Here are a few photos of Nolan’s favorite things.  Well, favorite things for the moment anyhow.  With kids, favorites seem to change often.

Hanging out on Daddy’s shoulders.  I don’t see this favorite changing anytime soon.

The cows.  Nolan likes to point at them and call them dogs – we’re working on that.  He’s successfully mooed at them a few times now though.  They’re some of the friendliest cows - they like to wander over to you and say hi anytime you’re outside.  I think a couple of them may be part goat though – they’ve been caught eating my trees (not happy about that one) and garbage out of the burn-barrells, even when it’s on fire!

The 4-wheeler.  He loves to tool around on that thing.  Still working on the concept of steering, but that’s a minor detail, right?

Having his own water bottle, especially after working up a sweat on teh 4-wheeler.

Being outside.  He doesn’t care how hot it is or what we’re doing.  So long as we’re outside, he’s a happy camper. 

And on a side note, holy cow my freckles are in full force!  You may not be able to see it in this photo, but believe you me, in the big photos it’s extremely visible.  Daily sunscreen and hats while outside are apparently not enough.

Last weekend we said good-bye to some great friends that are officially west-siders now.  Although it’s a great opportunity for them, we’re sad to see them go.  They’re little boy, Chayton, is two months older than Nolan and they play so darn well together.  On the bright side, us girls already have plans on the calendar for some girls weekends in Hood River that will entail many wine tasting outings.

We had a little BBQ at the park in La Grande before they had to get on the road.  Brandon and I were very surprised to see that they had also put together a surprise baby shower for us as well.  Such great friends.

Here are a few photos from the festivities, which didn’t get rained out.  Thank goodness for the weatherman being wrong.

Monkey was a total mess – between the watermelon, hot dogs, and dirt, he was a disaster.  We stripped him down before we headed home, which was great because then we just threw him in bed for the night.

Although we were lucky and missed the rain, it was still a bit chilly.  Here’s Jessica warming her hands on the grill.  Pretty sure we all took turns doing this.  Except for the wee-ones, they were too busy running around and playing on the slide.

After everyone ate, the three of us girls may have sat down in front of the cake with forks in hand.  There was no cake left by the time we were packing up.

Sorry for the darkness, but I really just don’t have the patience to go in and photoshop the darn thing right now.  This would be the three of us girls, all of whom are pregnant, all due about 2 months apart – me in July, Leanna in September, and Jessica in November.  Now the demolition of the cake seems a bit justified.

And a quick photo of most of the group.  Getting everyone together is darn near impossible, but we managed to get most everyone in this one.  And to think, in a year’s time there will be over twice as many kids running around.  Oh lordy!

It’s official, I’ve become one of those “crocs” sportin’ women.

I’ve wanted a pair for a while, but just couldn’t bring myself to pay $30 for a pair of foam shoes that I intended to wear around the yard and beat the crap out of. 

Brandon called the other day to tell me that D&B (our local feed/equipment/clothing store) had a bunch of crocs on sale and that I should check it out.  I was pretty excited to see that they had the mary jane style shoes still available.  Luckily, I have small feet, so the fact that the largest size they had available was a 6 didn’t rain on my parade – the 6 fit like a glove.  I was even more excited about getting them for under $10. 

After wearing these things for a weekend, I’m in love.  They’re so darn comfy!  Total mom footwear, but that’s not stopping me from sportin’ them to the store.  I admit it, I’m now a crocs lover.  But don’t worry too much, you won’t be catching me in the crocs clogs no matter how comfy folks say they are.

I’m sure it’ll only get worse, but for the last couple weeks, I’ve been completely and utterly pooped.  That would be the reason behind the lack of posts.  But at 9 months huge, my advice for anyone who has issues with something I’ve said/not said or done/not done is to simply deal with it.  Yes, I admit I’ve been extra warm and bubbly lately.

But I’m now in the calm before the storm.  I’ve been able to sleep the last several nights.  Swelling has been down.  I’ve been able to take a nap (my mind and body don’t usually cooperate with that, even when I’m exhausted beyond belief).  The monkey has been my usual, happy boy (for a few days, I was sure someone had replaced my fun-loving boy with Satan’s devil spawn).  Right now, I’m happy and the universe is cooperating. 

So, no need to hide from the crazy pregnant chic.  At least not this week.  I may even catch up on my blogging while the wee-one is catching some zzz’s.

These last two weeks have been horrible as far as my sleep is concerned.  Pregnancy sleep sucks anyway, but these last two weeks have really been hell.  Getting up every hour (and there’s no exageration there) to go pee is just miserable.  If and when I do actually get comfy, it’s time to ge pee again.  Ugh.  It’s gotten so bad that several nights either Brandon or myself have ended up in the guest bed because neither of us is comfortable and we figure having the whole bed to ourselves may just ease it a bit.  Sadly, this only helps a bit.

Last night, I enjoyed not only having to go pee a simple 3 times (which is looking pretty good now-a-days), but I was actually comfortable!  Of course, that made getting out of bed at 6:20 (which is late for us) simply horrible.  The night in a while where I’ve been comfy and I have to get up at a reasonable time to make it to meetings in the morning.  Ugh.  I repeat, ugh.

My fingers are crossed for tonight.  I miss sleep.  I can’t wait for these last two weeks to be over with.  Nighttime nursings I can handle. It’s not being comfortable that takes its toll on me.

