Oh Pinterest...

Oh Pinterest, only you would have me making bookshelves from gutters. I flipping love his new shelves!!!

Our week(s) in pictures...

Every toy...out of the box.

Had to wear rain boots everywhere phase.

Target is Oh-So-Fun with my bff Joshua!

Banana Republics newest window model.

Out of rainboot stage, into flip flop stage....first pair of reefs!

First pair of mouse ears!

Nolen's new word!

These days Nolen's vocabulary is growing each day. Everyday we find him saying a new word, wondering where he learned to say it. Well his newest word is one that we hope he quickly forgets. Lets go back to yesterday... my friend Terri was emailing me a video of Nolen from her Iphone...

T- "Oh man, I typed in the wrong email."
M- "what did you type in? Megan A*s" ;insert sarcasm; (our last name is Astor.)
Nolen: "A*s, A*s, A*s."

Clear as day, over and over again. We can look at this one of two ways. One, our son said his first bad word and we need to watch our language. Or two, he's a genius and just almost said his own last name! I'm going with the second one!

What have we been up to...

Home sweet home...that's where we've been! After Italy we moved into our dream home in Celebration. Everything else has been a whirlwind of excitement.

Catching up with old friends and settling into old & new routines. It honestly feels like we never left, kind of like we were just on an extended vacation. So let me catch you up on the last few weeks;

• Every time you ask little man a question the answer is always the same, "No." The tricky part is figuring out which no's mean no, and which ones mean yes. Mr. A and I have been using this stage to our advantage. "Nolen, do you think Mommy needs to lose weight?" "Nolen, do you think daddy should have to do the dishes?" Good times...
• We took Nolen to Disney for the first time! One great thing about living 5 minutes from Disney is the fact that you can get annual passes and enjoy the parks year round. You quickly learn the good and bad times to go, and don't have to feel guilty is you go for only a few hours. Nolen loved Disney,I think we'll be spending a lot of time here.
  
• Unpacking urrr...reading us weekly and enjoying the Florida sunshine!
• Swim lessons. We started Nolen in Infant Survival Resource lessons. Living in Florida we're constantly near water so we knew these were crucial. The lessons are 10 minutes a day for 6 weeks, and super intense. I start every morning with a knot in my stomach as my baby gets dunked and thrown underwater, helplessly searching for air. The good news is that they are working. After a week he can already hold his breath, swim to the wall and pull himself up (all while screaming bloody murder.)
  
• Catching up with friends! When we left Orlando most of our friends were married and childless. Now every single couple has a baby. Ohh this has been fun, and so refreshing!
• Shopping....ahhh...shopping....one thing that Augusta desperately lacked. We have outlets, we have malls, we have more outlets, we have more malls....ahhh...theraputic!
• Settling into our new street. We couldn't have asked for a better one. We are a 10 minute walk to downtown (hello Starbucks,) within minutes of a pool and playground, and have some of the BEST neighbors. Young, fun, and get this...all have little BOYS! Our streets nickname is 'Boyee' court. (If your missing a daughter in 15 years you may want to check our street first.)
• Trying not to pinch myself so I don't wake up from this wonderful dream! i.love.orlando.
  
  
  
  

Italia, ciao bella!

How is that for a blogging hiatus? That's what happens when your in Europe for three weeks and come home, to your new home, filled with boxes. Craziness! Well we are back, mostly adjusted to Eastern standard time once again, and loving every minute in our new home! Three weeks in Italy left me with a ton to write about so I thought I'd break it down into categories: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good:

• Paris, Venice, Florence, Tuscany...AH-mazing. There's something so amazing about the European culture. The history, the thought that these amazing cities were built thousands of years ago without any modern help. Amazing.
• Food! It literally felt as though we were eating (and drinking) amazing food non-stop. Thank goodness we were walking everywhere or else I may have needed to purchase another seat for the plane ride home.
  
