One Whole Year

Exactly one year ago today, my Mom had just left Hudson to head back home leaving me, a first time Mom, to fend for myself.  It was the first time I had been alone since Nolan was born.  Bjorn was back to work, my Mom was gone and here I was alone with my new baby.  I kept thinking, Danielle you can do this, you were a nanny for years for little babies…you've got this!  ...And then the power went out.  And then came the waterworks/breakdown.  It was cold, what if Nolan freezes!  What about my pumped breast milk, I CANNOT lose that!  It's getting dark and I'm scared because I'm a 29 year old woman who is still afraid of the dark....

Fast forward to present day.

I honestly can't believe how fast this past year has gone.  Those hormonal days of crying and sleep deprivation seem like a distant past although easy enough to recall every detail and bring a slight chill down my spine ;)  I'll be honest, while I LOVED my new baby, I didn't really love that first month of being a Momma.  You're extremely tired, your hormones are CRAZY (my L&D nurse told me that once you delivery the placenta, the hormonal shift your body experiences is equivalent to going through menopause), your body feels super squishy and your lady parts feel like you got kicked by a large horse.  But after that first month, things got better.  Life slowly got back to normal, well, my new normal.  Now here I am, blogging on my couch, watching recorded television after a lovely 8 hour sleep as my son takes his first nap of the day.  The problem with the first month is that on top of being incredibly tired, your mind is so consumed with figuring out how to take care of a newborn, that you can't see all of the wonderful things that lie ahead.  I remember one specific night as I nursed Nolan before bed, starting to bawl as I sat in the rocker.  Bjorn came in and asked me what was wrong...My response:  "I can't believe how many diapers I am going to have to change.  He is going to be in diapers forever...I don't think I can do that!"  And sob, sob, sob.  Umm, yikes! 

It wasn't until I started opening up to friends who had had babies before myself, that I started to not feel so crazy.  They all reassured me, it's gets so much better.  So for all you first time Momma's, just know that your vagina WILL go back to normal, your hormones will balance out and just because you feel sad and cry at times doesn't mean you have PPD (my MD had to reassure me on this one) And lastly, talk to God.  I found that my relationship with God grew closer during my pregnancy and especially after having Nolan.  I found myself relying on Him more than I ever have.  My daily prayers usually consisted of praying for strength, health and clarity.  He got me through many of those tough days and sleepless nights.  So when you're up at 3 a.m. remember, there is always someone there to listen.

And here we are...one year later.  I can say things are beyond amazing!  Our little man is growing and thriving and sooo stinkin’ entertaining.  I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight and feel like my old self again.  Bjorn is the absolute BEST Dad.  His job is going so well and he works hard to provide for our little family.  Nolan, Petri and I think he's the best ;)  Here is some more about what has happened so far in 2015. 

In February, we traveled to Playa Del Carmen Mexico.  Nolan did so well!  This germ-a-phob Mom let him; eat sand, stay up way past his bedtime, crawl on a restaurant's floor, sit in a highchair without wiping it down, drink fresh squeezed juice and eat the food.  I wasn't going to let him eat anything that I didn't bring myself or that wasn't in a can from the store just to try and prevent tummy issues but that lasted all of 24 hours and I said…what the hay.  We didn't run in to any tummy issues either!  Oh AND we let a nanny that we had never met watch him not 1, but 3 nights in a row.  She seemed very trustworthy and was super friendly.  Her Mom is the accountant for the property company who owns the condo, sooo..she wasn't a complete stranger ;)  When she first arrived it was really hard for me not to ask "Are you sick?  Have you had your vaccines?  Can you please use the santizer?"  But instead, I decided to relax and knew that things would be fine.  Hey, this was right after the Disneyland outbreak so it was on my radar  ;)

Nolan and his first babysitter in Mexico.  So sweet :) 

His "smile" (he only does this when I use my big camera)

Tired baby

We loved our morning walks to the French bakery!

