Happy Anniversary!

3 years ago today, I married my best friend. People said when we got married that the love would just grow and grow. I didn't believe them. After all, how could I possibly love him more than I did that day? But after all that we've been through together - the good, the bad, laughter, tears, struggles, and joys - I can honestly say they were right. I do love Jack more now than I did before. And I look forward to seeing how much that love will continue to grow. It is beyond anything I can imagine!

So anyway, thanks for sharing in this journey with us. And Happy Anniversary to us! :)

Love you!

Bumps and Bruises

This is what happens when you are learning to walk... You get bumps and bruises all over. In the picture you can't see it too well but Nolan got some scrapes on his head and nose. He has been getting better at standing up on his own, but sometimes he loses his balance a little too quick and ends up falling down face first in the dirt. He is tough though and keeps on truckin'!

Still suck a cutie - bruises and all! :)

Play Nice Boys...

Having a dog has taught me a lot over the last 3 years. I highly recommend for anyone who is planning to have children to get a dog first. I feel like I am going through a lot of the same lessons with Nolan that I went through with Boomer- don't put things in your mouth that don't belong; stay out of the trash; stay out of the toilet water; no biting; don't beg for food at the dinner table; etc. I guess I need to thank Boomer for preparing me to teach these lessons to Nolan. Now Boomer is teaching me how to prepare to have another child (not that that is in the plan anytime soon!). Nolan and Boomer just act like brothers. Most of the time they play together great - no one can make Nolan laugh like Boomer can! But sometimes they do what all siblings do -  fight over each others toys. Nolan tries to steal Boomer's bone when he's not looking. Boomer tries to steal Nolan's red block (his favorite toy) and rubber ducks. Yesterday there was a big fight over a plastic flip flop (a dog chew toy in the shape of a flip flop). I found it under the couch when I was cleaning up and gave it back to Boomer. Apparently Nolan decided it looked like a fun tasty toy though and he wanted to have it. Eventually I had to take it away from both of them. If we ever do have another child I feel like I will already have experience in getting the kiddo's to play nicely! Despite their trying to steal toys away from each other, Nolan and Boomer are still best buds. I just can't get over how sweet and patient Boomer is with him. We really have the best dog ever! And the best son too! :)

This is Nolan trying to steal Boomer's bone. Boomer obviously isn't interested in sharing!

Dog? Or jungle gym...?

Some More Pics from Father's Day

Here are some more pics from Father's Day (better late than never right?):

Nolan and Jack playing on the couch:

Yes, they match. No, it was not intentional. :)

Nolan just being Nolan:

Nolan and Poppa (or is it Papa? or ______? not sure the best way to spell that)

(more green and khaki. I promise you this was not planned! I guess Donohoe men just really like green!)

4 generations of great guys:

Misc family shot:

Last one -

Happy Father's Day!

Yesterday was a busy day so I didn't get to post anything, but I wanted to make sure to wish Jack a Happy 1st Father's Day! It has been so much fun over the past 9 month watching Jack be a dad to Nolan. They are great together! One of my favorite parts of each day is watching Nolan's face light up when Jack gets home from work. No matter what he is doing, he instantly starts beaming the minute Jack walks through the door. I just love it! They already have a great bond and I'm excited to see that grow as Nolan gets older!

With that being said, I also want to wish the other special men in my life a Happy Father's Day! To my Dad, who is just awesome, Pat, a great father-in-law, and Opa, a very special grandfather! You all are wonderful and we are lucky to have you in our lives!

Check It Out!

Check out what Nolan has been working on this week...

Notice he is standing up without holding on to anything!

He can only do it for a few seconds at a time but he is getting better! He is going to be walking before we know it!

He's not quite sure that he likes the independence of standing up yet... but I'm sure as he gets more practice he will get more confident!

(See, I told you it didn't last long...)

What Nolan Does When You're Not Paying Attention - Pt. 3

I'm not sure who is worse... Nolan or Boomer (the dog). I finally trained Boomer to stay out of the trash. Looks like now I need to work on Nolan!

