Life with the Nelsons

A Fun Trip to OMSI

2011-12-31T15:21:00.000-08:00

Our friends Katie and Alex have passes to OMSI, so they invited me, Jace and Mary to come up to Portland and enjoy one of my first days as a stay-at-home-mom.

Alex and Jace thought this vacuums and balls room was really cool.

Katie helping Jace shoot a ball from a tube.

Jace and Mary.

Another room had all sorts of fun stations for the kids to play at. Jace LOVED the water tables…

…but he thought the water was for drinking. After I stopped him from treating it like a drinking fountain, he would scoop it with his hands and suck it off his fingers.

SO we went and played in a ball pit for a while instead.

Alex spent just about the whole time play in a squirrels exhibit, collecting nuts and putting them in a nest.

And posing in a giant tree.

Jace also thought the giant sandbox with big tractors was pretty great.

As we were getting ready to leave he noticed a big block station and went back and forth between it and…

…a giant steering wheel (it was attached to a propeller above him, but he never noticed that).

Heading back to the car and having fun jumping with Mary and Mommy.

Checking out the trains on the tracks by the parking lot.

He has officially mastered the cheesy smile for pictures.

Me and my dear friend Katie at McDonalds for ice cream before heading home.

Some December Life

2011-12-30T15:11:00.000-08:00

I just couldn’t resist having some fun with Jace, the lights and my camera before decorating the tree…

Giving his precious Nowie a kiss.

Leading worship with the kinder-third graders on my last Sunday on staff at Morning Star.

Saying “Cheese!”

A Tree Hunting We Went

2011-12-29T14:58:00.000-08:00

As has become our tradition, the day after Thanksgiving we headed out to breakfast and then went tree hunting.

For the second year in a row, Nolan’s parents joined us.

We go to one of the few tree farms in Albany, Volsteads, and LOVE the experience there.

You ride in a tractor pulled wagon out to the right tree lot for the size and type you’re looking for.

It’s fun because they take you past barns and fields of animals.

Then it’s a matter of heading out into the trees to find the perfect one.

And, of course, you have to check out the birds along the way.

Then hauling the tree back out to wait for the wagon to come by and pick you up.

We have yet to be rained on during our tree hunt and love it!

Back at the entrance to the farm, it’s fun to check out the model train and have some hot chocolate while waiting for the tree to be shaken and bailed.

What a perfect day for family pictures!

Jace thought the whole experience was really cool.

Fall Holidays

2011-12-28T14:49:00.000-08:00

Before we get to the holidays, I have to show you one of Jace’s favorite things to do…

He loves to sit on our bottom step. One evening, he hadn’t made any noise for a little while, and I found him laying like this.

For Halloween I made Jace an Elmo costume. We had a movie night at church the Friday before, and the theme was super heroes, so I went as Super Grover and added a cape to Jace’s costume so he could be Super Elmo.

He was pretty proud of his costume.

Our first time trick or treating made him a little nervous. It didn’t help that he had shots that day and ended the evening with a fever.

Watching a movie with Daddy while Mommy handed out candy.

Our Muppet family.

Thanksgiving was at Jared and Rayanna’s with the Nelsons and Kneppers. Jace LOVED Aunt Rayanna’s dolly highchair from when she was little. This is a typical moment between Jace and Nowie, his kitty. He loves to chew on her face.

An attempt at a family photo.

Jace, Nowie and Daddy hanging out.

Pumpkin Patching

2011-12-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

While my mom was in town, she, Anna and I thought it would be fun to go to the pumpkin patch. If only Jace had understood that a big chunk of the fun for mom is the picture taking…

Siah, Micah and Cami found a worm on the ground FASCINATING while Jace was just interested in being on the move.

Our best attempt at a group photo…

Jace was happy to walk through the corn maze with his “Na.”

Another attempt at a group photo… Jace didn’t think it was worth posing for.

At least these four were happy!

Another attempt, “These are my angry eyes.” (I heard Mrs. Potato Head from Toy Story’s voice as I wrote that.)

Jace thought pumpkins were pretty cool.

Let’s try this again.

A stop at E-Z Orchards meant a lot of fun with tractors!

Cousins!

If only he had legs long enough to pedal…

We Love Family!

2011-12-26T14:33:00.000-08:00

This fall we saw lots of family!

The Steiner kiddos came and spent a weekend with us. Cami and Jace enjoyed book reading together…

…while Micah and Josiah had fun watching shows on Netflix.

Grandma came to visit, and even though Jace had been sick, he still wanted to go for a ride around the block with her on his bike. Toby didn’t mind!

Aunt Jenni came to town and Jace decided the name “Na” was perfect for all of his aunties.

We celebrated Grandma and Uncle Dan’s birthdays with a fun family dinner.

Jace isn’t always the life of the party…

So fun to celebrate together!

This Kid Makes His Own Fun

2011-12-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Jace really is a content kid. He entertains himself really well and loves all his little games that keep him busy. One favorite activity that he goes back to every day is playing with his cars on his toy garage.

And he really likes it when his daddy gets on the floor to play with him.

Another favorite is moving q-tips from a drawer in my bathroom to our bed while I get ready in the morning.

For some reason, the bed is just the perfect place to put them…

…back to the drawer for more…

…and then back to the bed.

And we can’t forget just how much it is to pull all of Mommy’s clothes out of her dresser.

Snapshots…

2011-12-24T14:24:00.001-08:00

As 2011 is quickly coming to a close, I’m feeling the need to close out this year with some good blog posts! So yay for Grandmas and Aunties, you get to see some snapshots each day from now until the new year, getting us all caught up!

This child is getting older way too quickly for me. It’s hard to believe it’s already been three months since these pictures were taken. He is so proud of every time he gets to be a “big boy,” like wearing his backpack, carrying all his things, etc. Whenever it’s time to go somewhere, he has to gather all the treasures he feels like taking… cars, sippy cup, blankie, kitty…

While he is capable and coordinated, he lacks a sense of adventure. Because of that, in his mind, the only way to climb the single steps up to the front path and porch, he can only do it while holding my hand. He doesn’t even try to step up himself, and even though he really requires to help from me, his hand must be in mine in order to step up.

This child loves to stuff his face. And if the meal is chocolate chip pancakes, the faster you stuff, the better.

He’s always paying attention to details. One day Nolan was wearing a striped shirt that looked similar to a pair of Jace’s jammies that has a dinosaur on them. Jace kept pointing at the shirt and saying “roar!”

He loves all things electronic or with buttons… remotes, laptops and elevators are his favorite!

Big Boy Shoes

2011-09-13T20:08:00.001-07:00

Our first cool day in a while led me to the realization that we don’t have any non-sandals that fit Jace. I’ve been wanting to buy him some Converse tennis shoes for a while, so I figured now was the perfect time.

It’s crazy how a pair of big boy shoes were able to age Jace so quickly.

He looks taller.

He looks older.

He walks more purposefully.

He uses more words. (He kept saying “Wa!" Wa!” for walk.)

He’s aging too quickly.

He knows what he wants and is all about independence.

At least growing older also means loving Daddy more and more.

You really can’t beat a family walk, can you?

I think right now is my favorite stage so far. Now to just stop him from growing up so quickly.

Summer Lovin’

2011-08-21T22:37:00.001-07:00

We’ve been LOVING summer time around here! I can’t believe how quickly my little eighteen month old is growing up. He makes summer so fun!

We’ve spent our days…

Celebrating Mary (my friend who watches Jace once a week while I work).

Riding the Carousel for the first time.

Playing soldier at the Mysi’s (my friend who watches Jace twice a week while I work).

Driving to California with Grandma and Grandpa Steiner.

Meeting relatives.

Taking baths with Cami.

Learning to LOVE the water! (As long as it isn’t in a tub or shower.)

Connecting with 2nd cousins.

Having dreams come true.

Enjoying family.

Watching birds.

Sliding.

Loving generations.

Taking self portraits.

Enjoying Grandma’s side of the family.

Getting to know Great Grandpa.

Eating snacks.

Writing stories.

Watching Elmo.

“Calling” Grandma.

Watching more Elmo.

Slip ‘n Sliding.

Sitting in police cars (at National Night Out).

Visiting Daddy on his last day at K&D.

Visiting with Grandma and Grandpa.

Rearranging the living room.

LOVING Elmo.

More Slip ‘n Sliding.

Playin’ at the Splash Pad in Corvallis.

And that’s our summer in a BIG nutshell!

A Good Little Napper

2011-06-10T09:43:00.001-07:00

Jace was having a very happy morning—contentedly playing and entertaining himself while occasionally wanting to just sit in my lap and play with a remote or read a book. We hadn’t hit the grumpies yet (our signal that it’s time for a nap), but he started getting more insistent about wanting my coffee. To distract him, I asked, “Do you want your binkie?” and got it off the kitchen counter. Instead of taking it from me, he walked to the stairs, shook the baby gate and said, “ni-ni".” I gave him the binkie and his blankie (which he immediately rested his head on) and put him to bed without a fuss at all. I love what a good napper he is becoming!

This picture is of our morning routine—Jace enjoys a breakfast of milk and a waffle in the recliner, while Toby begs.

