Friday Night (post baby)

An Idea for a Christmas Card, Perhaps?

Merry Christmas from The Nashes! (Click that, by the way.)

To make your own, click here.

He's Famous Part 2!

Alright this is bigger than that last He's Famous post I made. That was local. This is national. Ever heard of Parents magazine? Pretty much every mom on the face of the planet has picked it up and read it at least once in their lifetime, right? Well they have a web spin off called Goodblog. It's packed with lots of great stuff like give-aways, news articles and just cool stuff. Every Thursday they feature a cute kid and they call it, what else, Cute Kid Thursday. Well guess who was picked this week? This would be a pretty mean lead-up if it wasn't William, wouldn't it? But it is William!

Click here to check it out (you may have to scroll down to see it) and don't forget to leave a comment for all of America to see!

My Favorite Part of Having a 1-Year-Old

He plays by himself! This morning he gave me time to eat breakfast in peace and quiet AND still more time to clean up the kitchen. Small miracles. But let me tell you. It was risky business taking this picture. Like not wanting to wake a sleeping giant.

William's New Toy

Our Internet has been painfully slow these past couple of days thus my absence. But it's back in full force and so am I.

Here's a video of William and one of his new birthday presents. Thanks to Uncle Kevin, Aunt Nicky, Lauren, Addison and Tommy!

Good Report, Naughty Shots

Today was William's 12-month doctor check-up. Everything looked great. He's in the 25th percentile for weight (21 lbs) and the 50th for both height (29.8 inches) and head circumference (18.25 inches). Developmentally he's at the 15-month stage. Although his weight is completely normal (he's steadily been in the 25th percentile since he was born) I have a hunch he would have been slightly heavier had he not had this whole throw-up and the other flu you-know-what-I'm-talking-about symptom this past week.

And then came the shots... Four of them today because I opted in for the flu vaccine not wanting to take any chances. He had a small lunch at noon and now has been sleeping ever since as he does every time he gets shots. He has to go back in four weeks to get the booster flu shot that all infants/toddlers have to get the first year they get the flu vaccine. Luckily for me that's during Christmas week when Daddy will be less busy at work and able to take him in and experience the agony every parent goes through when they watch their child get poked.

Happy Thanksgiv-blaaaah!

William is only a few days past his first birthday but he already knows how to share really well. Like sharing his stomach virus with all his cousins and aunts and uncles. Oh, and his dad.

We thought we were in the non-contagious zone by heading over to the Nashes for Thanksgiving nearly 48 hours after the last time William threw up. We had some great family time before the throw-up party began. All five of Brian's brothers and sisters and their spouses and kids were home. In the Nash home this is a very rare event. At best it happens once a year.

It was a full house. There were 11 adults, five grandchildren and two grandbabies in utero. (Meaghan and Nicky, not me!) While the Nashes still have the large home they raised all their kids in, we were busting at the seams. William and his cousin, Addison, even slept in two of the larger walk-in closets to save space. So I suppose the close quarters was an added factor in the virus that swept through the family.

The first man down was William's 17-month-old cousin, Patrick. His Uncle Mike, and 7-month-old cousin, Tommy, followed shortly after. And then there was Brian. How could I forget? William's Uncle Timmy and Aunt Molly followed later in the day.

So after two full days of family fun we decided to head home early because as Brian's brother, Kevin put it, "Everyone just wants to throw up in their house!"

Birthday Party #2

William had another birthday party this weekend while we were celebrating Thanksgiving at the Nashes. It was William's Uncle Greg's birthday on the 23rd so we had a double whammy. Here are a few pictures of the celebration.

"My Uncle Greg is so funny!"

"Yaaay! Another birthday party!"


"Mom, you're not gonna make me eat this are you? My tummy still hurts."

"I guess I'll just let everyone else do the work."

"I love when my cousin, Lauren, helps me open my presents."

"Oooooh... a remote controled car!"

"A pull-toy puppy dog from Nana and Papa!"

He's Famous!

Here's the clip I promised you.

Heeeee's One!

