Thing 1 and Thing 2

We have nicknamed Nolan and Hudson "Thing 1" and "Thing 2". Scott called Nolan that one night a few months ago and it stuck. They are very much like the things in that they make big messes in our house everyday, thing 2 totally copies everything thing 1does, and they do exactly the opposite of what we ask! Ha ha! When we decided to throw the boys a double b-day party it was the perfect theme for them! We read Dr. Seuss books almost everynight for bedtime so it was the one thing that I knew they would both love. Attached below are some pictures of all the decorations that i had to hunt down from Ebay since no one makes the party stuff for Cat in the Hat anymore. I was only able to find the tablecloths and had to just find other things here and there to piece it together. I just found a good color image of the things and printed it on a color print and tape it to tooth picks for the cupcake toppers. I thought they turned out great! I made the cupcakes myself - which was a little out of control - I am SO not a baker! Nolan picked out lemon, orange, strawberry and vanilla. I added food coloring to the different batters so they would have cool colors and made cream cheese frosting. It was fun to do but a big task on Friday night! :) Since we had the party at the park we did hot dogs, chips and strawberries for lunch. Scott grilled the hot dogs at home which made it nice at the party not to be cooking at the park. I found cute wooden train whistles online and ordered them for party favors for all of the kids. The boys loved the party and it was a lot of fun pulling it together!

Nolan is five years old!!!

Friday was Nolan's 5th birthday. I remember five years ago on that day when I first heard his cry. It was the weirdest thing to hear him after all those months of feeling him. It was the one moment that I remember about his birth - people try to prepare you and tell you how you will feel but when it actually happens it's amazing - this little baby just comes into your life and everything you thought you knew changes. The sound of his cry was the most amazing part about it for some reason - it was like that sound validated what was happening - he was really FINALLY here. It made me cry when I heard his voice because it was so overwhelming and wonderful. I'm tearing up just thinking about that moment. I think about the amount of love I felt at that moment and then I think about how I didn't even know him yet. He impresses me everyday - I love to hear his thoughts. It cracks me up.

Nolan at five years old:

Things Nolan Loves:
any type of vehicle
anything with wheels
any type of machine
tractors and construction vehicles
monster trucks
shoes - his vans, his new pumas and of course his boots
Dr. Seuss books
playing outside in the flower beds with trucks and tractors
Riding his Big Wheel at MiMi's
NaNa's yard
playing outside period
going to Tractor Supply
driving PaPa's boat
going on road trips
wrestling with Daddy
playing Lego's
Mommy to sing him to sleep each night with the same four songs since he was two - you are my sunshine,itsy bitsy spider, hagolena magolena (a Halloween song) and the mini cooper song (a song I made up when he was two because it were his favorite car)
milk in a sippy cup when he watches Curious George (see, he is still little sometimes!)

Things Nolan Does NOT Love:
food in general
sharing
spiders
taking naps (which doesn't happen very often anymore but sometimes he is so worn out we make him take one!)
doing baby things or being treated like a baby
Hudson when he has a dirty food face (which is why he almost threw up at the birthday party - Hud had icing all over his face and it was making him gag)
being quiet

Friday he busted into our room announcing it was his birthday and asking if he could open presents...um, it was 5:20! No, you can get in bed with us until the alarm goes off. We let him open presents before work. MiMi came to our house on Friday (since the contractors are STILL working on our shower) and he started the day with donuts. Christi came and picked him up about 9:30 and took him to Target to let him pick out his present and then they went to school to eat lunch with Brent and Ryleigh. I left work early to spend the afternoon with my sweet boy and he helped me bake cupcakes. When Scott got home from work we went to dinner at Cracker Barrel (Nolan's choice!) and had breakfast for dinner and picked out a prize from the old country store. It was a great day for this big 5 year old!