***Disclaimer: Not all naps are this easy. He’s really good at waiting until he’s in his crib to poop, and then won’t fall asleep.***

This is Our Life

2011-06-01T23:38:00.001-07:00

In case you’re wondering why you haven’t seen much on this blog these days…

This is Jace’s reaction every time I get the camera out. He just loves the camera so much. He’d rather play with it than let me take pictures.

But when he isn’t trying to take all things button/electronic from us (remotes, cell phones, cameras, key boards, laptops…), he can be found saying “Gar-Gar” (car), “bagckle” (buckle, and both these words are more barked than said), “naa, naa” (snack), “Da-ye” (Daddy), “Toh-ee” (Toby and said very deeply), making all sorts of animal noises, and silly face after silly face. This child is so expressive!

Easter

2011-04-24T21:55:00.001-07:00

Our Easter Sunday was off to a really quick start when I woke up to the sound of Jace coughing over the monitor. I wondered why it was so light before 6… turns out it was 6:48, the time we were supposed to be leaving the house for church! I was very thankful to have taken the time to gather everything together the night before! 20 minutes later and we were out the door (I did my makeup in the car). The only thing we forgot were Jace’s shoes (which we’d been up late searching for one of the night before).

We had three really nice services at church (Nolan and I enjoyed attending one of them together!) and it was so fun to see all the little kids in their Sunday best. I do have to say, though, I think Jace was the cutest one there!

After church we headed to lunch at Marie Callenders with Rayanna and Jared. Jace ended the lunch by walking around the restaurant yelling happy noises at everyone.

I loved having a coordinated little family! I made my Easter dress this year (I tell you about it on my craft blog here), and then our friend Mary went shopping with me and bought Jace’s little outfit. It has stripes that match my dress. And Nolan got a new white polo. This was the little Easter family I’ve always dreamed of!

Jace is really good at telling us when he wants to leave. He points toward a door, waves bye-bye, points again, and then starts grunting.

Our sleepy little boy on the way home.

Jace’s Easter basket—eggs from a basket Mary got him (that he discovered earlier in the week), a magnadoodle for our upcoming trip to Maryland, a toothbrush and fruit snacks (his absolute favorite).

Getting into his basket

SO excited about the fruit snacks!

I love this picture.

He knew exactly what to do with his toothbrush—even though he’s never had his teeth brushed with a normal one. I’ve had a baby one up until now that is a little rubber thing that goes over my finger. He has watched me very closely, though, when I brush my teeth!

Later he had fun playing in his room which included standing on his chair with blankie…

…playing in his kitchen…

…and taking clothes out of his dresser.

We had a great Easter and hope you did too!

A little bit of what Jace is into these days…

2011-04-24T21:28:00.001-07:00

Blowing Kisses

Eating

(and sorting it into his cup holder)

Getting big boy haircuts

Watching Toby run around outside

Looking up to his cousins

Trying to play Wii (and he carries a Wiimote all over our house, shaking it like he’s seen his cousins do while playing)

Reading books

More specifically: Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin. We read these OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER again…

Pulling diapers out of the box.

Trying on baby girl shoes that Mommy makes

Playing in his kitchen Josiah and Micah passed down to him

And just a whole lot of looking cute! He is walking all over the place, loves kissing Mommy, Daddy and Toby. Says “woof woof woof” for dog, “Blub blub blub” for fishy, and “ow” for kitty. Is really good at saying “no” and “stop.” He loves to be silly. He mimics everything I do—pulls credit cards out of my wallet and tries to swipe them, found an old check book, found a pen, and tried to write on them, and “types” on my old cell phone keyboard just like I do.

We’re having so much fun!

Tip Toe Through the Tulips

2011-04-13T19:11:00.001-07:00

Jace, Alex (my friend Katie’s son), Mary, Grandma Nelson and I went to the tulip farm in Woodburn on Tuesday. The weather was perfect.

Jace and Alex enjoyed the ride in Alex’s wagon

Jace and Mommy out in the fields… my child is NOT a fan of the ground if it has grass on in, so he preferred pictures standing up.

The lovely tulips.

Mary and her boys.

Jace and Grandma… Jace was getting a little tired of having his picture taken.

Self portraits work well for us. I love the look on his face in this picture. Nolan calls it his Zoolander look.

Finally willing to smile as long as he was upside down (ignore the boogie in the nose).

Jace was ok with sitting on an old tractor as long as he could touch a bolt.

Once again touching a bolt…

I love this one!

…and the bolt…

Can you tell they’re related or what???

I think he looks just a little like his grandma!

Where Did My Baby Go?

2011-03-02T22:06:00.001-08:00

I’m beginning to wonder what happened to my child

Instead of a cuddly, snuggly baby rolling around on the floor, I now have a little boy who…

Stands at everything (can’t stand or walk on his own yet though… that’ll be a crazy day when that changes!)

Thinks he’s such a big boy when he sits next to Mommy on the couch

Mimics every trick Daddy does with his mouth, blows kisses whenever way say goodbye to someone, and likes to sit on/push around his bike

Points at pictures (they’re above him in this one) and says “puh, puh, puh” until we stop to look at them

Fed himself with a spoon tonight at dinner

Throws a FIT every time he doesn’t get his way—complete with head thrown back, body flung on the ground, screams and yells (all tear free)

Makes sniffing and panting noises every time he sees an animal. Says “T-t” for Toby as soon as we pull in the driveway because he knows we’ll be heading upstairs to let Toby out of his crate. Stands at his highchair to tell us he’s hungry. Can open any drawer he comes across. Stacks blocks 4 high. Raises his arms with a “wee” sound when he stacks said blocks. Says something that sounds like a garbled “I did it!” right after said celebration. Can crawl up a flight of stairs at a quick pace. Can crawl anywhere fast. Is in the 90th percentile for height, 50th for weight, and 93rd for head (no wonder he can’t walk yet—he’s too top heavy).

Makes us laugh. Makes us tired. Makes us frustrated. Makes us smile. Makes us happy. Makes us love him more and more every day.

Jace’s First Birthday

2011-03-02T21:48:00.001-08:00

Jace had a great first birthday! February 3 brought: breakfast in bed, cuddle time with Mommy, lunch at Red Robin (and his first kids’ meal), ice cream from Grandma, spaghetti for dinner and bath time with new bath toys from Mommy and Daddy.

We had his party on the Saturday after his birthday. The party was Hungry Caterpillar themed and so much fun for me to decorate for!

Nolan’s parents, my parents, Dan and Anna and their kids, and Jared and Rayanna joined us to celebrate Jace.

Jace was too cute—he knew it was his day. He just kept looking around and smiling as if to say, “Everyone’s here for me.”

When it was time for cake, he wasn’t so sure of it. He was ok with frosting, but unsure of the cake.

It was so much fun to celebrate our one year old!

We Have a One Year Old!

2011-02-05T23:23:00.001-08:00

Our baby is growing up way too quickly! I have so much to share about how we celebrated his day, but for now, here’s a look back at the year.

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months

What I’ve been up to lately

2011-01-23T23:54:00.001-08:00

I’ve been having a lot of fun getting crafty lately. It has been such a great outlet to browse around online, find something that inspires me, and then go recreate it with my own twist. Back in July I started a blog for my crafting endeavors, and I’ve had SO MUCH FUN joining in on the craft blog community. You can check out my craft blog HERE (just click on the link).

A few weeks ago I entered one of my projects in the audition stage of an online competition called Crafting With The Stars. I was one of 12 contestants to be chosen! (Don’t even get me started on how exciting this is for me!!!) This means that I’ve been paired with a blog “star,” a lady named Michelle who has a great blog called “Someday Crafts.” The competition is 4 weeks long and three people get eliminated each week. We are given a theme/challenge for each round.

Round One’s challenge was to make a project using items from the Dollar Store or thrift stores. I had so much fun going through the creative process. In the end, I was thrilled with how my project turned out. I can’t tell you which one is mine until the winners of the week are announced since they don’t want it to just be a popularity contest (which I can appreciate).

I would LOVE it if you would go vote for your top three favorites though! Just click on THIS link, look through the projects, and vote at the bottom of the post.

And, since you really stopped by to see a picture from Jace, here’s one of him talking on his remote which doubles as a telephone while holding the handle of a swiffer duster (one of his FAVORITE toys).

Happy Birthday Nolan!

2011-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

It’s Nolan’s last birthday of his twenties today! So, in honor of his special day, here are some of my favorite pictures of him from the past year!

He is such a caring Dad

A great dog walker

A creative cat entertainer

A loving husband

A great friend

A hard worker

A good provider

A man of integrity

A strong man

A handy man

I am so thankful to be married to a man of such character. I respect him, I look up to him, I value his feedback, I need his input, I appreciate his listening ear. He takes his role as husband and father so seriously and desires so strongly to honor the Lord in all he says and does.

Happy Birthday Nolan!

11 Months Old!

2011-01-07T23:43:00.001-08:00

Our little guy is 11 months old! I can’t believe we’re just a month from turning a year. Jace is at a very fun and exhausting stage right now. Everything is a new discovery and so exciting. He loves exploring every inch I’ll let him get into. He is getting really fast at crawling and loves to play chase. He absolutely adores Toby. He’ll crawl up to Toby and open his mouth to be licked. Or he’ll head-butt the dog as a sign of affection. Or he’ll pull himself up at the couch where Toby’s relaxing and squeal with delight. Toby had to take the opportunity to lick Jace during our photo shoot and Jace, of course, loved it.

