"Little B"

I love my little girl.

Today, like many mornings, I woke up to find her all curled up and warm next to my tummy and I just smiled. She does this thing where she will saunter up to wherever you're laying down and will literally "fall" against you and then slide down to a sleeping position. She just wants to be as CLOSE to your body as possible. :)

She'd had a very rough night. We were under Severe Thunderstorm Warning and Tornado Watch all night, and the rain, thunder, and lightning were relentless. I maxed her out on Xanax and then all Kevin and I could do was hold her against her will while her heart beat like a little crazy drum inside her tiny ribcage. So I was glad to see her resting peacefully when I woke up this morning.


For those of you who know our Little B and have held her and loved on her, I'm sure you know what I mean when I say that she's very tender and sweet. I've never seen a face like she has on other shih tzus. I hope she's with us for many more years of scratching at the back door, barking at me when she wants some attention (only every now and then!), putting up with Noah kissing her over and over, and pure snuggly-ness.

When Abbie came into my life, I finally started calling myself "Mommy." And she filled a part of the gaping hurt in my heart and filled the emptiness in my arms. I love her more than she'll ever know.

She's my baby girl.

Mr. Cowboy Gardner

Noah and I planted some tulip bulbs in the Fall before the snow came. We've been anxiously awaiting their arrival this Spring! I've never planted bulbs before, so I was curious if they would really grow. I've heard that sometimes the flowers don't come up the first year, especially if it's been really cold. THAT would be the case here in 'Braska. :)



My little cowboy has been pressing his nose to the glass door every morning since the snow has melted to see if the flowers have made their way up to the sunshine yet. Sure enough! Here they are. They are fully bloomed yellow, red, and blue beauties now. But these pictures were taken when they first arrived. Noah couldn't help but do the "I'm an AWESOME gardner" dance. I think I did, too...


Oh, and Buzz Lightyear did the jig as well. After all, he DID help. :)


Hmmmm.... What should I plant NEXT year? I'm already inspired. What did YOU all plant this spring?

Love,
Nicole
@>->--

A Recent Conversation...

The lake flies have returned, causing Noah much distress and then contemplation. Since his whole LIFE revolves around going potty these days, the following exchange took place between us yesterday.

(Counting all the flies on our screen door... Probably fifty or so...)

Noah: "Mommy, do flies go poo-poo?"

Me: "Yes, they do."

Noah: "Do they go poo-poo in the potty?"

Me: "No, they go outside somewhere."

Noah: "Oh..... like maybe Salt Lake City?"


Since we'd just flown through SLC to get to Oregon, Noah has been obsessed with that city and the fact that he can say its full name. I thought his logic was quite funny... And all I could say was:

"Yes, I'm sure that the flies go poo-poo in Salt Lake City."


AND once again I'm blogging about that bodily function. :)

Go Big Red!!!

In the true "Husker" spirit, we took Noah to the Spring football game on Saturday. It's basically a scrimmage game... that over 77,000 Husker fans showed up for to cheer on their favorite team: The Red Team or The White Team.

We were excited to finally get the chance to go to the Husker football stadium, but not at the cost of the regular fall season tickets. Maybe someday... :) Anyway, so we all donned our Husker red and marched our way through campus, enjoying the sunshine and blossoms. Then we filtered our way through the stadium entrance and up into the stands. Just as we got into our seats, Noah announced that he wanted to go home. Awesome! He was a little overwhelmed. His first football game was at South Medford High School when he was just about 7 months old (South won... Go Panthers!). And he did okay, until South scored a touchdown and the crowd erupted in a frenzy. Yeah, little baby boy didn't like that so much. But we thought for sure that he would LOVE going to a college football game, especially where the fans are insane and football is bigger than Christmas Day (We love Lincoln!). It was mid-day and he was probably needing a nap. Not that he would have taken one if we'd been home. But he started to warm up to the crowd and the game.

When each team had scored a touchdown and tied the score 7 - 7, the crowd released THOUSANDS of red balloons. It was so cool! That definitely made Noah's day. Then Mommy bought pizza for lunch. Noah got a little more happy. THEN we gave him the camera to take pictures from his point of view. I laughed so hard when I looked at the pictures later that night. It's no wonder that kids are restless and impatient at big events and meetings. All they really see are the backs of heads and peoples' feet! He took some great pictures of all the big screens in the stadium, and he did some AMAZING self-portraits. One of my favorite pictures that he took is one of me and Kev. We basically stood him up on one of the benches during half-time and said, "Take our picture!" So awesome.