Today's the day for the big birthday boy. And with precise timing, as all children seem to have, he came down with a stomach virus last night. But he seems to be a lot more chipper this morning.

I can't believe it's been a whole year and at other times I feel like I've known this little boy my whole life. We love you, William and thank God every day that you've come into our life!

Tune In

Tomorrow morning William will be featured in Showcase Minnesota's First Birthdays segment. For those who would like to tune in or set their TiVos, Showcase Minnesota airs on NBC (KARE 11) at 10:00 a.m. If you're reading this from outside of Minnesota you'll just have to check back on my blog tomorrow to see the clip.

The Smash Cupcake

Birthday Party #1

I have a very busy day today but I couldn't resist posting a few pictures this morning of William's birthday party (well the first one, at least) yesterday with my side of the family.

Not Always the Fun One

This morning I was just getting out of the shower when I heard a crash followed by Brian yelling, "No! No! No! That's naughty!"

I ran down the stairs to make sure nobody was bleeding and saw the lamp tipped over on the floor and William sitting next to it.

I'm secretly glad that Brian can't always be the fun parent. Most days it seems I'm running around the house chasing William and telling him what he can't do and what he needs to do, etc. And then Brian comes home from work, fresh from a day away from the chaos that is a one-year-old, and swoops in as William's personal amusement ride.

Such is the life as a daddy, I guess.

Comparing

William loves to do "so big." Especially at dinnertime. Yesterday I remembered that I took a video of him doing "so big," or rather me doing "so big" to him, when he was just under two-months-old. Below are two videos of William doing "so big." The first was on January 16, 2007 and then second one was taken just last evening.

Birthday King

William got to celebrate his birthday a little early this morning at his Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) class. We don't have class next week because of Thanksgiving so all the teachers sang "Happy Birthday" to him and gave him a crown and a little duck. The crown is a little big for his head but it's the classic birthday crown picture that every kid has taken at some point so I had to do it.

Let the celebrations begin...

When Green and Purple Mix

Brian's parents watched William this weekend while we were away in Madison. When we came to pick him up on Sunday afternoon he was just getting up from a nap so I went upstairs to get him. And this is the sight I see. I guess when Green and Purple mix in the Nash family, Green wins. (I apologize for the quality of the photo. It was taken with my cell phone.)

ESPN Fame

This weekend Brian and I pretended we were in college again and without a baby and went to the Badger football game. If you're a college football fan in the least you'll know how cool it is that we had tickets to this game. And our seats weren't anything to complain about either: 50 yard line and 5 rows up. Even though we sat behind the opponent bench Brian and I felt star-struck to see all those famous Michigan players so close up. It was a spectacular game. Wisconsin upset Michigan 37-21.

And although I was at the game, you wouldn't know it from the following clip. See if you can recognize anyone on the right-hand side of the screen. Sitting to the left of Brian is his cousin, Chip.

The After-Dinner Dance

If These Pictures Could Talk

"No, mama. I promise I wasn't just getting into the cupboard under the sink which I know is the only cupboard I'm not allowed to open."

"I wanna push the button!"

Throwing Me All Off

This morning Brian had an 8 o'clock crentist appointment. (Any Office fans out there?) Ok, it was a dentist appointment but you know what I mean. After his appointment he came back home for about an hour before heading to his office. This has caused me to still be sitting here in my pajamas.

It seems to be a paradoxical situation. When I have Brian here to help me with the little monster, I get nothing done. My body immediately goes into weekend mode. When he gets up and goes to work as usual leaving me to fly solo, I stick to my routine and 90 percent of the time can cross everything off my list that needs doing.

Huh. Puzzler.

What Happens When You Step Away for Just a Second

And I thought this new armoire would be so much better than our old entertainment center. I guess instead of keeping William out of all our stuff, he just learns new tricks.

I ♥ Hewlett Packard

One of the things that only happens to other people just happened to us. Credit card fraud. This morning there was a whisper in my ear that was telling me to log on to my online banking account. This is strange because I just logged in at the end of last week to pay bills online so the chances of me checking my account on this, a Monday morning, typically would be rare.

