Nolan is walking!

I meant to post this much earlier, but with the new editor in blogger, I couldn't figure out how to upload videos. So today when I saw my friend Sarah's blog and all of her videos, I knew there must be some way to do it. By switching back to the older version, I was able to do it. Enough of that mumbo jumbo...here's the video. He started walking at about 11 months and is getting really good at it now. This video was taken 11/02/09.

Playground Fun

We've made it a point to take Nolan to the playground at the park near our house several times this fall.  He likes the swings and to be in the sand, playing with sticks and rocks (tasting them especially).  Here are some recent pictures of our playground adventures.

Bamm Bamm!

For Halloween this year, our family went as the Rubbles...Barney, Betty, Bamm Bamm and Dino.  Nolan had fun with his little club.  Every time we said bam bam, he would start shaking it!  He didn't like his head piece very much though and would try to pull it off every chance he got.  On Halloween we went Trick or Treating at the mall and stopped at Grandma Carol's and Grandpa Rich's.  I don't think Nolan really understood what the whole thing was about, but he seemed interested at least.  He did like it though when I shared a lollipop with him while we were at the mall.  Then, we headed back to the Anderson family Halloween party.  The party was a lot of fun and the decorations were amazing!  Reggie even made a coffin for the event!  Nolan liked the costumes and really liked dancing to the music with the other kids.  We had good food and a great time. 

Gimme Three Steps!

This is just a quick update for you all, but our little guy is a walker now!  On Thursday he took a step to me on his own (apparently though he's been doing that at daycare too, but I just don't count it until I see it!).  Then on Friday he took 2 steps.  On Saturday he was an ambitious little guy and took 5 steps or so.  It is funny because we were at a potluck get together with some of my Army friends and my friend Polly had just taken Nolan from me to hold him.  As many of you know, Nolan can be very attached at times, and he was just so anxious to get back to me.  So, Polly stood him up on the floor and I reached my hands out to him to get him to walk to me and that's when he took all those steps!  What a fun event :) 

Two Years!

We have now owned our house and dog Frank for two years!  Yes, we got both the house and Frank on the same day :)  These two years have really flown by!  When I think of the things we wanted to accomplish with the house, I realize we have done quite a few things.  We finished up the upstairs and the basement, painted the exterior and turned Nolan's room into a nursery.  While we have more projects in store, it is nice to look back and acknowledge what has already been done.  Also, I don't think we could have been luckier in our choice of dogs.  Frank is such a joy for us.  Yes, he does bark at least 50 times a day and he'll pull your arm off if you take him for a walk on the leash.  However, he is gentle and sweet, and those are the qualities that matter most to us. 

In other news, we recently aquired a Kelty Kids carrier off of Craigslist and got to try it out at the dog park last Saturday.  I think Nolan enjoyed being in that much more than in the stroller.  Here are some pictures of the day.  Nolan is even modelling his new hat for you! 

Introducing Mom Living Healthy!

Some of you may have noticed that you're not just receiving posts about Ryan, Nolan and Frank. I've been writing about menu planning, recipes, cloth diapering etc. Well, what can I say. I just enjoy this whole blogging thing so much that I want to write about other topics too! For me, this is a process that allows me to learn new things and to share all that I am learning. I started this blog in April and have learned SO much in those 7 months!

With that in mind, I'm proud to introduce my new blog Mom Living Healthy. At that site I will focus on parenting, nutrition, fitness, recreation, organization and time management. No, I'm not professing to be an expert in those areas, but I am striving to improve my health. Through Mom Living Healthy I will pass on what I learn through books and other blogs that I read. I also hope to learn from you and your experiences as well.

So, could you help me out? Click on over to Mom Living Healthy and tell me what you think of the design. If nutrition and healthy living are interests of yours, consider subscribing to my posts and taking this journey with me. Thanks!

My Cloth Diaper Baby

Here are a couple of pictures of Nolan in his cloth diapers. We use them almost exclusively when he is not at day care. If you missed it here is a previous post in which I discussed cloth diapering. So far we are 10 months into using cloth diapers and are still going strong! I'm showcasing my two favorite brands of cloth diapers. The first, a One Size Pocket Diaper, is from my friend Deb, who makes adorable cloth diapers at her site Made By Mama. The second is the Bum Genius 3.0 One Size Pocket Diaper which I bought at the Peapods Natural Toys and Baby Care store.

