Year: 2015

Ahhh, tis the season for organized spring sports. Ashton is finally at the age where I can sign him up for some of the town leagues and first up, pre-k soccer! Nevermind that the ball and shinguards cost about as much as the session fee. Ashton was playing whether he liked it or not!

So it was a beautiful Saturday last weekend and it was a family affair (meaning Jason came too). Ashton is signed up along with his buddies Jackson and Adrian and all week the only thing he could talk about was being on Jackson’s team. He would randomly tell me, “Hey Mommy! I’mma gonna be on JACKSON’S team at soccer!” This idea excited him more than anything and we got to soccer and Ashton plopped down right next to him to listen to the coach (middle two blonde heads):

Overall though Ashton was a little hesitant. There was a lot going on (the number of kids was like 4 times the picture above) plus all their parents, siblings, etc. They broke out for their first “drill”, which was dribbling the soccer ball around in small areas. Ashton immediately fell over his ball. In the process of getting up, he fell again over another kid’s ball. Cue the tears and running off the field sobbing that he “can’t do this”.

Even Jason could not get him back in the ring, as they say.

30 minutes went by and Ashton just watched, which I told him was okay. But then they broke up into groups for some scrimmaging and I said, “Ashton! It’s time for TEAMS! Maybe you can be on Jackson’s team!” He pepped up and finally I got him to line up with the other kids.

Fate was not on my side. Despite Jackson and Ashton being next to each other, Jackson was handed a black jersey and Ashton got a blue one. Ashton was oblivious to this fact and happily said, “Jackson! We’re on the same team!” and Jackson, 8 months older and wiser, said “No we’re not. I’m black and you’re blue!” and off he went.

Totally crushed by this news, Ashton came running off the field crying for a second time.

He was immobilized by his color. I mean would not, COULD not step back on to the field. He was back to just watching.

Finally, the coach was able to score an additional black jersey from another group. It didn’t matter that the “teams” were now uneven – we’re talking about 3 and 4 year olds who were all in one big clump anyway and competing to just kick the ball, nevermind as a concerted effort in a specific direction.

So Ashton got his black jersey on and it was like…

Welcome to my fourth Mother’s Day! Whaaaaaaat? Yes.

April was a light month in this blog-land. I just wasn’t into it and although I could have managed a few trivial posts…eh. You know what we’ve been doing – hitting the park and playing outside! But there are a few newsworthy things that I can share.

1. Baby Berg is here! Jayden Geung Lomberg came almost 3 weeks early! He was due May 15 and arrived April 26th instead. 7 pounds 5 oz of pure little love and I burst through the hospital door as soon as visitors were being allowed haha. I absolutely consider him my nephew and we are so happy for Berg and Karen 🙂

Every time I hold a newborn I can’t even fathom Ashton and Alex ever being that little – but obviously they were!

2. Poppy and Mema came last weekend for a quick visit and took Ashton to the Big Apple Circus. At least, I think that’s where they went. Poppy texted me this fine image:

It’s a little hard to tell 😉 Although actually, it occurs to me that this picture isn’t his fault; someone else took it. Anyway, we were so excited to see how much fun Ashton would have at the circus and as it turned out, it wasn’t a lot 😦 He was scared of the clowns and the ringmaster and they ended up moving seats to sit further away from the action. On the bright side (literally), he came home with a ridiculously overpriced spinning light toy souvenir thing that he loves very much. Thanks Poppy and Mema! 🙂

3. Alex got his second haircut. It was totally perfect until I watched her comb the hair down in the front and then snip across his forehead in a straight line! I was like AH! What are you doing?! He’s not Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber! Luckily Alex’s hair always messed up so it’s hard to discern what his actual haircut looks like at any given time.

Oh, warm temps also mean summer pajamas 🙂

They aren’t actually in my possession yet but SOON! Anyway, I was out of excuses now that I’m done breastfeeding (honestly, running up until this point just simply wasn’t an option. No sports bra in the world would have held those things). Most days I have Jen stay an extra half hour so I get home, change, run and then meet the boys at the playground. My loop is 26 minutes and I look forward to it now!

6. As previously mentioned, we are repaving our driveway and also re-doing our front walkway with some nice gray stones. We picked a contractor and hopefully can get on their schedule for early June. The fence was also up for discussion but we could not swing two (more expensive than I would have thought!) projects this year. The driveway and walkway though will make a huge difference and obvi, before and afters will be shared. Speaking of before and afters, I never did post about my dining room that’s been finished since last Thanksgiving! So unlike me. It’s my least favorite room in the house maybe that’s why.

