So Happily Us...

Oh boy...

2012-01-11T20:38:00.004-05:00

2011 was a rough year for us. Last February, after much prayer and discussion, Ben and I decided that we were ready to add another baby to our family. We've always wanted a big family and felt that the time was right, so I had my IUD removed and we were shocked to find out a couple of weeks later that I got pregnant pretty much immediately. We were elated and spent a couple of weeks happily planning for our fourth addition. Sadly, at 6.5 weeks I started having severe pain on one side and ended up in emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancy (if you aren't familiar with ectopic, the baby had implanted in my fallopian tube instead of the uterus where it was supposed to). The tube had started to rupture and the doctors had to remove that tube. This all occurred during Grayson and Emma Claire's spring break, so not only was I in pain and grieving the loss of our tiny baby, but the children had no idea why I was "sick" and were not happy campers about having to spend their week off at home doing nothing. We got through it though and eventually decided we were ready to try again....

It took longer than it has in the past since I was missing a fallopian tube, but in July we found out we were expecting again. This time our excitement only lasted about a week....I ended up having a miscarriage that unfortunately was dragged out by hCg levels that continued to rise over the next week and a half and give us false hope. I've had a miscarriage before, but this one hit me pretty hard---I guess I thought that since we'd been though so much in March that God couldn't possibly "let" something like that happen again.

However....God knows what is best for us even when we think we have everything planned out the way we think it should go! In October we found out that we were pregnant again, and this time it stuck!! :) It's been a rough pregnancy so far, but every time I have thrown up and every afternoon I haven't been able to get off of the couch, I praise God for this precious blessing He has given us. We know that God chose this child for our family and we can't wait to meet HIM (another BOY!!!!!!) in June! We look forward to meeting our other babies in Heaven one day, too!

I'm 17 weeks along and still feeling horrible but I think I may be turning a corner. We are having fun discussing names and Grayson, Emma Claire, and Whitt are so excited about their new baby brother. Emma Claire was holding out for a sister and did shed a few tears when we told her that it's a boy, but she's now looking forward to being the only princess in our family. :)

Our losses earlier this year were so difficult but I do think that they have made me appreciate everything about this final pregnancy. We are so very thankful for this baby boy and know that he will be the perfect completion to our family!

almost caught up!

2012-01-11T13:52:00.004-05:00

Hello again!! Almost caught up.....starting with November...

Grayson and EC were the ring bearer and flower girl in Ben's cousin Brittany's wedding. They were SO cute and did great!!!!!

The most exciting news of December....we have a new nephew!!!! William Joseph (Will) was born to Ben's sister, Anna, and our brother-in-law, Jeff, on December 13th. He is absolutely precious and I can't wait to see him again!

We went to see Santa Claus a few days before Christmas and Grayson and Emma Claire couldn't have been happier. He even brought them each a present! Poor Whitt had the stomach bug and had to miss it...

Our entire family, excluding EC, had the misfortune of having the stomach bug the week before Christmas. NOT the best week of our lives, for sure! I ended the week by having it on Christmas day and had to miss everything---presents, Christmas dinner, the whole thing. We even managed to pass it on to at least 8 people....I wouldn't wish this on anybody! Here was our sweet Whitt, fast asleep on a towel on the floor in the middle of his nightmare of a day. :(

The week after Christmas was much better--everybody felt great and Ben took the week off of work so we did as much as we could to take advantage of the break from school and work. One day my parents took Grayson for the day and he took a lesson on caring for horses and spent the night with them while we took the younger two to the aquarium in Charleston. It was Ben's first time to the aquarium and my first time to have extra hands there to help me---so much fun! This was taken right after Whitt RAN smack-dab into this aquarium---I don't know if he was just so excited to see the fish that he didn't stop in time or if his depth perception wasn't quite right, but it was HILARIOUS. And no, he wasn't hurt--we wouldn't laugh at that! I'm still laughing just writing about it---wish I'd recorded it!

Santa and the Tooth Fairy missed each other by a few days at our house---Grayson lost his first tooth!!!! It was hanging by a thread so Ben pulled it (DISGUSTING...I had to leave the room) and Grayson was thrilled. The Tooth Fairy brought him two gold dollar coins that night. Can't believe our big boy is growing up so quickly!!!

We spent New Year's weekend at the beach with my brother and his family and my parents joined us New Year's Day. I tried to take a cute artistic picture on the beach with all four kiddos and this is how it turned out....oh well, at least I tried!

Okay, I'm pretty much caught up!! I have a couple more posts in the works---coming soon!

