Introducing...

Aiden's new cousins arrived yesterday morning - a few weeks early, but healthy, sweet little babies :)

Please meet Addison Denise
July 25, 2010 at 9:35am
Weighing in at 4 lbs. 12 oz.

and Ryan Christopher
July 25, 2010 at 9:55am
Weighing in at 5 lbs. 10 oz.

They are so tiny and cute. When you hold them they just cuddle right in and sleep. And the VERY few times we heard them cry, it was a such a sweet little sound. I can't wait to hold them again!

Congratulations to Momma Lisa and Daddy Chris on your precious little ones!

Sunday Breakfast

This morning I got up and made my family recipe for buttermilk pancakes. I added bananas & chocolate chips to Aiden's pancakes and let him go for it. The result was this....


There was chocolate and bits of pancake everywhere. Arms, legs, hair, inside his ear. Even inside his diaper. So, it was an early bath day.


Followed by an hour of Aiden's favorite game - "I won't let you get me dressed". The kid loves being naked. As soon as a diaper or clothes appear - he is gone.



Hmmmm...now what should we do for the rest of the day?

Aiden's First Swim in Folsom Lake

Swimming. Picnics. Ice cream. The lake. No doubt about it, summer is fun.

We took Aiden to Folsom lake for the first time the other day. It is just minutes away from our house and somewhere that I am sure we will spend more and more time at as Aiden gets older. The lake is really full right now so the water is pretty shallow pretty far out and there are big rocks and little islands everywhere to hang out on.

Aiden did not want to get out of the water! He had a great time splashing around and kept trying to get away from us to swim on his own - he definitely has NO FEAR of the water so we will have to watch him extra carefully around pools and even our pond. He stayed in so long that his fingers and toes got all pruney and he kept looking at them funny wondering what was going on!

Hangin' with daddy

Splash! Splash!

Sitting on a rock in the lake with daddy - lovin' the water and showing off his new teeth!

Me and Aiden after our swim

2nd Trip to Lake Tahoe

We have not been up to Tahoe in a year and I was just dying to take a little trip up to the mountains. Last time we went up, Aiden was still on oxygen and we couldn't get out much. This trip I wanted to take Aiden out, so we went to the beach, lots of walks, shopping, out to pizza and to the ice cream parlor. Momma, Daddy and Uncle Adam even had a night out to have a few drinks at the casinos. So...um....when can we go back up?

This was Aiden's first trip to a beach, he like the water as long as someone was holding onto him, it was windy and we didn't stay that long. The water was not too bad - If I had a swimsuit, I would have gone in!

He liked walking in the sand and the little waves, he didn't really like sitting in the sand though.

Aiden and Nana Robyn getting a little sun

With daddy

A cute family shot standing in the water:)

The next day we went for a walk on the trail by Camp Richardson and to the stream profile. It was so nice to get outside and enjoy the day!

Papa John, Great Mama, Daddy and Nana Robyn on the trail by the river

When Aiden got tired of being in his stroller Daddy gave him a ride on his shoulders!

A fish at the stream profile

We went on this trail last year during our visit also, so of course we had to take a picture on the same bench that we took one last year, here is last years pic....

And here is this year!

After we got a work out on the trail (ha!) we stopped at the toy store so Papa John could buy Aiden a toy (a Tahoe tradition for the Walshaw grandbabies) and then my grandma took us out for ice cream at a really cute little ice cream shop called the Red Hut Soda Fountain. The girls at the ice cream shop taught me how to do the "whip cream trick"...don't ask, but try it if your ever up in Tahoe ;)

A Momma Sundae, Daddy sundae and an Aiden Sundae...

A great Mama and an Uncle Adam Sundae...