7. Ashton and Alex are great, Alex thinks everything is a phone so he is constantly raising random objects to his ear and waits expectantly for me to say “Hello? Who’s there?” He thinks this is very funny. I had his whole summer wardrobe washed and ready to go and the first day we had warm weather, I realized nothing fit him! That little bugger is bigger than he looks. The nice thing about a basement full of boy clothes is that I could just go shopping in the next size bin. So he’s been sporting overalls and all the little tees that Ashton used to wear and it’s so cute.

And that, dear readers, is all. I’m afraid our life lately hasn’t been exciting enough to necessitate posts! If you have any ideas, send them my way 🙂

We were doing so well for a little while there. Tshirts! Crocs! And then what the heck is up with this week. It’s cold and windy and I don’t like it. We went to the playground last night and I swear, we were one degree away from gloves.

Our April has been plodding along and today I realized it’s been two weeks since I last posted. My usual excuse: no material. It’s basically been the same every day: go to work, come home, go to the playground, come home. Wash, rinse, repeat. But I have enough random stuff saved up that I think I can gin up a post. Here’s what we’ve been doing.

We’ll start with a little holiday called Easter. GG was visiting so while Alex napped, Jason and I took Ashton to the annual egg hunt in Belmont. I use the word “hunt” loosely.

That was the 3 and under section. Ashton was in a tough spot because he was bigger than most kids that “hunted” here, but a little small for the main field (which, when the horn blew, was basically a stampede – parents included!). We tried him there anyway, all the eggs were gone in a nanosecond and I think he got one. After that we brought him back over to the playground, he scooped up some more, chewed some tootsie rolls, and things were good.

(Ashton would later ride it and say “I don’t like the Easter Bunny. This bike is no good.” (Steering issues.))

Anyway, the boys dug through their baskets (I got them matching one piece shortie pajamas, I cannot WAIT for those), Ashton went on an indoor egg hunt, and we got a family pic. Overall Easter success except we did not make it to church and Ashton wore his Christmas pajamas the whole time. What? They still fit!

I help him off at the bottom and he climbs right back up to do it again. I’m really at the point where both boys need new middle names: Alex “No Fear” Nill and Ashton “I taught him everything he knows” Nill.

We also went to Drumlin Farm recently, that’s always a hit for approximately 45 minutes. There are lots of baby animals and this last time, there was a little lamb that was less than an hour old! But again with Alex, he’s just at such a great age where he is beginning to take in the world with some semblance of understanding and it’s awesome to watch. He’s so cute! I know I said that already but he is 🙂

House stuff: the monster palace across the street is, dare I say, looking good. They chose a slate blue color and the windows have a nice trim.

The thing is two huge houses connected, one in front, one in back, but I don’t mind our view because it’s straight on. If the market around here stays what it is, these “condos” will sell in a hot second. The ones down the street, not nearly as nice, sold for $739k in ONE DAY. I’m waiting for the contractor to give me a quote on paving our driveway at the same time they are pouring the asphalt for these. But before the new driveway comes a new fence, and we are also waiting on quotes for that. These are the only real big projects remaining that we will do. I think.

Lastly, the quick run down of leftover, in-the-past-two-weeks news:
* I stopped nursing Alex completely.
* Jason got a new car.
* I finally figured out how to rotate pictures on my iPhone (this is not small potatoes – it’s in the crop function, who knew?).
* We met our new neighbors – they are awesome! And have kids the same age!
* Our grill cover came off and we had the first burgers of the season.
* I did a massive basement organization that included finally putting our Christmas decorations in the proper spot. Hey, it’s only April right?
* This week was school vacation week – it’s looking like we’ll survive. It hasn’t been nearly as deadly as February break was, largely because of the aforementioned playground time. Speaking of which, another hour and that’s where I’ll be. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Dear Alex (“All-yex”),

It’s National Sibling Day and I just thought I should say something official about it. As everyone knows, I was here first so when you came along last year I had my doubts. There was some significant, immediate fallout following March 16, 2014 (your “birthday”). Parental response time to my every whim drastically increased and you, this tiny “baby” that all of a sudden just took up space in Mommy’s arms, were to blame. But I think I coped pretty well and made the best of my bad situation from early on.

Now you are 1 and as you have gotten older and can at least attempt to keep up with me, things are turning out to be pretty fun. You are a good sport when I rip toys from your innocent little grasp and you sometimes share your snacks. When you don’t I just steal them and you are okay with that because you know what’s best for you. Good little brother. Also, I don’t always mean to push you over but for the times that it was intentional, I’m sorry. But honestly, when I’m pushing my dump truck you should know by now to get out of the way.