October in December

2011-12-23T15:12:00.004-05:00

I promise I intend to get back to blogging regularly! The past few months have been jam packed and I haven't felt fabulous lately so blogging has taken a back burner. Here's a small recap of October---and the only reason there are more pictures of Emma Claire is because she's the only one of the three who enjoys having her picture taken! The other two either make silly faces or run away from the camera. Maybe one day I'll have a decent picture of all of them! :)

One day, many weeks ago, I walked Emma Claire and Whitt downtown to a "pumpkin patch" at a local church, intending to take some cute pictures of the two of them. Whitt fell asleep in the stroller on the way there so Miss Priss had a solo photo shoot. Sweet girl...

Halloween was fun this year---our family of pirates met up with some friends and trick or treated around the neighborhood. Emma Claire and her BFF Savannah had a blast together...

Grayson kept trying to perfect his mean pirate face. :)

Love my little pirate, Whitt!!

Okay, this is a start! Maybe I can find the motivation to catch up and keep up with this again!!

Blogging hiatus OVER!!

2011-09-28T13:38:00.007-04:00

Is anybody still here?? I started this post a month ago with the intention of catching up on everything we did over the summer, but after several weeks of trying to upload pictures and my computer overheating every time I uploaded more than a couple of pictures, I'm going to leave it at this. A semi-update of some of the thing we did a million months ago. So exciting, I know! I will get back into the routine of posting regularly and start back with Menu Monday--especially since I've made some delicious meals lately and know you all have been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for me to start posting recipes again!

Let's rewind all the way back to July, shall we? I drove the kiddos to Indiana the beginning of July and we spent two weeks visiting friends---such a good time! Ben flew up there a few days before we came back home so he helped drive (okay, he did all of the driving since I did it on the way there by myself) back home. The kiddos were rock stars in the car and had a blast with all of their friends.

Grayson and his bff, Henry...

All six kiddos: EC, Ruby, Grayson, Henry, Ellis, and Whitt

Sweet Ellis

And I had a bunch more from that trip but they somehow disappeared and I'm not going to try to figure out how to stick them back in the middle of a post. Boo.

We came back home and went to a parade with a big group of our friends...

I could eat this boy UP!!!!

Emma Claire and Ford being cute

Grayson was in a MOOD! I'm rarely successful at capturing a decent picture of all three kiddos, but at least it's a good representation of our life. :)

I can't even begin to count the number of pictures we have of him making this face

Watching the air show

Grayson perfected his diving skills this summer...

First day of school---Kindergarten for Grayson!

First day of dance for Emmers

Grayson turned SIX! Not sure how that happened since he was just born last week!!

We had a fun little camping birthday party for him that ended up being mostly inside due to a lovely hurricane that had just made its way up the coast.

First day of soccer practice

I mean, really, how I don't bite those little cheeks off, I don't know....

Grayson's new favorite toy--Beyblades!

Whitt started Mom's Morning Out at our church one morning a week. He adores it. I don't adore being away from him but it's good for him...

We spent a fun weekend at the beach with our friends---Grayson, Gibson, Sanders, EC, and Tyler

And this is where the pictures stopped loading and I'm not going to fight with the computer anymore to try to finish. Probably the most random post ever but at least I've joined the blogging world again! :) Hope everybody had a great summer (and fall!!)!

Hi!

2011-07-20T21:42:00.003-04:00

Hello, friends! I forgot how busy summertime is---not much time for blogging, but plenty of time for having fun with my sweet family!

So far this month, we've celebrated Whitt's 2nd birthday and our 8th anniversary, and spent two weeks in Indiana with awesome friends. Lots to catch up on very soon!

my boyfriend's back!!!!

2011-06-28T17:23:00.005-04:00

and he now has a new hard drive....BUT they were able to somehow find every picture I've taken of my children since June 2008! I have been more than a little sad for the past few weeks about the possibility of losing all of our pictures, but WOOHOO, my boyfriend has returned and I will be backing him up ASAP!!! Word to the wise---you don't think your computer will crash until it actually does. Don't be dumb like me---back everything up. Now.

In other news, somebody in our house turned FOUR last week! Emma Claire has morphed from the sweetest little baby into a precocious little girl in the blink of an eye....I'm still trying to figure out how that happened. She loves being "fo-ah" now and can't wait to do all of the things that "fo-ah ye-ah olds" do. :) We had a really fun joint birthday party a few days ago for her and Whitt, and I really think it might have been our best party yet. Pictures to follow soon!

EC had two of her besties, Tyler and Sanders, spend the night on her birthday, and they taught her how to walk like a model. It was HILARIOUS. Christie, Ben, and I were standing at the window dying laughing at them shaking their tails as they walked. I'll have to figure out to to upload a video from my phone to my blog--too funny not to post!

