Good bye 2011!

Hard to believe 2011 is coming to a close! What a year it has been! But before we bid a final adios, we must recap our festive holiday season! Highlights included:

Helping Mommy wrap presents

Eating my first (and only) sugar cookie

Spending Christmas Eve at the farm and getting my cool present from new baby Laci

 

A yummy Christmas breakfast of blueberries and bananas

Checking out my new clown bear from cousin Will

I let Dad test out my new toys before I joined in

I was captivated by the robot dog from Aunt Carlette

My new play tent from Grandpa & Grandma Carson is awesome

Cool new emergency vehicles from Grammy--love the sirens!

I loved pulling the apples off of the tree

Hanging in my alligator chair

We loved spending Christmas day in Grammy's new house

Yay for Christmas dinner of steak and potatoes!

And of course I loved playing with Uncle Jeff!

What a wonderful Christmas and 2011! We're sorry to see you go, 2011, but can't wait for what 2012 has in store! See you next year!

xoxo the nelms

We have a walker!

December 12 wasn't just our second anniversary this year. It was the day Olson started to walk! Talk about a wonderful present!! Of course in the weeks since he has worked on his gait, and has gotten quite strong. Here's a video taken during the first week he was walking. It's not long, but it certainly shows his skills!

Stay tuned for a future post with his new and improved walking! 

xoxo the nelms

Gobble Gobble!

After a year off, we returned to St Louis for our annual Thanksgiving visit! It was fun to see Olson play with his cousins, and of course great to see the family. The weather was gorgeous, so we were able to enjoy an afternoon at my favorite zoo--the St Louis Zoo! Otherwise we seemed to just spend our time playing and hanging out!

Olson discovered his echo in a sparsely populated area of the airport. He loved it.

Olson and Daddy with Grandpa, Uncle Jeff and Will and John

Olson and Mommy with Grandma, Aunt Lisa and the boys

Grandpa and Grandma love their grandsons!

Olson couldn't get enough of his first Thanksgiving dinner!

We were happy to have nice weather and a tricycle!

Checking out the Reptile House

A photo with our friend, Mr. Camel. Right before he decided to spit on the crowd.

 Thanks for a great visit, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Lisa, Will and John! We can't wait to see you again soon!

xoxo the nelms

Tis the season! Wait, already?

Anyone that knows me knows that I love a parade. Maybe not as much as I love a mascot, but pretty close! So of course I have been looking forward to the Raleigh Christmas Parade for months! The weather was gorgeous, and it seemed that most of Raleigh was in attendance. Olson was a trooper, and actually made it all the way to the end this year, so he got to see Santa instead of sleeping through the big event!

Great view from Dad's shoulders!

Perfect day to wear my festive reindeer hat from Ibby!

After a while the leaves were more interesting than the floats

Hometown boy Scotty was Grand Marshal!

Yay for Santa!

All that fun made me hungry for Hayes Barton Pharmacy!

xoxo the Nelms

Snip! Snip!

I waited until he turned a year old, but I have to admit, it was difficult! The little scraggly hairs over his ears drove me crazy, but for some reason in my mind I needed to wait until he was one. Maybe I was just trying to hold onto any bit of baby-dom we had left. The pictures paint an accurate picture--Olson was not a fan of the hair cut!

So far, so good

No problem, Mom!

Wait, what does he have in his hand?

Noooo! Make it stop!

Can't wait to see how the next trim goes!

xoxo the nelms

Happy Halloween!

I know that this is actually Olson's second Halloween, but I have a hard time not thinking of it as his first! Last year we brought him home from the hospital on Halloween, and there were no costumes or candy for us. Just two parents trying to figure out what to do with our new little guy! And while I don't like to dress up, I bought Olson's costume months ago in anticipation of the big day! And I think it turned out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself!

What does my mom have me wearing?

And of course I think it's even cuter when you add in his beagle sister...

At least the beagle is in it with me!

 The pumpkin was a highlight, and I carved it to commemorate Olson's 3 teeth. Olson liked checking it out.

Hmmmm what is this?

Whatever it is, I like it!

A better view of the teeth

 Even though it was raining, we were happy to greet trick or treaters at Grammy's! Olson wasn't too sure of Grammy's get up at first, but he eventually realized it was just his crazy Grammy!

Silly Grammy!

xoxo the nelms

Let them eat (cup)cake!

To continue Olson's birthday weekend, we had a fun-filled Sunday celebrating with family. Olson was dedicated at Hayes Barton Baptist Sunday morning, and that was followed by a birthday lunch at Grammy's. We had a wonderful time visiting and eating, and of course watching Olson eat his first cupcake! He seemed to love it, but didn't care for the frosting. He must get that from his daddy, because as we all know, mommy LOVES frosting!

What is this???

Loving my cupcake!

Didn't like to eat the frosting, but loved squishing it!

Yay! This is fun!

Kaylin preferred Daisy when she was outside

Happy family!

Beautiful new chair from Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy

What a special first birthday celebration with our family! We thank those that were able to make it, and missed those that were not. We are so blessed to have such an amazing extended family!

xoxo the nelms