Not a bad view ;)

Yummm..more sand

Fresh squeezed guava, mango and orange juice

Up way past his bedtime

Attempt number 5 at a decent family photo

turtle power and fresh squeezed juice

Buddies

The other photos consisted of him trying to pull himself over the ledge..

Watching the big kids play

Booty booty

Ole!

We have already planned our trip for next year and have decided to stay 2 weeks!  Can't wait!

In March, our little guy turned ONE.  We celebrated by inviting friends and family to his big birthday bash at Troy Burne.  We did a golf themed party and the kiddos seemed to have a great time!  We have a few other trips coming up this Spring and can't wait to do some more traveling! 

Fun facts:

Sleep:  Bedtime is between 7:30-8.  Usually we start bedtime routine at 7:30 and he's asleep by 8.  He sleeps between 11-12 hours a night.  If he wakes up before 12 hours, I let him stay in his crib to what would be the 12 hour mark.  Sometimes he fusses but usually he is fine just playing in there.  He needs to learn that 12 hours is a necessary sleep time!  I know some people have mentioned bringing him in to our room to lounge and watch cartoons for a while.  That would be great if the kid sat still.  He will watch TV for all of 1 minute and then he is ready to get down and play.  So until the day comes where he can veg out for a bit, he will be staying in his crib :)  He still naps twice a day.  About once or twice a week he will refuse that second nap if he takes a long first nap but will still lay in his crib "resting" for at least an hour.  Usually his naps are 1.5-2 hours. 

Eat:  He eats pretty much anything now.  We have tried peanut butter, strawberries and eggs and so far he hasn't reacted to anything.  Whew.  He still takes a morning bottle and a night bottle.  Sometimes he will have an afternoon bottle as well.  The bottles are all whole milk and the only time he gets formula is before bed.  We use the toddler formula at the suggestion of our nanny saying it will help keep him full through the night.  I think it definitely helps.  In the next few weeks I'm going to try and wean that first bottle even though he is starving when he first wakes up.  We shall see how that goes!

Play:  Nolan moves non-stop.  He loves being outside and will throw a little tantrum if you open the door and don't let him out.  I let him walk around the deck in the morning if it's nice and when we come back in, he will bang on the sliding glass door to go back out.  He loves his wagon as well as his push car (thanks Whitney!) so we try to get outside whenever we can.  He loves anything that has to do with a ball.  Typical boy.  He got a new basketball hoop for his birthday and loves standing by it until we lift him up to "dunk" it.  He loves to dance as well.  Most nights for dinner we have a theme.  I pick a Pandora station and that's our theme for dinner.  Michael Buble/Bob Marley and Pearl Jam radio are some of our favorites.  If it's a Buble night, we light some candles and keep it real classy ;)

Words:  He has started to mimic us this last week.  Yesterday I was putting him in his car seat and I said "Oh shoot it's stuck" and he repeated "tuck".  Guess we are going to really work on watching what we say now.  He core word bank consist of  "Mama, Da-Da, Ball, Book, pah-pah (Petri) Mo (more), Ea (eat) Hah (hot) Oh-uh, Ba-ba (bottle), Bath and Bye-Bye".   He will say bye-bye and blow kisses when someone leaves and has said "Hi" a few times when asked to say it.  He understands a ton!  I can give him a piece of trash and say "go throw that in the trash" and he will make his way to the kitchen and 50% of time actually throw it away...the other times he makes it to the trash and then ends up picking up stuff that is in the trash and running away with it.  Soo, we're getting there.  He loves his baths and when asked if he wants to take a bath he will make his way to the tub.  This happened last night...

Hehe..high kick!

He does headstands allllll the time..Now he is working on somersaults.  So if you ask him to do a somersault, he will do his headstand and get on his tippy toes and wait for you to come flip him over.  Anna Taylor is responsible for his love of somersaults! ;)

He knows where "A, B and Q" are on his letter mat.  He will hold up a letter and look at you like he wants to know it's name.  A, B and Q are the ones he can find on his own when asked. 