Diapers By Deb

Diapers By Deb

Diapers By Deb

Bum Genius

Giveaway at Kitchen Stewardship

Hi all! I've been learning a lot from the Kitchen Stewardship blog about super foods and nutrition. Right now she is giving away a book called Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck. How awesome is that?! If you're interested in the book, click here. If you want to find out more about the Kitchen Stewardship blog, you can find the site here.

Chicken with Gingered Brown Rice

I made this chicken with gingered brown rice for dinner last night. While my husband didn't like it as much as the tomato soup from Monday, he thought it was pretty good. I REALLY enjoyed the rice. It was my first time using crystallized ginger and I thought it added a nice flavor. Be aware that this is a sweeter meal due to the orange marmalade and ginger. I got this recipe from the Betty Crocker Whole Grains cookbook. I would make it again, but perhaps just cut the chicken into smaller pieces.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked long-grain brown rice
2 1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons orange juice (I used a little more than that)
1 small onion, finely choppen (1/4 cup)
3 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3/4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 tablespoons orange marmalade (use a low-sugar version)
1 tablespoon canola oil (I used olive oil)

1. Cook brown rice in water as directed on package

2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8-inch square (2 quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 2-quart saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon orange juice to boiling over medium heat. Cook onion in orange juice 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender. Stil in cooked rice, ginger, parsley, thyme and remaining 1 tablespoon orange juice.

3. Spoon rice mixture into baking dish. Place chicken breasts on rice mixture. In small bowl, mix marmalade and oil; brush over chicken.

4. Cover baking dish with foil; bake 25 minutes. Remove cover; bake 10 to 15 minutes longer or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170 degrees).

Question: In which recipes do you use ginger? I have some left over now and don't want to waste it if possible. Leave a comment if you have any ideas!

PS- I'm posting this recipe on the Kitchen Stewardship blog as a part of her October Fest Carnival of Super Foods. Check it out!

Fresh Tomato Soup

Last night when I asked Ryan if he had any requests for dinner this week, he said he wanted grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Normally, we use Campbell's tomato soup made with milk instead of water. I admit, I do really like that version of the soup. However, I wanted to try making a tomato soup on my own. I found this recipe for Fresh Tomato Soup in the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.

Ryan rated this soup at a 7-8 out of 10...his only complaint was that it wasn't exactly like the Campbell's. I LOVED it! I'd definitely make this again. I did alter the recipe a bit, which I will indicate in red.

Fresh Tomato Soup

Ingredients:
3 medium tomatoes, peeled and quartered (I used 5 tomatoes)
1 1/2 cups water (I used Swanson low-sodium organic chicken broth)
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1/2 cup chopped celery (1 stalk)
1/2 of a 6-ounce can tomato paste
2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons instant chicken bouillon granules (Swanson broth)
1 teaspoon sugar
few dashes bottled hot pepper sauce

1. In a large saucepan combine tomato, broth, onion, celery, tomato paste, cilantro, sugar and hot pepper sauce. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until celery and onion are tender. Remove from heat; cool for 10 minutes.

2. Place half of tomato mixture in a blender or food processor (I used the Magic Bullet). Cover and blend or process until smooth. Repeat wiht the remaining mixture. Return all to the saucepan; heat through. If desired, garnish with additional cilantro.

Menu Plan Monday: 1st Time!

I've been planning out our dinners for the last month or so and am really enjoying the process. It helps me in several ways. I waste less time each day wondering what we should have for dinner. I save money because I know exactly what I need to buy at the grocery store and I also cut down the number of trips I need to take to pick up groceries.

This is the first time I've actually participated in Menu Plan Monday though. No, I didn't think of this idea on my own. Check out Laura's blog at I'm an Organizing Junkie for all the details and tons of other recipes for Menu Plan Monday.