Well, to Grammy and Papa’s house we went anyhow.  Last weekend we headed to Burns for several things – Brandon’s mom and step dad (Grammy and Papa) were home for the weekend (a welcomed break from them having to be up in Portland) and our friends Donald and Katherine were having a couple’s shower.

The couple days were filled with lots of visiting with family and friends.  Nolan even spent the night with Grammy and Papa, giving us a night off.  The next morning the monkey fed some neighbor goats, which he continued to call goats.  Apparently anything furry with four legs is now a dog.  Our poor cows in the back pasture are going to have some identity issues if Nolan keeps pointing at them and calling them “dog.”

And of course, he was good the whole night for Grammy and slept until 8:00 (which is a record for this boy).  He saved the tantrums and crankiness for mom and dad, which of course brings me to an entirely different subject that I’ll tackle in another post.

The couple’s shower was wonderful as well.  It was a dessert reception – how can that be anything less than glorious?  I feasted on everything there was to offer.  I loved it.  We also stayed for the family dinner afterward, which was great – the salt in steak and veggies helped balance out the sugar I had ingested for the previous 2 hours.  Anymore, the events are all about the food.  What can I say, I have a one track mind.

At the reception, Nolan was passed around and chased around by the uncles.  I think I had the boy for all of 2 seconds before he was whisked away by one of the boys.  I love how much those boys love to play with my boy.  I can already see how much the uncles are going to spoil my munchkins, especially when it comes to playing outside and adventures.  Oh, the stories that will be made….  I’m already afraid.

That’s what I thought of the Twilight movie.  It was so bad, I had to read the book again (and by again, I mean for about the 10th time) just to get the horrible taste out of my mouth.  I knew I wasn’t going to like it near as much as the book, but really, it was beyond my expecations.  Bella’s a bumbling idiot.  Edward’s creepy.  I really had to force myself to finish it. 

What’s really sad, is that I’m sure I’ll watch the New Moon movie too.  What can I say, I’m all about the torture.

And before I forget, a HUGE thank you to those of you who sent me some book ideas!  Now if I can just find my darn library card….

Last weekend, I headed over to the Boise area for the bridal shower and bachelorette party for one of my nearest and dearest.  So much fun!  Great food, lots of laughs, and of course seeing great friends that I don’t get to see near enough (and yes, I realize that Boise is only a 2 hour drive, but our lives are just insane).

One thing that was so refreshing…..  girls and their ability to pose for a photo in 2 nanoseconds.  Oh, how I miss that!  All it takes is simply saying, “photo” or “girls” and they instantly do this…

They look and smile!  And aren’t these girls super cute?!  Love them!  No complaints about how they’re in the middle of trying to catch a fish or that I’ve already taken a gazillion photos, and no running away trying to find the next thing to stick in their mouth.  I forget how nice it is to have your subjects happy to take a photo at the drop of a hat.

Now, while I’m not going to go into details of the fun festivities, I do have to share this one photo.  There’s a funny story behind it, but I’m pretty sure it’s one of those that you had to be there to get the full force of the humor.  But the photo itself is a bit creepy, and really, it just makes me laugh.  The “button head man” just cracks me up.

Here’s a photo of the guest of honor.  Love her!

And by the end of the night, we looked like a pack of drowned rats walking back to the hotel.  So wish I had a photo of that.  The joys of rain in June.

Yay for a fun girls weekend!

Our friends Sarah and Quinn spoiled us once again (and no, I didn’t intend for that to rhyme, it just did).  We spent an evening going through 2 big boxes of goodies – there were oodles of cute clothes, fun toys, great books, and so much more!  Yay for previously loved goodies!  These kids grow out of things so quickly, both clothes and toys, that it’s simply ridiculous.  Here are some photos of Nolan trying out the new stuff.

He thought he was pretty styin’ in the new shades.

Loved the spinney-top.  He also loves haning around without his pants on – what boy doesn’t. 

And he’s now loving the dump trucks that he received as gifts when he was, oh, 2 days old!  There have already been many bruises received as a result of his playing with/on the trucks.

He likes to get in the truck and then dance around in it or hold on to the walls/couch and scoot along in it.  If the boy doesn’t quit bonkin’ his noggin’, I swear I’m going to get turned into the state!

And that face he’s making, it goes along with the weird cackle/laugh thing he does now.  He still has the little boy giggle, but when he’s up to something that’s more like a game (like chasing the dogs) or doing something he knows he probably shouldn’t be doing, this cackle/laugh thing comes out.  I really don’t even know how to describe it.  The thing is, it’s so funny sounding that when he does it, I can’t help but laugh, even if it’s a result of him doing somethign ornery, which of course makes him do it even more.  Yep, mother of the year right here. =)

I’m officially on the surgery charts for July 6th to get this little bugger out of me!  Not that I don’t love all of the “bonding” we’ve been doing, but really, it’s time.  I remember (since it wasn’t so long ago) how the last 2 months got difficult, but the last 2 weeks were total hell.  Well, we’re pretty close to that 2 week mark, and I think we’re getting  a head start on hell.

If this kid doesn’t stick a foot outside of my womb between now and July 6th, I’ll be happy.  This one is sitting much lower than Nolan, and to be honest, I don’t think I’m enjoying it.  Tasks such as bending over, putting on shoes (thank goodness for warm weather and flip flops), and such are becoming the equivolent of running a 6 minute mile (not that I’ve ever accomplished that in my life).

In 3 weeks and 3 days, I’ll quite my bitching.  Well, about being pregnant anyway.  And sometime before then, I’ll try to get a beached whale photo up for you all to laugh at and enjoy.

Happy Friday!!