an air traffic control tower, we are constantly impressed! You continue to have a love for learning. We hope you always show this enthusiasm.

I must mention what a great big brother you are. You are so loving to Griffin and such a great role model. He adores you and looks up to you. I love to see the two of you interact and play with each other. You are thoughtful with him and considerate of his needs and feelings. You are also such a great helper to Daddy and I too with Griffin. We are so proud of how you have filled the role of big brother so well.

This is going to be a very exciting year for you. You will play on your first sports team. You will say goodbye to the only school you have known to start Kindergarten. You will make a new group of friends. Learn to ride a bike without training wheels? Hopefully! So many things are in store for you and I am so happy to be along for the ride.

I wish you the very best this year. May you continue to flourish and grow inside and out! We are so proud of what you have become over the past five years. We look forward to see what you have in store for us this next year.

We hope it is the best year yet!

Happy birthday Nolan! We love you to the moon and back!

Love,

Mommy (and Daddy)

This past Christmas, Nolan finally received a Power Wheels Jeep. He’s been asking for this thing almost as long as he’s been able to talk.

I’m sure you’ll all be shocked that the white-ish Christmas we had didn’t keep Nolan from trying out the Jeep right away.

Here’s some video of the first ride and the first time he took Griffin out with him.

Enjoy! Hopefully YouTube won’t strip the music out of it.

2:58 AM Last Night

I hear ice fall into a cup. Nolan must be awake and thirsty. I am surprised he has not come in to wake me up as he usually does when he needs something in the middle of the night. I anticipate he will hold down too long on the ice button and ice will fall to the floor. Ice continues to fall into the cup and then I hear silence.

A few seconds elapse and then I hear him filling his cup with water. Once again I wait to hear water overflowing and spilling onto the floor. He stops and then resumes filling his cup. He must have stopped to look inside and notice he still has room. He is being so careful. I never hear water spill.

I continue to listen and wait for Nolan to come in and ask me to follow him back upstairs and tuck him back in bed. It is what mothers and fathers do in the middle of the night. They take care of their children in need. I wait until I hear a creak in the stairs and realize he is not coming for me. He is going back to bed by himself.

I am now wide awake and sad. He did not come for me.