February Fun

This February has been busy! Now that we are all feeling better, we have packed our schedule :) We have visited the Play Boutique in Beaverton a few times and Wyatt just loves it! I was able to take Nolan to Book Babies while Nick took Wyatt to Play Boutique last Monday, which was a blast for both of us. We got to celebrate Maria's 30th birthday with her and her family by taking the kids to Play Boutique and then having them over for a birthday dinner. It is so fun to watch the kids interact and play together.

We also had our moms club at our house this month and were able to have 6 babies and 1 toddler under control for a few hours :) It was great to talk and have wine while letting the babies interact.

There was also a fun afternoon BBQ last weekend with the Bales/Barney/Weber family at our place. The boy cousins got to play and "wrestle" which was very fun for us adults to watch :) We got a glimpse of our future and are glad it is still a ways away :)

Looking forward to March and spring time fun!

The Bales

Mardi Gras 2012

This year we decided to have a "true" Mardi Gras celebration by drinking Hurricanes and having Banana's Foster :) Nick did a great job on both accounts! My sister and Sean joined us to celebrate Fat Tuesday and I think it will become a new tradition :) Here are a few pics from the evening and a video of Nick lighting the nana's on fire!

Nano Beer Fest and Train Convention

This weekend at Max's Brew Pub, a local pub in Tigard that we frequent, was hosting the Nano Brew Fest in their back lot. It featured 16 beers or so and had live music - how could we resist?! :) It was great to eat, drink and listen to music...as a family! Wyatt was a total card and loved dancing, playing with his cars and cheersing us. Nolan slept most of it but made an appearance towards the end :) It was nice to get out and be adults, even with our kiddos in tow.

Sunday morning we got up and got ready to hit the Convention Center to check out the Train show and see Thomas! :) Wyatt loves trains and especially Thomas the Train, so we thought this would be a fun thing to take him to. Both boys got dressed in their "train" outfits, Wyatt in his Thomas sweatshirt and Nolan in his overalls :) Although this was probably a bit over Wyatt's head, he seemed to like it and thought the trains were pretty cool. There was a whole lego city and several trains all made out of legos! Nick was in heaven ;)

Visiting Carol in Washington

This Saturday we went to Longview, Washington (Nolan's first time out of the state!) to visit Carol. She graciously invited us, The Barney's and Laurie to come for lunch - something not many people do :) As we always do, we came in - took over - and then left as quick as we came! The boys LOVED getting to eat picnic style on the indoor porch and looking at the river for "sea creatures" :) Nolan was full of smiles and giggles and we were able to capture it on video with Bebe. Lunch was wonderful and the hospitality was appreciated! Thanks to Carol for hosting and allowing us to take over for a few hours :)

Our Cute Kiddos :)

Here are some recent pictures of the little guys...:)

Nolan's four month check up

Nolan had his 4 month check up yesterday and we got all of his stats. I must say, I was surprised by them since I think he is so much bigger than other 4 month olds, but he is right on track!

Head - 16 1/2 (50%)

Weight - 15.7 lbs (50%)

Height - 26 in (85%)

Sadly, he is still very sick so we were not able to get vaccinations yesterday. They told us he has a severe case of Bronchiolitis (which is a common cold for adults) and that they wanted to give him a defibulator treatment while we were there. His oxygen was a little and he was working hard to breathe. We ended up staying there for an extra hour while they watched him and ultimately they let us go home. We were told to take him to the ER if anything got worse (which it didn't!) and to bring him back to the doctor in the morning. So we had our morning appointment today and he is doing much better! The doctor thinks we have turned the corner and he is getting better. WHEW! Hate when the little guys are sick :(

Our big 4 month old is getting so big! He is sitting in his bumbo often, and can sit for a second or two without help :) He is grasping things and playing with toys, he is good at following us and anything he finds interesting (mainly Wyatt). He is eating great and starting to sleep a little better, but being sick has taken that off track a bit. We started some formula at night and he seems to be taking to that now. He smiles a ton and his laugh is the most adorable thing ever :)

Wyatt and Nolan have started interacting more - which is precious to see - and our favorite thing is when Wyatt gives Nolan his fish face kiss :) Just the best!

I have started weaning from pumping and will likely be done by the end of the month - woo hoo! I am sad that I won't be giving Nolan any more milk, but I am so over getting mastitis! Plus, we have 150 bags of milk in the freezer so there is no shortage :)

All in all, we feel like things are getting back to normal and we love it!

The Bales

Valentine's Day 2012

This year was Nolan's first Valentine's Day and we wanted to make sure it was special :) Since the boys woke up at 4am (YIKES!) we were able to do presents in the morning with daddy. The boys got balloons, stuffed animals and new shirt/socks. They were excited about the balloons :)

The boys made daddy a handprint garden stone for him to put in his garden this spring. He loved it! Mommy got some yummy smelling bath gel and lotions - fun pamper stuff!

The best gift of all though were the hand prints Nana helped make with the boys for both Nick and I. They are so special and will give us something to look at down the road and remember how little they were! We hung the handprints in the hall next to their bedrooms so we can look at them everyday :)

That evening, instead of going out, we decided to start a new tradition and ordered the Papa Murphy's heart shaped pepperoni pizza :) It was delicious with the wine we opened and I made a special dessert using some port we got wine tasting a few years ago. It was a perfect, low key night with all of the family and reminded us what love is all about.

I am one lucky lady to have 3 wonderful Valentine's - thank you to my boys for making me feel so loved and special :)

The Bales