His 1/2 Birthday! Happy 6 Months Nolan

Our sweet baby is now officially 6-months-old. Has it really been 6 months?!? He is changing daily and I love to see him figuring out his world. He has started rice cereal and some veggies and likes it, he just doesn't know how to keep it in his mouth very well. We will keep practicing and I bet he is eating like a champ in a few weeks. He sits up on his own and is already on all fours rocking and rolling, just about to crawl. I am not ready to have a crawling baby AND Mallory in the house at the same time! This is going to get interesting :)

Nolan is the best baby. He sleeps 11 hour stretches at night, take 3 little naps (with a little bit of protest), and loves to drink milk. Which leads me to my next point.

He is rather large. Nolan is wearing 12-18 month clothing and wears the same size diapers as Mallory who is almost 2, they are both in size 4's. He is currently wearing the same clothing that Peyton wore at 14-months-old. He is a heavy load to carry all day but those big fat kissable cheeks make all the heavy lifting more fun.



Here are his 6 month stats from his appointment earlier this week:
Weight- 19 pounds, 5 ounces- 90th percentile
Height- 29 Inches- Greater than 95th percentile (or off the charts)
Head- 17 3/4 inches- 75th percentile


Here is Peyton "stretching" Nolan out to give you an idea of his length.


I thought lying him next to our tv remote might help you grasp his size at 6 months.

This shirt is kind of an oxymoron, like the phrase "Jumbo-Shrimp", or "Minor Crisis".


Our "little" brother has been the perfect addition to our family. We wouldn't be the same without him and we all love him in our own special ways. Happy 1/2 birthday Nolan Mark Yates!

Back to Childhood........

I have a big brother so growing up I liked playing with matchbox cars almost as much as I enjoyed Barbies. In fact, one of my favorite toys was my brother's 1980's Hot Wheels service center. It was so incredibly awesome. I bet some of you remember it.

My Mom still has it at her house and we realized Peyton loved playing with it there as much as I did. So this Christmas I found myself going head-to-head against professional collectors on Ebay trying to buy one for him. I lost quite a few auctions but finally" won" one that we gave him on Christmas. Ive been watching him play with it a lot more recently and just can't get over how similar our playing styles are. It takes me back 25 years in an instant! I half expect to close my eyes and find myself back in my parent's house at age 5, hovering over my service center with all my little cars around me, sitting on the cold floor in the entry way- with Candy the cocker spaniel close by, and hear my Mom talking on the phone while cooking dinner-which was probably spaghetti and meatballs (my Brother's Favorite :) )


Instead I open my eyes to see the most beautiful little boy in the world playing just like his Mommy did. It touches my heart to share this toy with him.





I know his little sister and little brother won't be too far behind him wanting to play with it too. I just hope they can share it, Im not sure my competitive nature can afford another online ebay auction!


Happy Car Playing Peyton! I hope you never stop playing!

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You....

The Mark Family's Beach Vacation- The Movie!

Our family just had 2 family vacations back-to-back. I think Nolan thinks that the only thing we do in our family is sit in our car but I love little adventures. We just drove to Port Aransas, Texas to be with my family, and then 2 days after returning home went back to the lake to be with Marshall's family. Both trips were well worth the drives. I will post pictures from both trips soon but in the meantime wanted to post a little video I made from the Mark Vacation. I finally explored the movie software on our Mac and I am pretty proud of myself. (it is pretty easy to navigate) It is a really short clip set up like a movie trailer but makes me laugh out loud.

My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew currently live in Belgium so we were thrilled that they could visit and could spend a few days together in Port Aransas. My brother and I grew up vacationing there so it was special to bring all of our children there. Such joy all around!

