2014 Is Here!

Wow. So I have not posted anything since May - the day before Alaina's 2nd birthday to be exact! I guess I will start there...

We celebrated Alaina's second birthday at the Purpur arena in the play area with friends and family. The kids ran wild and they all recieved medals for completing the obstacle course that Nolan and I came up with. Alaina of course loved opening her gifts but didn't care too much for them after that;)

Our summer was great! We started out with a trip to Portland, OR for Danny's Uncle Rod's wedding. Alaina stayed home with Grandma B, but Nolan came along and had a lot of "firsts" on this trip. He got to ride on an airplane for the first time and he did great. He even got to sit in the cockpit with the pilots. He panicked a bit before sitting up there but I am glad I made him do it. He felt pretty cool. Then it was his first time in the mountains, first time seeing the ocean, first time on a chair lift, first time on an alpine slide, first time driving a go-cart on his own...needless to say he experienced a lot and we all had a blast!

Another big thing for Nolan this past summer was that he WENT OFF THE DIVING BOARD!!! Once he overcame his fear of that we could not get him off of it. He even got brave enough to start doing "tricks" that about gave me a heart attack, but hey, I just have to let him be a boy! Seriously that kid just fills me up with pride. I am so proud of him and to see him over come his fears makes me so happy. He went through an anxiety phase, but you would never know it today, so it makes me extra happy for that!

Nolan continues to be a great helper and especially loves being his dad's little side kick. Nolan also started his first year of Sunday school. Danny and I are teachers every other week. Nolan has really enjoyed it. Alaina is not old enough for Sunday school yet, but when Danny and I teach she is our little "helper" - but somehow it ends up being more work for us when she comes. LOL.

Ok - I will finish up on all things Nolan and then more about Alaina....Nolan went with Daddy to softball every Thursday night, he is still a huge Daddy's boy, he loved hitting baseballs in the backyard with Daddy, we celebrated his 4th birthday at Riverside pool with friends and family - it was a perfect day for swimming. For his actual birthday I took him and Alaina swimming again and then we went to the Red Pepper for his birthday dinner (his choice of course!) A few days after his birthday my poor guy had surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids - hardest but best decision for him - he has been great ever since (knock on wood) - he did so great with his recovery as well...about 2 hours after we got home he was eating a sloppy joe! We could not keep him still...he just wanted to play football, hockey and wrestle! Nolan did a 4 week soccer class in the fall, then we signed him up for skating lessons for the winter. He is doing great. He can write his name on his own, he loves Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles, he is as sweet as ever, I think his age was the most fun for Christmas this year...everything he opened he said "this is awesome!!!". I can't say enough good about that boy. He also got to be a Central Bench Buddy for the Central hockey team. Such a fun thing for him. They announced his name for the starting line up and he stood with the team for the National Anthem. He got to sit on the bench for warm ups and then helped pick up pucks. Again, I am so proud of him for doing this since he was nervous to go out there. I think it was his biggest highlight of the year!!!

My little miss Alaina is still our little "winkster". She keeps us on our toes that is for sure. She still loves her books and is lovig her babies. She is such a good little "mommy". She is always asking for some sort of treat...this girl is the definition of "sweet tooth" - she starts asking as soon as we wake up in the morning. Over the summer Alaina started going pee-pee in the potty, but that stubborn little lady was hard to crack...she ended up being completely potty trained over Christmas break - we put undies on her and didn't look back and she did soooo good. Only one accident and is even dry at night. So proud of her. Alaina really has an eye for parks. I swear she sees every single one we drive by. This past summer we tried to hit up as many parks as we could because every time we drove around Alaina would see a park and say "I want to go there!" Our favorite though is Sertoma. She is so funny - she has come up with nick names for Dan and I - mine is "Mama Bama" and she calls Danny "Daddy Purpur" - seriously how does she know that is funny?! She is too smart for her own good. Alaina got to go skating this fall/winter too. She went to her first hockey game at the Ralph to watch my cousin Casey play for Northern Michigan against the Sioux - she was mainly interested in the concession stands. Alaina just started her first dance class at Dance Etc. It is a "dance with me" class so I dance with her. I sure can't wait to be in the dance recital with her....hahaha! I really wish my grandma was still here because I know she would get the biggest kick out of our Alaina. Everytime Alaina tests my patience I just know my grandma is laughing at me and loving every minute of it.