He’s also entered the stage where he is very clingy with Mommy. If I dare do anything other than sit on the couch he demands to be held. He also doesn’t like to be told no. He definitely has a mind of his own. He’s pretty smart at understanding what is off limits though. He’s caught on that you shake your head for no. Several times now he’s crawled up to Toby’s dishes, paused, shaken his head no as if to remind himself he’s not supposed to touch it, and then continued crawling. He’s done the same thing at Nolan’s receiver.

I love the look in his eyes in this picture.

He loves food! It can be any flavor and he’ll eat it. Until this week, though, it had to be pureed as well. He’s finally accepting more textures! He also says, “Mmmm” every time he sees food. If I’m sitting at the couch or in the recliner eating, he’ll pull himself up wherever I am and say, “Mmmm,” until I give him a bite of my food. Between him and Toby, there’s a lot of begging going on in our house.

If Jace loves it, he eats it. We’ll tell him to go get Hippo (his chair from my mom), and he’ll pant while quickly crawling up to the chair, tackle it, and grab it by the mouth full. Nolan said this picture perfectly captured the evil carnivorous look that he gives all his stuffed animals.

This kid pants all the time. While he’s crawling he’ll stick out his lips and breath in and out really loudly. “Hooo hooo hooo” is the sound we hear as he explores the house. It’s cute.

We’re so thankful for our little guy!

3 Days of Christmas! (and then some…)

2011-01-04T23:02:00.001-08:00

Oh we had an exciting and very busy Christmas season in the Nelson household! I had so much fun adding to our Christmas decorations thanks to inspiration from the [probably] hundreds of craft blogs I follow. The best part was making and adding Jace’s stocking to the mantel with mine and Nolan’s.
(If you want to know more about our stockings, check out this post on my craft blog.)

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Jace got to look super handsome in the shirt I embellished for him to wear on Christmas Day. It says, “Best Tree Ever” under the car. He likes to model the clothes Mommy makes him.

Jace made his first art project for our friend Mary. I painted his fingers for snowmen and did his whole hand to do the tree. He liked having his hand painted and then hated having me force him to make his hand print.

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Christmas Eve was the start of three days of Christmas. We celebrated with Nolan’s family at Jared and Rayanna’s house. Jace had a lot of fun playing with Uncle Jared’s Star Wars toys. Between his uncle and his cousins, he’s doomed to be a HUGE fan.

Jamie wanted to sit next to Jace at dinner. Jace loved having her next to him. He got to eat “Christmas in a Cup” (a nice way of saying Turkey, stuffing, green beans and mashed potatoes all pureed together… yum!).

Grandma and Grandpa Nelson gave him soooo many fun things! I think he’s still taking in all of the toys.

After the family time, we went to the Christmas Eve service at church… Nolan attended, I oversaw the nursery, and Jace covered every square inch of the nursery crawling with another little boy.

Christmas morning, Nolan and I woke up at 9 am and Jace was still sound asleep. At 9:30 we realized we didn’t have to wait for Jace to open our presents, so we headed downstairs and were all done before our little guy woke up. Nolan was super sweet, wonderful and generous and gave me a Silhouette craft cutting machine. I LOVE IT!

Jace joined us for breakfast… he snacked on Cheerios while we ate the Steiner family traditional sticky cinnamon rolls.

Then Jace opened his gifts from us. He loved looking at the pictures in his Jesus Storybook Bible.

And he LOVED destroying everything Daddy built with the blocks we gave him. He went back and forth between destruction and excitedly playing with the little tool bench from Great Grandma and Grandpa Steiner.

That afternoon my parents and younger brothers came over and my mom fixed a wonderful ham dinner.

On our third day of Christmas celebrations, the 26th, the whole Steiner family got together at our house after church. My parents gave Jace a hippo chair (the same as what they gave Josiah one year). Jace LOVED “Po” (what he immediately started calling it).

Trying to get all four grandkids to sit still, smile and look at the correct camera proved to be a little difficult.

We said goodbye to my parents and Tim on the 27th. Jace loved having family stay with us. He especially loved all the attention from his grandparents and uncle.

And we captured Jace’s scowl! He’s really good at showing us when he doesn’t appreciate/agree/like/you name it…

And, just for a little more cuteness, Jace sitting on “Ippo” as he now calls it.

10 Months, Take 2

2010-12-09T15:39:00.001-08:00

After a nap, lunch and bath, I was able to get some successful pictures of Jace in his chair (oh, and Tigger helped too).

He actually sat still and smiled for me!

Jace has recently adopted this Tigger as his favorite toy. He drags Tigger by the tail all over the house.

Doing a one handed, “So big!”

And then Tigger’s tail made its way into Jace’s mouth.

And then Jace decided he was done having his picture taken.

And then he had a bottle and went down for another nap.

In other news, our little guy is now 31 inches long! This kiddo just keeps growing. He’s pulling himself up to stand at everything, tries to mimic our sounds, and just entertains us right and left.

10 Months Old!

2010-12-06T22:21:00.001-08:00

Jace turned 10 months on Friday. He was in jammies all day because we were having a Family Movie Night at church that night and watching “Polar Express.” All the kids were invited to come in pj’s, which meant Jace had to too! Plus, we like jammies days in this house (or at least Jace and I do, and Nolan was working, so yay for jammies!). All that to say, this month’s pictures are in the cute, new, Christmas jammies my friend Mary bought Jace.

Oh, and they’re blurry.

I think God gave this kid an extra dose of personality.

Did I say personality? This child is crazy!

He loves to make random noises and move in funny ways that he thinks are hilarious. We’re not sure what made him start to do these things, but he thinks they’re especially funny in his highchair or in Daddy’s lap when he should be getting sleepy.

And he’s realized just how fun it is to climb on things and stand up.

He knows what he wants, and he’d better get it or else we get to hear quite the squeal.

Tonight, while I was in the kitchen, he made up his mind that it was time to eat. So he’d look at me and make loud fussing noises. Then he’d look at Nolan and smile or laugh. Then back to me to fuss. He also has mastered the scowl.

He never stops moving.

He’s always exploring.

But, seriously, such a happy child.

He just refuses to sit still for his monthly pictures in the chair.

And it makes me wonder, how in the world did my sister-in-law ever get her kids to sit nice and still for their pictures?

(This last picture was of his third attempt to just dive off the chair, thus ending our photo session. Maybe we can try again when he’s sleepy? Or Daddy’s around? Or maybe if I tied him to the chair and we just didn’t expect a smile?)

Thank You Grandma!

2010-12-03T13:08:00.000-08:00

This may be a video only a grandma can enjoy... Jace says, "Thanks for the ornament and doggy, Grandma!"

Jace Opening His Ornament from Grandma from Nolan Nelson on Vimeo.

A Family Tree Hunt

2010-12-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving has become our traditional tree hunting day and we were so excited to have Jace outside of me this year! We invited Nolan’s parents down to join us for the day. We started out by going out to breakfast at Elmer’s (I would go out for breakfast every day if I could). Jace enjoyed his graham crackers.

Nolan’s parents, Jack and Becky

I love this guy!

On the wagon ride out to the tree lot. Jace was tired, a little cold, and not so sure about what to think.

He enjoyed riding in the backpack on my back

We were happy it only lightly sprinkled on us!

Nolan starting to cut down the tree. I’m glad I snapped this picture when I did, because right after taking it, I walked back a ways to get a tree wagon. By the time I got back, Nolan and Jack had the tree down and in the pathway waiting for me!

It was great having Jack there to help Nolan. He’s much stronger than I am! Plus it’s fun for them to have father-son time.

Nolan hauling the tree out.

Jace LOVED the cows! He makes this awkward noise when he gets excited to see our pets, and he made the same noise, plus some squeals, for the cows.

Hanging out with Grandma in the greenhouse, looking at a model train, while waiting for the tree to be shaken and tied to the car.

Back at home Jace was more interested in the lights than the tree.

Happily letting Grandpa hold him (quite the contrast from the day before).

Family picture in front of the tree!

A little fall recap

2010-11-29T22:44:00.001-08:00

I can’t believe we’re already in the Christmas mindset! The house is decorated (although I have some craft projects in mind for extra décor to add), the tree’s up, and several gifts are already purchased! But November is not yet over, so I thought I’d share a few of our final fall moments.

Jace somehow got ahold of a transfer tag off a suitcase and it became a favorite toy before it was finally thrown away. I think I was asking him to do a trick for me, and he showed me his tag instead (reminds me of his cousin, Josiah, with “tickets”).

We got a light dusting of snow Thanksgiving week. Toby LOVED running around in it, and Jace loves watching Toby.

My contribution to the Thanksgiving feast was stuffing and two chocolate cream pies (a holiday staple in my family growing up). My crusts weren’t super pretty this year, but they tasted good!

I embellished a onesie for Jace for Thanksgiving. I appliqued a turkey on the shirt and stitched “little” above it. He was proud to show off mommy’s latest creation.

Jace with his Great Aunt Lenay. He loved having her tickle his toes!