So, here is what I have planned for this week. I'm trying to gradually increase the number of homemade meals we have, because in the past we ate mainly packaged meals or ate out at restaurants. I realize that we still do this, but we're taking babysteps toward healthy meals!

Monday: Fresh Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday: YOYO (You're on your own) because I have water aerobics class that evening.

Wednesday: Chicken with Gingered Brown Rice

Thursday: Bag Meal

Friday: Tuna Sandwiches- for me only as Ryan will be going out with friends

Saturday: Prime Rib Dinner at my Grandma Carol's house

Sunday: Leftovers or eating at my mom's

How do you plan out your meals each week? Do you go day-by-day or are you super organized and have them planned out far in advance? Leave a comment if you have an extra minute :)

Our New Family Room

We recently had our basement painted and carpeted so that we could use the space as a play room. The four of us (Frank included) have really been enjoying the time we have spent in our new space. Nolan has lots of space to play without fear of him hitting his head or teeth on the wood floor. Frank has more area to run and has been chasing stuffed animals all over the room. I have some workout equipment set up so that I can do workout videos a few times per weeks. We don't have a whole lot of furniture in here yet and there is more work to do to organize it and have it "looking" like a family room. In the mean time though, we sure do love it!


Today we also picked up a kid-sized table from a Craigslist add. It is the perfect height for Nolan and has edges all around for him to play with legos, trains, tractors, trucks, puzzles and whatever else he might use it for in the future.


Here are a couple of pictures of Nolie-Bear enjoying this space. Nevermind the mess in the background, just focus on the cute kid :)

This one was taken in the family room too. I especially love his chubby cheek and little golden curl.

Now that we had the stairs carpeted as well, Nolan loves to climb them!

Pumpkin!

Fall is here and Nolan is loving every minute of it so far! We went to the Apple Farm a few weekends back and Ryan picked out this pumpkin for future carving. I introduced it to Nolan thinking he might like looking at it because it was so bright. It was sitting on our kitchen table at first, but then we needed the space and I set it on the kitchen floor. Not too long afterward Nolan made his merry way over to the bright orange object...now he is fascinated by it! He pats it, uses it to stand, rolls it around and if you clap and make a beat for him, he will push off it and practice standing. He's gotten so that he balances for about 10 seconds before plopping down or lowering himself. If he gets bored, all we have to do is ask, "Nolan, where is the pumpkin?" Nolie-Bear then makes his way over to it and points it out. I never imagined it would be so entertaining, but he sure does love it!

Fun Pictures

I suppose I'm way past due to post some new pictures of the little man. We're just having too much fun with him these days to spend a whole lot of time on the computer!! Here are a couple of my faves:

I'm 10 Months Old!

Hanging out with Cousin Chayton

Ryan and Nolan at the Fair


First time at the playground

Hmm, I'm not sure I like the taste of this stick

Experience Life Magazine: Skimming the Truth

I know, I haven't blogged in a REALLY long time. Sorry! And this post is a little different from what I usually write. I just read this really interesting article in Experience Life magazine (which is put out by Lifetime Fitness). It's about dairy products and they refute the common assumption that skim milk and low or non-fat dairy is better for you. I had not heard this before, so let me know what you think!

Experience Life Magazine: Skimming the Truth

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Summer Vacation Moments

The month of July was all about family. We started the month at my Grandma Carol's (Grammi) lake house on Lake Emily in St. Peter. There we got to spend time with Grammi, Grandpa Dick, my mom and dad, Summer, Kirstin and Irene. Nolan swam for the first time and we had some fun times out in the boat fishing with Dad (G-papi). Then, my dad (Grandpa Garth) and girlfriend (aka spiritual practice partner) Hiromi came for a visit. That was also a wonderful week filled with family gatherings and laughs. Finally, to top it all off, we went with Ryan's parents and siblings to Hayward, Wisconsin to relax and enjoy each other's company on the Chippewa Flowage. Tonight Ryan told me that those 9 days on the Flowage were some of the best he's ever had. I agree, and I'll go so far as to say the whole month has been amazing. Thanks to all of our family for being so loving and so much fun!

