Nolan's favorite things....

Nolan LOVES popsicles and corn on the cob!

This picture reminds me of Forrest Gump.... :)

Father's Day / Nolan's Big Boy Bed

Happy Father's Day! Brad told me that he wanted to celebrate by "milling around the house" and changing the oil in the cars. So I let him do exactly that. We spent the day just hanging out as a family and it was so nice. I haven't gotten pictures of his Father's Day gifts yet, so I'll wait to explain those later once we have a pic.

While Brad did his manly stuff in the garage, Nolan and I played in the front yard. We've been working on being gentle with the flowers, but Nolan just loves to pull the petals off....and then he just grins! It's cute. But he does say "pitty" and some other nonsense for flower but I wouldn't begin to even know how to type it! It always comes out the same though, so that's something :)

Nolan LOVES playing in the truck with Daddy. He threw a fit when it was time to go in....imagine that!

Today was the first day that Nolan slept in his big boy bed. We had thought about putting him in it just for naptime for awhile to see how that went, but that first time went so well, we put him in there that night too. It's been great! He's had no problems at all. We put a baby gate in his doorway since his room is upstairs, just in case he decided to wander out. We read books for a little bit, and then I leave and he just goes to sleep on his own. Sometimes he cries, sometimes he reads, sometimes he goes right to sleep. The first night he stood at the gate shaking it, like he was in prison or something. :) We are so lucky to have such a good sleeper. Sometimes it's hard to let him cry, but it never lasts for more than a few minutes. And he always ends up back on his bed, so he knows what he's supposed to be doing when he's in there. Yay!

Here's a little sneak peek at his new room/furniture with our little man snoozing away:

Happy Father's Day to the best dad and husband ever! Brad does such a great job that he deserves to be celebrated every day, but especially today. I am so blessed and fortunate to have him here to share all of my experiences with, and I don't think he gets told often enough what a wonderful father he is. I am constantly in awe at the way he connects with Nolan and can't wait to see him holding and playing with both of our sons. :) Our family wouldn't be the same without you - WE LOVE YOU!

Denver Zoo - 6/15/09

Happy Birthday Mom/Nanny! We ended up spending her big day (59!) at the Denver Zoo. We got there when they opened, and the rain held off until after we'd left. It was a fun and snake-free (for me) visit and Nolan loved it!


Here are some of the best pictures - courtesy of Brad:


Matching Rockies hats

Almost looks real, huh?

It had started to sprinkle, and this was the only smart one trying to stay dry!

Every time we saw one of these little statues, Nolan would stick his finger up the nose! haha

Exhausted after the big day!!

Nanny & Papa visit! 6/11 - 6/16

Nanny & Papa were able to come and spend a long weekend with us in June.

Just like they did when I was pregnant with Nolan, they came out to help get the baby's room ready. And when I say 'help', I mean they did all the work!! They are great painters, so when they offered I wasn't about to pass it up. We decided on red and blue for Nolan's new room (pictures to come later when the room is really finished) and it turned out great! They helped put Nolan's new big boy bed and other furniture together and get it arranged (again, pictures to come later!). It was really a big help, so THANKS Nanny & Papa!

As I mentioned in my last post, my parents got to spend a lot of quality time with Nolan since we went out of town for a wedding, but we just kind of hung out most of the time they were here. Although on Sunday afternoon, we got hit with some crazy weather - tornado warnings and hail!! Brad was at his baseball game and we were in our basement for about a half an hour. Well, all of us except Dad who was weather-watching on the front porch most of the time! The video is of the street in front of our house - the rain was so heavy that the street looked like a river. You can hear the tornado sirens that go off in our neighborhood too. The hail on the roofs of our neighbor's houses looks like snow instead! It didn't last too long though, and everything was back to normal by that evening....whew!

We were glad the weather got better because we had Brad's family over for a cookout (or BBQ, if you're from CO). It was nice to have everyone together for a couple hours.

Cambell and Rylann - I can't figure out why this is the only picture we took that day, but it's cute!



We had a great visit with my mom and dad. It wasn't too hard for me to say goodbye this time because I knew we'd be out to visit them in Indiana in just two weeks. But try explaining that to a 20-month old at the airport!! The picture below is while we were waiting in line to check in and everything's cool. When Nanny & Papa had to leave to go through security, he was NOT happy! He even threw his binky on the ground. That NEVER happens! I suppose I should get ready for more of that with the terrible 2's creeping up.....

Congrats to Sharon & Munish! ~ 6/13/2009

Our friends Sharon & Munish tied the knot! We were able to go to the wedding in Snowmass Village (about a 3-hour drive west of Denver) and spend the night because my parents just happened to be in town the same weekend! It was nice to have a night out...even though we didn't sleep in at all the next day! Why? Because we had to get back for Brad's baseball game....of course!

There were two different ceremonies - one traditional and one Hindu. Neither of us had been to a Hindu wedding before, so it was really fun to see something different.