Our Nanny:  We hired Denai back in December after she did some temp work for us when we let our first one go.  Thank the lord we let her go because Denai has been so amazing!  Nolan will start doing something new and Bjorn and I look at each other like umm, I didn't teach him that.  She works on sign language with him and so far he signs "more, eat, all done, shoe, help, please and thank you" However, thank you looks very similar to when he blows a kiss.  Either way, she has helped him develop and become such a smart little boy! 

We have also been able to find some great babysitters in the area which is wonderful because it's important to remember who you started this journey with.  Sometimes it gets hard when all of your energy and effort goes in to your little one but with Nolan getting older and our life becoming more balanced, it's become easier to make time for date nights.  We now consider them a necessity and try to have one at least once a week.   



I cannot wait for this Summer to come!  Not only am I looking forward to warm weather, I'm looking forward to spending time at the cabin, wearing a two-piece (ha!) watching Nolan explore the outdoors (I plan on us being outside everyday) and golfing with my man, golfing in ladies league and golfing in the ladies Chuck Wagon at Mission Hills with my Momma this June!  This Summer is going to be a great one! 

Cheers to surviving our first year as a family of 3!  We couldn't have asked God for a more perfect year ;)

10 Months!

Well it's been quite some time since my last post.  I write posts in my head almost every day but never actually sit down to write them.  A lot of them are super funny or thought provoking and deep and I come to write it down and ..nothing.  Or I write it down and turns out it wasn't very funny.  Apparently I'm funnier in my head....

Note:  I'm writing this post as I watch recorded TV, speficially, The Bachelor.  So if some of this doesn't make sense, you can blame it on Chris and his naughtiness...he is a hornball! 


Anyways, I can't believe my baby is 10 months old!   Where did the last 10 months go??  I honestly have no idea.  I constantly find myself browsing through "old" photos of the first few months sometimes wishing I could repeat all of those days but then I think to the now, and realize how much I love this stage!  I feel like I'm saying that every month.."Ohh I love this stage!"  Nolan is a real spitfire with such a fun personality.  He is a ball of energy and literally never stops moving from the time he wakes up until the time he goes to sleep.  He LOVES his balls!  Both the ones you play with on the floor and the ones he pulls when I change his diaper.  He loved his weiner the minute he found out that it was there.  Every time we change his diaper, it's the first thing he grabs and he pulls on it soo hard!  I mean he stretches the dang thing!  Eeks..It looks like it hurts but he seems perfectly content.  I'm still not sure what to have him call his beloved private part.  I really don't like "pee-pee" but "weiner" sounds a bit harsh.  I've considered "thingy" as an option as well as "dingy" and "wee-wee".  Any suggestions?    I hope poor Nolan never reads this...he will be mortified :)
....Back to the balls.  He loves to play with his toy balls the most.  Every time he picks one up, he proudly says "ball" and looks to us like "see how smart I am?!"  He LOVES his new playroom that Daddy surprised Mommy with for Christmas.  Yep, the day has come when you ask for a playroom for Christmas.  I have begun to add some pinterest creations and it's still a work in progress but I think it so adorable! 

Some of his other favorite things are the refrigerator, dish washer and any and all of the drawers in the kitchen.  When you open the fridge he quickly crawls over and says "burr burr".  It's pretty adorable.  His other words include; balloon (which sounds like 'ball' but he will point to the balloon) bye-bye, bottle (ba-ba),  poop (when asked to say it, he has no idea what it means) bath (which sounds similar to 'ball' but he will crawl to the bath tub)  Uh Oh, book, baby (which also sounds like 'byebye') and Mama (which he has only said once when he saw me during a FaceTime call..it was awesome!)  Oh and he also says "Ga Ga" ...Haha. 

He began crawling around 7 months so up until now, that was his preferred method of transportation.  Recently he has been transferring from one item to the next.  Coffee table to couch, mom to dad, etc.  This past week he's finally started to take more than two steps on his own.  We are really encouraging the walking (which we may later regret) because we are going to Mexico in a few weeks and would love for him to be walking then.   This is from today...I'm one proud Mama!