So things are good. I’m happy you are around and would say we are friends. I did help you learn to walk by dragging you across the floor. You’re welcome! And when I am sleeping, you tell Mommy to bring you in so you can poke me in the eye to wake me up so we can play. I’m so glad we have each other.

Because today is National Sibling Day, I’ve been reflecting on our time together and luckily for us, our mom does not know when to stop taking pictures so every move we have ever made is documented. I compiled a little brotherly timeline for us out of her ridiculous number of photos, starting from when we first met:

and then on to April…

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

 April

and here we are today, at National Sibling Day. I love you very much. I will make sure and wake you up tomorrow morning by bringing more cars than I can carry into your room so I drop them all about a foot from your head and wake you up. Can’t wait to play!

Love,
Ashton, age “free”

p.s. You know I hate it when you knock down my towers, so stop doing that.

There is no doubt about it: Ashton is only a few feet tall, but he fills the house with his personality. Some of the recent happenings are so ridiculous I have to get them in writing. But before continuing, please watch this video. It’s like, a prerequisite for this post.

In this video, you’ll see that Jason did a totally terrible job of fake-eating Ashton’s beloved Hexbug Nano. You’ll also see the visual definition of one of Ashton’s freakouts; it’s important you know what I’m dealing with here and that you know he will carry on for several minutes whilst plastered to the floor. And it happens anywhere, like the other day outside the playground.

I can’t remember what set him off on that one. I was too busy trying not to laugh while I was taking his picture.

The point is that we all get upset sometimes and for a wide range of reasons. But you might be Ashton if the following things have made you cry or make you want to.

1) Your back seat, passenger-side window does not have its own wiper.
2) You did not receive proper medical treatment for your ankle (and by ankle you meant your wrist, but did not tell me that). Due to complete lack of any visible wound, you received just one BandAid. You needed two.
3) You are “out of power”. This means you are having a hard time moving due to being tired.
4) The sticker is too sticky.
5) The sticker is not sticky enough.
6) You didn’t get to see what was in Alex’s diaper.
7) There’s jam on your toast.
8) Someone is sitting where you want to sit.
9) A package came in the mail that is not addressed to you.
10) The fact that Wednesday does not come after Friday.
11) You really, really, really don’t want a mermaid to come into your room.

12) Dinner is ready.
13) You have closely examined your bowl of multi-grain cheerios and there are no “red ones” in it. Now, this one really got me. I poured him some, put the box on the counter, and went about my business. He kept whining and complaining and needling me that there were no “red ones” in his bowl and he really wanted the “red ones”. Extremely exasperated, I finally said “What are you talking about?” and he pointed to the box.

Of course, he was already crying by the time I was halfway through the explanation that he knew those weren’t cheerios, they were raspberries, they didn’t actually come in the box with the cheerios and haven’t you ever heard of a “serving suggestion” and Mommy doesn’t HAVE any raspberries and even if I did I would not give you any because you are eating in the living room and I don’t want you to stain the couch!

Man.

In case you still have doubts, you might also be Ashton if…

You rush to the potty to pee, but you can’t get your pants down in time because your pockets are stuffed with matchbox cars, so you have an accident.

You think bras are to keep boobs from falling off.

Cows give you nightmares.

You are public about your bodily functions and also very descriptive. “I just pooped one long one and two short ones!” “That one was spiky!” etc etc. Also, baths are especially fun because of “water toots”.

Put your hands over your eyes. Bam! You’re hiding.

You say weird things out of nowhere like “Hey Mommy! Guess what time it is. It’s silly o’clock!” and “Hey Mommy! Stop beating the chickens.” [and then maniacally laugh]

All your sentences start with “Hey Mommy!”

You examine your body for instant, measurable growth after eating one bite of one vegetable.

You believe flowers have honey in them and that mommies can’t do everything. Only daddies can. (womp womp)

Old McDonald’s is where you get your happy meals.