5 Months with Roly Noly

Five Months post partum may be one of the best months of a new Mom's life. Nolan is now sleeping through the night most nights, falls asleep unassisted, naps three times a day, and is all smiles and laughs. He is mellow, happy, easily entertained, and pretty much a dream baby. I love this age so much. At 6 months he will start on solids so for now I am just enjoying how easy it is to feed him and take care of him. :)

We are working on sitting up and he has shown some interest in trying to get up on all fours and go places, but he is just so big that I think we may take awhile on our milestones. I could be wrong though. For now he is just super content and happy and we all still adore him. Mallory has gotten MUCH better with him. She loves to "ickle, ickle, ickle" him (Tickle), gives him tons and tons of kisses, and brings him toys to play with. Peyton still loves him and gets so excited to wake him up in the morning and wake him from naps. Nolan babbles and babbles and coos all day long. He loves to look in mirrors and play with his exersaucer. He also loves the red bird from his play mat and is already pretty attached to sleeping with his lovie. He is most ticklish on his chubby, fat legs and can turn into a giggle box.



And a little side note- we have something to celebrate. I have lost almost all of Nolan's baby weight (65 pounds). Now I just need to lost the last 10 of Mallory's :) But I am excited, this is the fastest I've ever done it!

Yes, Baby boy- you put 65 pounds on Mommy. But every pound was worth it and then some!


"Me cause 65 pounds? Hardly. I was only 10 lbs of it. You really should be taking this victory picture with a box of Central Market Muffins, Mom."



Good Point, Happy 5 Months Roly Poly Noly!

You Never Even Call Me By My Name

(Mallory with her big Dallas hair)

Lately I've found myself wondering what Mallory thinks her name is. Pretty much everyone close to her calls her something different and she has yet to refer to herself by anything other than "Mine!"
For example:

Her Daddy calls her "Mal-Mal"

Peyton (Her Ba Ba) calls her "Souci". Souci is a Peyton made derivative of Sister and it cracks me up.

Gigi and Dandy call her "Rumple" or "Rumplestiltskin"

Bebe and Papa call her "Mal Mal"or "Mallory"

Her Mother's Day Out teacher calls her "Mallory"

I call her "Sissy" or "Sis" which is crazy because I swore I would never be one of those people that called her daughter "Sister", or son "Brother". But we have referred to her as "Baby Sister" since she was in utero for Peyton's sake and the name just stuck. So much so that now our babysitters even call her Sissy. It is a habit I will eventually try to break.

It is no wonder the child doesn't refer to herself by name.

But as for what we will eventually call her, I kind of think we should let this guy be the decision maker and wait to see what comes out of his mouth. We all know he has put up with enough from her to have earned the naming rite!

That's right Sissy, you'd better start being more gentle to Nolan, Dar-lin.

Top 5 Funny Moments as a New Mom of 3

Summer is coming to a close and things are getting a lot easier around our house. We have had some crazy moments but even with the crazy there has been laughter. In fact, some really funny things have come out of the crazy and i wanted to record them. Here are a few things that come to mind as being funny now. Hindsight is great that way!

1. The Organ
About 4 weeks into my C section recovery I developed an incarcerated umbilical hernia. I went to the surgeon expecting him to say we should do something about it in a few months for cosmetic reasons only, but I ended up in a emergency CT scan to make sure it wasn't life threatening. This quick appointment turned into an all day affair and I had left the baby who was still nursing every 2-3 hours with my neighbor Mimi. I frantically called Marshall at work and asked him to bring me a breast pump to the hospital where they were trying to work me in for a last minute CT scan. He didn't know how long I would be there and how long my milk would keep so he decided to pack me a cooler to put the pumped milk in. So I am sitting in a hospital hallway when I see Marshall,dressed in his professional work clothes, racing down the hall carrying a RED small cooler. I'm sure people thought he was transporting a live organ through the hospital. He looked like he had just flown in with someone's new heart! This made me laugh out loud as I sat in a little hospital closet and pumped while drinking a disgusting huge bottle of barium in preparation for my scan. Breast pumping while drinking Barium, that was pretty gross but made easier by Marshall the organ transporter.