Over the summer both kids' highlights were probably all of our trips to the park and to the pool. They still talk about the movie in the park as well. We saw Mary Poppins at Riverside park and it was a hit for both kid. My cousin Jenna watched both kids this past summer again. We also took kids to the Warren fair again...they are actually old enough to enjoy some of the kiddy rides. We all loved it. I just won't put them back on the kiddy roller coaster again...they both came off crying from being jostled around...ugh I felt so bad! For halloween Nolan was a Ninja Turtle and Alaina was an owl. Luckily it was nice enough to trick-or-treat outside. We were out for quite a while and the kids just loved it. They were troopers! They still talk about it!

Both kids also got to be in Jake and Krissy's wedding. They did so good. Not sure how we got them to do it, but they both walked down the isle without a fuss. Oh I was so proud of them and just so happy they didn't make a scene at the wedding too of course! They had a blast at the dance too and danced the night away. Nolan did not leave the dance floor once! We finally peeled him off the dance floor around 10pm. He is quite the dance machine!

The Fall was a bit crazy for us. We put our house up for sale the end of September and were out of it by the end of November. We lived at my mom's house for the month of December. We finally moved in to our new house in the beginning of January. Nolan has adjusted great. My little Alaina is having a harder time. I have had to fall asleep with her pretty much every night since we moved out of our house. It was kind of hard to leave the house that we brought all of our babies home to, but we are looking forward to all of our new memories in our new home!

Oh my goodness I think I have said enough...I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

Alaina is 2!

Alaina is a busy mom!  It's a good thing she has her goofy brother to help her out :)

Nolan's first time on an airplane!

Driving the go-cart all on his own!

First time on an alpine slide.  So much fun!

Fun painting our birdie houses!

The big moment of Noan jumping off the diving board!

How sweet is my little ring bearer and flower girl

Dance machines

Fun at the Warren Fair

We have a 4 year old!

Nolan's first day of Sunday School

Alaina's first day of being a "helper" at Sunday School

Walking so nice to Sunday school together.  Melt my heart!

Fun at Riverside Pool on Nolan's birthday

Alaina finally gets to go out on the ice!

My ninja and owl

They did great at the Church Christmas Program

Saying goodbye to our old house!  Very bitter-sweet.

Looking forward to new memories in our new house.

Alaina's first time at a movie in theaters.  We saw Dispicable Me 2.

The outdoor movie was a huge hit!

Alaina's first day of dance class at Dance Etc.

Our little Bench Buddy

Kids loving the hills at Lincoln Park

Alaina's first time at a hockey game at the Ralph.  They loved watching uncle Casey warm up.  Go Wildcats!

My sweet guy just after getting his tonsils and adenoids out.  He was such a trooper

So cool that he got to stand with the team during the National Anthem!  Huge Highlight of the Year!

Quick Catch Up!

Wow.  I have gone the entire winter without any posts.  Overall we had a great winter - minus the fact that it was too long and cold!  So here is our winter/spring in a nutshell...

Our most exciting weekly event would have to be going to open skating at the VFW.  Nolan and his buddy Tyler have improved so much and really enjoy skating.  I know Danny was happy to not have to hold him up for the entire time.  However, Danny did take Alaina on the ice for a few laps when we would go.  She sure enjoyed skating with Daddy. 

Christmas was the usual chaotic fun, but we would not have it any other way!  We did not visit Santa this year.  Instead we very quickly walked by him at the mall and waved.  Neither of my kids were brave enough to sit on his lap.  We also had to reassure both of them that Santa was going to drop their presents off in the middle of the street and Mom and Dad would get them.  Santa did NOT come in our house ;) 

Nolan officially became a BIG BOY when we got him to break his blanket sucking habit (ick I know) but it was his soothing comfort.  We got him all "big boy" blankets and he never looked back!  I was hoping that him not sucking anymore would help with him getting sick all the time, but unfortunately not.  My poor Nolan was sick at least once, if not twice a month all winter.  I just pray this means he is going to have a "sick free" summer!  Nolan is a huge Daddy's boy and wants to do everything his dad does.  He still loves his hockey guys and is still the same old sweet, loving, helpful, caring little man.  He is starting to trace his name and is getting very good at drawing shapes and some letters.  I cannot express enough how sweet he is.  

