Thursday, June 27, 2013

Aquarium and a picnic!

"Ma, it's nap time, why am I not in my crib?"

 Thank you to Aunt Kim, Uncle Brent and Colby for the passes to spend the day with them at the Baltimore Aquarium! I love the flexibility that comes along with my job. I had to work a few hours on Saturday and so I was able to flex my schedule and work a half day last Thursday to go to the aquarium with everyone. It was a great day to be downtown. There was a nice breeze, and it was not too humid. We walked through the aquarium exhibits and watched the boys enjoy sleep through 80% of our trip. Thank goodness, these were free passes! Then we decided that we wanted to continue to enjoy the evening and great weather so we grabbed some dinner to have a picnic on top of Federal Hill.







Before we left the aquarium we had to see the dolphin show. I love the aquarium, especially the dolphin show! Colby woke up just in time for the show, but Nolan decided that he would sleep through it. The speaker during the show made note to explain that sometimes the dolphins can be lazy and at other times have a lot of energy. Well, I think she told us this because they were very lazy. They did a few cool tricks, but nothing too exciting. They are still beautiful, I lstill love them and I still wanted to jump into the tank and swim with them (take me back to Hawaii and the Riviera Maya!).




"You mean to tell me that I slept through the entire dolphin show and no one bothered to wake me up???"
Next stop, dinner! We picked up chipotle (gah!) and potbelly since it was right next to the aquarium and grabbed a blanket out of our car and had a picnic at the top of Federal Hill. It was a gorgeous evening to be outside. The boys loved it! We ate dinner, the boys played on the blanket, wrestled for puffs and yogurt melts and then played at the playground. Colby was adorable; he was excited for the playground and took off running. Nolan, not running nor walking yet was just as excited, but for the giant green ball we brought with us. He did not care about the playground. He only wanted to play with the ball. I swear we do not force this on him, but he is definitely our kid. He did ask to go on the swings! We were able to fit Nolan and Colby in the swing together and at this point our camera died, but thankfully Brent and Kim got some great pictures. 





This cracks me up! Please note Nolan is screaming for his puffs in the background...



Another hilarious photo! Ryan posing with Nolan and meanwhile Brent was in the background catching Colby from running down the hill!



Love.

And in the spirit of the upcoming holiday, Happy 4th of July and God Bless America! 

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Happy Father's Day

Federal Hill - 6/15/13
This weekend we met up with our friends Molly, Joel and their newest addition to the family, Harper. Molly took our maternity pictures and so we contacted her to take some 1 year pictures of Nolan. I am so anxious to see how they turned out. Nolan was a great little model and gave us some good smiles throughout the day. Towards the end, he was definitely over it though. I love seeing Molly because although a lot of time always seems to go by in between, we always pick right back up where we left off. I think that is something that makes us such great friends!
Standing here, we realized as of this coming fall we have known each other for 10 years!
Harper was exhausted! Molly, thank you so much for taking Nol's 1 year pictures
It is always great to see you and Joel, and now Harper too! 
So many weddings and wedding pictures taking place on Saturday!
This one was interesting...bridesmaids and groom in white and the bride in a bright pink princess dress. 
Now for a recap of how we spent our Father’s Day,

Nol helping Da Da with his cards.
Last year was Ryan’s first Father’s day and being that Nolan was just a few weeks old I am pretty certain our day consisted of staring at Nolan, napping and either cooking or ordering out for dinner. This year when Nolan woke up I went and got him a bottle and took him into our room to lay with his daddy awhile he drank his bottle. Then we did our usual Sunday morning walk to the grocery store. Nolan got a cookie (yes, at 8:30 AM J) from Ms. Carol in the bakery then we got breakfast from Subway and walked home.

Our next stop was the softball field. Nolan came with us to our games and he got to hangout with the entire team. We won both games.

We came home and Nolie was spent, we put him down for his nap and he slept for 2 hours and 15 minutes. He would have kept sleeping too, but we decided we should probably wake him up if we want to sleep at all tonight. Normally Nolan takes a morning and an afternoon nap, but since we were at softball in the morning he only slept about 20 minutes in his stroller because he wanted to see what was going on.

Nolie's crazy hair after he woke up from his nap!
Our next stop was, Cartoon Cuts! For Father’s Day, Nolan and I decided to give Ryan something that he really wanted and had been asking for quite some time. Nolan got his first hair cut on Sunday. He did really good, but did cry whenever she squirted his hair with the water bottle. We went to Cartoon Cuts for a reason, once she turned on Mickey Mouse it was smooth sailing for the remainder of his haircut. We got a certificate and clipping of his hair. I am not going to lie, I think I was sadder than Nolan throughout the whole thing. He does look handsome and definitely looks much older, but I have to say I truly miss his long baby hairs. Ryan seems very happy that his “shaggy” hair is gone, so I guess this means we got him a good gift.
Capturing pictures of his hair. His nap really did help prove the haircut necessity point, but I still miss his long hair. 
Pre-haircut
Then we took 59029420 pictures of his first haircut...

Just a little dramatic after she squirted water on his head...

Then he calmed down
Watching the other kids get their haircut...


And then she turned on Mickey Mouse...all was good!


Post- haircut
I miss those luscious locks already :( Sorry, Ry we are never cutting it again!
Happy Father's Day ~ 6/16/13
We walked around the mall for a little bit and I cannot believe how much it has changed. Seriously, why do I never go to the mall anymore? Stores are gone, moved, new…oh, and I had no idea that LL Bean was completely gone because they are redoing an entire section of the mall.
Walking with 1 hand, but still needs that security of holding on to us!
For Father’s Day dinner, RYAN grilled steaks. The guy loves to grill and that was what he wanted for father’s day. You got it, babe! It’s all you! I did at least make him dessert though, 
My mom's peanut butter tandy cake recipe! Ry's favorite! 
Seriously, what husband does the following on father’s day, nonetheless?
·         Gets out of bed and I have to tell him to go back to sleep so I can bring his child to him for some  morning snuggles.
·         Grabs the laundry when I am not looking and does it awhile I am putting the baby down for his nap.
·         Helps with the dishes because his wife is short and can’t reach the top of the cabinets.
·         Cooks dinner.

I swear I thought that I am a good wife/mother, but I don’t think know I did not do any of the above on Mother’s Day.

Yesterday, we went to Pop Pop’s for dinner and celebrated Father’s Day with him. Happy Father’s Day to my dad!! We spent so many hours on the softball field together, and I can’t think of a single time you yelled or got mad at me. You worked endless hours teaching me how to pitch and it is because of you that I was a collegiate athlete. Not everyone likes to have their parent coach them, but I for one LOVED it. Whenever I got hurt, you were the fastest one on the field rushing to my aide. If I made a good play, I remember running to the bench to jump up and give you the biggest high five. I love the father-daughter bond we have and I will always be your little girl. I love you, daddy!   

I almost forgot about the pictures from Nolan's play date with Colby earlier in the week, 
Uncle Ry and Colby!














He makes stacking rings look easy,