2. The Pantsing
During a subsequent surgeon appointment (the CT scan led to emergency abdominal hernia surgery) I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to pick Peyton up at school in time. The surgeon was running very late and I couldn't find anyone to get him so thankfully had the phone number of one of his classmate's parents. She agreed to drive him home to her house and I could pick him up as soon as the appointment was over. Peyton had gone through a lot of changes lately and me not picking him up was a first, so when I went to get him he was a little out of sorts. He refused to leave her house and I literally had to drag him on his back through the house to the front door. When we got outside I turned to say goodbye to this classmate's mother and FATHER and Peyton in an last minute act of desperation PULLED MY SKIRT DOWN to my ankles. Now, I had just had abdominal surgery and a baby and was about 60 pounds still overweight so this was not a pretty sight. The worst part- they lived on the corner of Colgate and Boedeker, a very busy street in Highland Park, so cars were driving by and saw my hiney. But even worse, yes it gets worse, his classmate's FATHER saw me in my maternity underwear and abdominal compression band. I barely knew these people. I quickly pulled my skirt up, got Peyton into the car, and called Marshall where I proceeded to laugh and cry at the same time. My Three-year-old pantsed me in Highland Park. Awesome.

There will be no picture to go with this!

3. The Sprain
On Peyton's last day of school I got great news. I was finally cleared to lift babies after the C Section and the Hernia surgery. I was in high spirits that morning! I took a shower and got dressed with makeup on (rare feat with a newborn!) and was all ready to attend Peyton's end of year school party. I had had to miss his Mother's Day Tea because of the surgery so had PROMISED him I would be there. I went outside to put the dogs in the dog run and missed a step and rolled my ankle and heard a loud POP! I couldn't move, put any weight on it, and crawled back inside. Well, I couldn't miss his end of year party so I called my amazing neighbor Mimi and she had a plan. My ankle was going to hurt whether I went to the party or not so she agreed to wheel me around the preschool in a wheelchair that she had at her house. I popped a vicodin, crawled to the car, and Mimi took me to his preschool. Once there she wheeled me to the party, with ice propped on my foot, and tears streaming down my face. But by golly I was there for it! Im sure the other Moms thought I was certified crazy, wheeling around, crying, and holding a huge ice pack on my purple foot. Im sure the vicodin on an empty stomach made me say some interesting things too. After the party I went to the ER where we realized it wasn't broken but sprained. Oh the things we will do for our children! Even after they pants us.


4. The Elaine
A couple of weeks ago I was driving the kids to school. It is usually chaos trying to get out of the house in the morning so I use the car ride to reconnect with them, sing songs, talk,etc. We were jamming to Laurie Berkner and I was trying to teach Mallory how to dance with her thumbs. Very reminiscent of the way Elaine, from Seinfeld dances,

So at red lights and while carefully driving I am also enthusiastically waving my thumbs from side to side, while Mallory imitates from her car seat. I was flapping my arms like a bee during the bumble bee song too. All of a sudden a car comes up from behind and passes me on this neighborhood road near the preschool! I was going the speed limit so I was so confused. I was so angry that it would dangerously pass me and my three babies and couldn't figure it out. Then it hit me. From his view all he could see was a woman frantically waving her thumbs and arms ahead of him, giving him the universal "pass me" sign. He must have been so confused when he passed me to only find a string of traffic ahead of him. It took me a few blocks to figure this out and when I did I just DIED laughing. Elaine strikes again!

5. The Mark
And finally, I'm pretty sure my pediatrician has had my emotional state on high alert for a few months now. I wanted Nolan to have his ears rechecked after an ear infection (I cried in my pediatrician's arms when she told me my 3 week old had an ear infection), but even more alarming to me was this strange green vein that poked out of his head when he got upset. I took him to the doctor and showed the nurse beforehand the vein- telling her it seemed to get much darker when he cried. She agreed that it was weird looking. My pediatrician came right in and I asked her if it was normal, she said "No, that is definitely not normal." I panicked! What was wrong with my baby?!? She then grabbed an alcohol wipe and wiped that green MARKER right off his head. Yes, the other children in our family had marked his head with a green marker right where his vein happened to be. I spent the next 5 minutes making sure she knew that I wasn't crazy. Oh well, we both shared a really good laugh over that one.
The Coloring Culprits?