Here's a list of some of my favorite moments from the month (in no particular order):

1. Yahtzee with the girls at Grammi's
2. Walking in the rain with Jayne and Kristen...fun conversations despite the LONG distance!
3. Reliving Dinkytown and U of M memories with Dad
4. Nolan...need I say more?!
5. Bocce ball at Grandma Sara and Grandpa Mario's
6. Summer burying Nolan on the beach and seeing how much fun he had playing in the sand
7. Talking around the campfire with all of Ryan's siblings...what a great group!
8. All of the great times spent fishing, even when we didn't catch anything.
9. Celebrating Diedrich and Grandma Sara's birthdays at the Spanish restaurant with the Flamenco dancer
10. The Anderson Olympics...Grand Champions two years running!
11. Walking with the bigger group for our 10 miler in Hayward (funny moment...washing Jake's hands off after that dog peed on them, heehee!)
12. Boating over to R&R Bayview for breakfast
13. All of the great food that Grammi and Grandpa made for us...cookies, blueberry pancakes, steak and banana pudding pecan rolls :)
14. Nolan, Ryan and I going to the drive-in movie theater to see Harry Potter. Nolan was such a cutie, looking all around and playing with the drinking straw.
15. Watching Nolan crawl for the first time. Oh yeah, I already said Nolan. But can you blame me?
16. Chasing after Chayton as he threw the football, tennis ball and bocce balls around the yard at the Landing...what a fun young boy he's turning out to be..."move back" and "No, Aunt Greta" and "put back nose!"
17. Going to the dog park with Dad, Nolie and Hiromi
18. Grandpa Ken putting Nolan in the hammock and watching his reaction

Ah, what a fun month to relive. What are your favorite moments of the summer? I'd love to read your top memories! Feel free to comment :)

Moving and Shaking

Does this face spell trouble??

Target: Football

On the move!

After a week in Hayward, Wisconsin and plenty of floor time, our little guy is now crawling! Watch out world, here comes Nolan :) He picked up a couple of other skills this week too...waving "hi" in response to other people, going from laying down to sitting up and shaking his head "no." Today he also pulled himself up to standing using the couch, the TV stand and the bookshelf. He then started pulling down anything within his reach. You can tell he's so proud of himself when he does these new things. He gets the biggest grin on his face and his eyes just light up.

Ryan and I have now started the baby-proofing process by covering our electrical outlets. We moved his crib down so that he won't fall out when he pulls himself to standing. We'll also have to rearrange our DVD player and Nintendo Wii so that he can't pull those off the TV stand. Although the basement and upstairs doors are usually closed, I'm now very aware of them and am pretty paranoid that I'll leave them open. I think this might mean a lot of extra door-checking in the next month or so!

8 Months Old!

Today our baby is 8 months old! It is hard to believe it, but he's growing so fast and he's learning new skills every day. Here's a recap of his recent achievements:

He now has 3 teeth...two on the bottom and one on top

He is pulling himself up to standing and will stay up for quite a while

He is practicing for crawling, although he hasn't made that transition yet

He is saying "dada" and "mama"

He is waving at us--sometimes with both arms and sometimes with just one

He's eating all sorts of new foods including cheese, peaches, yogurt, bread, peas, carrots, green beans, avocadoes, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, rice cereal and oatmeal

He's sleeping through the night on most nights and has a fairly consistent bedtime

In general, I have to say this is such an amazing and fun time to be Nolan's mom. He's a joy to have in my life. While the first three months of his life were demanding and difficult, the last few months have been such a pleasure. He's a happy, laughing, giggling, curious baby. He loves snuggling and giving his mama hugs. Ah, I am a lucky woman!

Father and Son Moment

So Proud to be Standing

Baseball Fan

Our Goofy Little Baseball Fan!

Yes, Nolan is already a baseball fan...

He's attended 4 Twins games already and many of our softball games (many thanks to Grandma Sara for looking after him while we played!). He watches everything with a lot of interest, and Ryan is excited already to play with him when he's ready :)

For Father's Day, Nolan and I got Daddy a Twins jersey and we went to the Twins game. Ryan's jersey is the style that the players wore in 1982, the first year that they played in the Metrodome. He wanted Justin Morneau's name on the back, and wouldn't you know, Justin had the day off yesterday. It was his first game off since 2007, so Ryan didn't get to cheer for him at that game. Oh well, that just means we'll have to go to another game soon, so I don't think Ryan will be complaining too much!

