St. Patrick's Day Festival

For St. Patrick's Day 2015, we decided to check out downtown Henderson and the festival and carnival they put on every year!  We wanted to make the parade, but Nolan's nap was smack in the beginning of it, so we decided to opt out this year.  We made an afternoon out of hanging out at the carnival, Nolan's first one!  Although there wasn't much he could go on, he did enjoy watching everything (and everyone!), and he rode his first merry-go-round and loved it!

When we got there, we walked around the whole carnival and looked at all the rides.  Nolan was fascinated with the movement and watching other kids.  We let him run around for a bit and, after watching it closely for a few minutes, he decided he was ready to ride the merry-go-round!

When we first got on, I made the mistake of getting first in line, so once we picked our horse, we had to sit and wait for everyone else to load up and settle in.  Nolan was getting pretty impatient with this process and wanted to get off, but I kept trying to keep him sitting and interested in his horsey.  Once everyone was on and it started moving, he was a little scared and didn't know what to think.  He held on the whole time, and as we kept going around and around, he started to enjoy it and understand that this was fun!  His favorite part was passing Daddy every round, pointing to him and squealing with giddiness that he could find him and wave each time!  He warmed up to it so much that once it stopped, he cried, so we let him go once more and he loved it even more the second time around!  

After his first merry-go-round experience, we couldn't resist grabbing a Dole Whip to see if it was as delicious as the ones we had in Hawaii when we went for our honeymoon.  They were pretty close, and Nolan even got in on sharing (our devouring most of) the yummy treat.

We let Nolan run around after our snack and he danced and laughed all while watching the merry-go-round in the background.  We wore our matching shirts that day, so we snapped some fun pictures to go with our "best ever" theme!  

It was a fun day for a lot of firsts that Nolan experienced, and the weather made it feel like Spring (or summer, even!) was finally here!  Hopefully we'll be able to catch more of the St. Patrick's Day festivities next year, but enjoying the carnival was just as much fun to celebrate!  

February Happenings

Here's what the month of February had in store for us...

We watched the Superbowl, and I couldn't pass up this adorable banner from Target.  Every holiday needs decorating for... even the Superbowl!  Unfortunately, we spent the remainder of our Superbowl Sunday in the E.R. for Nolan's food allergy.

Nolan continued mastering his stair climbing, and also learned how to say "Climb" (sort of):

During nap time, I couldn't resist snapping some pictures of my big boy.... I can't believe how huge he looks here!  And how adorable he looks sleeping.  And how he needs a haircut soon!

This month we got into the habit of taking walks at least 2-3 times a week, both with and without Harley.  We're hoping to improve Harley's social skills because he barks all the time when we take him out.  Some days on our walks, he does fine, and others he is still a terror.  We're working on it.  Nolan loves to walk his dog-dog and thinks it's so funny when Harley walks right next to the stroller. I often find these eyes staring up at me during our strolls... 

After our walks, Harley passes out.  He's pretty out of shape.

We did some hanging around upside down (crazy kid)!

He brushed up on his soccer skills and has been kicking his soccer ball around the house nonstop!  He also chased the dog dog and played with an empty Kleenex box all in the same morning... oh, the life!

We celebrated Scarlett's 4th birthday at Run Plus Fun (and of course I didn't take any pictures, ugh!) and Nolan helped me make this adorable tote for her gift bag (her birthday theme was Hello Kitty)!

The weather has been SO unreal and perfect, that we decided to spend a Saturday afternoon at Cornerstone Park for a picnic.  This is easily one of our new favorite places to go!  There are a ton of geese and ducks, and Nolan absolutely fell in love with them the second he saw them on the grass.  After we hung out with the birds for a bit, we had a picnic lunch in one of the designated picnic alcove areas that overlooks the lake.  Afterwards, we went down to the water and fed the ducks and geese, and spent the afternoon running around in the grass and strolling with the stroller.  It was a perfect afternoon and we can't wait to keep going back if the weather stays nice!

We decided to try the new Shake Shack that opened up on the Strip, so we gathered our brood of kiddos and met up with Brock and Jessica for dinner one weekend.  The weather was super nice again, so we ate outside and the kiddos had a blast running around in the open space next to our table, dancing to music and playing in the dirt (boys).  The burgers were definitely amazing, and I'm tempted to say even better than In N' Out!  We loved the atmosphere and spent a while down there, just hanging out, catching up and letting the kids play.  

It was a great night until Nolan tripped and fell flat on his face on the cobblestone.... Insert biggest goose egg here:

Poor baby!  He cried for a while but was totally fine, and just had a nice souvenir shiner to take home with him!  

We attended more classes at the rec center, and Nolan finally started enjoying his Gymboree and Gymcats class after a few weeks of crying through the whole thing!  He definitely knows what he wants, when he wants it, because if he isn't ready for circle time or certain activities and wants to continue his own free time, he will let you know.  It has certainly been a struggle for us, but I want to continue taking him to these classes so he can adjust to being around other kids, different environments, and learn how to interact and follow directions.  We will continue with Gymboree once a week, and hope for the best that he will eventually go through one class with no tears!

I found a little leprechaun at a shopping trip to Hobby Lobby!  He was so cute, I had to steal some kisses from him.

Nolan has become super obsessed with all of his string pull toys, and can usually be found wandering the house with one in tow.  He's also learned to love dancing and usually does so about 5,000,000 times a day!

He wore his favorite hamster tee.

We celebrated Valentine's Day with a fun photoshoot and playing outside.  Jason and I also celebrated by going out to dinner at a new French restaurant in the Cosmo, called Bardot Brasserie.  It was delicious and was nice to be able to spend a dinner together without worrying about a mess on the floor or a toddler yelling at the top of his lungs!  We ordered drinks, the macaroni gratinee as an appetizer, and I ordered the filet mignon while Jason ordered the heritage chicken roti.  All of it was SO good!  Back at home, Nolan enjoyed a heart shaped pizza from Bistro Pizza with Grandma.  Thanks for watching him!

He has started a crazy chatter of baby cursing when he gets frustrated or angry (usually when he's told "No") and it's really hard to keep a straight face because it sounds so funny and adorable!  He also throws a grunt in now and then...

We spent more time outside at the park enjoying the awesome weather!  Nolan looooves the swings and sometimes cries when we have to leave!

Since Nolan has been shaking his head "No" for a few months, I decided to try to teach him "Yes" by shaking his head up and down.  He can't quite get those moves down yet, but he does understand that yes (to him) means shaking your whole body.  Haha!  

He also tries really hard to say certain words... and sometimes it actually comes out correct!  He said "Sticker" one afternoon, but all I could get on video was this close attempt:

Finally, the boys played together, which really meant Harley was trying to get away from Nolan while Nolan thinks it's hilarious that he can chase him around.  Found ya!

Until next month!