• Family. What are the chances that 10 people can all arrange their schedules, and make it to ITALY together. Our first night together in the villa resulted in 11 wine bottles, and a bon-fire (don't ask.) Good times were had by all.
• Experiencing Europe with little man. He has his first little passport (adorable) and already has more stamps then mommy did at age 25. If theres one thing we learned, it's that everyone speaks "baby." Nolen was making friends everywhere we went. 3 days into the trip he was happily announcing, "Ciao, Ciao."
• Tuscan cooking school. Amazing experience, delicious food, great new friends (not to mention a hot Italian instructor!)
• Our private Chianti region wine tour. Tuesday found Mr. A, myself along with my sister and her husband. MomMom offered to babysit so the parents were off, beginning our wine tastings at 10 am. Things we learned: Brunello is just aged Chianti (Brunello, means brown, so think brown Chianti.) Good balsamic vinegar should only have 2 ingredients and should NEVER include Caramel or coloring. The Italian version of Moonshine is called Grappa.

The Bad:

• The stairs of Venice. Every other minute we found ourselves at another bridge filled with steps. Steps, stroller...not a good mix. Mommy and daddy now have biceps the size of Texas.
• European meals. Most don't begin until 8pm. Then they last for hours, and hours, and hours. I do have to say, Nolen was a trooper for most of these.
• Highchairs. We found that about %50 of restaurants offer high chairs, where do all the babies sit?
• Time changes and babies...he didn't get the memo on the return trip home. Our days have been starting at 3am, oh my!

The Ugly:

• traveling 24 straight hours, ALONE (Mr. A had to get back to work) with a 1 year old. Truth be told Nolen was a rockstar, for the first 19 hours. After the 10 hour flight from Munich he was done. Screamed all during the landing, screamed all the way through customs, screamed as we waited for our last flight home. We were "that mom." That mom who is sitting and doing nothing as her baby screams. I wanted to put a sign up that said, "we just traveled for 19 hours people!"

Babies in hotels

Babies and hotel rooms are like oil and vinegar, they don't mix. You're left with a living situation that is un baby proofed, unfamiliar to your little one, and minus all your sweet, sweet luxuries of home ( where's my diaper genie?!?!) within 8 hours of being in a hotel with Nolen, I was utterly pooped.

He began our adventure the first morning rising at 5:30 am. Without any toys to turn too, he found the pots and pans cabinet. Loudly announcing to all our neighbors, above, below, beside...that he was awake.

Next was the elevator. Who's idea was it to put the emergency call button within easy reach of a toddler? 2 times he called "this is Osceola county police what is your emergency?" ugh... No emergency, just a baby.

Then there are the door handles that can not only open, but can also unlock with the turn of a handle (also within easy reach of a toddler.) Cleaning out his bottles one morning (literally for 30 seconds) I found myself calling for Nolen. No answer. Panic! I ran through each room, through the closets, on the porch, in the toliet (seriously), NO BABY!!! Open the hotel door to find him standing in the hallway laughing. (heart attack.)

We can't forget about the bed. At home we pride ourselves on having a baby that only sleeps in his crib. On vacations we tend to ease up a bit and let him sleep with us if he wakes up. So one night I out him in bed with me (Mr.A was on the couch because he had to work early.). Nolen and I were all the way against the side of the bed, so far over he could never fall off. Wrong. Middle of the night I wake to a thump, Nolen has fallen off the bed.

packing, packing, packing

Mr. A has a thing for sheets. Thread counts, textures, even colors are all equally important to the man. When you ask him what he wants for his birthday the answer almost always is sheets! I should be happy about this because I get to reap the rewards as well. (1000 thread count, Egyptian cotton never felt so good!) It appears that he has passed the sheet gene on to little man. Our little guy can't sleep without his soft Pottery Barn Chamois sheet. (We learned this the hard way.) Cotton just doesn't do for this boy. As a result, 1/4 of my very limited suitcase space is now packing a crib sheet. Italy here we come...