Us before the traditional ceremony


Here is a shot of Munish on the horse that he rode to the Hindu ceremony. The little boy that's riding with him is to symbolize purity. Below is a video of the music that was played while everyone followed Munish and the horse to the ceremony. Hopefully I'm not getting this wrong, but I think this part is called the Baraat.

The bride before her big entrance into the Hindu ceremony - yep, she got TWO wedding dresses! :)

Both ceremonies were beautiful, and the weather completely cooperated for the whole day! It was gorgeous. I always cry at weddings, and little did I know, Brad and Danielle made a bet at how many times I would cry. Can you believe that?? Danielle won because I only cried once. They bet over/under that I would cry at least 3 times....Brad took the over! haha

Now the reception was a totally different story.....I couldn't stop crying! I felt ridiculous, but at least I could blame it on the pregnancy hormones. But in all honesty, I think I would have cried that much anyway. I'm just an emotional person, what's wrong with that??? Everyone gave speeches, but I think Munish's dad's speech was the best. He kept talking about how Munish would always be his little boy and how he remembered holding him for the first time. I mean, how can you not cry when you hear that???? :)

Sharon and I at the reception

We had a great time, and wish Sharon & Munish the best! Congratulations!

Sharon's Bachelorette Party - Chicago - 6/6/09

My friend Sharon (who used to work with Brad) had her bachelorette party in Chicago, so my other friend Danielle (who also works with Brad) decided we should have a girls weekend!! Now, I made these plans before I knew I was pregnant, but I had a really great time anyway. I was worried I'd be too much of a party pooper, but I think I did okay!

It was a quick weekend, but lots of fun. Friday night we went to a White Sox game - they got shut out by the Indians and I had to bust out my 'mom' voice and yell at some kids sitting behind us who were throwing food - and had perfect weather.

U.S. Cellular Field

Danielle, me, and Sharon (side note - Brad was jealous because he's never been to this field!)

On Saturday, not-so-perfect weather! It was cold, windy, and rainy, but that didn't stop us! We had lunch at Gino's East - Chicago deep dish pizza - and then headed to Navy Pier for an architectural boat tour. It was freezing, but we ended up laughing about it later!

Yes, it was THAT cold! Jenn, Lisa, Marcy, me, and Danielle

That night, we had a shower for Sharon at the hotel. We had so much fun! Everyone else decided to keep the party going at a few local bars/clubs, but the prego went to bed early :)

Faye (another of Brad's co-workers), me, Danielle, and Sharon

Group shot!

Danielle and I headed back to Denver early Sunday morning, just in time to meet a few tornadoes! Yikes! We were in a holding pattern for about 45 minutes before we were able to land at Denver. Once we did land, our pilot told us that a lot of flights were re-routed to Colorado Springs, so I wasn't complaining too much after that (we only live 15 minutes from the Denver airport - CO Springs would have been a MUCH longer trip). I'm just glad we made it back safely!

It was a great weekend and a great way to help Sharon celebrate her last week of being a bachelorette!

IT'S A BOY!

That's right, come mid-October, I'll still be living in a house full of testosterone!

To say that we couldn't be happier is an understatement. Our little guy was so cooperative during the sonogram - he just let it all hang out there! I knew right away because it looked just like Nolan's sonogram pictures, but Brad couldn't see it until we pointed it out to him. Then of course he was ecstatic!

The ultrasound technician went to type 'Baby Profile' on one of the pictures and accidentally typed 'Boby Profile' instead. And it was decided! We'll call Baby Boy Engle #2 'Bobby' until he decides to join us. You might remember that we called Nolan 'Cliff' before he was born since we like to keep the actual name a secret.

The best part is that Bobby is healthy. Everything looked good and they even said I was measuring about a week early. They didn't change my due date, but a week early would be my birthday instead of Nolan's. So let's all cross our fingers that Bobby decides he wants to meet us a few weeks early to avoid anyone having the same birthday! :)

As for me, I've been feeling really good lately. Aside from the fact that I'm more emotional this time (if that's possible!) and really anxious about a lot of different things, everything is going great. I do feel like I'm bigger at this point with Bobby than I was with Nolan, but I hear that's normal. I just try not to think about it too much. My heartburn has graced me with its presence again this time, so I've stocked up on Tums and Maalox. But all in all, I'll take the occasional heartburn and lack of energy any day over the nausea I had just a couple months ago!

Here's a picture of me at almost 24 weeks (taken on 6/25/209). I looked back at my blog from when I was pregnant with Nolan, and at 20 weeks I had only gained 6 pounds. I'm up to 8 pounds this time, which still isn't bad, but I do need to start watching what I'm eating more. It's just so easy to 'splurge' more often now!

We are very excited and very blessed to have one healthy son and now we'll add to our boy-filled family with healthy son number two! I'm just going to call it now that Bobby is going to be a spitting image of his brother....the Engle genes have proven to be pretty strong!