Amy's Shower

It's always fun to get together with friends! We got together to celebrate the impending arrival of Amy's baby. Any day now!! Thanks to all who came and helped... especially those who just had babies a week earlier. What troopers! We had a great time and I can't wait to get together again soon.

Back row: Whitney (and baby), Karen, Dede, me, Caroline
Middle: Sher and Amy
Front row: Leslie (and baby), Sarah, and Johanna (and baby)

I don't like TED

At my last Dr.'s appt, I decided to point out my very small and what I thought were very insignificant varicose veins. My Dr. didn't seem to think they were so insignificant. She advised me to take a baby aspirin every day and prescribed me these...

(http://www.tedhose.com)

I have to wear them 24/7 to keep my veins from getting worse. Some days I cheat. But aren't they saucy? And super hot. Not as in I'm a hottie, but as in oh so hot I want to cut my legs off. And because they are so super ugly, I can't wear all my cute summer sandals. So, I am stuck in the one pair of shoes I have that are closed toe. Which are green and purple and very flat. I miss my heels!!

So, because I am in flat shoes that don't match anything at all, I feel like I am waddling. I feel like a penguin today. I don't even think that my belly is that big (ha, ha, it's probably huge). But it must be. Yesterday at church a woman said to me, "Oh you just look so miserable and just ready to be done!" Hello! I still have 10 weeks left! I can't look that miserable!

Well, I'll just waddle my way to where the rest of my shoes are stored and hope for cooler weather. Soon.

Quirks - updated

Robyn tagged me to write about six of my quirky traits. So here goes...

1. My feet are very important to the quality of my sleep. I cannot sleep if they are too hot or too cold and will have to use socks accordingly. If I don't have socks on, I usually end up with my big toe crossed over my second toe. Then sleep will easily come.

2. I am very meticulous about how my towels are folded. And sadly, that is pretty much the only housekeeping chore I am meticulous about.

3. Like Robyn, I absolutely cannot stand grammar and spelling mistakes in writing, especially in professional publications! I would love a job where I can proof novels before they head to print. I could do that from home! Any ideas how to get a job like that? P.S. If I make a mistake, it's because I am moving too fast. Please... call me on it.

4. I cannot stand it when people don't use their blinkers. They are there for a reason! Use them!

5. I usually don't admit this. I cry at movies. Most movies make me cry. Movies that I have seen a thousand times and that are probably not worth crying over will still make me cry. When we are trying to pick out a movie, I will often reject a selection of Luke's just on the basis that it will make me cry and I don't feel like crying that day. Some examples... The Little Mermaid and most recently Monsters, Inc. What?! I know. I'm a baby.

6. A two-fer: I can't stand incomplete sets of books. For example, my mom bought Noah a Eric Carle book for his birthday. I thought it was cute and bought another one, only to find out it was part of a set of four! So my mom (she is the same this way) and I went back to the store and finished off the set of four. Good thing they were a bargain... which leads me the second of the two-fer: I can't buy anything that is regular priced. I seriously am a bargain shopper and have a really, really, really hard time paying full price for anything (even a can of tomatoes)! This has saved me some dough over time and so I am thankful for it. And like the incomplete set thing... it runs in the family. You should hear about the deals that my sister gets!

Oh What a Night!

On Tuesday night, I was feeling the need to get out of the house. I asked Luke if he wanted to take a drive. He's always up for a drive, especially if he gets to see an animal or two along the way. And since there are always animals around, we decided to head up towards Guardsman Pass. What a night! It was amazing. I can't believe how lucky we were to see some of our favorite things.

When we got to the top of Guardsman, there was a huge, full double rainbow. You couldn't even see the entire thing without turning your head. Rainbows are one of my favorite sights to see. I love spotting them and being reminded of the miracles that our Heavenly Father works in our lives. Isn't this just breathtaking?

Then, we turn around the bend and I see some dark spots out in a meadow. I asked Luke, "What are those, cows, horses?" Then, it hit me right before it hit him... they were moose. Six moose all together in a meadow. We pulled up closer and discovered that they were all bulls and that there were actually seven! It was so awesome! I have never seen this many moose, let alone bulls, together in one place. We took some great video and will have to share it sometime. This picture is of the five that were closest.

We headed down the hill aways and saw three deer, another bull moose and then a cow and calf moose. They were fun to watch, too. The mother got a little impatient with us after a couple of minutes, so we left them alone and headed back up the hill. It was so amazing. What a great night! I love the outdoors and this beautiful earth we live in.

We Made It!

I've been saying for a few weeks that first birthday parties are more for the mommies than for the babies. It's a celebration of surviving the first year without anybody getting majorly injured or crazy!

It has been a great year and the best of my life to watch Noah learn and grow everyday. His happy demeanor and love just amaze me! I love it when he squeezes my neck with both arms... he gives the best hugs. He is so fun and is so good natured. I can't believe that it has already been a year! I can't imagine my life without this fun and busy boy. He has made me who I am today.

We had a great birthday. We invited grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins over for dinner, cake, and homemade ice cream. It was fun to have everyone over and enjoy this day together!

The girls were more interested in opening Noah's presents than he was...

Noah's farm animal cake that I made for him... and him enjoying it!

Noah gets bigger and stronger every day. His unofficial stats:

Weight: 25 lbs.

Height: 32 in.

Head: 48 cm.

Teeth: 8 (four on top, four on bottom)

We'll get these all verified at his appt. next week. He is crawling like crazy now and my mom predicts he will walk within 6 weeks. We'll see! Noah loves music and loves to dance! He likes to snuggle up and be read to, especially his Sesame Street Animal Alphabet book. He gets it off the shelf so that I will read it to him. He loves to play and loves to eat even more. This kid rarely turns down a meal. So, really no favorite foods to speak of. Anything that will fit in his hand will go in his mouth. He is still saying, Dada, Doggy and Taytay and working on kitty, more, and stairs. I like to think he is working on Momma, but only coincidentally right now.

Noah, Happy Birthday! We love you so much and are so blessed to have you as our first born. Thank you for being the child that you are. We love you!