Just a Teensy Post

It's been a busy couple of months. Mikey and I went to California to visit my family, my sister-in-law Hannah got married in Atlanta, we vacationed in North Carolina, and now we're back in Miami. Whew! I have so many pictures to share. It's a bit overwhelming, so I'll just upload a few to tide you over for a little while.

Here's boy with his papa at the beach in California.

And with his daddy in North Carolina. I love his little face!

On a blanket made by one of Nathan's cousins...

With me!

With his auntie and cousins.

December Photo Dump

We celebrated my grandma's birthday with some chocolate cake. I ate some and then fell asleep in her wheelchair. I was that tired.

My dad got Mikey this pacifier. He looks like a sailor with that onesie as well.

I'm sure Nathan took this. I think Mikey looks like the statue of Jesus in Rio.

Papa and Mikey asleep in a chair at the beach house.

Mikey's first trip to the Pacific Ocean. I did not allow Nathan to put Mikey in the frigid water, although he was persistent in begging me. That would have been torture for the poor baby.

He was content sleeping in my arms, wrapped up in his blanket and protected from the wind.

Family photo in the usual style...

Deep Fried Cheese Curds?!

I am so behind on my posting. Like, weeks behind. Almost two weeks ago Nathan and I went to the Kern County Fair. It was awesome for a few reasons: 1) the weather was AH-mazing, 2) we went in the middle of the day when hardly anyone was there (Don't you people have JOBS?! Oh, wait... we don't have jobs.), and 3) there were lots of scrummy (scrumptious + yummy) things to eat.

But first, I'd like to give a public thanks to my parents' friend, John, for loaning us this car indefinitely. It reminds me of Snoop Dog for some reason. The interior is just as maroon (and velvety!) as the exterior... and my shirt matches the whole lot. Brits, that shiny thing inside the windscreen is a sun protector. That's so you don't have to wear oven mitts when you drive, which is better than having your hands blister and burn off from the heat of the steering wheel on a hot summer's day. Desert life... whoop whoop!

See? Nobody there. Usually it's dusty, hot, and packed.

We did not try the deep fried cheese curds, as appealing as they sounded. We were actually very behaved and just shared a corn dog... and a cinnamon roll... and some caramel corn... and some drinks.

Dr. Parker enjoying his first county fair

I got to enjoy lots more comments from people about my unusual size.

"Any day?"

"Twins?"

"Trying to walk that baby out?"

Sorry to disappoint, people, but at that point I had 8 weeks to go.

Nathan is sharing his beverage with a show goat.

I am enjoying viewing some prize-winning produce.

My sister and nieces were featured in a photography display. I was so surprised to see them, but I'm not surprised it got picked to be shown. They're famous!

We skipped all the rides and games (so expensive, and I couldn't ride them anyway due to my delicate condition) but finished the afternoon with a little BMX show. Good times at the Kern County Fair. Wahoo!

Did anyone else enjoy the fair this year?

While We Were Apart

Nathan and I had to spend two weeks apart this month, as it wasn't recommended that I fly after 30 weeks and Nathan had some job things to wrap up in the South, including a job interview in Florida. I left the camera with him so that he could take lots of pictures of our potential future home state. To his credit, he did take a few good ones, but only after I admonished him for taking only the following two pictures one day.

A raccoon. Cool.

A take-out restaurant called Takee Outee. I wonder what kind of food they serve...

During our time apart he also went up to North Carolina to where his grandparents used to own a cabin.

And this is a stereotypical American sight: a big truck, a state flag, and a McDonald's.

When Nathan came back my family and I went to the beach.

See? We're reunited.

And then the camera ran out of juice. Gah!

More pictures coming soon. I have been trying to nest and get ready for the baby to come, but I think I waited a bit too long... or I have unrealistic expectations of what I can get done in a day. I get so tired so easily! Thankfully in our house we will have a ratio of adults to children of 4:1 so he won't be neglected when he gets here.

The Last of Cali

You know what happens when your mom lets you borrow her iPad? You neglect the blog. Big time. Draw Something. Instagram. A M'Cheyne Bible reading plan. All that. I totally forgot I was even working on this post until I logged into Blogger tonight...

I'll tell you what we've been up to lately in some more posts coming up this week. Promise. I'll schedule them tonight before I go to bed.

Until then, here's what happened during the rest of our visit to Cali.

My brother got engaged! Here are two handsome guys hours before he popped the question.

We did some baking.

Lots of pink baking.

Pink cupcakes with pink frosting

He read lots. Five books in about two weeks. Shocking.

Poor Winnie got pneumonia in addition to having a broken arm.

She had to have breathing treatments. How sad! However, afterwards she got really relaxed and happy and told each individual how much she loved him/her and gave lots of hugs. She did this in circles for about 10 minutes. She was like a little drunk toddler, and it was awesome.

I took June to her first visit to the public library. I was so stoked! It was a perfect job for me.

We ended our time together taking post-Christmas pictures. My brother's fiancee, Priya, was able to join us as well. Thanks to my mom's BFF (and my Draw Something buddy), Kim, for taking this picture. Happy belated Merry Christmas everyone. 

We'll get you all caught up on 2013 this week.

Two Weird Things My Family Did at the Beach

We went to the beach just after Christmas, and it was AWESOME! Six days of chillin' with my fam. We did all kinds of fun things: shopping, movies (my long awaited Les Mis date with Daddy!), swimming, golf, etc., but I noticed that my pictures of our time there were dominated by two rather strange events. 

But first, a rainbow. We could actually see both sides from inside the car, but the viewfinder found this impossible to capture.

I have to say that I thought this scene was beautiful: oil equipment and distant hills. I've been away too long.

Okay, here's weird thing #1: ear candles. I've never done this before, but the fumes from the fire suck out extra ear wax. It's gross and strangely fascinating. All pictures of this event were taken by June.

Sisters (one with a rather expressive forehead - see wrinkles as evidence of use)

Silly Daddy Nick

Uncle Nathan

The next day we went to Avila Barn to feed some animals. Weird thing #2: I don't have any pictures of my nieces doing this, but rather have about 50 of various adult members of my family posing with llamas.

If my dad had Facebook, I would insist on this being his profile picture.

Mumers and June had enough of our shenanigans.

The ultimate photobomber: Nathan

June got to pick a special treat from the barn among all the gifts, candies, pies, and produce. Guess what she picked! A single carrot. I love that girl.

I promise there are more Cali pics to come. For today I thought you might only be able to handle so many pictures of llamas.