Having Fun With the New Camera!

We are totally in love with our new camera. We play with it like a child would play with their favorite toy. "Go grab the camera" has become a familiar sound in our house. And we can't think of anything better to takes pictures of than our sweet little Nolan. We really do have our own interests and hobbies, I promise. So much so, that I will devote a future post to it-and I will even include pictures to prove it. But for now, you'll just have to look at pictures of our favorite little subject:





Nolan grows to love his jumperoo more and more everyday. His happy squeals and screams get longer and louder. And has he gets taller, we'll be able to remove the pillow he still needs since his feet are about 2 inches from touching the floor. It never gets old watching him learn and explore.

Without a doubt, bath time continues to be his favorite time of the day. He loves the feel of the water dripping on him and he has certainly found his pee-pee. His first order of business when going in the tub, and only takes him about 10 seconds to do so (thanks to the feeling of the warm water hitting his body) is take a little pee, immediately followed by his little grin.







Well, it is a beautiful day...maybe I should wake Nolan up from his nap and get him outside to play with the camera again. We are going on a walk with our friend, Carter today.

A New Toy!!

We got a new toy today. And it is actually for Phil and me. However, Nolan IS the reason we got it and will be our main subject. I am so excited to learn how to use and play with my new:



We came home from Best Buy and immediately got it out of the casing and all set up. We've snapped a few pictures and I can honestly say, this is one gadget/gizmo manual I will ACTUALLY read. I promise.

Any tips you have for a novice? I really want to learn to take great pictures.

4 Years Ago Today....

Today, I am celebrating life with my two favorite men:


One year ago today, I was pregnant with Nolan and craving pasta!

Two years ago today, we were dealing with unpleasant job changes.

Three years ago today, we were enjoying our first anniversary as a married couple.

Four years ago today, I married my best friend, my partner, my protector, and my encourager. I love you Phil!! Happy Anniversary. Can't wait to see what the next sevearl years hold!

Totally Adorable at 5 Months Old

....And we will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Family Values

Phil and I agree that the sweetest part of our day is going in Nolan's room and waking him up. It is just adorable to watch him stretch and stir as he awakens to a brand new day. From there, we get him ready and the last thing we do before leaving for the day is feed him and do our family devotion. Watching and listening to daddy lead us in a devotion and prayer adds so much umph to the day. Over the past several months we have established these 4 core values that we want to teach our children:

1. Attentiveness - Yes, paying attention. I, myself, struggle with attentiveness and have to work on it daily (just ask Phil). Attentiveness must be intentional and at the forefront of the mind. We want to teach our children to be actively involved and engaged in what they are doing and in their surroundings. Besides, how else are the other values and skills taught without first having attentivness?

2. Respect - Pretty simple, but consistency is the key. Old fashioned values are being established in the Heppding household.

3. Obedience - This goes hand in hand with respect. We hope this will be a reflection of their heart and will be a result of consistency and teaching on our part.

4. A teachable spirit - We are not seeking for our kids to just easily learn new things (though that would be nice). But we hope their attitudes will reflect a willingness, joy, and excitement in learning and discovery.

So, these are our family values. What we want to teach our children. And what's the best way to teach these? Yes, by modeling them. I best be getting to work. I certainly know I have room to grow in all of these areas.

Above all, we want to our home to be a place our children feel safe and loved. They will be loved uncondtionally and will never have to earn our love. We pray for Nolan (and our future children) daily. Our prayer is that he will come to know the unconditional love and forgiveness of our Heavenly Father and that Nolan will one day walk with Him in a personal relationship.

We start and end our day with prayer for our family and for Nolan specfically. There is no great privelege then to be able to pray for the child God has given us.

5 Months Old & Full of Life

We have had such a fun and exciting few weeks. February was full of lots of play dates and traveling to Atlanta. My friend and colleague, Casi, came over for Liam and Nolan to play together. Ok, if truth be told, Casi and I ate lunch and went shopping, and the boys tagged along. Liam is 2 months older than Nolan and we plan on getting them together quite often to play and become great buddies. The picture below shows them hanging out together. We also met some great neighbors, Ben and Dawn, who have a 6 month old son, Carter. Carter and Nolan have already played several times together, and Dawn and I are becoming fast friends.



We made a trip to Atlanta over President's Day weekend to see our close friends David & Jenny Fancher, who welcomed their son, Samuel David, in to the world on February 4th. Samuel was born a couple of weeks early and was a wee 5 pounds. He is just adorable and we can't wait for him and Nolan to start playing together. I'm sure they will have lots of fun times on the beach in the coming years. Nolan will grow up knowing that "cousin" Samuel is a very special and close friend.



Jenny and I spent the afternoon going to lunch and getting pedicures while Phil and David stayed back with the babies. We both enjoyed the girl time, free of parental responsibilities. Jenny is a very close friend of mine and it has been so fun to watch us both encounter major life milestones simultaneously. I know our sons will grow up knowing each other very well. We are thankful for such great friends.

We had our first Valentine's Day as a family of 3. We didn't do anything too exciting, but just having Nolan was enough to make this the most special Valentine's Day ever. He is our bundle of love.