Me and Aiden pose for the camera

Aiden gets a bite of his strawberry sundae

Daddy, determined to eat his entire sundae...they were so good

Needless to say, we had a great time. Awesome weather, awesome food, and awesome family :)

Breaktime is almost over

I know it has been a while since the blog has been updated...I have been taking a little break from blogging, but am going to post again this week and catch up on the fun things that we have been doing this July so stay tuned :)

The Joys of Teething

This is what happens when your son gets 4 bottom teeth at the same time...see them all??? Yeah, it's been a fun couple weeks at the Nicolls House.

The Zoo!

Me and Sara took Aiden and Chase to the Sacramento Zoo on Friday - we had perfect weather, right before it got hot. Chase is Sara's youngest and he and Aiden are a year apart in age. They are pretty darn cute together - they play and Chase gets down on the floor and crawls around just like Aiden. So we packed them up and headed down for a nice afternoon checking out the animals. We saw monkeys, zebras, giraffes and the new baby tiger. So much fun and a nice way for me and Sara to get out of the house!

Me and Sara with our boys

This zebra noticed we were watching him and came right over to stand by us - he was putting on a little show.

By the koi pond - I haven't been to the sac zoo since I was little and it was so nice, very shady paths and lots of plants.

The boy's favorite animal at the zoo - the giraffes! Chase only wanted to do 2 things - see the giraffes and ride the train!

Sara and I showing the boys all the different animals

Flamingos...

and the boys checking them out!

We stopped for lunch and hung out on the picnic table in the shade for a little while. Chase got a hot dog "animeal" and Aiden ate animal crackers and pears...neither one of them were really into eating ;)

Chase finally got to ride the train! He looks so proud :)

Me and Aiden on the train - he liked it but was pretty tired by the end and was ready to get off

The ride home, they were both so tired and fell asleep with the stuffed animals they got for souvenirs - don't they look sweet?

They had a good time, Chase was so excited about the train (and the little tractors that the zoo workers drove around) and Aiden just likes seeing people. We came home and put them in bed to finish the naps they started in the car. When they woke up they played together in Aiden's room for about an hour. It is so neat to watch them interact and play! Hope we can take them out again soon!

Aiden's mac-n-cheese

So, I have been trying lots of new foods with Aiden in the last few weeks and he is doing really good eating "big boy" food - french toast, pancakes, PB&J...he really will try everything (after he has picked it up, thrown it and smashed it a little). Today I decided to try to make some toddler mac-n-cheese just for him. I made up a recipe and it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

First I boiled 1 1/2 cups macaroni for 5-7 minutes, then added some frozen broccoli to the pot and cooked another 5 minutes and drained it. This was my way of sneaking in GREEN vegetables :)

Then I made the cheese sauce by melting 1 tbls. of butter and whisking in 1 tbls. of flour. When that was mixed I added 1 cup of whole milk and brought it to a boil. Then I added 1 cup of cheddar and some nutmeg and salt & pepper. Then I added the pasta and broccoli to the sauce.

And I tested it. Oh yes, I love macaroni and cheese.

So to make it Aiden's mac-n-cheese, I pureed it so that the mac and broccoli were in smaller pieces. I don't think I will have to do that step for much longer!

I let it cool a little and rolled the mac-n-cheese into little balls, rolled them in breadcrumbs and fried them in butter & olive oil. Ahhh, the joys of cooking for a baby that needs as many calories as he can get :) Who wouldn't love fried balls of macaroni and cheese, right?

So what did Aiden think of it?

Well, he could take it or leave it. He ate some, but didn't act too impressed. I thought they were great!


Oh well, into the freezer they go to wait for a few days and I will give them to Aiden to try again...
Speaking of things I think are great, Lisa and I went to the farmer's market this morning and loaded up on locally grown fruit! So good! Since I have been giving Aiden fruit purees as desert after his meals, I am loving all the variety of early summer fruits! Bought some nectarines, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, apricots and pluots (plum/apricots) - which are new for us and really sweet and good!

OK, I'm done talking about food now...hope everyone else is enjoying the start of summer as much as we are!