Smiles from Jace were a little less frequent on Thanksgiving. Poor little guy had an ear infection in both ears. I think he’s had it for a little while—he had a cold a few weeks ago and would occasionally grab his left ear. It wasn’t frequent enough, nor accompanied by crying or a fever, so I didn’t want to take him in incase he just likes holding his ear. Then, on Wednesday, he was at his baby sitter’s and twice randomly grabbed his ears and screamed. And on Thanksgiving every time he was overwhelmed or nervous, he’d grab his ear and just scream. It wasn’t usual behavior for him. But once we got him back home, he hardly touched his ear at all. He woke up during the night on Thursday and Friday nights, though, screaming, so we took him in on Saturday. I guess this child can just ignore pain as long as he’s happy!

I can’t believe this child is almost 10 months old!

Jace Speaks

2010-11-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

Jace said his first words yesterday! Before, "Dadadadadada" expressed happiness. Last night, he saw Nolan and said, "Dada," and has repeated it to Nolan again and again this evening. "Buhbuhbuh" was just a babbling sound before, but last night he said "Buh-buh" after we said it, while waving his hands. AND, I happened to capture it on video!

Jace Speaks from Nolan Nelson on Vimeo.

Some Rainy Day Cuteness

2010-11-09T13:47:00.001-08:00

How does Jace spend a rainy morning? In his jammies…

…by the backdoor playing with the vertical blinds…

…and hitting the window with his measuring cup.

Nine Months Old!

2010-11-08T21:13:00.001-08:00

Jace turned nine months old last week, but he was sick that day. And then I got sick. And then we were busy. And then he needed a bath. So we finally took his pictures today. But he wasn’t too interested in sitting still. And I didn’t realize that the flash was turned off. I was tempted to just give up and wait for another time. But you know what? This captures Jace’s life at nine months old!

Here’s the best picture of the group:

So what’s up with Jace these days? He' has very quickly become a very quick crawler. He finally figured out how to get himself to move forward on October 17, and then really took off with it on the 20th. He now spends his days exploring the house and chasing down the pets. His absolute favorite toys are the snot sucker and a measuring cup. Don’t you dare try and take them away from him! He hasn’t really grown in the past month. If anything, he’s lost some weight now that he’s take up crawling. He is completely done nursing. The day we switched to all formula, the spitting up pretty much stopped! He might spit up a few times a week now, but it’s normal baby spit up. He’s been off his medicine for a few weeks and doing great! It’s crazy to have a need for clean clothes rather than a need for more burp cloths driving me to do laundry. He thinks he’s hilarious. He’ll be playing and just start laughing at himself. He also loves to make us laugh, and loves it when we make him laugh. We are blessed by this child!

And, now for the rest of our photo shoot today:

Trying to crawl off the chair…

I was a second too late in capturing him licking the chair.

Trying to get off the chair again, and again. I finally gave in and stopped trying to make him sit still.

Playing with Daddy.

My back was having problems this evening, and Jace really wanted attention, so Nolan was amazing and held Jace while doing the dishes. Jace liked helping his daddy.

Nolan then cooked me dinner. He’s such a great husband. On Friday, I’d felt sick all day. He picked up dinner on his way home from work, took care of Jace all evening, and then spent the day on Saturday playing with Jace and cleaning house while I spent some time sewing. What a wonderful man I have!

What a Fun Fall We’re Having!

2010-11-02T21:29:00.001-07:00

Wow! October was busy and fun! I didn’t realize what a busy month we had until I looked through our pictures. No wonder we’re tired! Enjoy all the pictures!

Cami spent a weekend with us while Dan and Anna were at a youth retreat. Jace loved having his cousin to ride in the grocery cart, entertain him in the car, and laugh with while playing. They’re good buddies!

We stopped by Grandpa Nelson’s work and had lunch with Grandma before heading to the airport to pick up Grandma Steiner.

Nolan and I went on a date and enjoyed a night off and then sleeping in thanks to Jace having a sleepover with his cousins and Grandma Steiner!

Jace loved spending time with Grandma Steiner!

Jace is growing so much! He outgrew his baby carrier and moved into a big boy car seat! (And yes, he is VERY tired in this picture.)

We visited EZ-Orchards Pumpkin Patch with the Steiner kiddos.

My brother, Dan, took some family pictures of us. He did a great job, and we found that Josiah is GREAT at getting Jace to smile for pictures.

Jace has become quite the crawler! He loves exploring our house and is getting pretty quick.

Playing with Daddy on the computer.

The best way to get Jace to let us look at his top teeth is to push up his lip and say, “Grrr!!!!” He thinks it’s too funny! He has another two teeth coming in soon!

Every month our church does a Family Movie Night. For October, we watched Star Wars: The Clone Wars and encouraged kids to come dressed as their favorite Star Wars character. I made a Yoda costume for Jace and I went as Han Solo (or should I say, “Sola?”).

This is our staff team: Jared, Lucy, me, and Spencer (our intern).

Jace wore his Peter Pan costume to church on Sunday. His friend, Elliana, came dressed as a pink kitty and they had fun playing in the nursery together (she just didn’t like getting her picture taken).

Now on to November…

Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning…

2010-10-28T17:33:00.001-07:00

Jace is going to be Peter Pan for Halloween. And yes, this is one of the cutest things you’ve ever seen. I finished making his costume last night, and was so excited to try it on him today. It fits perfectly. And if how excited he gets when wearing it is a measure of how much he likes it… he LOVES it! I couldn’t get him to sit still for a picture.

The costume includes pants, a tunic, hat, shoes, belt, sword and shadow. Can’t wait for him to charm everyone one Sunday with his cuteness!

It’s 9:45 pm and What’s Jace Doing?

2010-10-09T22:14:00.001-07:00

That’s right, an hour and forty five minutes after he normally goes to bed, and Jace is jumping. And jumping, and jumping, and jumping. He always gets to bed a little later on Saturday nights because of evening church, but tonight we did pretty well at getting him down at 8:30. Then, around 9:15 he was a little too busy in his bed, so we got him up, and discovered he’d had a blow out diaper. Into the tub he went and so commenced some extreme hyperness. So hyper that I had to let him try crawling around the tub (despite the fact that he hasn’t figured out how to crawl forward yet), and had to then put his diaper on from behind because there was no stopping this child from rolling and scooting away. Thankfully, the jumperoo is doing what I hoped and helping him quickly get some energy out. Maybe now he’s ready to sleep?

Eight Months Old!

2010-10-05T20:42:00.001-07:00

Our little guy is eight months old already! He is such a delightful little boy! Jace thinks he is the funniest person out there… he loves to make us laugh and cracks up anytime we act silly. He is also becoming sweetly affectionate. He’s been giving kisses (nice and open mouthed and slobbery) for a while, but seemed the most intentional about it the other morning. I was giving him kisses on his cheek, and when I stopped, he leaned toward me for more kisses, and then turned and kissed my cheek. I think that’s been one of my absolute favorite moments with him so far.

He’s becoming quite the little mover. He now can hop/bounce/scoot around while sitting on his bottom, and can push himself backwards on his belly to wherever he wants to go. He’s good at seeing something, wanting it, and finding a way to get it. This past week he figured out how to push himself into a sitting position from his tummy (which makes bed time and nap time oh, so much harder now). He also likes to hold himself up on his hands and knees and rock. I’m guessing crawling is going to happen very soon and then I’m in trouble. One of his favorite things to go after are shoes! He’s a boy after his mommy’s heart. He also loves to rip up magazines and eat his stuffed animals. Books are a big hit and he’s getting really good at turning pages. He also has fallen in love with a little Bob the Builder we have, and likes to hit it on things and talk in a high pitched voice. It’s almost like he’s trying to play pretend :)

He’s still a great sleeper at night (aside from a bad week last week), and naps pretty well, but I do have to remember that schedules are a nice goal and aren’t necessarily followed with this kid. And he LOVES LOVES LOVES to eat! He is starting to get a little particular though and likes to voice his opinion while eating veggies—making it clear that he’d rather have fruit.

Oh, and we think he’s pretty great.

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Pumpkin Patch!

2010-10-02T23:12:00.001-07:00

We headed out today for a wonderful family day! Our plan was to eat a cheap lunch at Shirly May’s (a hole in the wall on the way to Lebanon) and then go to Grandpa’s Pumpkin Patch between Albany and Lebanon. Shirly May’s was too full, so we ended up at Sharis instead—which meant Jace got to sit in a highchair like a big boy! He loved it!

It was cloudy when we left home, but clear skies and BRIGHT sunshine by the time we got to the pumpkin patch… odd as it is to say, it was almost too bright!

Jace had refused to nap before we headed out, so he was a little sleepy, and thrown off by the bright sunshine, so smiles were a little harder to come by. He did love taking everything in though! We went for a tractor pulled hay ride and he especially liked staring at and trying to grab the scare crows and corn stocks on the wagon.

There were two goats. Jace was willing to smile and try jumping over them!

He was VERY interested in the hay bales. He clutched these pieces of hay the rest of our time at the pumpkin patch.

Jace LOVES sitting on Daddy’s shoulders!

Still holding his hay.

Out looking for a pumpkin.

In the car, headed home, Jace loved holding onto his two baby pumpkins. As long as the binky was in his mouth, he wouldn’t try eating them.

We had a great day, and Jace took a great nap when we got home!

I was Featured!

2010-09-06T23:24:00.001-07:00

I can’t even BEGIN to tell you how exciting this is for me! The headband and ruffle shirt I made for Hannah (and the fact that I had Jace model the shirt) have been featured on Little Miss Momma! Ashley had a super fun headband week, and I joined the link up part.