This picture is proof that Nolan is willing to overcome new obstacles to get what he wants (which almost always involves food)! I thought throwing the chips away would be enough to get them out of Nolan's way. I guess I was wrong!

*For the record, I try not to be a neglectful mom. It's just that sometimes Nolan does things that are really funny (or so I think), so my first reaction is to grab the camera to snap a pic instead of preventing him from doing whatever it is he's doing (like playing in the dog bowl, or eating shampoo bottles, or eating chips from the trash). Maybe I should work on that...

Summer Fun

This week has been so much fun! There are so many things to do - some productive, some not. In either case, having Nolan around to do them with me makes it a lot more fun! I'm excited to have to whole rest of the summer to spend together! One of the fun things that we've gotten to do this week is go to the pool. Nolan got to go twice - once with his cousins and once with me to celebrate Jen's birthday. Woo hoo! As much as he enjoys bath time, I knew he would have fun at the pool! here are a few more pics...

(has anyone seen my orange ring?)

The water was a little cold, but those rings sure tasted good!

Hanging out with Hannah at the pool:

What Nolan Does When You're Not Paying Attention - Pt. 2

As you can tell, Nolan is a busy little beaver these days. If you don't watch him like a hawk, who knows what he will get into. The other day I was putting laundry away in our bedroom (so naturally I couldn't watch Nolan the entire time). He seemed content playing on the floor, until I turned around and he was no where to be found. I called out his name and followed the banging sounds into our bathroom. Sure enough, there he was... he had crawled into the shower and was just having a blast checking out all of the different things in there. Luckily I don't think any soap or anything ended up in his mouth, but it wasn't for lack of trying...

What Nolan Does When You're Not Paying Attention - Pt. 1

Nolan is pretty crafty for an 8 month old. If you don't keep your eyes on him at all times, he will find something to get into. It's like he knows the things that he's not suppose to do, and purposely goes and does them when he sees me turn around for one second. Earlier today I was emptying the dish washer, so Nolan joined me in the kitchen. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention because when I turned around, this is what I found:

At least he wasn't eating the dog food?

Nolan loves the water. When he's not in the bath tub or swimming pool he looks for any water he can find to make a splash in. Unfortunately for him, Boomer's water bowl is not quite big enough to crawl all the way into. He definitely gave it a try though!

He made a huge mess, but he sure had fun. It's a good thing I'm out of school now so we can hang out in the pool more often. I think that will be a better time than the dog bowl :)

Update

Sorry it has been so long since I've updated! Somehow life just got busy and I haven't done a good job of taking pictures or getting on the computer. Here is what's new with the Donohoe's:

- School is winding down for me which is AWESOME! I will be completely done at the end of this week and ready for summer vacation! My plan for this summer is to spend lots of time with Nolan, go to the pool as often as possible, and work on some house projects that I've been putting off.

- Jack has been busy at work. They've been selling lots and lots of lawn mowers. As long as the grass keeps growing they should continue to have a nice busy Spring/Summer season! Jack has also been working on his fishing skills. It's something that he seems to really enjoy doing, and is getting pretty good at! (see pic below of one of his latest catches!)

- And now on to Mr. Nolan... Nolan has been a busy little beaver these past few weeks. He is crawling up a storm and getting into EVERYTHING! He really likes to crawl over and try to eat Boomer's dog food. yuck! He is recovering from a few different illnesses. He's had a runny nose, bad cough, pink eye, and ear infections. And as if that isn't enough, he's cut some more teeth! The poor boy has had it rough, but he has been pretty cheerful throughout it all! I'm happy to report that he is now on the mend from all of those things and is pretty much back to normal. Here are some pics of a few things he's been up to:

Sneaking strawberries from the box when we went strawberry picking:

Nolan got to hang out on the farm this past weekend. He got to help move cows and even ride on the 4-wheeler. One thing is for sure, this boy loves being outside! This is a picture of Pops carrying him around in the back pack:

(and no, he isn't wearing any clothes. That's my lil' redneck :)

Just being cute:

(no clothes again. I guess he must really like it that way!)