Nolan is 5 months today. The time is just FLYING by!! He is such a wonderful, loving, and fun baby. Nolan, here is what you have been doing lately:

*Have just recently been introduced to sweet potatoes and like them a lot.
*Enjoy sitting in your high chair.
*Do not like your car seat.
*Rolling over to your side and staying there.
*Love to play airplane.
*Blow raspberries out of your mouth ALL day long.
*Like to walk around the block with mommy and daddy.
*Wearing 6-9 months clothes.
*Love to "stand" on daddy's legs.
*Started to laugh.
*Play with your toys.
*So ALERT that everyone comments on it.
*Do not love your passie. You'd rather sit up and look around or suck on your fingers.

I'm about to get a new camera. It took me having a child to realize that a digital camera just doesn't cut it. I can't capture those adorable facial expressions because my darn camera takes forever to reset and by the time it is ready, the expression is long gone. So, I've gotten several recommendations and I hope the Best Buy guy is ready for me because I'm about to go in and play with lots of cameras and find the right one that I can go click, click, click and get a gazillion pictures at a second. Hopefully, I will take my interest in picture taking to a higher level-to more than just turning the camera on and pushing the click button.

Believe it or not, Phil and I do have responsibilities and hobbies we are currently pursuing that don't involve Nolan. I know it is hard to believe, but it is true. We are both in a bible study at our new church called "Empowering Parenting." We are enjoying the curriculum and the new friendships that are being formed. We try to go out with friends or with each other at least twice a month, and having the best babysitters across the street makes it pretty easy. Phil is really a pro a networking and is seen all around town at different public events. He is growing his business and loving his new career. While I enjoy teaching, I really LOVE the tutoring I do everyday. I'm toying with getting back into running, but I'm not sure how passionate I want to be since we ARE trying to get pregnant again. I haven't found much time for scrapbooking, but Nolan's first year WILL be done by his first birthday. But what I enjoy most is entertaining. We haven't had too many people down to visit yet this year, but then again, the season is just now starting, so we can't wait to have people in and out of our house this year.

So, if you read the above paragraph, you read that we are trying to get pregnant again. Some people think we are crazy for wanting to add to our family so quickly and to take time to enjoy Nolan while he is young. Well, he is so amazingly wonderful that he adds to our desire. We also want to have our kids close in age in hopes they will be close friends. I realize the consequences that come with having children so close in age, but we truly hope and believe that God's will is to add to our family very soon. So, would you please join us in praying that God will bless our family with another child soon (and hopefully without the complications we experienced the first go round)?

Well, I'm off to go cuddle on my little Nolan. Can't wait to post pictures with my new camera soon!

Hurry Up and Slow Down!

I realize the title of this post is an oxymoron, but it is truly how I feel. I am always so excited when Nolan discovers something new-his thumbs, his hands, the ability to hold and grasp small objects-and I am always ready to see what he will do next. But at the same time, it is going by WAY too fast. I don't want him to grow up so fast that, in a blink of an eye, it is all over. The above picture of him is at 3 months. Like all moms, I think he is just the cutest thing ever.





Nolan can't get enough of his Bumbo chair. He loves to sit in it and watch Baby Einstein movies. And as you can tell from this picture, he can even fall asleep in it. But most of all, he loves to sit in it while we eat dinner at the dinner table. He will just laugh and talk to us while we eat. And it is obvious he is getting interested in food because he follows our forks and glasses as they go to our mouths. We have renamed his Bumbo chair his pooping chair. Without a doubt, 100% of the time, he takes a big poop in it. He is quickly outgrowing it as he is starting to use his weight to push himselp up and back. Before long, he'll be on the move and this chair will be a thing of the past.



Nolan absolutely LOVES his toy time. With our very busy schedules, Phil and I make the most of every moment in the evening. We spend our time eating, bathing, and playing "toy time." We get on the bed and play with all of Nolan's toys. He loves his Winkel and Baby Einstein music maker. He also really likes when I shake the rain stick. I think this is our favorite time with Nolan. He is so interactive with us and his toys and just smiles and drools the entire time.



Nolan got his first cold and fever right around 4 months old. He had a 102 temperature and a terrible case of coughing and sneezing. He was fever free within 24 hours, to which I think has a lot to do with nursing. Poor baby slept and slept and slept. He would wake up and eat enough to fall right back asleep. It was so sad to see him cough and sneeze so much, but I did enjoy all the extra snuggle time with him.



I can't believe Nolan is 4 months. So what exactly are you up to these days?
*You weigh 15.8 pounds (50%) and are 25 inches long.
*You love to suck your fingers and thumb (mostly your right).
*You are very close to rolling from your back to your stomach. You are halfway there.
*EVERYBODY comments on what a happy baby you are. You smile a lot.
*You want to be interacted with all the time.
*You are an excellent sleeper and now sleeping in your crib.
*Even when you are upset, you don't cry much.
*You EAT all the time. You want to nurse about every 2 hours, but somehow you don't wake up at night to eat.
*You are reaching out for objects.
*You went from hating your boucer to now enjoying it. You weigh enough to make it bounce yourself.
*You are showing interest in foods and it won't be long until mommy is making your foods.
*You are holding on to the side of your bottle, wanting to try to hold it yourself.
*You love raising your legs up in the air.
*You are holding your head up and almost able to sit up with little support.
*You still LOVE bathtime with daddy.
*You love toy time at night and want as much time with mommy and daddy as possible.

Nolan, you are a blessing in our lives and we thank God for you everyday. We love that you are such a happy, content, and loving baby.