Grayson learned how to ride a two wheeler!!! (I took this right before Ben took the training wheels off). It was so amazing---it seriously only took about five minutes of Ben running him around in the yard and talking to him about how to balance the bike, and all of a sudden he was off! He is so proud of himself and keeps getting better and better every day. What a rock star!

Whitt is going to turn TWO this Saturday!! I have no idea where the time has gone...our baby isn't a baby anymore! His vocabulary is getting better and better and he is one fun little monkey. This boy has his mama wrapped around his little finger, for sure! How could you not resist this sweetness??? :)

Can you tell that these children pretty much live in their bathing suits this summer?

This little ball of fur and her siblings are getting cuter and cuter---and closer and closer to being able to be weaned. Any takers?? :)

Other happenings that have occurred recently around here include, but are not limited to, broken pipes in the kitchen, meltdowns in Walmart, EC dropping a jar of spaghetti sauce on the floor of Walmart (I'm never going back with three children again--they are the least helpful people ever), me calling 911 because a lady in the drugstore parking lot was passed out hanging out of her car (turns out she was drunk and had just left an AA meeting...nice), receiving a court summons to be a witness to aforementioned lady....just a small portion of some of the excitement that seems to follow us everywhere. :)

A few recent favorites that need to be mentioned:

* I found these Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp bars in Target the other day and I'm obsessed. They are SO good and only 110 calories! The hardest part is not eating more than one at a time---not because they're small (they're not), but because they're so yummy.

* Sing Over Me is our new favorite CD. It's made up of worship songs and lullabies, and it's so relaxing and calming. I love playing it in the late afternoons while I'm cooking dinner and the kiddos are reading or coloring. Such a fun way to wind down from the day!

* Real Housewives of NYC and NJ. We cancelled cable but I had a bunch of episodes DVR'd that I've just caught up with and oh my goodness, I'm hooked. I have to find a way to watch the episodes online or something. I'm loving the NJ drama with Teresa and Melissa and the NYC drama with everybody!! I'm starting to think that Jill is the only semi-normal one this season! Ob.sessed.

* I'm leaving soon for a 13-ish hour drive with all three kiddos. By myself. Pray for me. :) And please send tips for long car trips if you have them!

iPhone camera dump

2011-06-13T21:15:00.006-04:00

Happy Summer, y'all!! My computer is still broken with no repair date in sight so this is another post with pictures from my iPhone. We have been busy and HOT! Spring lasted about 2.5 seconds here on the SC coast before Summer hit and it's been H.O.T. for awhile now.

This little monkey's face turns bright red as soon as he steps outside so our visits to the playground have become few and far between. Playing inside in the AC or in/around a body of water have officially become the activities of choice for us!

Miss Priss had her first recital last weekend! She was adorable and made this mama cry for most of her performance. So proud of our little dancing bunny! :) Speaking of being proud and crying, Emma Claire learned how to SWIM today!!!! She had her first swim lesson of the summer and spent the first half of it hanging onto her teacher's neck and crying, and the second half of it swimming like a little fish. I was boo-hooing all over the place---such a fun milestone to watch your child achieve!!!

Last Sunday we went to Sea Island, GA, for the day to visit my sweet, sweet friends Liz and Joanna and their crews. Between the three of us we had 9 kiddos between the ages of 1 and 5---and they all had a BLAST together!! I am already looking forward to getting together with these girls and their adorable children again!

We have had lots of friends over to play---I snapped this somehow without anybody noticing I was even in the room. Love it!

If you know us (or have been reading this blog for a little while), then it shouldn't come as a surprise that we had a health scare. Grayson had a seizure last week while we were visiting my inlaws. I just happened to be in bed with him when it happened, otherwise it probably would have been missed. After returning home for an EEG and an appointment with a neurologist, all is well. EEG results were normal so for now we're just keeping an eye on him and praying it was a one-time freak thing.

This picture is out of order, but while we were visiting my in-laws we loved catching lightning bugs---something we miss out on living on the coast. This brought back so many memories of running around the yard with my brother and filling jars with the little glowing bugs. It was definitely a highlight of the week!

Sweet Whitt is loving having his big brother and sister around all day---he follows them everywhere and thinks that he's a few years older than he really is. He has perfected jumping off of the diving board and has ZERO fear of the water. This little munchkin seriously couldn't be any sweeter!!