Your favorite day is Monday, because that’s when Daddy is home and he builds you race tracks like this 🙂

No need to go on, I should think. Chances are you’ve concluded that no, you are not Ashton: emotional mindfield, lover AND hater of Alex, chatterbox, Mr. Everything-just-so, provider of nearly all my blog material. Can’t wait to see what he does next…actually, I definitely can 😉

I can’t remember if I have told this story here or not. Some 17 years ago, when Jason Nill showed up at Colby-Sawyer for his freshman year of college, he met his roommate who also happened to be named Jason (Lomberg). At some point soon thereafter, Jason Lomberg started going by “Berg” in order to differentiate and to this day, we still call him that and he and Jason are still best friends. You might remember Berg and Karen’s wedding (I was 10 weeks pregnant with Alex!) but you also likely recognize them as regulars here on this blog (they have come for Thanksgiving, birthdays, to Long Island, etc etc). Anyway, Ashton calls them Uncle Berg and Uncle Karen (we are working on the more gender-appropriate title of Aunt), they bought a house two miles away, and are expecting their first baby (a boy!) on 5/15/15. I had the honor of hosting Karen’s baby shower this past Saturday at their house and it was a perfect little party if you ask me 🙂 We all had so much fun.

So, pictures! Her nursery has an elephant theme, I’m so bummed I did not snap a few pictures of how adorable it is. But we carried that theme and her colors (aqua and gray) throughout, starting with the invitations:

I had handmade most of the decorations, Jason blew up the balloons, Berg chilled the champagne, and Karen actually made her famous deviled eggs before heading off to get her nails done 🙂 I had Panera cater the sandwiches and salad and the pastry chef at Brae Burn made the cake and the favor pops. I was so happy with how everything came out! We had lunch, presents, some dessert and a group photo…

and then we played the one game that I had set up:

Link for email readers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVyp6c8srMk

We went to Grandma and Grandpa’s for a quick visit this past weekend and Alex officially started walking! And by that I mean, not just a stumbly step here or there, but several in a row and consistently! Our favorite game on Sunday evening was having him walk back and forth between Jason and I with everyone cheering him on 🙂 He still prefers to crawl but he’s getting more sure of himself every day!

This past Monday we had a first birthday in the house! For my little pile of blond hair, a one Mr. Alexander Michael Nill. This year has gone by so much faster than Ashton’s first year, that’s for sure. Where to even begin! I stopped doing his monthly updates about 3 months ago and figured if something huge happened, like he started to walk, it would get its own post anyway. But we’ve more or less been holding steady for these winter months. Let’s take a look at where age 1.0 finds us.

Basic stats:

(3/24 pedi visit)
Weight: 25 pounds 11 ounces (95th percentile)
Height: 30.75 inches (85th)
Head circumference: Jason couldn’t remember but it was 75th percentile
Shots: None because we found out he had an ear infection!

Diapers: Size 5
Clothes: 18 months, 18-24 months is a little big
Hair: Blond and fluffy. It actually defied gravity until we got it cut this past weekend.
Eyes: Blue
Teeth: Uh, six. He has his trademark top two and bottom two, and then one each on the right side on the top and bottom. It’s very odd, like the matching ones on the left side aren’t in yet. See?

Meals: Three a day. His favorite foods are mac n cheese (the shell shape pasta, which he will eat warm out of the pot or cold as leftovers), blueberries, sweet potato fries and veggie sticks dipped in hummus. He also loves canteloupe, watermelon, puffs out his snack cup, and string cheese. He and Ashton are not my favorite dinner guests these days – if they had their way they’d have toast every night. So lately I just tell myself at least I’m offering different foods (like fish, meatloaf, carrots, etc.) and try to take deep breaths when it is immediately thrown on the floor. I’m hoping Alex will master pouches and a straw soon because then I can feed them both my sneaky veggie smoothies.

Milk: Ladies and gentlemen, one of the main things Alex got for his birthday was WEANED! From bottles of breastmilk, at least. My last day pumping at work was last Friday, and we have just finished with the transition to cow’s milk in his bottles. He has not noticed, as far as I can tell. He was getting three 5 ounce cow’s milk/breastmilk mixed bottles a day for a couple of weeks, gradually changing the ratios, and then Monday, his birthday, was his first day with bottles that were 100% cow’s milk. No more pumping for me! I will continue to nurse him at bedtime for a little while but I know we’re almost done. Crazy! I found out I was pregnant with him on July 6th, 2013 (Jason’s 36th birthday – I gave him the positive test as a present haha), he was born on March 16, 2014, and here we are a year after that and he finally doesn’t need me anymore. Growing him and then feeding him has lasted 21 months. That’s like, a lot of months.

Sleep: The birthday gifts just keep on coming. He got this one a little early (last week) but it’s a nice little regimen we like to call sleep training. He was still waking up several times a night, which meant I was trudging to his room to nurse him back to sleep, and it was finally taking its toll. With the advent of turning 1, I knew it had to stop. So a week before his birthday we started and Alex immediately served me up a big dish of shock. Not as big as the one Ashton gave me by potty training in five minutes, but a big one nonetheless. He woke up three times, barely cried, and went back to sleep. The next couple of nights he was up just once and again, back to sleep within minutes. I was bracing for all out wail sessions that woke the whole neighborhood and lasted for hours (like with Ashton). And it turned out to be a non-event! So now he sleeps through the night and takes his two naps a day and all is well.