Softball is a fun activity for us in the summer. Ryan plays on a men's league on Thursday evenings. They play double headers every Thursday. We both play on a co-ed league on Friday evenings for Team Hotbox. We've had some family members sub for us this year already too. Kenny has played with Ryan and Summer played for us too. We don't win every game, but we have fun and get to see our friends (which seems to be getting more and more difficult these days).

I'm going to share a few random pictures of us at softball this season.

Three Sisters and Baby

Honk Honk!

Brothers Playin' Ball

Painting Weekend

Last weekend we painted the outside of our house, with the help of our family. Thanks to Summer, Irene, Grandpa Ken, Grandma Jayne, Chris, Denise, Reggie, Kristen, Kenny and Meghan for all of your help!! It made for a fun, yet productive, weekend AND our house now looks great!!

Here is the house with the shutters up for you all to see!

Recent Bloggy News

After giving it a lot of thought, I decided to merge my two blogs. So, in addition to the regular news you receive about our lives, I'll be adding some posts about my experiences as a mom. If you scroll through this blog, you'll notice that I've imported a lot of my posts from the other blog for you to read here. They are posts about Nolan's favorite toy, about starting solid foods, what works for me when he gets fussy, and a great article that I read online. Check them out!

Sorry, no pictures today, but I'll post some soon. I promise!

Recent Pictures

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last couple of weeks. Sorry if you saw these on Facebook too, but at least I'll discuss them a bit here.

Here's Nolan checking himself out in the mirror on his activity mat. He just kept doing this over and over again. He'd catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror and then open his mouth and try to take a bite!

This was Nolan's first time at a lake. We were at Grammi and Grandpa Dick's house on Lake Emily. I think he really didn't understand what we were doing, but he was enjoying the new experience!

Grammi had such fun nursery rhymes to sing to Nolan. He loved spending time with his great-grandma!

When Fussy Time Hits

When nothing else works, taking Nolan for a walk really does the trick to calm him down and cheer him up. Don't get me wrong, he's a happy baby for the most part. Lately he's had a cold and I think that's interfered a little with his sleep, making him a little crabbier than usual.

It all came to a head yesterday evening at dinner time. He was eating avacadoes, which he normally seems to like a lot. Poor thing was pretty upset though and just kept fussing between every bite and letting out loud yelps when I didn't feed him fast enough. I was getting frustrated with this because it seemed like he was tired, but at 5:30 pm it was a little too early to put him to bed. So, I debated a few more minutes about whether to go through the whole ordeal of putting him in the carseat and driving to the dog park. In the end, I decided to give it a go. I think the fresh air was exactly what he needed. We got the chance to get out and see other people and dogs and to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Nolan was chattering the whole walk and kept a close watch on our black lab Frank, who was running around like crazy. Our dog park is a long trail that follows the Mississippi river. It is amazing to be able to spend time at the river, since it is such an important part of American history. I can see why this experience calms Nolan. It has the same effect on me :)

Do you make spending time outside a regular part of your routine? What are your favorite things to do outside?

And the Favorite Toy Award Goes To...

For a 6 month old, Nolan sure does have a TON of toys! Most of the time, I have a hard time corralling them and keeping them organized. Some of his toys he won't look at for more than 10 seconds and others he just loves. His absolute favorite toy is the Very Hungry Caterpillar developmental toy.

This toy is guaranteed to keep his chubby little fingers busy during car trips, in restaurants, on long walks, when mom is busy making his banana cereal and just about every other occasion you can think of. It crinkles, has bright colors, has antennae and a green tail for chewing and has a squeaky strawberry. I heard from someone that a good work of art continues to move your focus from one area of the painting to the next, eliciting new thoughts and keeping the viewer interested. Although I bet you don't usually think of squeaky toys as art, this toy sure keeps Nolan interested with new things to look at and play with at every turn. Toy art! Plus, I love that this is the Eric Carle caterpillar. We've been reading this book to Nolan just about every day, and it's nice to have a connection from his book to his toy, even if he doesn't notice the connection himself.