Why is this oh, so exciting for me? Because I am a blog-stalker-extraordinaire! I have been watching and watching and bookmarking and bookmarking for who knows how long. I click on so many of the features from the weekly parties on countless blogs and always admire the ladies and what they come up with.

And then, not that long ago, these link up parties inspired me to renew my love of all things crafty and start a blog about what I make so I don’t over-crowd our family blog with ruffles (gotta keep my brothers actually wanting to read about our family happenings). And then, I started linking up too because those parties are so much fun… and now, I’m being featured! This is seriously so exciting for me (as if you couldn’t already tell).

Ah, what a perfect way to end a long weekend… That’s all.

7 Months Old!!!

2010-09-05T23:50:00.001-07:00

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My little boy is growing up way too quickly! He is such a fun little guy (although “little doesn’t describe him as well as it used it). He is quick to give anyone and everyone a smile. He LOVES to jump. Ever since we got a jumperoo, he thinks he should be able to jump everywhere… his exersaucer, our laps, wherever he’s sitting… He’s 29 inches and weighs 19 pounds (an almost 2 pound weight gain since last month!). He can sit for a long time, playing and wiggling around. He’s starting to scoot around a lot more and is quick to flip from his back to his tummy (which he just discovered he can do in his crib, making nap time much more fun!).

Josiah and Cami spent Friday night and all of Saturday with us this past weekend, and Jace LOVED taking a bath with Cami! It was his first time in the big tub (we still use his infant/toddler tub) and he thought he was in a swimming pool. He started splashing instantly and just kept splashing and splashing. Cami was more into her bubbles than she was into playing with Jace. That just meant Jace got to have more fun watching and splashing her.

We love our little 7 month old!

More Summer Fun

2010-09-05T23:28:00.001-07:00

Our summer has wrapped up with lots of fun!

One afternoon, I heard Jace fussing quite a bit after putting him down for a nap… he’s gotten his arm under his bumper before, but this time he went a little further and just couldn’t figure out how to get back out…

Jace LOVES to eat! He got a little messy while eating a biter biscuit one day (also, note the puff hanging from his chin)

Toby loves his Jace! One morning while Nolan and I were getting ready, Jace was just lounging on our bed. Pretty soon, Toby had to join him.

My friend, Ashley, has been watching Jace at her in-home daycare since he was 3 months old. Because of state regulations for how many kids under 2 years old she can watch, August was our last month of having her watch him. Her son, Owen, loves his ‘Jacey Poo” and Jace thinks Owen is pretty cool too. This was on his last day at Ashley’s.

Ashley’s daughter, Khloe, is six months older than Jace. This was on her birthday.

Tim came to visit for a week. All of us siblings and our families got together for a dinner at Dan and Anna’s and s’mores over the fire pit. We had a great time! Here are Mike and Amanda.

Tim and Nolan.

Dan and Micah.

Cami had to have her pink hat, purse and blankie to enjoy the fire.

Jace and Mommy.

Josiah, Anna and Jace. Jace loves his cousins, aunt and uncles!

Tim, Nolan, Jace and Toby heading out for a walk.

Tim and Jace the night before he went back to Maryland. They had a lot of fun together.

Our Little Driver

2010-08-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Nolan's mom has become quite the garage sale shopper and is amazing at finding great deals! She stopped by a sale the other day, saw a fun little car-exersaucer in wonderful condition and asked the lady how much. "$5" was all that they were asking. What makes this deal so amazing is knowing that the same thing would be listed for at least $40 on Craigslist... probably more because it's in such good shape and it makes lots of fun noises and lights up. So now we have an exersaucer for upstairs and downstairs, which makes me very happy. Until a week or two ago, Jace was still content to hang out in his bouncer while I got ready in the mornings, but then it became too boring (and he's probably too big, too). So the exersaucer went upstairs, and we started missing it downstairs (but were too lazy, or perhaps smart, to carry it up and down the stairs as needed).

Jace LOVES this little car! While playing in it last night, he discovered the mirror and that he could see himself. Nolan and I were laughing so hard at his reaction to it. Each time he'd notice himself, he'd quickly grab it with both hands and lean in until his nose touched it. We finally thought to grab the camera. While this shows his interest in himself, it's not quite as funny as before. But still cute, so enjoy!

Jace playing in his new car from Nolan Nelson on Vimeo.

Getting A Little Crafty

2010-08-20T13:23:00.001-07:00

I’ve been having a lot of fun getting crafty lately, and usually it involves my sewing machine. I follow a ton of creative blogs and I love using them to inspire me to come up with something new. These blogs also have fun contests where you showcase what you’ve been working on. In order to not clutter this blog up with all my projects, I started one just for the things I make. You can check it out here.

A few of the projects I’ve done lately…

A cute, ruffle shirt for a friend’s one-year-old daughter. [I had to have Jace model it to make sure it turned out ok, even though it’s too big… oh, and pink.]

Ruffle flowers on the front of the shirt.

A dress I made to wear to a wedding.

A diaper bag and changing pad for a friend.

Little Milestones

2010-08-13T00:53:00.001-07:00

Jace is living up the life of a six month old. He had his regular check up and vaccines on Monday and he did so well. He only had to have 2 shots this time—one in each leg. For the first one he just jumped and made a fussy noise, and then for the second one only let out a loud squeal, and then calmed down once he realized the pain was over. He’s such a tough little boy. He weighed in at 17 pounds 3 ounces, which puts him in the 46th percentile for his age. He is 28.5 inches long, which is in the 96th percentile. So he’s long and lean!

Has has also had a lot of new experiences lately!

We went swimming with Anna and the kids while my mom was here. It was Jace’s first time in a pool, but I knew he’d love it considering how much he enjoys baths. And I was right! This kid loved splashing and splashing and splashing (and chewing on his thumb the whole time as well). Every time his cousins came near he giggled, and if they happened to splash him it was even better! He stayed in the pool for an hour and a half before getting fussy, and then quickly fell asleep on me. We’ll have to take Nolan with us back to the pool soon.

Jace got to ride on Daddy’s shoulders for the first time. He wasn’t so sure what to think of Nolan’s hair, but really didn’t mind the experience despite the look on his face. He now smiles and giggles when Nolan does this with him.

At Josiah’s birthday party Uncle Mike put his cap on Jace and it was too cute!

Snuggling with Josiah after the party. Jace loves his cousins!

First time in the backpack. Nolan took Jace and Toby for a walk and all three loved the experience.

Jace is so good at sitting up on his own now! I can put him down and he’ll just sit there and play for a while. He is getting really good at correcting his balance. Our dear, sweet friend Mary who loves to watch Jace for me every chance she gets ordered Jace some new books. He had a lot of fun looking through them!

Jace loves books!

Jace loves to hold anything that comes near his mouth, but he has a hard time holding his bottle and figuring out how to tip it enough to drink from it. So, I thought we could start working on learning to drink with a sippy cup. It only took a few times of me helping him grab the handles for him to be able to hold it himself. He also got to have apple juice for the first time and loved it. He just needs to improve on swallowing after sucking a bit. Oh, and he’s not afraid to express his irritation at finishing the juice.

Six Months Old!

2010-08-06T23:35:00.001-07:00

Happy Half Birthday, Jace! I can’t believe our little guy is already so old. But he’s also so cute, so fun, so entertaining, so crazy, so stinky, so silly, so lovable, so busy, so, so, so… Every day I fall more and more in love with my baby boy, and every day I find it harder and harder to stop playing with him and put him to bed at night. Jace charms everyone he comes in contact with—whether it’s by smiling at the person behind us in line at the grocery story, being happy regardless of who is holding him, or talking up a storm to anyone who will listen.

Beyond having a great personality (and being cute too), he’s reaching new milestones each day. He can sit up on his own for quite a while and can even adjust himself to keep his balance. While he learned to roll over a long time ago, he’d rather just stay on his back or his belly—and when he’s on his belly, he tries to crawl. Unfortunately, his attempts at crawling are pushing his knees under himself while plowing his face into the ground, and then he wonders why he didn’t get anywhere. He loves, loves, loves to eat—so far he’s had green beans, sweet potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, pears, apples, peaches and apricots. Pears are his absolute favorite.

He’s been taking reflux medicine for the past month and we’ve seen so much improvement because of it! He still spits up here and there, but a bib is no longer a necessary accessory and he doesn’t act like he’s starving all the time. In fact, we’re now able to go four hours between each feeding, and he sleeps for 11-12 hours straight each night!

I LOVE THIS BABY!

Loving Some Summer Time

2010-07-21T16:12:00.001-07:00

Sorry these are in a bit of a random order, but here's some of what we've been up to now that summer weather has *somewhat* arrived.

Jace has been gradually losing his hair--some to rubbing, but mostly to cradle cap (each flake of scalp took all the hair from that spot with it). It was so sad to see his wonderful hair go, and pretty soon the comb-over wasn't very cute anymore, so it was time for a major haircut. Check out the before pics...

This picture shows his lack of hair in the front and crazy wave in the back.

This one perfectly captures the craziness. Add a little spit up to the mix and it gets even better!

After he got his first buzz! You can also kind of see his TWO bottom teeth. They came in within 5 days of each other.