Motor skills: We all thought he was going to start walking long before now. He has been pulling up and cruising everywhere for months. A handful of times he has stood up on his own and balanced there for awhile, and a handful of times of that handful of times, he has taken a step or two, but it’s pretty infrequent. He crawls at warp speed and gets into just about everything – cabinets, cubbies, drawers, book shelves, all of it. We have to watch him all the time, it’s annoying haha. Having two kids is officially hard, because Alex is not content to be in the carseat, stroller or carrier but also is not at the stage where he can do what Ashton is doing (push the dump truck around the block, jump on the trampoline, etc.) So frankly, he gets in pissy moods a lot because of his limitations. He does not point or shake his head but he loves to clap (especially to “If You’re Happy and You Know It”), play hide and seek, and climb the stairs. Oh and “wave”, which is basically opening and closing his hands, and usually backwards.

Favorite toys: Any number of the one million matchbox cars we have lying around, plus his Tolo Ball Run toy, plus his little hide and squeak eggs. We also have a little barn that has little plush animals in it that he loves to take out and put back in. He’s very busy in general just bopping around and exploring – he and Ashton play together a lot in the play tent and crawling tunnel too.

Brotherly love: Alex and Ashton get along great. In the mornings, Ashton wakes up and goes downstairs for some toys (for whatever reason, he will not allow toys in his bedroom), and then comes back up, goes into Alex’s room and they play together for awhile. Sometimes Ashton climbs in with him but often they just shove matchbox cars back and forth at each other through the crib slats.

Overall, Alex is a strong, independent little guy and doing great 🙂

Which brings us to…

Birthday celebration info: I feel really bad. I threw a very big party for Ashton when he turned one and Alex, well…sorry baby. Sunday night Uncle Berg and Uncle Karen (as Ashton calls them) came over to help us sing Happy Birthday and that was the extent. Ashton had helped me bake a cake that morning, which I was feeling guilty about because it was Funfetti out of a box, so I at least shaped it into a star to make it a bit more special. Complete footage of our Happy Birthday chorus can be found here, but this is our little party. The last one is a blurry picture but I think Alex is so funny that I just had to post it.

Then the next night, his actual birthday, he got to open some presents from grandparents and then it was time to give him our gifts. We got him the Leapfrog Musical Learn-Around Playground with the Tube Topper, Ball Shoot and Piano that also has Alphabet Buttons (not its real name).

This was being sold on one of my Facebook mom’s groups for $10. However, it turned out to have been recalled due to children sticking their arms in the ball shoot and getting scratches, so she gave it to me for free. Isn’t this what being a second child is all about? Second-hand toys they don’t make anymore due to safety concerns? For the price of a Lysol wipe, this was Alex’s birthday gift.

Seriously though, don’t worry. Everyone that ever owned this toy (from reviews on Amazon) gave mostly positive reviews, and Alex totally loves it. In fact, so does Ashton. It’s perfectly safe 🙂 And it was free and not to mention good for the environment to be recycled to a good home. Unsurprisingly, Ashton jumped right in to help me wrap it and then help Alex unwrap it. He was so excited that there was a “birfday” and mentioned several times that his was in the summer.

Alex’s next gift was also on the cheap side. All he wants to do, ever, is unroll the toilet paper roll or empty the wipes container. So I gave him a box of tissues and told him to go to town. He pulled every last one out, then started to put them back in, then pulled them all out again. He was so focused on this task that he did not even look up so I could take his picture. It was easily his favorite present.

The final addition to what was the most affordable first birthday ever: Alex wore Ashton’s hand-me-down onesie.

Birthdays are not without speed bumps when you are 12 months old. It’s a lot to take in.

So there you have it! My little sweetheart Alexander Michael is

We’ve got a birthday in the house! Alex turns el numero uno today! We had a mini-party for him last night and he gets more presents tonight so his official 1 year post will likely be tomorrow. But that doesn’t mean I can’t blog about a very important milestone! It happened yesterday, there were a few tears, but he successfully had his first haircut! There’s some old wives tale about waiting until a child turns one before cutting their hair, I don’t know the science behind it (haha, like there is any) but regardless, I abided by it.

It was $13, he got a First Haircut certificate and I took a few snips of his locks home in a baggie. Success! Look at this handsome new baby.