And just to add to the craziness that already follows our little family everywhere we go, we now have EIGHT cats. Yes, eight. A couple of months ago we only had three--Chester, Tilly, and Rally--which was already too many cats. Meet Pippa, Hippo, and Fripp. Not pictured are Leroy and yet-to-be-named black kitten, who are a few weeks older than these babies (3 weeks old today). Let me know if you are in the market for a new kitten---they will be available very soon and are even cuter in person! :)

So there you have a little recap of what we've been up to. I didn't have any pictures of tantrums in the grocery store, children throwing shoes at each other's faces, or throwing up in the swimming pool, but we've done a little of that as well. :)

And I've had requests for more recipes---which I would be able to do if my computer worked!!! I had saved links to all kinds of delicious meals that I've been making in the past few weeks and now I have no way to access them. Ugh!! I did stumble across this awesome blog this past weekend and she has a ton of delicious recipes. I made her Wild Salmon with Lemon Cous Cous tonight and it was A.MAZ.ING. I really, really, really don't like asparagus but I put it in there and it actually wasn't too bad. I did pick around most of it but I didn't gag on the pieces I did eat. :) The rest of the meal was great though, and I will most definitely be making this again...it was super easy and quick to make.

The only thing I don't like about making fish is how it makes our house smell for the next day or two. Maybe it's because we live in an old house, or maybe I just have a sensitive nose, but I can always smell the fish for awhile after cooking it....and that's not a good thing. Soooo, in an effort to erase the fish smell from the house, I whipped up these brownies, also from Iowa Girl Eats, after I put the kiddos to bed. Did the trick! Now the house smells like brownies and I do believe she is right---it's the only brownie recipe I'll ever need! I had everything on hand already (I omitted the walnuts and chocolate bar like she does) and it took about 45 minutes from start to finish. Now I need to find somebody to give the rest of the brownies to before I eat the whole pan....

Schooooool's out for summer!

2011-06-02T21:51:00.003-04:00

Woohoo!!!! Grayson and Emma Claire's last day of school was last Friday and we have been enjoying every second of summer break so far. We spent the long weekend at Edisto with my brother and his family, and I really think it may have been the best weekend we've had at the beach yet. The kiddos are all so much easier this year---they all pretty much get along well, they have fun playing with each other and aren't so needy, and they love being at the beach so much that we can actually sit down and relax. SO nice! We enjoyed a fun weekend that included swimming, playing in the sand, catching fish with nets, crabbing (and cooking those crabs later that day), playing in a tidal creek behind the beach house, and even getting ice cream from the ice cream truck (a first for Grayson and EC!).

On Tuesday, the kiddos and I made a list of everything they want to do this summer---it includes everything from visiting grandparents and friends to planting a garden to seeing skyscrapers (that was Grayson's idea). It is going to be so much fun to cross things off of our list and I can't wait to see how much we do by the end of the summer. Even though this is only our first week of break, I'm quickly learning that although I'm not a planner and prefer to be spontaneous, my children thrive in structure and our days will have to be somewhat structured or we will all go a little crazy. Glad to learn this early in the summer, for sure! :)

Whitt went over to my mom's house this morning to play and I took Grayson and EC fishing and to the pool---a great day, and it was amazing how EASY everything was with only two children! :)

We are canceling our cable for the second summer in a row, I'm still off of Facebook, and my computer crashed last week (I'm borrowing Ben's work computer right now to blog) so it looks like we'll have an even more technology-free summer than usual----and we're actually looking forward to that. I hope everybody else is enjoying their summer so far, too!

Weekend and randomness

2011-05-22T22:33:00.007-04:00

We had such a fun weekend! My friend Christie and her crew spent the weekend with us, and my brother Alan, his wife Anna, and our cutie pie niece, Taylor, spent last night with us. It was a house full of people (5 adults and 7 kiddos, to be exact), but the squeals, laughter, running, and general chaos was awesome. When everybody left this morning and all that remained were me, Ben, and our three, it just felt too quiet. I love a house full of kiddos so much!

Whitt and his cousin Taylor are so cute together...they're 7 weeks apart and love each other dearly.

We spent the day at the pool yesterday and these little fishies were worn out by bedtime...

Then tonight after church I had a little impromptu photo session with my little buddy. Pure sweetness!

And for the random stuff...

*I deactivated my facebook account a couple of weeks ago and it's going surprisingly well without it. It was such a time waster and I feel like I can be a better wife and mom without it as a distraction. Not sure how long I'll stay away but the break was definitely needed. If any of you FB friends are reading this, you can still get in touch with me by email---my regular one or the so happily us one you can find on my sidebar.

