We Can't Handle the Cuteness

Sometimes I dream about the future.

I wonder what kind of personality Nolan will start to develop in the next couple of years. What will his interests be? I think about how we want to raise him. How are we going to teach him all the things we hope he will learn? Will he love and respect us? What kind of man will he grow up to be?

I'm excited and nervous for the future, but at the same time I know that right now is exactly where I want to be. These days, Justin and I spend most of our time oohing and ahhing at Nolan. We seriously can't believe we made something so cute!
We catch ourselves staring at him all.the.time. The staring is usually followed by looking at each other and saying some variation of, "Holy moly, how are you SO stinkin' CUTE?!" Then the phones are whipped out and we attempt to capture the cuteness. Which always fails. I don't know what happens during the photo taking process - it's supposed to be a representation of life - but dag nabit, the pictures are NEVER as cute as the real thing.

Which means I spend the rest of my time wishing I could freeze every moment, capture every smile, and remember every thought - and recall it whenever I want. Is that too much to ask? I want to be able to remember what his laugh is like, what makes him smile, how soft his skin is, how it's impossible to be upset with him, how much we absolutely love him more than we ever thought we could.

That's my motivation for keeping this blog and my journal. I know it won't be perfect. It's impossible to remember everything. But it's the next best thing.
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I sure love these two. Melt my heart!!

Nolan is seriously the best sleeper! He'll usually go down for the night between 8:30 and 10 pm and won't wake up again until between 6:30 and 7 am. I feed him and then he goes back to sleep for another 3 hours or so. It's awesome! But the best part? Is when he wakes up for the day. He doesn't cry, just opens his eyes, stretches and lays there looking up at me - cute as ever. Here's what I get to wake up to every morning (I know you're jealous)....

Shopping is infinitely more enjoyable when you have this cute little facing staring up at you

If he's a little fussy (the few times he fusses) we can usually get him calm again by putting him up on our shoulder. Let the cuteness commence...

Justin and Nolan came to watch me play basketball. I definitely got tired a little quicker than usual which resulted in lazier defense, but hey, we won! I love having my boys in the stands!!

This face...killin' me with cuteness

These two love to play and have little heart to heart chats - no girls allowed!

Aghhhh! 

He's really started to smile more this week! What a charmer!!

Oh I could stare at him all day. Sometimes when he falls asleep in my arms I'm tempted to put him down so I can be productive, but usually I just decide to stare at him. I'm never going to get this time back!

We just love this face and are so glad he's ours!

Month Two in the Books. Wait. What?!

I don't think either of us can believe that Nolan is 2 months old today! How in the heck did that happen? Wasn't he just inside of me? Didn't we just bring him home from the hospital? It's insane! But the good news is, not only have we managed to keep the kid alive for two whole months, but he seems to be healthy and happy too! #winning

First of all I want to say that Nolan is an angel baby. In fact, he's so good it might be a problem. Justin and I might start thinking we've got this parenting thing down. Our baby can lie by himself, just sitting there looking cute and cooing, for...a long time. I hesitate to say just how long or my amazing parenting skills might be questioned. Plus, on more than one occasion he has slept for 9-10 hours straight. That's right, 9-10 hours. S t r a i g h t. That's all you can ask of a newborn, amiright?

I mean, we must be friggin genius parents! We should probably write a parenting book. 

Unfortunately...

the more probable explanation is that Justin and I are just insanely lucky and have the best baby. EVER.

Here's what's going on in little Nolan's corner of the world at 2 months old:

First, here's a comparison picture of Nolan at 1 month vs 2 months

He is now 23 inches long and 11 lbs 14 ounces. Growing boy!!

He loves watching BYU sports with his dad (and his dad is ever so eager to teach him all there is to know).

As stated above, this kid can sleep! We're loving it at the moment, although I'd be lying if I said I hadn't already thought about how these same sleeping habits might be a big problem during his teenage years.

Since we're on the subject of sleeping...when Nolan gets really tired he sometimes has a funny way of getting comfortable. If you put him up on your shoulder he'll wriggle and writhe and bob his head, and sometimes head-butt you. As he's doing this he continues to slide down your body until he settles on a position that apparently is comfortable and falls asleep. I don't know how he was comfortable in the picture below. If I moved my right hand he would fall right off of me haha. Silly boy!

 We can't quite figure out who he looks like yet. He has my blonde hair...for now. I really hope he keeps it, but he has these beautiful dark eyelashes just like his dad did at the same age, so just like his dad his hair might turn darker. Maybe he'll have blonde hair with dark eyelashes and be the envy of every blonde girl (ahem) that has to put mascara on every single time they leave the house because you can't see those darn light blonde lashes if they don't. Ugh.

Here's Nolan next to a picture of me (on the right)

Can you see his amazing lashes in this picture? Maybe?

Aaannnnyway, he has my eyebrows (poor kid, they're the kind that stick straight out!) and I'm pretty sure Justin's feet (we love those long toes of his!) But that's about all we can make out. To me his eyes look either dark blue or gray, but Justin sometimes sees a little hazel in there. We'll just have to see!