The Big Red Flag on the way to the stadium. We can see this flag from about 25 blocks away on windy days:


On our way across campus:



Just past the gates:


This is one of my favorite pictures. He was very near meltdown and that's when I knew it was time to give HIM the camera:


Self-Portrait:


Noah took this picture of us. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE it!!!!


The great big red balloon release! You may have to click on the pictures to get the full effect:



Just about five minutes into the second half, we made our way out of Husker stadium and back into the real world. We learned later that the Red Team won 21 - 16. We had a lot of fun, and look forward to the day when Noah actually cares that there are players on the field and that there's an awesome game going on down there. Maybe then we'll pay for Fall tickets!

Love,
A Husker Momma
@>->--

Overheard...

Gram Smith: Noah, do you need to use the potty?

Noah: No, the pee-pee's not ready yet.


Thanks for watching the little dude while I shopped, Mom!
@>->--

Cutie Patootie Cousins

Haaaaaay-Aaaay!

Noah and I are in the beautiful state of Oregon, enjoying the company of my baby sister Erin, her little Miss Riss, and Grams and Grandpas. We haven't really seen Erin and Riss for over a year, and I'm SO glad that we can come hang out at home for awhile. :)


Rissa (short for Marissa) is the funniest little imp ever. She and Noah immediately held hands when they saw each other at the airport terminal, and then it immediately became a battle of wills as to who was leading whom! Kevin, check the grammar please....


Anywhoo, Cutie Patootie Cousins. We're having a great time. So far they've been on pony rides, had Happy Meals, and are headed to church nursery together this morning. More updates soon!

Love,
Aunt CoCo
@>->--

Define "Hell"

This comic from yesterday's XKCD sums up Nicole's definition perfectly:

~Kevin

Had to have been there...

This morning I checked my email and got a BIG laugh. Kevin usually sends me a daily compilation of highlights from all the late night talk shows' monologues. Pretty funny stuff. But this one made me sit up in bed and laugh out loud.

Jimmy Fallon:

"Listen to this, a prominent Filipino business man quit his job at a major university after admitting that he made a speech plagiarizing Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and J.K. Rowling. People got suspicious after he opened with the line...

'Look under your seats, Muggles, because everyone is going home with a free hope and change!!!'"

he he he... Yeah. Guess you had to have been there. :)

Hunters and Gatherers

Several of the families with small children in our ward got together on Saturday for an Easter egg hunt. We went out to a beautiful nature preserve and park area called Pioneers Park and spent the afternoon in the glorious sun! I heard reports that some of you had SNOW on Easter. Since I think that Nebraska has had its fair share of snow, I would just like to say.... Ha ha!!! Just kidding. But not. No really, we sure ate up the sunshine and 60 degree weather.

Here's the park:


Every family brought candy-filled eggs, and while some of the parents distracted the kiddos at the playground area, the rest of us hid the hundred or so plastic goodies in trees, around bushes, and all through the grass.

Here's the gang:



Ready.... Go!!!!


Abbie Bear was supervising... "Hey, Noah... To your left. No, your OTHER left. Dude, it's a pink one, K?"


Noah's Easter basket of choice. A HUGE shocker, I know.



Noah started out strong. He found 4 or 5 eggs right away, but then immediately wanted to sit and open them for the candy. I tried to tell him that he could go find as many as he wanted to and THEN partake of the goodness, but he was content. I have to admit that warmed my heart a little.


I loved how, just as we had predicted, the older kids made fast work of all the eggs hidden in the tree areas and the ones up higher. Then there were the little ones (and Noah!) who preferred to be "the gleaners." Just sauntering along, finding eggs in the grass and finding the eggs that had been overlooked by the massive cloud of dust full of the older kids as they swept through the area. In the end, everyone seemed happy with what they had in the baskets, and especially what they found INSIDE the eggs. I loved that the older kids went around putting some eggs in other baskets when it was all over. What sweeties. :)

I think we'll definitely do this again next year. Easter egg hunts are some of my fondest memories, although ours usually involved our little living room while we were all in pajamas. And there was ALWAYS the egg hidden way up high on Daddy's coo-coo clock from Germany. Good times...



Kevin thinks this video is funny. As I crouched down to get a picture, I bumped the panic button on the car keys in my pocket. I startled a few of the kids, but they recovered quickly!





Sweetest little gatherer:




Love,

"The Easter Bunny's Helper"