                                          

 

     

Other Nolan facts

*He has 7 teeth.  I thought he had cut his top molars but they are just swollen. 

*He is starting to understand things you say.  When you say "where is your choo-choo?", he will go get his Thomas the Train ride on toy.  If you say "where is your balloon?"  He will go "ba" and point up to the tall ceiling where the balloon has floated to.  It's actually kind of sad because he just stares at it and points.  Its too high up, we can't get it down!  And if you say "are you ready for your bath?" He will crawl quickly to the bathroom, stand up by the tub and bang on the side.  It's all so adorable.  I'm pretty obsessed.

*At his 9 month appointment, he was 94% for height, 98% for head and 54% for weight. 

*His bedtime is between 7:30 and 7:45.  He usually sleeps 12 hours.  Sometimes a bit longer, sometimes shorter.  If he gets up at 7, we let him stay in his crib until 7:30.  (Unless he starts crying, which has only happened a few times)

*He takes two naps a day.  First between 9:30-10 and the other between 2:30-3.

*He eats 3 meals a day which consist mostly of pureed food but we offer finger food as well.  His favorite are steamed carrots, mandarin oranges and bananas.  His favorite pureed food is papaya and apples.  He LOVES papaya.  I make most of his food but buy packets for when I'm feeling lazy or when we travel.  In between those meals he has a total of 4-5 bottles as well as water in a sippy cup that he carries around with him all day.

*He gets a blanket when he sleeps and he loves to cuddle up with it during the night.  Sometimes he takes it and covers his whole self.  That's not my favorite thing because he likes to cover his face but he likes it.  He only seems to do that during naps and then I'll sneak in and remove it from his face :)

*He loves loves loves Books!  If you ask him to grab you a book, he will bring one over to you, snuggle up in your lap and actually sit still!  I will read 6-8 books at a time and he will sit through every one. 

   

I'm going to end this post on a bummer note.  Poor Nolan is sick :(  Prior to this, he has had one ear infection and a few minor colds with congestion.  This sickness is by far his worst.  It began Sunday evening.  I noticed he sounded a little congested when I got home from work.  I suctioned him out, turned the humidifier on and laid him down.  He was sooo restless all night.  He would sit up and whimper but then lay back down and go back to sleep.  10 minutes later he would do the same.  Bjorn ended up going in there, suctioning him and letting him sleep on his chest for a while.  I scheduled a doctors appointment for him on Monday and Bjorn and the nanny took him since I had to work.  The doctor said it was most likely a viral cold and time would heal.  When I got home from work, he was already asleep but I could hear his congestion and snoring over the monitor.   He coughed all night and finally woke up crying and choking around 2:30 am.   Poor baby was basically choking on his mucus...it was super thick and had just been pooling there.  He was also burning up.  I listened to his lungs and he was super wheezy and coarse.  So I sat in his chair and let him sleep on my chest for a few hours then laid him back down.  Tuesday, I could tell he was just off.  Very fussy and clingy and still febrile despite ibuprofen and Tylenol.   I made another appointment because I just knew something was off.  Crazy Mom calling the clinic again... Well I'm sure glad I took him because he had developed a pretty nasty ear infection as well as a sinus infection.  They started him on antibiotics, so we are hoping that helps kick the infection.  If it doesn't completely kick it by Monday, they want to start him on Augmentin..  So both Bjorn and I haven't slept much the past few nights and my house is a disaster BUT as weird as this is going to sound, I am loving cuddly Nolan.  Obviously I want him to be healthy..but he just crawls up to me and rests his little head on my chest during the day!  He has NEVER done this before...even when it's time for bed (when he's healthy) I try to cuddle with him but he whines until you put him in his crib and then he is happy!  So I'm welcoming this feeling of being needed.  I love the cuddles, I love taking care of him, I love that he trust me to make him feel better..and really, what's a few sleepless nights here and there.