But lo and behold there it was, the reason for the whisper. A $528.93 pending charge to the Hewlett Packard Home Store. Pending is the key word here. When a charge is pending there is nothing, I was told, that Wells Fargo could do about it. I simply had to wait for the charge to go through before I could file a claim with their fraud investigation department. If you've ever been the victim of fraud you will know what I mean when I say I felt like a total sitting duck. I was feeling very helpless and extremely vulnerable.

I said a little prayer that this would all be resolved quickly and efficiently. At 1:00 p.m. my prayer was answered. Hewlett Packard called me and asked if Brian had ordered a laptop recently. A huge sigh escaped me and I explained to the lady what I had just discovered this very morning. She explained to me that some flags had popped up on their end as the order was being processed because a lot of the information didn't match up and it just didn't seem right. After I profusely thanked the Hewlett Packard lady I quickly proceeded to contact Wells Fargo to cancel both our check cards and to order new ones.

With our country nearing a paperless and cashless payment process I'm not really sure what I can be doing that I'm not already doing to prevent this from happening in the future. For now I'm just going to trust in the Lord and pray for the soul who committed this crime!

Missing My Baby

Yesterday when I was at Target I decided to browse through the clearance items in the baby clothes department. William was lucky enough to get handed down many, many winter clothes from his older cousin, Patrick. But much to my dismay he's already outgrown 75 percent of those clothes and it's only the beginning of November. As I wait for the next shipment from Patrick, I decided it would be worthwhile to pick up a few $4 shirts.

As you may already know from your own experience Target baby clothes tend to run smaller than labeled and trying to be the ever-thrifty baby-clothes-shopper I quickly moved to the 24-month size after holding up an 18-months t-shirt. I've learned my lesson on that already. Any clothing item that fits perfectly now won't fit at all in a couple of weeks. Out of curiosity I also searched for a size 2T just to see what it looked like. As I pulled it out of the stack the tiniest lump came to my throat. After size 24 months they don't sell onesies with the little snappies anymore! Size 2T and up is just a regular t-shirt for, well, toddlers.

William is a little more than two weeks away from his first birthday when he will make the official shift from an infant to a toddler. He's been acting like a toddler for quite some time now but now it's going to be official. No more snappies, no more bottles, no more bouncy chairs, no more swaddles and no more mandatory tummy time.

While I'm sad about my first baby growing up I'm not devastated because I know we'll do it all over again, God willing. And it makes me wonder, will that feeling ever go away? The feeling of wanting another baby even though you've already gone through it and you know how hard it is. I remember those last few weeks of my pregnancy and how uncomfortable I was. But still, I can't wait to do it all over again. I remember hearing those hungry cries at 1:00 a.m., 2:30 a.m., and then again at 4:00 a.m. And still, I can't wait to have a baby to coddle with who, at the same time, won't try his hardest to wriggle away and grab the remote control. When do you have your last baby and know that this indeed is final number of children God has called you to bear? Because right now I feel like that longing for a new baby will never go away.

All this talk may have a lot of you thinking that I'm either pregnant or will be soon. Before you start taste-testing my alcoholic drinks to make sure that they are just that, let me set the record straight. I am not pregnant and am planning on waiting quite a few months before thinking about getting pregnant. I'm just not ready quite yet. Although I'm not sure I could say the same for Brian. But he might think a bit different if our roles were reversed. All in good time, my friend.

10 Fingers, 10 Toes

At the birth of a child it's a tradition for every parent to count the number of fingers and toes on each hand and each foot. And every parent is so grateful if they find no less than five on each hand and five on each foot...until it comes time to clip nails.

Happy All Saints Day!

Don't you just love when they sing the Litany of the Saints at mass today? I'm going without Brian today so I just hope William lets me hear it!

Roaaaaaar!

Trivia Answer

No one got the right answer to my contest question yesterday. Sorry, Brian. The correct answer was Phantom of the Opera. Do you see it now? Yeah, we don't screw around when it comes to pumpkin carving.

Halloween Fun