We decided to walk to the Linn County Fair on a beautiful day. Jace was great at wearing a hat and kept it on the whole time!

Daddy and Jace on the walk.

Having fun hanging out while Mommy and Daddy enjoy some fair food.

All worn out before heading home.

Our friends, Amy and Ken were visiting from Paris and had to meet Jace and Elliana, who are 2 days apart in age.

All bundled up for fireworks on the 4th of July. We had friends over for a barbecue and then went to Independence for the show. Jace was mesmerized by the first half, and then slept for the rest.

Food and Fury

2010-07-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

I've been planning all along on making baby food for Jace and tried my hand at it for the first time last week with green beans. Jace loved them (but I have a feeling he's going to like anything I give him, he's so obsessed with food!). I'll be introducing one food a week, so today I bought sweet potatoes, pears and bananas to get ahead on making food for him. Thanks to my wonderful food steamer (Christmas gift from my friend, Mary, last year) and my amazing food processor (thanks to my Mom last year), baby food it super easy to make! I think I went a little overboard on sweet potatoes (as seen above). I'll know better next time how much to buy! I spent a total of $12.61 (oh if only I had a Winco or Super Walmart in town, it could have been less). I figured out in the end that with how much I made and how much I would have spent to buy that same amount at Target, I saved at least $31.04! It could be more... I still have a lot of sweet potatoes to freeze, and I'm just estimating how much it will make. I feel a fun sense of accomplishment each time I get some food out of the freezer and watch Jace devour it.

And now for the fury...
Jace has always been verbal, but he's seemed to discover his sounds in a new way these past few days. Yesterday he found out how fun it is to make the "da" sound, and loved using his high pitched voice as well! Nolan managed to get some video of it by using his phone (Jace recognizes all our other cameras and stops whatever he's doing to stare). This video is 3 minutes long, and he'd been doing the exact same thing for several minutes before and after it!

Untitled from Nolan Nelson on Vimeo.

A little more cuteness

2010-07-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

Just a little Jace update: when I took him to the doctor last week about his spit up problem, he'd gained 10 ounces from the month before, and I finally measured him today. The kid is 28 inches long now, which means he has grown TWO inches in one month! No wonder all his pants were looking short on him. Yay for finally having summer heat so shorts and onesies are his daily wear!

One of his front bottom teeth is about to break through (it may have broken through today, but he hasn't been very cooperative in letting me get a good feel/look at it today) and the other is right behind it. Yesterday his nose and mouth wouldn't stop running, and today it's lessened quite a bit, so it wouldn't surprise me if the tooth came through.

His reflux medicine is helping quite a bit! We still have a few spit ups here and there, but he can actually go the entire time between meals without a real spit up here and there! We see the biggest evidence of how well the medicine is working when we forget to give it to him and are reminded how much he spit up before. Hopefully we'll get the referral to the GI specialist soon so we can see if there might be a stronger reflux medicine he can take (while the spit up is less, he does still have quite a few huge projectiles).

As I said in the previous post, Jace and Cami are pretty big fans of each other. Last night while she was holding him, Cami was singing his name to him, "Jacers, Jacers, Jacers..." Of course she stopped singing when I got the camera out, but I was still able to get some of their cute interaction. Enjoy!

Cami and Jace from Nolan Nelson on Vimeo.

Cute Cousins

2010-07-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

For the first time since Jace was born, we had all three Steiner kiddos spend the night. Anna's mom dropped them off at my office and we headed home in the 95 degree heat. Jace, who was so tired his eyes were bright red, couldn't fall asleep in the car because his cousins were too fun to watch, so I heard, "I want Jace to look at me..." and "Jace is looking at Josiah, I want him to look at me..." the whole way home. When we got to our house, Jace went down for a much needed nap and the kids and I got out the slip and slide. It was fun to see how much they've changed since our slip and slide adventures last year: Josiah knew how to do it correctly from the start and didn't need to yell in order to be successful, Micah has mastered tummy sliding, and Cami wasn't afraid to get wet.

Jace woke up not long after we went back in, and Cami loved having cuddle time with him. I can't believe how close they are in size already (obviously Jace is still much smaller, but he'll catch up quickly). I can't count how many times Cami said, "I hold Jacers," or "I carry Jacers." I think she wishes he'd stay tiny forever. In the morning I had Jace and Cami on our bed while I got ready, and they both were laughing so hard when she decided to play peek-a-boo (without any prompting from me) by covering him with his blanket and then pulling it off of him. I think they'll be great friends!

Jace loves sucking on his toes, and once he did it, Cami decided to do it too.

I laid Jace down on his blanket, and as soon as Cami joined him, Toby came over and laid right next to Jace's head. I'm not sure if that was him claiming Jace as his, or trying to protect Jace from Cami.

Micah had fun playing with Jace and the exersaucer. Jace LOVED having his cousins entertain him. Josiah played with Jace too, I just didn't get any pictures of it.

Five Months Old!

2010-07-05T00:29:00.000-07:00

Jace is five months old! He's quite the busy boy--if he's not wiggling and talking, he's sleeping, and even then he wiggles while he sleeps! Jace will do a complete 360 degree turn in his crib throughout the night (I have fun watching him through our video monitor). He can roll from his back to his tummy and tummy to back, but would rather just lay on his back or side, playing with toys (and talking or yelling at his toys). He's known about his feet for over a month now, but just finally realized they're fun to play with. He lights up when either Nolan or I come into his sight and is always quick to give us a smile. He brings us so much joy. He has been spitting up more than we thought was normal for even a spitty baby, and it began to be projectile as well, so we took him to the doctor this week. She gave us a prescription for a reflux medicine (which seems to be helping somewhat, but he still spits up quite a bit), and referred us at GI specialist in Portland. We'll see what happens... But enough of the details, now for a peak at that adorable face!

I made Jace a onesie for the 4th of July and had to do his 5 month pictures in it :)

He's staring at Daddy in this picture. I love the look on his face.

Enjoying some time in the bumbo seat while waiting for friends to come over on the 4th. He almost always has at least one finger in his mouth, and has recently discovered how much he loves his thumb (mostly to chew on, not really into sucking his thumb yet).

The other day he was sitting in the bumbo and leaned over to look at the blanket when he realized how great the bumbo is to suck on (he does the same thing in his exersaucer). This picture also shows how much he's lost his hair. He had cradle cap for a while, and every chunk of skin that came off took the hair with it. He has to awkward bald spots on the sides, and it's thinning in the middles. I'm sad to see this hair go.

Enjoying a beautiful evening outside.

Showing off how much he likes his feet.

A Fun Project for the Fourth

2010-06-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

I wasn't feeling so good this time last year thanks to a growing little boy inside of me, so when the 4th of July rolled around, I may have still had winter decorations out. This year I managed to get them put away in the spring time! I'm taking a few days off to recover from VBS last week and wanted to use some of this time to actually decorate for the 4th. While browsing some blogs, I saw a challenge/contest for making something crafty that used the colors red, white and blue (check it out here).

I started with this:

Unstwisted the hangers, bent them into a star shape and taped them together.

Wrapped the star in blue fabric and cut out my red, white and blue fabrics into strips, and tied them on the star.

And then hung this on my front door.
I ended up with a patriotic wreath, and didn't spend a penny!

A Little Look At Jace's Life

2010-06-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a collection of video clips I've taken of Jace over the past few weeks. Enjoy!

everyday jace from Nolan Nelson on Vimeo.

First Time with Solids!

2010-06-04T22:57:00.000-07:00

Our doctor had said it would be ok to start Jace on solids anywhere between 4 and 6 months. I had hoped to wait until 6 months, but for the past week or so he's been acting very dissatisfied with the amount he's been eating. He also fits all the criteria for knowing your baby is ready (doubled birth weight, ability to sit up with help, interest in food, etc). So I figured maybe now was a good time to give rice cereal a try. This video shows both his first time eating cereal (on Thursday) and then eating again on Friday. By the time I was done feeding him on Friday, he discovered that he LOVES eating cereal (as long as it's mixed with milk not water) and that he can't get enough of it. Enjoy!

Jace Eats Rice Cereal from Nolan Nelson on Vimeo.

Four Months Old!

2010-06-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Our little guy is four months old already! He had a wonderful day today--happy and actually took naps! I told Nolan that being 4 months old suits him well.

He has his four month appointment on Monday, so I'll find out his length and weight then. But in other news about our four month old... He is working very hard on learning to roll over-he's gotten all the way from his back to his belly, but still needs to figure out how to get his arm out from under him. He also loves to lay on a blanket and play with toys. His favorite toy is his red hippo on a ring. He hold the ring with both hands and try to shove the hippos head in his mouth while squealing at it. He loves to smile and giggle and is very aware of his surroundings. He's been eating every 3 hours, but I'm trying to transition him to eating more every 4 hours instead. When he decides he's hungry, he's hungry, and if you dare make him wait you'll hear a squeal that sounds like a pig being slaughtered. He goes to bed around 8:30 pm, sleeps for 8 hours, eats, and then sleeps for another 3. Naps are still hard to make happen though. He loves his time at Ashley's on Tuesdays while I'm at work and always naps perfectly for her! Jace especially loves his daddy, and they love playing games together. We're very blessed to have him as our son!

Sitting in his new (to us) bumbo seat and watching Toby.

