Keep the Change

For Valentine's Day, Andrew gave me a gift certificate for an Italian cooking class.  Amy was so sweet to come along with me.  It was awesome!  I learned how to make a few dishes I can't pronounce.  My favorite was the Gnocchi.  After making the meal, everyone in the class sat and enjoyed the meal together.  I can't wait to make some of this stuff at home.  I'm thinking this is why Andrew signed me up for the class in the first place...

 Titina, our teacher.

Two of her lovely assistants.

Recently I had some pictures of Nathan done (I will post them as soon as I get them).   There's a field of yellow flowers close to our house, so I had the photographer (my good friend Jenn) take some pictures of Nathan walking around in the flowers.  Andrew was not too pleased when he heard this.  According to Andrew, little boys should be photographed in front of a more manly backdrop.  I took this picture to satisfy him.

So many things are changing around here in Raleigh.  Our friends are having babies, moving, and getting new jobs.  Andrew himself has started a new job at Cisco with the IPCC group, and our house is under contract set to close on June 10th.  Everyone keep your fingers crossed that the contract works out with our house. We've found a new place in Morrisville (about 20 minutes outside of Raleigh) and we're excited to make the move.

To celebrate all these changes, we had one last shindig at our house with our close pals.  A couple of the kids sneaked off at one point and this is what we found. 

Now these kids know how to throw a party! Here's to change!

First Easter Egg Hunt

A good friend in the ward was so kind to invite Nathan and another little boy, Michael Swift, over to her house for an Easter Egg hunt.  Nathan, being terrified of grass, wasn't too keen on picking up any eggs that were in close proximity to the lawn.  So, we put the eggs on the sidewalk.  He was very successful there.

 Going for his first egg.

Yes, it is a pink egg.  No, Daddy was not happy about this.

What's with the pink eggs, Nathan?

After grabbing a couple eggs, Nathan tried to make a run for it.

Nathan's friend Michael resting from all the excitement.

Nathan and Michael seeing who got the most eggs.

We had a great time.  Thank you Markhams! 

Brooklyn's 3rd Birthday

Two and a half weeks ago, Nathan and I ventured down to Charleston to celebrate Brooklyn's 3rd birthday with Brooklyn and her posse.  It was a blast!  We went to the local Rolly Polly gym and got to play for an hour.  Nathan just ran around the gym, not knowing what to do first.   

He tried a little bit of rock climbing.  He's a natural.

He ran around on the trampoline, giggling when other kids would bounce around him.

He had quite the collision on the trampoline, but got right back up and kept jumping. Could a mom be more proud?

 He played with some toys he discovered in the lobby.

It was a great time.  Needless to say, Nathan took a good nap when we got home.  

In the morning, Nathan and Joshie played in Joshie's room. Nathan was a little concerned for his crazy cousin.

  

Playing fetch with Brooklyn.  Should I be concerned that Brooklyn thinks Nathan is a dog?

On the Monday following the birthday bash, the three kids and Vanessa and I went to a park.  This was Nathan's first time in a big swing.  He loved it!  He would even lean forward and back in rhythm with the swing to keep himself going.  It was adorable.

 

Nathan loves being outside.  It doesn't matter what he does outside, as long as he's outside.  Often if someone goes out the door, he follows them and cries if he doesn't make it outside before they shut the door.  I used to think this was him missing the person that just left, but no, he just wanted to go outside.

He doesn't need toys when he's outside, he'll just find things along the way to play with.

Yes, that is a rice krispies treat wrapper

After being married to Andrew for what will be 8 years in August and now that I have a son, I've learned one thing about boys:  boys are easily entertained.  Nathan will find a good rock on a walk and be entertained with that rock the whole time. Give Andrew a computer and I might as well not be in the room.  Are girls this easy?

More 1st Birthday Pics and Videos

Thanks to Aunt Vanessa, we have more videos and pictures of Nathan's birthday to share. As I mentioned in my previous post, Nathan and Josh, well... they don't really see eye to eye on things.  Josh is a sweet boy who loves to hug.  Nathan doesn't quite like to be touched.

Again, as I mentioned in my previous post, Daddy gave Nathan a chocolate bar to enjoy after Nathan finished his cupcake.  Many people at the party thought we were nuts giving our kid chocolate.  Sure, Nathan didn't take an afternoon nap on his birthday, but he didn't have diarrhea.  Hah!

Before Nathan would really dig into the chocolate bar, he made sure to eat every bit of his cupcake.  It got to the point where he was sucking on his arm to get all that yummy cupcake. Yeah, he gets that from me.

Here are more pics from the event as well (please ignore my double chin):

You Know What They Say About Guys With Big Heads...

Nathan had his one year check up earlier this week and he's doing great.  My doctor is perfect for me.  Every little concern I have (which is many) he is quick to ease my mind.  Nathan growing and happy- what mom could ask for more?

He's about the 70th percentile for length

About 62nd percentile for weight- which is normal for his height

His head I have to say is a bit bigger than average.  He is officially above the 97th percentile.  The sad thing is I don't know who to blame.  The Fishers have big heads, but so do the Moores.  It's a toss up!

Though his head will probably be as big as mine by the time he's two, I love the kid- every bit of him. Oh, and what they say about guys with big heads? Big brains! Duh!

The First Birthday

Nathan is ONE!  I can't believe it!  I finally feel like I'm a mom as I've now hosted a birthday party for my son.  It was a crazy week in the Moore household as we celebrated Daddy's birthday on the 24th as well as Nathan's on the 26th.  Next year I plan on celebrating Daddy and Nathan's birthday on the 25th to keep things simple.  We had a great time, though as Vanessa, Matt, Brooklyn and Josh came up from South Carolina to celebrate Nathan's birthday with us.

When the Mayberry's first arrived, Joshie went straight to Nathan and tackled him.  I think Joshie just wanted to prove that even though he is smaller than Nathan, he's still in charge.  For the rest of their visit, Nathan kept avoiding Josh.

Joshie enjoying a book and bottle before bed

 

Nathan enjoying a book before bedtime (as far from Joshie on the couch he could get)

 

 Nathan's birthday was a ball theme, so I made a soccer cake to go along with the theme

 For those who didn't like chocolate, we also had vanilla baseball cupcakes

Around noon, chaos ensued,   18 adults 17 kids

For Nathan's birthday (and because his birthday was a ball theme), Mommy got Nathan a little ball pit (you can kind of see it in the corner)

 Nathan in his birthday t-shirt

After eating his cupcake and part of a chocolate bar (a tradition Andrew wants to start with our family), Nathan left a chocolate hand print on our bedroom door  on his way back to our shower to get cleaned up

When we sang happy birthday to Nathan, he got all shy and was smiling sweetly.  He was so adorable.  Our camera cut off right before Nathan took a bite of the cupcake- I'm so sad!  He was so cute!  He spun the cupcake around a few times and then shoved it in his mouth.  I was so proud.  Vanessa got some pictures of him after he stuffed his face and once I get those, I'll add them to the blog.

Well, one year down, many many more to go.  I love my little boy.  He makes me so happy.  Nathan is great too :).  I really am one blessed lady. 

Our Little Wild Thing

It's been awhile since I've posted, well, awhile in Nathan time.  He's already up to more stuff like...

Growing crazy hair

Hosting some wild parties

Sleeping in after the wild parties

 Hanging out with Mommy and Daddy at the museum

Whew!  This kid never stops! And now, he'll be moving even faster on his own two feet!

I've been trying to keep up with Nathan by doing my own little project.  I made some burps cloths for a couple of my friends who are having babies. I of course kept a few for myself (and no, I'm not pregnant).