Room to call their Own

Major Drum roll please.............Introducing the new nursery of Nolan Mark and the new toddler room of Mallory Ann! A HUGE shout out and thank you to Kristen Brown, a wonderful friend, who spent five nights with our family, helping out with the kids after I had surgery and helping us switch over their rooms. I am so glad that everyone now has a place to call their own. The rooms aren't in perfect order but you can get the idea.

Mallory will move out of her crib in the next few months and we have a nice desk/shelf to put in when that happens, but here is her sweet big girl room that matches her nursery. The closet has decals on it, love it!




The biggest accomplishment- her CLOSET! She doesn't have room for a dresser right now so everything is in here, and you should have seen it before when it was our junk closet. Cleaning out all of our junk and perfectly organizing her belongings was probably the biggest accomplishment of the weekend. Thank you Kristen!



My kids love Curious George, and i love that he is timeless, so baby Nolan has a Curious George themed nursery, the only thing missing may be a window valence. Such a sweet boy nursery. I did a lot of the customized stuff (prints, lampshade, etc.) off of Etsy.com. There are some great finds on there.




Here are some close ups of the Etsy finds, the lamp shade is made out of the same sheet on his bed. And the set of prints matches his bedding and has images from famous Curious George stories. (Kite, hot air balloon, etc.)


Now we will work on getting Nolan to actually sleep in his adorable crib. Thank you again Kristen for all of your help this week.

One Month In

Little Nolan turned 1 month old on April 28th. We went to the doctor earlier that week and his stats were:
Weight: 11 lbs 7 ounces
Height: 23 1/4 inches
Head: 15 inches

That puts him in the 90th percentile of weight, 98th of Height, and 75th of head. Still a VERY big boy. He is wearing clothes that Peyton wore at 3/4 months old, they are just so different.

Here is Nolan at 1 month, next to Mallory's Yo Gabba Gabba "Brobee" doll. We are going to use Brobee as a marker to see how big he is getting each month. I thought Brobee was a big stuffed animal but Nolan already looks huge next to him!


Here is Peyton at 1 month wearing the same outfit (it was huge on him and barely snapped shut on Nolan)


And here is Mallory around 1 month:


He really reminds me a lot of Peyton and I think Peyton would have been big like him had he been born 3 weeks later, but I see a lot of Mallory in him as well. He is a perfect blending of the two of them. His temperament is very different- he is crankier than Mallory but in more of a routine than Peyton, we'll see what happens this month.

Nolan: at one month old you are a sweet baby. Like most newborns you can cry a lot but you are sleeping pretty good stretches. You love to eat. you've never pulled away from eating and would probably eat all day if I let you. But- you take a pacifier and a bottle. Yay!!! You make very funny noises and keep Daddy and I awake while you grunt at night :) You enjoy your bath and without fail, usually pee during it in a perfect arc over the bathtub onto a family picture on the counter. (same picture as the top of this blog!) Peyton calls you "Gnocchi" and loves to kiss you and love on you and sing to you and Mallory tries to attack you every chance she gets. She is very generous and aggressive with her love. You've already had your first cold, and subsequent ear infection thanks to your siblings but handled it like a champ. We see the beginnings of smiles and cooing so can't wait for the next few weeks when you start doing these. It has only been 30 days but we can't imagine life without you.

We love our little baby!

Hippity Hoppity, Easter 2011

Our first family holiday as a family of five, Easter 2011. Nolan was three weeks old and sick all weekend but was a trooper with all of our fun events. Here is a slew of pictures in no particular order of an Easter Egg hunt in Lake Highlands, our family's Easter morning hunting for our Easter baskets, and Easter lunch spent with ALL of our cousins and aunts, uncles, Bebe and Papa on the Yates side.


The Girl Cousins

All TEN Grandchildren, ranging in age from 3 weeks to almost 9.

Yup, this picture pretty much sums up our life right now.



Cant believe these are all mine.












