I love days like Father's Day because they give me an opportunity that I might not otherwise have taken to stop and reflect and be grateful for all the blessings in my life. Today, I can't help but feel so much gratitude for all the great men in my life. With an amazing husband, wonderful dad, two grandfather's, two brothers, several uncles, and now a father-in-law, I have been blessed with so many great examples of what it means to be a good, honorable man.
My dad set the bar pretty high for the man who would one day be the father of my children. Growing up, he was my model for manhood and I thank Heavenly Father every day for his good example.
Justin has been everything I could have hoped for and more in a companion. My life has truly changed for the better since I met him. He is such a kind, forgiving, patient, understanding, and responsible man. Being his partner in life is a privilege that I often can't believe is my good fortune to have.
This year, as I've watched him become a father, I find myself falling in love with him all over again. He is such a good dad and helps me to see all the ways in which I can improve as a mother. Nolan is a lucky child to have such a man to look up to and learn from.
"Every day you are teaching your children what it means to be a father. You are laying a foundation for the next generation. Your sons will learn how to be husbands and fathers by observing the way you fulfill these roles. They will learn how to treat their future wife and children as they watch you treat each one of them just as Heavenly Father would." -Larry M. Gibson, April General Conference 2015
The poem Nolan gave Justin for Father's Day:
My Little Hand
Take my little
hand in yours
Teach me wrong from right
Read me bedtime stories
And tuck me in each night
Fill my mind with wonder
And my little heart with love
Teach me about Jesus
How he sent me from above
Help me to always understand
The things I need to know
For it's you who I'll be watching
Each day as I grow
And I'll want to be just like you
When I'm all grown up someday
So take my little hand in yours
And lead me on my way
Nolan "helping" dad look at his Father's Day gift.
Yikes! He's 7 months! He's now closer to being a year old than not. This...is not okay.
The other day Justin and I were at Target and saw the sweetest board book called "If I Could Keep You Little." It's basically about how much we love our children and want to savor every moment of each stage of their childhood, but at the same time there are so many great things for them to see and do and become as they grow up. The last line of the book reads,
"If I could keep you little, I'd keep you close to me.
But then I'd miss you growing into who you're meant to be!"
Get me the tissue box please.
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7 month photo shoot and collage
I also thought I'd throw in this picture of his cousin Beck at the same age.
He's started clapping and it's SO cute!!
He's also started babbling - like more than just cooing and making noise. It really sounds like he wants to say something now. I had to video tape the wall with him in the background because he stops whenever he sees the camera haha.
How he wakes up ♥
Why do we bother with a play pen when a laundry basket will do??
Justin gave Nolan his very own phone (his old one) to try to distract him from trying to take ours. Is this a terrible thing?! (no need to answer haha). It's pretty crazy though how much he loves phones already. Yikes!
He loved mom's mashed potatoes! Good thing or Justin might have requested a paternity test.
Last week we took a trip to San Francisco/Livermore to see Doug and Pam. We've really been looking forward to the trip, but NOT so much the plane ride. Nolan is such a good-natured baby that a large part of me was sure he'd be just fine, but I was still so nervous!
Well, it all turned out just fine. In fact, the actual plane ride was the least of our worries! We ran into our first problem at security. We had purchased a lightweight umbrella stroller just for the trip and, ever one to be prepared (or at least try to be) and wanting to do everything we could to make sure things went as smoothly as possible, we had practiced opening and closing the stroller at least 15 times with no problems. But of course, the minute we get to security and have to put it up on the belt the dang thing won't close! Ugh! We fumbled and fiddled with it for a few minutes, my blood pressure and stress level rising with each minute, until finally we were holding the line up enough that they had us step off to the side with it so someone could just come check it out.
After security we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to the gate. We knew we had to be quick while we tried to eat and figure out how to get the stroller closed and in the gate check bag. Before we knew it we still hadn't figured out the dang stroller and they were calling for boarding. Oh and we had forgotten to check in online so we were already boarding later than we had hoped!
By the time we boarded the plane there were no two seats together. With all my planning and preparing I had never even considered that we wouldn't be sitting together. I was on the verge of tears when two nice men got up and offered Justin and I their seats together. Not only did they offer up their seats, but the second man offered to hold the diaper bag and things while Nolan and I got settled in the seat. No words. There are definitely still good people in the world!!