He still loves taking baths!

Having fun getting dried off after bath time.

Eating the leg of his Naval Academy bear that Grandma Steiner gave him.

Trip to Maryland: Relaxing and Hanging Out

2010-06-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

My grandparents, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Alan and Liesl all left on Saturday, and then Dan, Anna, the kids and Mike left on Sunday. We weren't flying out until Tuesday evening, so that meant we had a few relaxing days with my parents and Tim.

The entire family before everyone left--Dad, Mike, Tim, Nolan, Dan, Mom, Micah, Jace, Me, Josiah, Anna and Cami. My parents have lived in Maryland for 4 years, and this was their first time having all of us there at the same time. My mom loved it!

Jace and Grandpa getting some cuddle time.

Nolan and Jace taking a much needed nap.

My parents took us out to dinner on Sunday evening. I love how their area is on the water. We ate at an outdoor restaurant right on the water. Maryland is known for their crab, so being the not-seafood-loving person that I am, I decided to be brave and have a crab cake. It was probably good if you like an authentic crab cake, but I decided I much prefer them with lots of filler!

Tim and my parents.

After dinner, Tim and Nolan went back to the house while my parents, Jace and I went into downtown Annapolis to walk around. Jace is with my parents at City Dock in this picture.

Jace and I in front of Gate 1 to the Academy.

While walking around downtown, we passed the Paca House, and all three of us mentioned that we'd wanted to tour it. So my mom, dad and I went back on Monday to go on a tour. William Paca built the house in the 1760's, and he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. It was one of the best historical tours we've been on, and the house and gardens were beautiful.

Walking down the old streets of Annapolis. I love all the history!
It was a wonderful trip and Jace was an amazing traveler. Our trip home ended up taking 2 1/2 hours longer than planned since someone on our last flight had a medical emergency and we had to make an unplanned stop in Denver. When we finally got in our bed at 4:30 am, we were so happy to get some sleep!
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Trip to Maryland: Graduation Party

2010-06-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

After graduation my mom had a party in Tim's honor at their house. A friend of hers from church was sweet and got everything set up and ready so all we had to do was come home to food and fun!

Jace and Uncle Tim. At the end of graduation, all the no-longer-midshipmen throw their covers (hats) in the air, and kids rush the field to pick them up. Dan bought one off a kid who had 4 to give to his boys, and Tim found one in his room to give to Liesl. Jace looked pretty cute in a cover!

View of the food from upstairs.

Cami LOVES Jace (she calls him Jace, Jacers, and Jameson-the name of one of Anna's friend's baby). I'm pretty sure she was telling him something very important in this picture.

After Tim opened all his gifts, he presented my mom with his Reef Points book, the book that he had to use through Pleeb Summer. He told her how much the Bible verses and encouraging quotes she sent him had meant to him, and had one in particular taped to the inside cover. Mom got too choked up to read it, so we passed it off to Nolan to read.

Hanging out with Grandpa Steiner.

Liesl holding Jace. Liesl is closer in age to her second cousins than she is to us! She was a flower girl in our wedding.

Jace crashed on Grandma after all the excitement was over.

Trip to Maryland: Graduation

2010-06-04T21:56:00.001-07:00

Friday morning was Tim's graduation. All week the weather forecast was saying thunderstorms, so we were praying for good weather! There was a huge storm the night before, but the morning of graduation was overcast with occasional sunshine, and a great break from the heat! It was quite the experience watching what had the elements of a normal college graduation, but also great military formality. Vice President Biden was the speaker, so having helicopters with guns fly overhead also added a special element!

A picture through the binoculars. Tim is in the last clear row on the right, looking over his shoulder.

Waiting for graduation to start.

Biden giving his speech. He did a great job.

The new Naval Officers getting sworn in. Tim is in the second to last row seen here, just past the guy in white who is sitting down (he was here from another country in an exchange program, so he didn't get commissioned into our Navy).

With the new Ensign Timothy Steiner. So proud of him!

Tim and Mike. It was so sweet to see how proud Mike was of Tim!

Trip to Maryland: A Day in DC

2010-06-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Nolan, Jace and I went into DC. We decided to splurge and buy tickets on an old time Trolley that took you all over DC and allowed you to get off at different stops, and then hop on the next trolley that came along. With the heat and Jace, we figured all the walking it would take to see the sights might be too much. We were so glad we took the trolley because we also saw quite a few things around DC that we never would have seen before, and the drivers were great tour guides!

We rode the Metro into Union Station. I had been there twice, but Nolan hadn't seen it before. We grabbed lunch, ate in the lobby, and then got on the trolley. Jace was happy in his front pack as long as I was standing up.

We got off at the Jefferson Memorial and walked over to the FDR Memorial (I'd never seen it, but Nolan saw it in high school). The temperature was in the 90's and got humid as the day wore on. I enjoyed the sun, but Jace got a little over heated.

Nolan and Jace at the FDR Memorial. Jace was happy to get out of his front pack.

The FDR Memorial was beautiful. It was made up of 4 rooms to represent FDR's 4 terms as president.

We sat in the shade at the memorial and stripped Jace down. He was so happy to cool off!

After the FDR Memorial, we got back on the trolley and rode past several other monuments and memorials before getting off at the American History Museum. There were some new exhibits since we'd been there last, and we thought the air conditioning would be a nice break. We all enjoyed a time of cooling off! Then we got back on the trolley, rode around DC some more, switched to a different trolley and rode out to the National Cathedral. As much as we would have loved to get off and look around, we were worried about how Jace would handle the day being longer. On the way back to the trolley station, we went down Embassy Row. Finally we were back on the Metro (which Jace screamed for half of the ride because of how hot and crowded it was), and then back to my parents' house.

Trip to Maryland: The Ball

2010-06-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday evening was the Graduates' Ball. Wednesday was also my Grandma's birthday, so we all attended the ball to celebrate her special day. It was fun having everyone get so dressed up, and then we had a blast dancing at the ball. Jace loved all the lights and movement, and Josiah, Micah, Cami and Liesl were quite the dancers!

Jace with Grandma before the ball.

Dan, Anna and their kids looking great!

I LOVE this picture of Nolan and Jace!

The four of us kids--Dan, Me, Tim and Mike.

My parents and Tim in their backyard before the ball.

Us with Tim before going in the ball. Jace and his cousins got quite a bit of attention due to their cuteness!

Family self-portrait.

Uncle Tim and Jace dancing together.

Jace was very quick to give Great-Grandma Steiner lots of smiles and giggles. Grandma loved it!

Trip to Maryland: Blue Angels

2010-06-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we went on the yard to watch the Blue Angels do a show. It was a very hot day, especially in the beating sun. Jace had a hard time with the heat and bright sun (he'd never really seen the sun) and then when the planes started flying over us VERY loudly, he decided he'd had enough. But after a little while of sitting in the shade of an umbrella and drinking a bottle, he fell asleep and missed the rest of the show. The rest of us loved watching the crazy stunts though!

Cami and Jace before everything started. Cami decided she didn't want to sit in her stroller, so I put Jace in it. Of course, she then wanted to be in her stroller again!

Waiting for the shuttle buses to take us back to the football field where our cars were parked.

Trip to Maryland: 1st Plane Ride & 1st Morning in Annapolis

2010-06-04T17:00:00.001-07:00

Our long awaited trip to Maryland for my youngest brother, Tim's, graduation finally arrived bright and early on Tuesday, May 25. We stayed at Nolan's parents in Clackamas the night before, and were off to the airport at 4 am. Jace was an amazing little traveler! I think he loved the fact that he got more bottles between the two flights than he normally has all day!

At our gate waiting to board.

The flight attendants on our first flight were wonderful and moved the person next to us so we could have a whole row to ourselves. Jace loved being able to wiggle, and eventually fall asleep, on his own seat.

My mom borrowed an exersaucer from a friend for Jace to play in. This was his first time in an exersaucer and he loved it!

The next morning my Grandma and Grandpa Steiner, aunt, uncle and cousin came over. This is my grandparents with all of the great grand kids and my cousin Liesl.

My brother, Tim, with Jace. Tim met Jace for the first time at the airport the night before.

Modified Dress Shirt for Jace

2010-05-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

We're getting very excited for our trip to Maryland next week! While we're there we'll go to a ball for all the graduates. Jace is going to look so handsome in his little suit (which also matches his cousins' suits).
The only problem with the suit is that the shirt didn't stay tucked in very well. And if it didn't stay tucked in well in the few minutes Jace was modeling for this picture, I knew it would be bad news at the ball! But then I remembered a tutorial I had seen on a blog a week or so before that showed you how to make an "always tuck me in shirt." Check it out here.

We started with his nice, white dress shirt:

And then I cut off the bottom of a stained onesie that he's outgrown and sewed it on to the bottom of the shirt (I did it with his Easter shirt first to make sure it worked knowing it would be a great improvement for that shirt as well). In just 5 minutes, I had transformed his shirt in a way that no one at the ball will ever know (although I'm sure they'll all be so impressed by how good Jace is at keeping his shirt tucked in).

Ta-da!

Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

2010-05-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

So there aren't really shoulders, but there's an attempt at Jace's gums!