Such funny little moments in our family's life. Usually at the Mother's expense but that is motherhood for you. Stressful at the time but a little perspective goes a long way. I can laugh at all of these things now and hopefully you did too!

4 Months

He was more interested in chewing than having his picture taken.

Nolan had his 4 month appointment today. They confirmed what we already know. That he is huge.

Here are his stats:
Weight, 17 lbs 12 ounces (almost 18 pounds!), 95th %
Length, 27 1/2 inches, Off the Charts. We have to move him out of his infant seat at 29 inches.
Head, 17 inches, 75th%

He is now wearing Peyton's old 12 month clothes. At 4 months!
Nolie is a happy, happy boy that lights up when he sees his family. He loves to chew on Sophie and drools all over himself. He is loving the exersaucer and being able to finally reach up and pull the toys on his playmat. He is becoming more social, interested in toys, songs, and doing pretty well with his sleep training.

We adore him. Can you tell?



We like to dress him and put bandaids on him.

He is a great sport.

Happy 4 Months Nolie Noo!

Exersaucing

Nolan met a new friend this week. The Yates Family Exersaucer. It has seen a lot of love, drool, spit up, diaper blow outs, and a toy keeps popping out, but it has been there for all of our children.

Here is Peyton at 4 months in the saucer: (Late October 2007)



Here is Mallory at 4 months: (March 2010)



And here is Nolie making a Yates family rite of passage. He turned 4 months this week and met the exesaucer: (July 2011)



This might be the best $59.00 we ever spent.


And just in case you need a reminder about how literal kids are, I asked Peyton to help me get Nolan to smile for the camera.


Not what I had in mind but hey that works too!

On A Bumbo Built for Two

We've all heard of a bicycle built for two, but what we really need in our house is a bumbo built for two.



Hmm, no room for you Mallory, so let's see if we can both fit in your chair. I'm not liking sharing my bumbo.


Nope! Nope! Don't like this at all!



Well here's a thought........ How about we try everyone in their own chair?



That's It Guys! So Much Better!!!!

3 Months with Nolan

Nolan turned 3 months old on June 28th.

No new stats until his 4 month check up but I can affirm that he is a VERY BIG Boy.

He is wearing 6 or 9 month clothing and size 2 diapers.

At 3 months old he is Rolling! Both ways. Tummy to back and Back to Tummy. We are trying to break him of the swaddle but he has a really hard time sleeping without it so the nights have been a little rough lately. Sleep training begins at 4 months on the dot! He loves to do patty cake with his hands and feet, hold conversations, be held, and play on his play mat. He is SUCH a sweet baby and puts up with a lot from our crazy family. We all love him so much.


My Crazy Haired Assistant removing Nolan's photo and sitting prop! She is fired!


Let's try a new location. "I'm keeping an eye out for that assistant of yours Mom! You sure this is safe?"


"Much Better. Safe in the confines of a photo backdrop with walls."

Wanted: A new photography assistant. The old one didn't work out so well. Please apply via this blog.

It Might Come True.......

I always wished more of my best friends were having babies when I was having Peyton and Mallory. We could share the pregnancy pains,the joys, swap nursery ideas, commiserate over not drinking wine together :), etc. Well- be careful what you wish for because after celebrating the pregnancies of Kelley, Paige, and Megan I found out I was pregnant again myself!

Here we are in September, the Pregnant Bridesmaids in Kristen's wedding


From Left to Right,
Megan and Paige due in February, Me due in March, and Kelley due in October

And here are the babies on the Outside!

taken this June (in birth order)
Hayes (7 1/2 months), Ellison (4 months), Reese (4 months), Nolan (2 1/2 months)

Can you tell who goes with who?

What a blessing it will be to see these babies grow together. They will all be in the same grade. God clearly has his own timing and eventually my wish did come true!








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