Pam picked us up and was so excited to see her grandson :). Doug was at work and I think was feeling a little left out because he called to ask if we could stop by his work to "drop something off" (translation: show Nolan off). It was pretty cute watching him introduce Nolan to everyone.
We did some shopping then went to a pizza place for dinner.
Friday we did a little shopping then took Nolan to his first movie! We've never taken Nolan to a movie, 1) because I worry it will be super stressful because I'd be so worried every time he even made a peep, and 2) because I'm too cheap to pay for a movie only to have to walk out if he cries. But Doug and Pam really wanted to go and Pam offered to take him out if need be.
Of course, I underestimated Nolan's awesomeness (per usual). We fed him a bottle at the beginning of the movie which put him to sleep for the whole first half. Then he woke up and (no joke) watched the movie! haha. Pam was good about covering his ears so it wasn't SO loud, but he was a champ! She took him out the last 10 minutes or so but he really wasn't even fussy, she just wanted to be safe.
Nolan wore his special dino onesie from BJ and Kirsten just for the occasion! Uncle BJ was proud!
Dinner at a good Aussie BBQ place. Nolan got to try some sauce :)
Justin's birthday started off a little rocky. On Friday night at dinner he got the chills really bad and didn't really have an appetite. It kept getting worse. Then in the middle of that night he got up and started throwing up. Poor guy! Thank heavens by morning he was feeling better and was able to have a great birthday!
Nolan helping me (un)wrap daddy's presents just after I wrapped them!
Saturday we drove to Santa Cruz to spend some time at the boardwalk.
It was so fun taking Nolan on the carousel!!
Justin and I enjoyed riding a few rides while we had willing babysitters :)
After the boardwalk we went to a place called The Crow's Nest for dinner. It was really good! We actually didn't start eating until after 9pm though so it was a late night! Nolan was a champ and slept all through dinner and through the hour and a half drive home. He woke up when we got home and had a bit of a hard time falling back asleep though.
The birthday boy!!
Sunday we went to church and then had the Shriber's over for dessert. They are friends from their ward in Seattle, but moved to the Bay Area around the same time as the Bailey's.
Justin Shriber said he had a 'magic touch' with babies...
...and he wasn't kidding! haha
Some cute pictures of Nolan and his daddy.
Monday we drove to San Francisco, but made a stop in Walnut Creek first to see my friend Melissa! It was so good to see her and her new little guy Leo. Too bad the babies never actually got to meet though because Nolan slept the whole time! Silly boy.
Justin had a couple work meetings while we were in the city so the rest of us stayed in the car and hung out.
After his meetings we went to AT&T Park for the Giants vs Mariners game. Nolan's first MLB experience! We knew that San Fran is normally about 20 degrees cooler than Livermore, but wow, it was COLD! The wind made it seem colder than it probably was. but still. We had a lot of fun, but I have to say it was a little rough and kinda stressful trying to keep Nolan warm and fed and changed haha. The worst part (and I know this is silly) is that it was so cold that we didn't even get a picture with our Giants and Mariners gear! I bought Nolan a little Mariners shirt before he was born and we have been waiting to get a picture of him at his first game with it on :( Oh well, we had a good time and made some memories!! The Mariners won that night, but the series ended up in a tie so I'm ok with it haha.
I love them!
Perfect shot of 'the hawk' for my dad ☺
We got a meatball sandwich and felt so bad because Nolan kept grabbing at it like he wanted some. We finally caved and gave him a little taste of marinara sauce. He LOVED it!
We finally got around to opening daddy's presents a couple of days after Justin's birthday and Nolan was happy to help!
I guess this present was kind of for Nolan but I knew Justin would really get a kick out of it and would love teaching Nolan about baseball with a Mariners board book!
On Tuesday we finally smartened up and took advantage of having a grandma around. We turned Nolan over to Pam and got some extra sleep! :)
Nolan was asleep when Grandpa Bailey left for work that last day and wasn't too happy he missed saying goodbye to him ☺
Here are some other random pics from the trip. Nolan and I enjoyed getting to know the area and getting some fresh air by going on walks together every morning.
Blueberries! Yum!!
One night we looked through boxes of old photos and found some gems! The top left one is Justin at the same age as Nolan. Still trying to figure out who he looks like!
Look at that cutie pie! (although I'm pretty sure this is the hellion stage haha ☺)