...However, I work tomorrow so I'm hoping tonight he snoozes right through ;) 

                                           Here are a few recent photos for your viewing pleasure

Pants high - don't care

Sick baby reading his book :)  He loves the "baby"

Laughing at one of his favorite books

 Until next time!



A Month Of Firsts

Well it's been a month of first here in the Nesvold household. 

*Bjorn and I's first trip without baby.

*Nolan's first time at the fair

*Nolan's first tooth!  (well teeth)

*Nolan's first day of daycare

*Nolan's first swim lesson

                  and


*Nolan's first ear infection


Bjorn and I left over Labor Day weekend (Thursday-Sunday) and headed to Alexandria, VA for my friend Brittney's wedding.  I felt really good about the decision not to bring Nolan because I knew we needed a trip just the two of us and he would be in good hands with my Mom and Grandma (tutu) who were driving up to take care of him.  However, the day before we were supposed to leave I started to get sad!  Then I started to have all of these morbid thoughts about dying and how I would feel awful about leaving Nolan parentless....what?!?  Seriously, I've never been afraid to fly.  I've flown since I was little and have always loved it.  But this time, I was nervous.  During take-off my palms were super sweaty and I kept trying to distract myself by reading the 3 trashy gossip magazines I bought in the airport.  Obviously everything went fine, but is this what it's going to be like going forward??  Nervous nelly thinking death thoughts every time we leave??  Whew...this is going to be exhausting :) 

Anyways, we had such a fun time in Alexandria and really enjoyed having it just be the two of us.  It actually wasn't that weird not having Nolan there.  It felt just like any other time we traveled together...probably because we did quite a bit of traveling together before Nolan was even a thought.  On Thursday we walked around Old Town.  We shopped a little and bar/restaurant hopped.  Friday, we headed to Arlington Cemetery to visit my Papa.  It's the third time I've visited since he was laid to rest and I still get choked up.  He was such a wonderful man and was my best friend.  I know he would have been such a good Grandpa to Nolan.  We will make sure to tell Nolan all about him when he's older.  Saturday was wedding day! It was so fun being a part of such a great friend's special day as well.  The wedding was beautiful.  She was a beautiful bride and I'm so happy for her and Matt.  Can't wait for you to make some little leprechauns so Nolan will have some buddies :)

                                                

                                                             Clam shots at the Clam Bar

                                              

                                                        Visiting my Papa at Arlington

                
                                               
                                                       FaceTime with our little man

 

 

When we returned from our trip, we decided to make that Monday (labor day) a fun-filled family day and head to the state fair.  My Mom and Grandma were staying the rest of the week so they came with.  It was actually really fun!  Nolan had a great nap before we left and then was up for 5.5 hours straight...not sure how he did it and he was so happy the whole time.  Usually he is only up for about 1.5-2 hrs at a time, so we were impressed.  Nolan got his fair share of people watching and weird smells to last him the whole year :)

 

He was mesmerized by the cows

 

Haha..this makes me laugh.  

 

 

My Mom playing the 'shoot out the red star' game...her favorite :)

A few days after the fair Nolan seemed to be a little off.  He going crazy trying to chew on everything (even more than he already had been)  and just a little extra fussy.  He wouldn't take his bottle unless he was almost asleep, so I knew something was up.  My Mom put him down for a nap one afternoon and said she felt something sharp in his mouth and sure enough, once we he woke up, we could see the little tooth that popped through!  I was so excited!  A few days later the second one came through so now he has two cute little stubs on the bottom :)  I've heard horror stories about babies teething, so if this is how my child handles teething, I'm a happy Mama! 

 

Nolan's first day of daycare was on Monday, September 8th.  Unfortunately I had to work so I couldn't drop him off.  But Bjorn did a great job of getting him ready and his bag all packed!  Side Note: As Nolan has grown older, I've done a really good job of trying not to do everything and being okay with things done 'not my way' when it comes to Nolan.  Bjorn is really good at being a Daddy :)

 

Nolan doesn't do early mornings...