Alaina is at the age where something new comes out of her mouth everyday!  She can count to 15, say her ABC's, sing several songs and she has a great vocabulary.  Right after the first of the year she decided to crawl out of her crib, so the next day we had her set up in a big girl bed (she is such a monkey!).  We did not get any sleep for about a month after that.  She sure is little miss independent!  She also decided that she was too big for her booster chair at the table and now sits like a big girl.  So dinner time is a constant battle of keeping her at the table...oh well that's the way it goes.  She went through a short (happy to say short) phase of biting, scratching, pinching.  We got that taken care of right away!  She is still a book worm and goes to sleep with about 7 books in bed with her.  She finally got all of her 2 year molars!!!!  (I sure hate teething)  Her favorite phrase is "who dat?"  for everything.  She continues to be a huge Mommas girl.  She likes to sing the National Anthem along with Nolan and introduces her sesame street friends like Nolan introduces his hockey guys.  She is obesessed with Barney.  Oh my is she sweet, but an equal amount of "stinker" is in her too ;)

 I just can't get enough of these 2!  I love that they love snuggling in bed together to watch a movie!

 My tough Little lady.  This is what happens when you sneak up behind your big brother when he is playing baseball! 

 Swimming fun at Choice for Katelyn's birthday!!

 They were so sweet helping my mom put flowers at the cemetery for my Grandma and Grandpa!

 Who knew going to the cemetery could be so much fun!

 We love when our little cousin Briella comes to visit.  I'm not sure how well Briella likes to get tackled though!

 Alaina got to ride the pony at the circus!

Kids on Mother's Day.

 First time in a photo booth.  They are too funny and had lots of fun doing this and they actually turned out pretty good!

 My goofy man!

Nolan got a whole golf set from the Whalen's.  He is pretty thrilled about it!

It's Been Too Long...

It's been so long I am not sure where to begin....Nolan was a Cop for Halloween and loved it.  Danny dressed up as Nolan's "bad guy" as he called him, so he thought that was pretty fun. Alaina was a lion, which fit her perfectly since she likes to "roar" at us all the time to scare us.  Their favorite game to play is hide-and-seek, and both love the thrill of Danny or I popping out of our hiding spots to scare them.  Both kids really enjoyed the Potato bowl parade.  Alaina was much more daring than Nolan.  He stuck pretty close to the curb and Alaina wanted to go right up to the floats.  Both kids were great helpers in the yard this fall.  Nolan especially loved putting the leaves in the big pumpkin garbage bags.  Halloween was all around the most fun holiday so far for both kids and Alaina also discovered a new love for Whoppers.  Ugh...she is still asking for them! 

Nolan loves going to open skating and checking his dad into the boards, he loves to sit in the penalty box, he is obsessed with playing with his "hockey guys" (they are basically real people to him), he loves Sprite, I think he is the only 3 year that can quote lines from the TV show "Home Improvement" and even does the Tim Allen grunt (he says he likes Al the best LOL), he still loves to be a little helper and is honestly the sweetest little boy ever.  Nolan also just started his first round of swimming lessons and loves it.  We also put him in a sports class for something to do on Saturdays.  It's only a 4 time thing, but so far he has learned about basketball and he has discovered he does not like dribbling.  Good thing he isn't crazy about the sport he won't have much height for!! 

Alaina's new favorite thing to do is "hands, hands, hands" (aka wash hands), she loves to swim in the tub, loves to throw her food all over the floor and put her empty plate on her head and yells "happy, happy" for whatever reason, loves her Bauer Boy, huge Momma's girl, wants to do everything her brother does, but refuses when he comes in for a hug, she is a little instigator, she loves going to Holly's, she likes going to skating with Nolan and getting a few minutes on the ice wtih Daddy, loves reading and puzzles, Mickey Mouse, likes to lay in Nolan's bed with him while he watches a movie before bed, and is overall a typical 18 month old little stinker.

Alaina, Nolan and their friends Austin and Sophia at the Potato Bowl Parade. 

Good little helpers out in the yard this fall

Goofin' around at the Pumpkin Patch

Family Hay Ride at Pumpkin Patch

Nolan with his buddy Tyler cleaning out pumpkins. 

Nolan with his first and only arrest on Halloween

Both chose authority for Halloween!

Alaina doing her new favorite thing..."hands, hands"

I could not love two people any more!  So sweet

Nolan at his sports class.  They were learning the "defensive stance".  Probably the funniest thing to watch him do!

Nolan and his buddy Tyler in the penalty box.  Nolan always stops here for a penalty after each lap

My sweet little lady getting to have some fun on the ice too!

Nolan at his first swimming class