Oh Fudge... Only, it Wasn't Fudge....

It was a FUDGECICLE!!! hahaha! Nolan's absolute favorite past time at Nana and Papa's house... eating fudgecicles with Papa. That Papa sure knows how to spoil Nolan. Here is a picture of the common occurrence. Too funny!


(Oh and those of you that don't get it or can't remember... it's from A Christmas Story. It's a Stein Family tradition every Thanksgiving and Christmas to watch this movie on repeat!)

Riding a Ducky

Nolan got this rubber...err... this stuffed riding ducky from his Uncle Brad and Aunt Katie when he was still in my belly. It has been in Nolan's bedroom for months, readily available for him to play on; however, he has ignored it, until NOW! He is absolutely obsessed with this duck. He whines until I bring it into the living room for him to play with. He rides it and even gets brave... he will stand on the back of the duck and let his hands go. Please don't tell me he is going to be a rodeo clown, standing on horses backs!! At any rate, he found a new favorite toy!

Starbucks Addict Already?

He is definitely his daddy's boy!! All kidding aside... it wasn't coffee or anything! I had ordered a Strawberry Banana Smoothie from Starbucks, that I wasn't in love with. I figured since it was a smoothie, it wouldn't harm him. And then... Nolan took over. He loved it! He was carrying the smoothie around and actually drank most of it himself. Mmmmm......

15 Month Appointment

Okay, I know it has been a really long time and I certainly have some catching up to do. But right now, I have only got about 5 minutes before Nolan comes pulling on me to get off of the computer. Last weekend we took Nolan to his 15 Month Appointment. And of course, he is STILL growing like a weed. He weighed in at 25lbs 13oz. and was 31.5 inches long, which puts him in the 50-60th percentile. So, I guess you could say he is pretty average! Nolan loves to jibber jabber, and he occasionally says words that you can clearly understand. Our new phrase is "uh-oh"! And it is quite funny! He has started using names a lot more to get people's attention and he will also grab you by the hand to show you what he wants. I like the "showing" idea- I can finally get him to "tell" me what he wants! Oh and almost forgot, Nolan has been having a lot of gas issues. As we have been trying to transition him to Milk from Formula for the past 3 months, we have noticed that milk has been giving him terrible belly aches... the doctor thinks he may be lactose intolerant. So for now, we are switching him to lactose-free milk and we will try regular milk again at two.

Other than that, we have been the busy Stein family that we are. Daddy's been working a lot, mommy's been working and prepping for school to start again on Monday, and Nolan's been getting into everything! This is life when you have a busy family!

I promise that I will get some more posts up soon and some pics! I have a lot to share! XOXOXO

P-O-O-L

While on vacation we also took Nolan to the O'Fallon Pool. And he loved it! Of course, he loves anything associated with water. The pool has a kiddie pool with a waterfall and a ton of little kids for Nolan to play with. He latched on to these four little girls and tried to follow them everywhere... even into the deep end (1ft10in). Here are a couple picks of the fun in the sun!

Under the waterfall with Daddy
Splashing in the shallow end

BACK to the Zoo!

Daycare was closed this week, so Gary and I decided to take the week off and have some quality family time. As you know, Gary works quite a bit and doesn't get to spend as much time with us as he would like. It was so great to be together as a family this week. Made my heart melt! And as you also may know, Nolan is a total Daddy's boy, so he thoroughly enjoyed seeing his daddy EVERYDAY!

Since Gary wasn't able to come with us last week... we went back to the zoo. We went and saw the reptiles again, but everything else was new. We saw the seals splashing around and we went to the children's zoo. In the children's zoo, Nolan was able to pet the goats. And he actually loved it! We also went to the Build-A-Bear workshop at the Zoo where Nolan made a Panda. We named the bear "Baby Bear" and Nolan loves it! He has been carrying it around the house and giving it lots of hugs and kisses. So cute! Here are some pics of our family trip to the zoo.

Chloe is Here!

Aaron and Jennifer welcomed my new niece into the world on Friday, July 10. Chloe Lou Fletcher was born at 7:24pm weighing a mere 5lbs 12oz and measuring 17.5 inches. She is a tiny a little thing, but cuter than anything! Congrats to Aaron and Jennifer. And Welcome to the world baby Chloe!

Day at the Zoo!

Today we took Nolan to his first trip to the St. Louis Zoo. Nana, Papa, Aunt Karen, and the Mansons were all there to join in on the fun. Unfortunately Daddy was unable to go because he could not get off of work. :( We had a great time! Nolan loved seeing all of the animals and would get really excited when they would move. As much as I did not love the reptile house, I think that was Nolan's favorite. He could see the snakes, lizards, and turtles up close and he wanted to touch them. Thank goodness for glass barriers!! Here are some pictures from the big day. Enjoy!!

The Mansons Are Here!

Aunt Mee Mee, Uncle Jeff and the boys are in town for the week! We are so happy that they are here! It has been a year since we have seen Aunt Mee Mee and about two for Uncle Jeff and the boys. They rolled in from North Carolina on Sunday evening and we have been at Nana and Papa's as much as possible ever since. I think they are all surprised at how big Nolan has gotten and the HUGE personality that he constantly has on display.
They also brought their puppy,Lil Bit, much to Alabama's dismay! Lil Bit chases Bama and barks at her because he wants to play. Alabama just wants to be left alone! Nolan is also not too thrilled about Lil Bit. I think, perhaps, he has a little to much energy for Nolan? Sounds crazy, considering Nolan is like a little tornado, but definitly possible!
We are all planning on going to the zoo tomorrow and taking Nolan too. It wil be his first trip and I am super excited! I will be sure to post a bunch of pictures from the big day as soon as I can!
We will be enjoying the Manson's company for the rest of the week until we have to bid them farewell.... if only they would move back! :)

Trip "Home"

This weekend we took a family trip back to Champaign. The Medvick Family and the Stein Family packed into the Medvick van and braved a 3 hour trip with an 8 year old, a 14 month old, and a 5 month old. The babies did okay... Brody didn't really love being in his seat (he wanted to sit up so badly), so he put up quite the fuss. And for some reason, every time Brody would cry, Nolan thought he needed to pitch in too. Headache city!! We made a pit stop in Tuscola to shop the outlet malls... wahoo!!! And then finished our trip to Champaign.

Visiting with family was fun, and hectic. Josiah, who is Nolan's age, was visiting from San Diego, so the house was filled with babies. Hectic, yes... Interesting, yes... Fun, yes! And of course we were able to visit some of the Champaign food staples, Monicals Pizza and Custard Cup.

We made an earlier than expected exit this morning because Nolan didn't feel very well. For some reason he threw up five times this morning. We are thinking he was catching a bug. He looked miserable. Good thing is... Nolan and Brody both slept the first hour and a half of the trip! The trip home was much easier and less eventful than the ride up. Thank Goodness! Glad we made a trip home, but with two young babies, it definitely isn't easy.

So, we have been nursing a sick baby today. Plenty of love, rest, and Pedialyte! Until next time, so long Champaign!