My only complaint is that this toy is supposed to clip onto car seat handles by a plastic hook. Well, Nolan ripped that thing off in the first few days. So, maybe they could have sewn that hook on a little better. Nolan doesn't seem to mind though. He'd much rather hold his caterpillar buddy...how else is he supposed to chew and taste every inch it?!

Solid Foods

I started Nolan on solid foods over two months ago, but I limited his variety to rice cereal, bananas and avacadoes until recently. The next food that I've introduced is sweet potatoes. As with avacadoes, his initial reaction isn't a positive one. In fact, he looks more like I'm trying to poison him with every bite. Really, are they so bad that you have to gag when you taste them?! So far, he's had sweet potatoes three times and he isn't showing any signs of warming up to them. Oh well, I will continue to offer them to him and hopefully he will start to like them soon.

Rather than use jars of store-bought baby food, I am pureeing my own fruits and vegetables. In future posts, I plan on explaining my methods of preparing and storing this homemade baby food. I'll also talk about the tools that I've found that work the best for doing this.

Do you make your own baby food, buy from the store or do a combination of the two? Aside from fruits and veggies, do you make your own cereals or other baby snacks?

Magnet Hands

Nolan must have magnets in his hands! He's reaching out for EVERYTHING in his path. He grabs for my face, my coffee cup, the newspaper and just about anything I pick up. The cutest thing he reaches for though is my water glass. That's because I can share that with him. I love the little clink, clink of his two front teeth against the side of the glass as he takes his sip. Hee, hee, hee!

More On Cloth Diapering

I love Joey-Bunz!

We were having leaking issues with some of our cloth diapers, and rather than ditch those diapers, I wanted to see if an additional insert would help. We were using just one microfiber insert in the diaper and Nolan would leak through after about an hour. I'm not sure if it's just because the insert's ability to absorb was limited or if Nolan is a really heavy wetter. Either way, we were getting a little frustrated about this. I did some research, again with the help of the Diaper Jungle forum, and heard all good things about the Joey-Bunz inserts. They are hemp/cotton jersey inserts made by Baby Kicks. After using the medium size Joey-Bunz now for about two weeks, the verdict is in. They are great! I still use the microfiber insert that came with the diaper, but layer it with the Joey-Bunz. We can now go at least three hours, some times longer, without any leaking. I also love that they are so trim. They add hardly any bulk to my diapers. Next I'd like to try layering two Joey-Bunz to see if this is even more effective.

Joey-Bunz Cloth Diaper Insert

Happy, Healthy 6 Month Old

Our Silly Little Boy

Can You See Those 2 Front Teeth?!


On the 21st, Nolan turned 6 months old! We can hardly believe it. He has his two bottom teeth coming in now and he's a pro at sitting...he only topples over when he's reaching for some distant toy. We went to the doctor last week for a check up and his next round of vaccines, and the doctor told us everything looks great. He's gaining weight fine and his length is good, although he's no longer in the 90th percentile for length like last visit. He weighs 16 pounds, 7 ounces now...no wonder everyone keeps commenting on how heavy he is!! Dr. Williams said that we can start giving him some finger foods like Cheerios and that we can offer more of a variety with the fruits and veggies. Next up is sweet potatoes. Yum! The only bad news for me is that Dr. Williams suggests letting Nolan fuss some at bedtime to teach him to fall asleep on his own. We usually have to bounce or nurse him to sleep. I know, I've read that that's a no-no before, but I'm really a wimp when it comes to letting him cry. Maybe I could sleep over somewhere else and Ryan can do the whole cry it out thing?! (Update: We've since tried letting him cry some the last two nights and it's gone fairly well...I only cried a little, and Nolan went to sleep after 50 minutes the first night and 30 minutes the second night) Nolie also makes a new sound...buh, buh, buh. He really puts a lot of effort into bringing his lips together and getting that sound out. He's so entertaining!

I haven't been very prompt on posting pictures here lately, so here are a few from the last couple weeks of Nolie and the people in his life.

A Proud Grandma Teri

G-Papi and Nolan

These Cups are the Coolest!