Yesterday we met  up with two more babies for Maggie to roll around on the ground with – Gavin and Will. My child spent much of he day being a Big Bucket of Fuss while the other two babes grinned, giggled and snoozed happily. I’d  heard from Krista that her son, Will, tends to be a bit grumpy; however I saw none of that yesterday! He was such a cute little man.

Like I said, my daughter was a bit of a drama queen yesterday. I really have no idea where she gets it. I think it might be from Barry…certainly not me, right?

We went to Westport this past weekend four our second camping trip of the summer. It is crazy to think that mid August we’re just logging our second camping trip, but at the same time having a 4 month old and doing our second camping trip of the season seems monumental in its own right.

We met up with Brian, Darcy, Chach, Brian, Marc and Lara….it was confusing with both the Brians.  Sydney typically loves the beach, but I think that Ruger’s enthusiastic charm made her a bit gun shy.

We had Beer Butt Chicken, Beer pancakes and I think some non-nursing people had just plain old beer. Thanks to Brian P. who did almost all the cooking! Barry, Brian M. and Darcy did a bit of surfing and the rest of us relaxed in the sunny weather and watched Ruger and Brian P. splash around in the waves.

Brian and Chaya showed up with the largest tent I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It is bigger than a circus tent. At one point I was in there with Lara, Thomas, Maggie, Ruger’s Costco sized dog bed, a queen air mattress, two camping chairs, and at least 6 huge Tupperware containers. Plus, there was still room to walk around. No longer do we call our tent The Mansion.

Coming home we got stuck in traffic and saw a ton of motorcycle riders heading South by the Tacoma Dome. Police officers had closed off the ramps on to I-5, so the only thing on the freeway were motorcycles. It was pretty astounding, but neither of us heard what it was about.  We think our traffic jam was because the people in our lane were rubber necking.

All in all, it was a successful second camping trip. Since Maggie loves being outside so much it makes it easier to go.

Quite honestly, I think this trip made us wonder if we need to step it up in the tent department. Either that, or we need to seriously look into a motor home. Next year, people, next year. You want to come camping with us? We’ve got a cute baby, a chubby dog and apparently a smallish tent.

Last week Kurt and Debbie stopped by, which really didn’t feel any different from all the other times they’ve come to visit.

It wasn’t until Maggie had thrown up, changed her PJs, and fallen asleep that I finally noticed the ring on Debbie’s finger – three hours after they got to our house.

We are thrilled for Kurt and Debbie, but there is a small part of me that will miss giving Kurt a hard time about not being married.  I have no doubt that I’ll find something else to rib him about….like hunting.

Congratulations, Kurt & Deb!

Mondays are madness around here. It seems like we’re always recovering from our weekends and the day just flies by full of recovery time.  Even our house is recovering and we weren’t even here the past few days. I haven’t even had a chance to load my pictures from this weekend, but we had a smashing time camping with the Glassingtons, Larc, and the Flemers. I’m sure pictures will follow soon, so don’t worry your pretty little face.

Thomas and his parents met up with us at the beach and came back to our campsite and Marc & Lara delivered to us fresh honey!!! Hip, Hip, Hooray!!!  I love to eat honey on my pancakes and mix it with peanut butter, but this stuff is the bee’s knees. I found myself dipping into the jar a bit today just of a quick little taste and it was delicious. Splendid, I tell you.

I haven’t exactly spoken with them about it yet, but I’m hoping to get it in writing to always have our cupboard supplied with their honey because it is so fresh. A small part of me feels bad for the guy at the farmer’s market that we typically get our honey from, but then I realize that I can sit and actually talk with the bees at Marc & Lara’s house. So there! I totally understand Pooh and his whole honey love now.

Anyhow, I’ve already put the house to sleep along with the dog and baby. Barry is curled in bed next to the snoring Tubby Pug reading and I’m clicking away on our blog. I think my book is calling my name….or is that the honey jar?

While Maggie and I were in Anacortes we got to see her buddies Thomas and Peyton. I hadn’t seen Thomas and Lara since the day that Thomas came home from the hospital, so it was a sweet reunion. Lara and I had almost exactly the same outfit on – black t-shirt, same jeans, and a zip up sweat shirt. New mom uniform? I think so.

Taking pictures of squirmy babies is really hard. They aren’t interested in posing and don’t even really know that they are next to each other.  Thomas looks so much like Lara with his cute little nose!

We stopped at Emily’s house and the cousins spent some time together on the couch. Peyton was really sleepy and kept toppling over on Maggie, when he woke up he tried to hold her hand.

Ahhhhhh…….

This weekend we found ourselves visiting Marc & Lara’s son Thomas!! We’ve been waiting and waiting for this little guy to show up and now that he is here  Maggie has a friend to hang out with.

As you can see the first meeting left a little to be desired.

Maggie pooped and then proceeded to cry almost the whole time, while Thomas played it cool and stayed swaddled the entire time.

This massive sign was at the end of their driveway announcing Thomas’ arrival.

Maybe that is what threw Maggie into a crying fit; we didn’t post a 6 ft. sign announcing her debut.

Either way, we’re sure glad Thomas is here.

Congrats to Marc & Lara!!!

Guessing that Maggie would be born on April 20th weighing 8 pounds 3 ounces, Wren* wins the HBaby pool!!

 *Please contact HBHQ to collect your winnings.

My wonderful friends Christina, Tracy & Charlyn hosted a baby shower for me (and Maggie!) this past weekend and it was so great! It was a murder mystery shower and I had no clue that this was going on. When I arrived I was given my costume (an apron) and name (Candy Cane).

I love themed parties and I also love playing games – who can resist a murder mystery? I have the greatest friends because everyone was up for the game. I can’t believe that nobody spilled the beans, everybody knew weeks before I did. I had started to wonder why nobody would talk to me about the shower…now it all makes sense.

There were little touches of pink and brown sprinkled all through the house with a table of tasty treats to die for. I think I inhaled no fewer than 9 marshmallow bars and 6 pieces of chocolate. Tracy made her famous punch which was pink, rather than the traditional green. One activity was to make bracelets to wear until Maggie arrives, which we all did; however, mine popped off yesterday as I was carrying groceries. Perhaps Maggie is closer to arriving than I originally thought!

It was a fantastic day from start to finish with some of my very favorite people in attendance:

The crew from Hilltop: Charlyn, Christina, me, Trace, and Jenica.

Pregnant Friends: me, Lara, Erin, Cole

Anacortes Friends: Kara, Katrin, me, Lara, Erin, Nicole, and Jenni

Pre-posted picture….just kind of funny.

****Not pictured in a posed shot: Darcy, Chach & Deb****