He had his first swim lesson the day after he started daycare.  We signed up at Foss in Woodbury for a 15 week long session Tuesdays.  He loves them so far!  We have only been to two because of him being sick but the second class he just splashed away!  My good friend Dana and her son, baby G are in our class so Nolan learns how to act like a big kid from Gary (Gary is 3 months older than Nolan:)

Hopefully we can snag some pictures during his next class. 

The last first...Nolan's first ear infection. :(  I knew starting daycare meant the introduction of new germs and I had accepted this fact.  I just didn't expect for it to happen this quick?!  It's not like I've had my son hibernating the past 6 months.  We go out all of the time.  I really let whoever hold him (including random strangers on the plane....I had to pee and figured the lady next to me looked pretty normal)  he chews on toys that were dropped on the floor (on accident) chews on our socks that are on the ground, people's fingers..etc.  I'm not saying that I let him do this stuff...I think it's gross but he's pretty quick these days and I can't keep everything out of his mouth.  Anyways, he went to daycare Monday.  First swim lesson Tuesday and Wednesday morning when he woke up, he was congested.  I suctioned him a few times in the morning and he seemed better so I sent him back to daycare so I could run some errands before I picked up my Dad at the airport.  When we picked him up later in the day, he sounded really congested and had a runny nose.  That night I ended up suctioning him out multiple times (with the nose frida!  best. thing. ever).  I pulled out his rock n play from storage and put him to bed in that.  Luckily the kid still slept 11 hours.   

This blog post was started a while back...now it's October 7th and I'm just finishing it...also, my child is still sick.  Just when he got a little better in late September, I sent him back to daycare.  When I dropped him off I noticed a few kiddos with runny noses and the teacher seemed to sound like she didn't have much for a voice.   I swear it wasn't 4 days later and he was at it again..coughing all night long.  That turned into a cough, sneeze and runny nose.  Which progressed to congestion in his nose as well as his chest.  The dry cough turned into a productive cough which he does not like the taste of the junk he coughs up.  His facial expressions are pretty funny.  I feel so bad for the kid, he can't catch a break.  I'm all about exposing him to germs, but the good ones.  Since he was a week old, I've been taking him to the mall, flying on airplanes, letting whoever hold him, doing so because I knew it was important to expose him.  But daycare germs are just nasty.  Plus, it seems like everyone I talk to is sick with the change of weather.  Sooo, we wait.  He has been to the doctor twice and the doc verified that it's just a virus...a really long virus.  Today is day 11.  The doctor said he has noticed this virus going around and on average it's been lasting 3-4 weeks...super.  At least the little guy is sleeping well.  Most days he eats great however there are times when he so congested it's hard for him to drink his bottle.  Despite all of this sickness, he continues to be his sweet little self.  I feel so blessed to have such a happy little boy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other little random bits about the little guy:

At his 6 month check-up (actually done at 6 1/2 months)  He weighed 17lbs 11 oz and measured 28.5 inches.  As of today, he weighs 18 lbs 8 oz. 

 

 

He loves to roll all over the living room hunting down his toys.  He loves the remote and recently gets a little angry when we take it away...not looking forward to the attitude!

 

 

He has been sitting up by himself for a while now and is almost able to go from laying on his stomach to sitting up. 

 

 

He is so close to crawling.  Right now he just uses his right arm to inch his way forward...your typical baby army crawl :)

 

 

He sleeps about 11 1/2 hours a night.  Naps are usually 1.5 - 2 hours.  And he takes 3 a day most days. 

 

 

He has two bottom teeth.  I haven't noticed any others that look like they are ready to make an appearance any time soon.

 

 

He LOVES puffs.  His favorite foods are green beans, peas and peaches. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

First Twin's game.  Trying to steal baby Everett's pacifier :)

Sleepy babies!

 

 

 

That's it for now!