Natural History Museum of Utah

On Saturday we went to the new Natural History museum near Red Butte Gardens. Ryan was really excited to see the design of the museum. We have been to a lot of museums lately and I think we will continue to visit more since we both enjoy it so much. Ennead architects located in New York City designed the museum and they did a great job! There were plenty of things for the kids to do and so much to see. They had some volunteers bring out bugs and spiders in the nature area and I can honestly say I hope to never see some of those bugs outside of a cage! Jared came along and it was fun spending the day with him.

Nolan at 9 Months

Nolan had his 9 month appointment today and passed with flying colors! We went to a new Dr's office downtown and I really liked the doctor we saw. He had to get one shot but didn't cry at all.

At 9 months Nolan...
*Can drink through a straw - haven't tried a sippy cup because they are all packed away right now
*Eats 3 real meals a day
*Takes 2 naps a day
*100% formula fed
*Still not sleeping through the night :(
*Has started copying what we do - for example if we are laughing he will start laughing
*Love to bounce up and down
*Still super smiley and easy going
*Walks along the couches and anything else he can stand up on
*Picks things up while standing up and puts them on whatever he is standing on to play with it while standing up
*Can put the colored balls in the toy octopus we have (i'll have to put a picture of this up later)
*Doesn't like the stage 3 baby food very much so we are trying new things and sticking with stage 2 for now
*Getting very fast at crawling around
*Loves looking out the window
*Loves dogs, we think he might be allergic
*Loves playing with his cousins

Weight: 18.93 lbs 25th percentile
Height: 28.5 inches 60th percentile
Head Circumference: 17.75 inches 25th percentile

Update Time!

Family:
Ryan has accepted an offer to work for a firm in Salt Lake. Neither of us could believe it and how things have worked out up to this point are just crazy. We feel good about the decision and know that it is right for us to be back here. When he finished school we didn't know where we would end up and were just going to use Salt Lake as a stopping point, so this was definately a surprise. We are happy to be here and are in the process of looking for an apartment for us to move into.

Ryan:
Started his new job yesterday! It was an exciting day and I loved hearing about his first day at work. He has been ice fishing with our brother in law Zach, watched football, spent time with his brother Jared since being back in Salt Lake, organized his architecture files, and just done a few things that he has wanted to get to before he started his job.

Staci:
Loved spending a month and a half with both of her boys. Happy to be closer to family, watched football, spent time playing with Nolan and running errands. Really happy to have Ryan done with school! I had a job interview last week at the University and if they offer me the position i''ll need to feel it is what is best for our family at this time before I accept anything. Has really enjoyed being with Collie and her cute family and getting to know Josh's fiance even better.

Ha, I found my old glasses without the frames and decided to give them a try

Nolan:
Cute as ever! I love spending my days with this little guy. He hasn't been eating solids very well lately and we aren't sure why. He doesn't want his puffs anymore and I tried him on some stage 3 food and he wouldn't even take a second bite. He has been getting better the past few days with eating and I hope he gets back to his old self soon. We go in on Monday for his 9 month check up. He is crawling everywhere, bouncing, clapping, and loves playing with Uncle Josh!

Operation Get Nolan to Sleep Through the Night

With Nolan creeping up on the 9 month mark I think it is about time for him (and me) to start sleeping through the night. Now that there is an extra room for him to sleep in at my parents house, no one on either side of us as far as neighbors go besides Josh at that end of the hall, this is the perfect time for us to give this a try. I don't have it in me to let him "cry it out" so I knew that wasn't going to work but I wasn't opposed to him fussing for a minute or two and possibly finding his binky and falling back asleep.
The first night at 11:00 pm he woke up and was crying. He cried for a bit and then I think he found his binky because he stopped for a few minutes before starting up again. Well that wasn't going to work for me so I went in there. He was up 3 more times after that. I would consider that night not successful.
The next night (1/18) we put him to bed around 7:00 pm and I was totally expecting him to wake up at 11:00 pm and then do his usual routine of getting up 1-2 more times. Well I woke up at 2:30 am and then again at 3:00 am and at this point I even got Ryan up and said have you been in to check on Nolan? He said No and it was at that point that I realized he had slept that whole time! Why on earth was I getting up when he was sleeping? :) At 5:00 am Nolan started to make some noise so I went in to give him a bottle and he fell back asleep until 6:30 am! I thought to myself this might not be so hard....
Thursday night (1/19) me and Ryan went to the Utah basketball game. My parents watched Nolan and were in charge of putting him to bed. I didn't expect him to sleep through the night again because this was my son and I know that he just gets up in the night...it is what he does. We get home from the game, go to bed and what seems like not long at all I hear Nolan make some noise so I look at the clock and it is 5:00 am! What?! He slept through the night again, this is too good to be true. He doesn't go back to sleep this time but i'm ok with it.
Friday night is a different story because he is back to getting up 2-3 times once again. I'm not sure what the difference is, but at least now I know he can do it and i'm hoping he will catch on very soon to sleeping through the night!

One Month Ago....

It is crazy to think that one month ago we were leaving our home, that we had come to know and love and all of our friends and closing the graduate school chapter of our lives. I never dreamed it would fly by so quickly and how much we would grow and strengthen our relationship over just 3 1/2 years. Raleigh wasn't a place that we fell in love with instantly, it grew on us over time and we grew to love it. I've said it before and i'll say it now but I will never forget the feelings of loneliness we had when we first moved there. We didn't know anyone, or how to find the grocery store or if I would find a job to support us or what the future would hold. After meeting a few people and learning a few streets it is funny how such simple things can make the biggest difference. We met lifelong friends and living on the east coast has changed us for the better.

I miss Oberlin Road, our cute apartment, Harris Teeter (silly I know), NCSU campus, picking Ryan up at all hours of the night from studio, having Nolan there, the beach, all the close historical places, going to rugby games with the Foley's, some of the people I worked with, Red Dragon, 5 Points, our fun ward, staying at the Larkin's watching the kids, Sunday dinners at the Larkin's, the farmer's market, the beautiful fall and spring season, the mild winters, everything closing down when the "S" word (snow) was mentioned on the news before any snow had even fallen, Sandra, Ryan's classmates, the Moore's, my awesome visiting teachers, the friends we made, Nolan's first babysitter Sheri and Michael, the dreaded round-abouts by the school, hot chocolate from Dunkin Donuts, Bri Robyn and Linda from my work, the trees, and really too many things to list here on the blog.

It has been fabulous being so close to family and seeing cousins more often and back on the "grid" system that we missed so much. We are so grateful to my parents and Josh for letting us stay here with them and invade their space for a bit. We have enjoyed the snow and being back in the west. There are times where we will hear on the TV "only on the east coast" and have to remember that isn't us anymore. But with all the things that we miss and the fun memories we have we are looking forward to the "working" chapter in our lives now and all that has in store for us, watching Nolan grow up way too fast and just seeing what the future holds for us.