HEAD
We're headed to Maryland next week for my brother Tim's graduation from the Naval Academy. Since we'll be seeing a lot of sunshine, and Jace hasn't worn a hat since the day we brought him home from the hospital, I thought it would be a good idea to start getting him used to a hat. We went for a walk on one of our rare sunny days, and he didn't fight it at all!

GUMS
Guess who's teething! Jace had some really fussy days last week, and sure enough, there are two little teeth starting to make their appearance. That means that during 80% of the time he's awake, his hand is in his mouth. His first finger has been the favorite. I tried to capture a picture of his gums, but after three unsuccessful tries, I figured you can just wait to see them.

KNEES & TOES
Our little guys legs aren't so little any more. I had to get a picture of these chubbers!

A little something work related...

2010-05-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

A while back I was asked to contribute to an e-book called, "What Matters Now in Children's Ministry." I was really excited to be a part of something that fellow Children's Ministry leaders from around the world that I highly respect would also be contributing to. The only thing that made this less than wonderful was the fact that I had to choose one word that represents, to me, what matters most in ministry to children. Oh, and I had to explain it in 200 words or less. Several drafts later and after many reminders of how much I'm a longer-winded story teller, I finally had my main point and 200 words that explained it. I got a sneak peak at the book last week, and today it was fully released. Imago did all the art work as a gift to the project, and the whole thing looks beautiful! And since the book is free, I thought I would share it with all of you. Even if you have no connection to Children's Ministries, it's still great to read through and see such a great representation of people who are passionate about seeing today's children grow up to be leaders in the future. Enjoy! What Matters Now in Children's Ministry

Three Months Old!

2010-05-03T22:16:00.001-07:00

I can't believe Jace is 3 months old already! He's changing so much every day. Our latest exciting accomplishments are: a consistent bed time at 8:30, with a feeding between 5 and 6 am, he loves sucking on his hands and fingers but still has a hard time getting his thumb to stay in his mouth, he's started actually noticing his hands and likes holding them together and looking at them, when put on his back on the floor, he'll arch his back and look around like he's getting ready to roll over, he loves to squeal and giggle, especially when Daddy plays peek-a-boo with him, he enjoys hearing himself speak and talks very loudly, he still eats every three hours, but eats a lot more at each feeding, and he brings us so, so, so much joy every day!

Getting a smile was quite the accomplishment as he is mesmerized by the camera and was also in a grumpy mood today. Notice the wet belly--this boy is ALWAYS spitting up.

We finally changed clothes when his previous shirt got soaked. This outfit is a 6 month size! A little baggy, but not too much. Jace is long and lean.

Jace turned 3 months on Uncle Mike's birthday! We met up with Mike and Amanda at King Tin in Corvallis to treat them to lunch for Mike's birthday. Mike and Amanda are pretty fond of our little guy.

We took a happy picture just before this, but Mike and Amanda were out of focus. Jace was pretty content to sit with them until he remembered he was hungry.

Josiah stayed with us for the weekend, and Jace LOVED talking to him and smiling at him. It was sweet to watch Josiah love on his little cousin. Josiah had a soccer game on Saturday, and Jace discovered that he hates sunshine and wind. This was a brief, peaceful moment. We eventually just put him back in his car seat with the blanket blocking the wind, which made him very happy and talkative for the rest of the game.

Josiah did a great job of kicking the ball and keeping up with the game!

Dedicating Jace

2010-04-26T00:14:00.000-07:00

Today we dedicated Jace at church. It's an act of us committing to being parents who will raise him in a home that loves Jesus, teach him about the Lord, and guide him spiritually as he grows. Nolan and I want to have our own lives reflect our faith to Jace as he gets older so he can look to us as examples. So many times while I'm feeding him, I pray that he will grow to know and love the Lord. That his life will honor God and that God can use Jace to do great things for His glory.

Beyond the significance of dedicating Jace, it was special to be doing it alongside families in the church that we're friends with, whose children Jace will grow up with. Sixteen babies total were dedicated, two were born the same week as Jace, two a month before, and one just a few weeks after. I also love that after so many times of watching other people's babies get dedicated, I finally had my own. Enjoy the pictures and video!

Jace's Dedication from Nolan Nelson on Vimeo.

A Fun Game of Peek-A-Boo

2010-04-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Jace has been making laughing noises for a while, but today while playing patty-cake with him, he actually did a real giggle! After several giggles, I finally called my parents so they could hear it. Of course, he immediately decided patty-cake wasn't fun any more and started crying. We were able to get one good giggle out though! Then, when Nolan came home from work he started playing peek-a-boo with Jace, and got a ton of good laughs and giggles! (I was especially excited to capture it on video considering if I ever pull out the camera when it's just the two of us, Jace is so distracted by it that he doesn't smile anymore.)

Jace Laughing from Nolan Nelson on Vimeo.

Growing Boy!

2010-04-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Right now I have a very sad baby... he got his 2 month shots yesterday, and I think he's also coming down with a cold (we're a family that likes to share-Nolan got sick, and then shared it with me and Jace). It was so sad and funny today to listen to him figure out how to breathe with a stuffy nose. He shouted every time he breathed out through his mouth, as though the only way he knew how to breathe through his mouth was if he made noise. He's been whimpering a lot too. Poor baby. On a positive note, we had three nights where he slept through the whole night! Saturday he slept for 8.5 hours, and Sunday and Monday nights were both 10.5 hours! Yay for us!

Jace did enjoy the first part of his 2 month check up yesterday. He was very proud to show our doctor just how alert he is, how good he is at focusing, and what a strong kickers his legs are! He measured at 24.75 inches long (which put him in the 96th percentile), and 12 pounds, 4 ounces (which put him in the 60th percentile). We're going to have a tall boy! While we were waiting for the nurse to come give him his shots, he was so busy kicking on the exam table that he destroyed the little paper I carried him to be weighed on, and punched 3 holes in the paper that covers the table. Such a busy little boy! He really didn't like getting shots, but at least was willing to let me comfort him afterward. It was easier for me to see him get these shots than it was when he got all the antibiotic shots in the hospital. And now to keep it fun with some pictures...

Don't believe his face in this picture--Jace loved having his Grandma Steiner come visit! I had a great first full week back at work thanks to my mom watching Jace each day at Anna's house. Jace loved the time with his cousins!

Sweet snuggles with Grandma. Sad to think of how much bigger he'll be the next time she sees him (in May for Uncle Tim's graduation, which will also be Uncle Tim's first time meeting Jace).

Jace played happily on his lady bug after we got home from his shots. Within 5 minutes of laying him straight on it (his spine lined up with the line on the ladybug) I found him like this. At one point, he even looped his right leg around the arch. He's quite the mover!

Lately Jace has gotten into grabbing his ever present burp cloths (they're almost always draped across his chest, and if we don't have a burp cloth there, he's wearing a bib). While we were at the doctor's office, he was laying in my lap with just his diaper on, and kept grabbing and pinching his belly. I couldn't figure out why he was doing it, until I saw him clutching his onesie here. When there's no burp cloth to grab, he'll take whatever is there. My guess is he'll probably adopt a burp cloth for comfort instead of a blankie.

Easter!

2010-04-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter! It was my first weekend back at work--4 services for Easter! Jace was such a trooper being in the nursery for all of them. He was well loved by all the volunteers who anticipated his arrival for 9 months. My mom flew in on Saturday, and it was great to have her join us for church. Our pastor had a great message, and all the services were full of kids! After joining us for the 9:30 service, my mom headed back to our house to get lunch made. I loved coming home to the wonderful smells of her food cooking! Mike and Amanda joined us for lunch, and then Dan, Anna and the kids came by later in the afternoon. We had a great day celebrating Jesus' resurrection!

Family picture--we sat down on the couch, and Toby had to join us!

Mike and Amanda loving some baby time.

Jace was fussing, but as soon as Mike held him in his blanket he fell asleep.

Micah only lets his uncles cut his hair these days. Uncle Tim (or so he thought) did it at Christmas time, and today Uncle Mike gave him a GREAT, styled hair cut.

Cousin time with Grandma.

2 Months Old!

2010-04-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

Our baby is growing up so quickly! We have a pretty consistent sleeping schedule--he doesn't like to be put to bed before 10, but he's okay napping downstairs off and on in the evening. I feed him around 9:30, and then he is awake for an hour, happily kicking and smiling for Mommy and Daddy. He eats again an hour later and then lays right down in his bassinet. After about 10 minutes of looking around, he finally dozes off. He sleeps until 5 am, feeds, and then is right back to bed and doesn't wake up until 8. And usually, after feeding him I can put him back to bed for a few more hours!

Thursday, April 1, was my first day back at work and Jace came with me. He was content to sit in his carrier for the first 45 minutes, just looking around, and then took a nap for the rest of the time.

He loves to smile, especially when we pretend to sneeze in his face. All Daddy has to do is say, "Ah, Ah, Ah.." and the smiles of anticipation start! Afternoons are generally spent wide awake with maybe a 20 minute nap or two. But Mommy still can get plenty done because Jace is happy to lay on his lady bug for 45 minutes to an hour, followed by an hour on his boppy, and time in his swing. He's such a content baby!

Looking so sweet!

Smiling for Mommy as she says, "Ah... Ah... Ah..."

Look how much he's grown since last month!

When Only Mommy Will Do

2010-03-28T20:57:00.001-07:00

I love it when cuddling with Mommy is the only thing that will comfort him.