Speaking of toes. These feet...kill me. Look at them? Don't you just want to eat them up?! Justin might have to protect these little piggies from me sometimes. Not ashamed.

 This boy's hair is, to put it one way...AWESOME. He literally came out of me sporting a mohawk. It just happens. After baths, Justin (who has assumed the role of post-bath hair comber because mommy just doesn't do it right), brushes his hair down like this:

About 20 minutes later it looks like this...

 Tell me that isn't awesome?! He's constantly getting comments on his hair. It's weird that in a place like Utah, where blonde babies are a dime a dozen, he gets all kinds of attention. Usually because he just has so much blonde hair. I love it! #proudmom

 We busted out the ergo carrier a week or so ago. He's still a bit small for it, but seems to like it. And he has pretty good head control already so I'm excited to use it more!

 This is daddy's favorite position to feed Nolan in, usually while watching BYU sports or a show on the History Channel

The "burp face" has always been our very favorite. Kill us with cuteness why don't ya!

The burp face is followed closely by this one. You get it when you hold him on your lap out in front of you and facing you. So cute!

 He's definitely started smiling more! And they're definitely smiles, not the gassy ones :) He still doesn't quite smile "on demand" yet, but we drop everything and melt into a puddle on the floor when he gives us one!

 Selfie with mom!! I'll also use this picture to document that Nolan Bailey has got to be the LOUDEST eater ever! He grunts and gulps so loudly! I tried to feed him during a lesson in Young Women's once and got lots of giggles haha. Since then I've had to take him out in the hall!

Nolan loves bath time! He didn't always though. When we first brought him home from the hospital we had to just sponge bathe him because he still had part of the cord attached. He did NOT like sponge baths. Not one bit. You would have though we were running a torture chamber! He just screamed the whole time. 

After his little cord fell of we continued to sponge bathe him and thought bath time was just bound to be a nightly battle. Until finally one day we decided to bathe him in the kitchen sink. We filled it pretty full and got his diaper off. He immediately started crying, but as soon as Justin lowered him into the warm water he stopped. Magic! He just didn't like being cold! Constantly learning with this parenting thing. So we got him a little bath and everyone loves bath time now!! As long as you keep warm water on him (we have a big Giants cup we use to keep pouring water over him, or these wet towels) he's good to go!

 However, while Nolan loves bath time, he does NOT like being taken out of the bath. Again...cold. His dad tries so hard to get his pj's on in record time. It's cute actually because he doesn't even get all of his limbs in the correct slots before zipping it up! He just hates hearing him cry. 

Poor little guy had to get 3 shots at his 2 month checkup. He was a champ though and only cried for about 30 seconds! So tough! 

Snoopy bandaids

Last, but not least, I think this is currently our favorite picture of him! Our little lumberjack.

We just love this little boy more than words can say!!

It's a Jolly Holiday with Family

Christmas this year was one to remember! All of my siblings were in town, it was the first time all the grand babies were together, and we got to spend some time with BJ's fiance. It was pretty much a week full of hanging out and enjoying each others company. My kind of Christmas!!

One night I remember thinking how fun it is to see our family growing and coming together. I love that my siblings and siblings-in-law are some of my best friends. And even when someone new comes along and joins the family, it's like they've always been there, and I'd rather hang out with them than almost anyone else! I guess we just know how to pick 'em :)

We went to Fogo de Chao for Christmas Eve dinner and it was soooo good! Thanks dad!

We also went to our first movie since Nolan was born (yay for grandparents who love to babysit! :)) We actually saw two -- The Hobbit and Into the Woods (we wanted to see Unbroken, but it was sold out, boo).

Justin's family also drove to town the day after Christmas so we got to spend some time with them as well which was great.

Lastly, since most everyone was already in town we decided to bless Nolan in Las Vegas the Sunday after Christmas. I felt the Spirit so strongly as Justin gave him a beautiful blessing.

Here are some pictures from our fun Christmas week in Las Vegas!

Ready to hit the road!!

Cousins! Nolan and Rhett

Hangin' with Crazy Uncle BJ

Hangin' with Crazy Uncle BJ

The cutest little boy around

Christmas morning! He's clearly very excited!

The cousins: Nolan, Beckett, and Rhett
We are so excited for these boys to grow up together!

Our best gift this year. No contest.

Looking at the Christmas Tree lights
I also love the symbolism I get from this picture. He truly does have the light of heaven in his eyes.

"Who needs Santa? I've got grandparents!"

Who doesn't love an almost 3 foot long log of elk salami?! Thanks Uncle John! It was delicious!!

Start 'em young, train 'em right!

Beck loves phones :)

My Grandpa Mathews has had this orange puffer vest for...well...as long as any of us can remember. So some of his great grandsons paid homage to the vest :) We love Granky Mathews!!

Fae came on Christmas Eve to see Nolan

GG Hunt loved baby Nolan

Christmas morning!

Gm and Gp Bailey

Beck having some fun with my purse

Gp Mathews is super comfy

3 generations of Bailey men

Gm and Gp Mathews lovin' on their newest grandson

On December 28th in Las Vegas, surrounded by these amazing men, Nolan received a beautiful blessing from his father. I'm so glad we decided to bless him in LV when so many could easily attend.