Promise to do more "blogging" in the future! But at least I've got the pictures up :)

Little Nolan, Little Nolan

Photos taken by Rachellee Jones



"Little Nolan! Little Nolan!" is the new song in our house. Peyton created this song for his new baby BROTHER! Nolan Mark entered our world at 5:11 AM on March 28th, 2011. As expected he was HUGE. 9 pounds, 9 ounces and 22 inches LONG. He looks about a month older than he really is :)

The short birth story: I had a scheduled C section for Tuesday, but Sunday got really achy and with lots of back pain, etc. No consistent contractions though, just the same kind I had been having for weeks. My mom flew in to town in preparation for the C section and we went about our day. I had some pains all day but didn't really think I was in labor. At midnight I awoke with a knifing pain across my stomach, we tried to wait it out to make sure it was the real deal but soon I couldn't even walk or talk. The pain was CRAZY! By the time we got to the hospital-at 1:15 am, i was already dilated to a SEVEN. A Seven! I could have had that baby in the suburban :) I pleaded for an epidural because the contractions were coming super close and was the worst pain imaginable and once I got it I was pretty happy. After fully dilating, water breaking on own, baby moving down, etc. the OB suggested a C section because he worried about risk to the baby due to his size. It was a tough decision since we were so close to being able to have the baby without surgery but the doctor was right. We went ahead with the surgery and thank goodness we did because he was bigger than they thought.



Nolan is three weeks old today and such a sweet baby. First of all, he is beautiful. I may be biased but he is a gorgeous newborn. He loves to snuggle and sleeps a lot. He loves to suck and has taken nicely to a pacifier. He likes to be held most of the time, appears to have a dimple when he smiles, has a cute cleft in his chin, and is just super long. Those newborn diapers lasted about one week and we are in 3 month clothes.






Big Brother Peyton ADORES him. Big Sister Mallory isn't really sure what he is. A Toy? A Pet? She isn't very gentle with him : but doesn't seem to not like him either. We are all so happy to finally meet him and to start our family of five. He was perfectly designed for our family and we are so happy to have him.






Many more pictures, stories, etc. to come but for now we just wanted to announce this little baby. It is going to be a crazy couple of months so we may not have as many posts, but I can promise they will be interesting! Thank you God for our beautiful and perfect little family. Let the fun begin :)

Desperate Times

Call for Messy Measures:

39 weeks painfully pregnant and an entire day alone entertaining 2 little ones calls for creative/messy entertainment. Here we are in our jammies (at 4:30 PM), making our only trek out for the day to Sonic for ice cream cones. Mallory has never had one before, especially not one while unsupervised in the backseat of the car, but at this point we've got nothing to lose. She loved it. And brother Peyton loved laughing at the mess she was making.

Dear Baby Yates,

Dear Baby Yates # 3,

In a little over a week you will be joining our family. We hope you come on your own but if not we will probably go to the hospital to have you on March 29th. We do not know if you are a girl or a boy and haven't fully decided on your name yet. We want to meet you and see you before we make that decision. We have some good ideas though. So what do we know about you? We know that you are very BIG. You have always measured ">99th percentile", (that is greater than 99th percentile!) but at 37 weeks you clocked in at 90th percentile. So you are a big baby! You are also facing "sunny side out" which means that unlike most pregnancies your feet, hands, and legs like to poke out of my belly and may make getting you out a little more difficult. We are hoping you turn around during labor but it has been fun seeing your arms and legs poke out at me all pregnancy. You sometimes get the hiccups, sleep during the day, and don't seem to mind a lot of contractions. Your favorite foods? Salad, Central Market muffins, and iced tea with lemon.

Big Brother Peyton thinks that you are going to be a boy and has named you "Zero". Why Zero? Because you are zero years old of course! He has taken a special interest in your baby bed and swings and says that he is going to be a big helper. He sometimes kisses my stomach to say hi to you. He told me that you can have one of his Geromes since he already has two of them. I think he is going to be a sweet helper and really love you. Even if you are a girl. One day before bath he leaned down to Mallory and said "Souci- there is going to be a new Souci soon." Souci is what he calls Mallory. It went from Baby Sister, to Sister to Sissy to Souci. So I don't think he really cares if you are a boy or a girl, he is just excited to meet you.