Nolan's Preschool Graduation

Tuesday was a VERY special day at the Mays' household - Nolan graduated from his pre-k class. It was so cute! There were three pre-k classes at his school and they all assembled together to sing songs and open with a prayer. The teachers had collected all of their pictures taken throughout the school year and made a slide show. It was a bit of a tear jerker with all the sweet songs they picked to go with it. I am so happy that Nolan was a part of RCCA. They really have a great program and have been such a wonderful starting point for my sweet baby's school career. Nolan has made a bunch of friends and has had a great social and spiritual experience this year. He loves learning and loves God - two top priorities in my book!
All of the grandmothers joined me for the special day! Scott had to work which was really weird because that is the first thing he has ever had to miss. He started as a permanent employee with TXU last week. (thank goodness - no longer a contract employee!) He simply could not take off his second week of work! :) He left Nolan a really sweet note that I read to him before school. Scott also told Nolan that we would go to a special celebratory dinner that night. Nolan picked Salut - a little Italian restaurant that is really close to us. Funny back story about this place... Nolan has been asking to go eat there since around Thanksgiving. I have no idea why, I guess because it has a weird name or something. Anyways I told him that I thought it was a fancy place to go eat for dinner and that maybe sometime when there was a special event we could go. Well he has brought it up multiple times and always refers to it as "that fancy dinner place". MiMi gave him a little monkey watch at Christmas that had a glass face on it and so she was telling him that it was "really nice" and that he was going to have to be careful with it - he quickly responded that maybe he could wear it when we finally get to it at Salut. I really did not think that this place was any big deal - I was expecting something like Mac's just kinda dressy casual (if that makes sense). Tuesday evening Nolan wanted to get dressed back up in his graduation outfit including the tie! He then asked me if I was going to get dressed up?!? So I changed into black pants and heels and we planned to meet Daddy there after work. We were going to take Hud too but Nana offered to keep him. All I can say is - thank goodness!! It was actually much "fancier" inside than I expected with white tablecloths, wine glasses set at each table and jazz music. We had certainly not taken Nolan to eat anywhere like that before! He LOVED it. The waitress was really sweet and asked if we were celebrating a special event - of course Nolan explained that yes we were indeed and that he was a graduate. She asked him if it was from Kindergarten and he smiled so big and explained that it was only pre-k and that he would be in kindergarten after the summer. She laughed at his little "adult" ways all night. He was served Sprite in a wine glass and used his best manners all during dinner. I was worried about the menu (as I mentioned, it was a little nicer than I expected) and there was no spaghetti or pizza to be found! The waitress again came to the rescue and told us that they could make him cheese pizza or a simple pasta if we needed - and yes we needed it with the pickiest kid in the world! Nolan enjoyed his $20 "fancy" pizza very much. :) Scott and I had a great time with our sweet boy who is getting bigger everyday - he is turning into such a smart "big" kid (no longer a baby, toddler or even a "little" boy). I was proud to say the least. :)






Nolan and his best friend Seth (don't they look like frat boys????)

Hudson @ 2 years old

Just thought I would stop and take a little time to write about Hudson at 2. He is smart, funny and happy (most of the time!).

Things Hud Loves:
irritating Nolan
being chased
all fruits and goldfish crackers
singing Twinkle Twinkle every night at bedtime three times
always wants to cover up (he demands it anytime he is on your lap with his blanket)
m&m's
his toy lawnmowers
trucks, trains and tractors (of course)
Eskimo kisses (which he calls kah-nose)
kissing my boo boo (which is a mole that he calls a boo boo)
corvettes and slug bugs
swinging on the big boy swing the wrong way (like leaning over it instead of sitting on it)
climbing up on tall things
windmills
daisy
asking "can I" about everything and "why come"
screaming and being loud in public places
shopping with mamma and to say "cute" about anything new that anyone is wearing (like in a totally drawn out way - CUUUUTE)
to say comere (come here) all the time
talking on the phone
sleeping/napping
bathtime

Things Hud Doesn't Love:
meat
staying clean or having to get his hands and face wiped
wearing shoes
being told no
getting buckled in the buggy at Target
clipping his nails

He is pretty much a mess and we just love it. He is going to be rotten as he gets older but he's just so darn cute at this age that we are letting it happen. He is very independent and wants to do everything himself. He loves to do what the big kids are doing and can usually do it just as well! Hudson repeats everything that Nolan says or does. He is just starting to get his own little hobbies and I can tell that they are going to have very different interests, which is good, I think! Hudson is very athletic for a two year old and wants to climb, jump or run with everything he does. He loves to read and loves to learn and is talking up a storm! We are so blessed!

Homefront

I have been home for the past five days and it's been super nice. I have been able to clean out the boys closets, make beds everyday, be here for the contractor working on the shower, make dinner, wash, fold and put away clothes all on the same day, keep the boys entertained, blog, just enjoy my life. I feel like I have been on vacation and I didn't even go anywhere. Guess those are the best kind, right? I have really been struggling my current work situation and I am not sure if being off has made it better or worse but at least I am rested and feel like I had some much needed time off! I have used 12 vacation days this year (I get 25 so that is half of them!)and all of them have been used on sick kiddos and sick mama. No fun times, no vacay, no relaxing time. I am so glad that these three days were finally "good" days. Hopefully tomorrow when I am back at work I am able to get back into the groove of things and have a better perspective! Had to post just a few pictures that are so sweet because I took one of Nolan like these when I was on maternity leave with Hudson and I can't believe that two years has flown by and that my "newborn" is now such a big little boy - loving the garbage man just like big brother. I love that they love each other and love trucks. :)

Trip to the Zoo!

Yesterday Scott was invited to go to the Ranger Game with some buddies so I decided to take the boys to the zoo. It was the first time that I have taken them by myself. I felt a bit like a single mom which was weird. Don't get me wrong, the boys were great, but it's nice to have a second set of hands! :) Anyway, the day was great - perfect weather and some fun times with the kiddos.

They loved the train which we rode three times round trip!


Hudson LOVED the River Otter (we had to watch him for about 30 minutes) Hudson would just crack up everytime he passed the window in the water.


Nolan's favorite part was getting to pet the sting ray.


They both had a ton of fun and Hudson was such a big boy getting out of the stroller at all of the exhibits.

How old are you? "I'm Good!"

Sweet Hudson his so funny. All day we have been asking him "how old are you?" and his answer is "good". So we have to clarify - not how ARE you? - how OLD are you? and then he will yell "TWO!" and clap! It is so cute. He was SO thrilled with his cake made by big brother and the party snacks consisting of his favorites - Goldfish, Raisins and Teddy Grahams. We invited all the grandparents over for cake and it was a great evening!