Here is Peyton with your take home outfit if you are a boy: (frog onesie with a frog hat)


Big Sister Mallory doesn't really know what to expect. When I ask her where the baby is she immediately lifts up my shirt, starts poking my belly and laughing hysterically. She LOVES to sit in your car seat, play with your bouncy chair, and pull on your swing. Hopefully she won't climb on top of you but I see some of that in your future. Mallory won't really remember life without you so I bet the two of you are very close, no matter if you are a boy or a girl. You two are only going to be a year apart in school and I bet you are the best of the friends. Mallory is such a good baby and will be a great big sister.

Here is Mallory with your take home outfit if you are girl: (green flower pants with an elephant top)



We are waiting to do your nursery until you are born and a little bit older so will post pictures of that once we are all settled.

Baby Yates # 3- we all cannot wait to meet you and know that you are going to make this family complete. We are praying for a smooth and easy delivery and are so excited to see you and hear the words "It's A Boy or..... It's a Girl!" Will you look more like Peyton or Mallory or nothing like them at all? We will soon find out and can't wait to hold you.

We love you,
Mommy, Daddy, Peyton, and Mallory

Whoopee!!!

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of new Baby Yates (Nuby) here at our house, he/she will be here in no more than 8 days! More on that later- but til then- here are some pictures from some birthday parties that we've attended this past month. Lots of our friends were born in February and March and we've had parties every weekend. A dinosaur dig, sweet soiree, bouncing, gymnastics, Gatti Town, and more! FUN times!

Here are some pictures from Travis' Pirate Bounce House party. Peyton never slowed down and Mallory had a blast exploring the place.

Here is Peyton climbing with Travis, the birthday boy!


Hazard of the "socks only" bounce house rule- 1 year old may swipe another Mom's shoes!


Mallory-you have expensive taste! She zeroed in on these Tory Burch shoes- Yes, Mommy would love a pair of those too. I should have had you wear them home :)


Peyton at Elisa's Princess birthday party. This was such a creative party, they even dressed the boys up as knights and built a beautiful castle maze out of cardboard boxes. Peyton loves his Knight costume.


Also worth remembering was the kids special birthday lunch for their friend Reese, their Daddies took them to Gatti Town, aka "Daddy" Town, where the kids turned their game tickets in for prizes. What did Peyton get with his tickets? This Whoopie Cushion, which he calls his "Tooting Toy". Really Daddy?!? That is what you guys picked? I guess that is what Daddies are for :)

The Adventures of Blankie and Tootsie

Sweet Mallory has decided that she will only travel with 2 special friends in tow. Her pink blankie (pinkie?) and her Tootsie. it cracks me up because she becomes very angry when her brother tries to take either one of them. This Is our little girl, with her new haircut- immediately after getting out of bed and dragging blankie and tootsie with her in search of her daily "Nana" (Banana)

Bye Bye Pebbles, Hello Pele!

Mallory finally had her first hair cut this weekend. I was just so tired of her pulling out her pony tail so on Sunday Peyton, Marshall, and Mallory all got haircuts at the local Super Cuts. They do a great job with our kids there! We forgot our camera but had our flip video and I was able to easily pull some photos from the video (one more reason that I love the flip!). She looks SO much older now with a real hair cut, such a toddler and not my little Pebbles baby anymore.




Brother got his haircut too, we went really short since it grows so fast!


Peyton also had a weekend of firsts, his first soccer game! We signed him up for the Under 4 Boys team and were placed on a team of kids that will all go to a different school (not with Peyton) and had all played together in the Fall. Peyton has only had one practice and doesn't really know anyone so I am SO proud of him for getting out on the field. We still have a lot of work to do, as evidenced in this video (he is number 2) but we have lots of time to learn and practice. Peyton was very concerned about the mud on the fields, and the soccer ball, and his muddy shoes so hopefully we'll have better field conditions next time.


This cracks me up because he is so not interested, but he did score a goal! Too bad it was for the other team. And at least he stayed out there!



Ball too muddy :)

Warming up with Dad