*EC fell on the edge of the pool today and when I asked her what hurt, she YELLED through her tears, "my vagina!" I didn't know whether to laugh or find a hole and crawl in it. I'm sure the people around us enjoyed that one. :)

*This is Grayson and Emma Claire's last week of school!! So excited about this---I'm looking forward to lounging in our pj's, going to the beach and pool, and traveling around to visit friends and family this summer.

*We are going on week 2 with no AC in our house and 90+ temps outside. It broke a month ago and we shelled out way too much money to have it fixed, only for it to work for a week before breaking again. We need to bite the bullet and buy a new unit, but it's ridiculously expensive so we're trying to tough it out and live without one for as long as we can. I have no idea how people lived before AC!

*Whitt has been pooping on the potty! Gross, I know, but he's doing great and I'm hoping he'll be ready to potty train full force this summer---I've had somebody in a diaper for almost 6 years now!

*Please pray for our friends' little girl, Lily. She has been in the hospital for several days due to 12+ days of 104-105 degree temperatures--she was transferred to MUSC last week and is now there undergoing tests to find out why she is so sick.

Hope everybody had a good weekend!

Edited to add: just realized that this is my 500th post! I started blogging four years ago this month and can't believe how quickly it's flown by! Check out my second blog post ever right here. Grayson was younger than Whitt is right now! :)

Avocado obsession and some recipes

2011-05-19T10:08:00.004-04:00

I have a slight obsession with avocados.

Slight, meaning I could eat them for every meal and some days actually do. I've made two new avocado recipes this week that I have to share, and both are from my friend Beth's blog.

The first one is my favorite....I've made it both for lunch and dinner this week, and it will absolutely become a regular in this household!

Fried Egg and Avocado Sandwich: My mouth waters just thinking about it!! I used sliced Italian bread from the bakery in Publix, but any bread will do. I didn't have any fresh parsley so I left that out, and all I left the tomatoes out as well. The only bad thing about this sandwich is that it's not healthy---otherwise I'd eat it every single day! :)

This next recipe was really easy to make and will also become a regular in our house---it's fresh and summery and perfect to make for dinner when you don't have a lot of time. It took less than 30 minutes to make, including the prep work, and it's also a light recipe!

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado and Tomato Salsa: I was surprised that it said to marinate the chicken only for three minutes, but that's all it took to make it so tangy and yummy. The kiddos were leery of the salsa, but they gobbled the chicken up and even asked for seconds. By the time we finished the chicken, I was eating the salsa with a spoon. YUM!!!!!

Finally, I was craving chocolate and peanut butter a few days ago but couldn't find my favorite ice cream in the grocery store so I combined a few recipes I found online and made some pretty awesome brownies (if I do say so myself!). Here you go....

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

1/2 cup butter

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp Starbucks Via Ready-Brew coffee (or another fine-grain instant coffee)

3/4 cup flour

Peanut Butter Filling

4 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2. Melt butter and chocolate in microwave (this took me about 1 1/2 minutes---stopping and stirring often so I didn't burn the chocolate). Once this is melted and stirred together, add the Starbucks Via and stir.

3. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla.

4. Whisk in the chocolate mixture (making sure it's cooled a little so it doesn't cook the eggs...gross).

5. Add the flour and stir until just barely blended.

6. Pour into a 9x9 or 8x8 square pan.

7. Mix all of the ingredients for the peanut butter filling in a bowl. Try not to spoon all of it into your mouth.

8. Put dollops of the pb filling onto the brownie mix. Take a knife and run it through the peanut butter dollops to make a marbled effect. Don't mix it too much because the bites of peanut butter are the best part when eating.

9. Bake for 25-35 minutes---until the brownies start pulling away from the sides of the pan a little bit and it's baked almost all the way through. Take them out before they're completely baked because with these, the more gooey they are, the better! :)

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

2011-05-13T13:59:00.002-04:00

In an effort to save money and have a greater positive impact on our environment, we have made a few changes around our house. All were easy changes and pretty fun along the way!

1. Felted wool dryer balls

A few weeks ago I found an online tutorial on how to make felted wool dryer balls and it looked like fun, so I decided to give it a try. I stopped using dryer sheets a few years ago due to the chemicals they were leaving on our clothes that were affecting Grayson's eczema, but I'd been using PVC dryer balls and they were working just fine. However, after reading about wool dryer balls and how they're even better for the environment and dry clothes even faster than the PVC dryer balls (since they can soak up some of the moisture from the clothes), I thought it sounded like something I wanted to try. I had to order the wool yarn online (I think I paid maybe $10 to make four dryer balls) but the actual creating of them was kind of cathartic and so far they're working great!

2. Homemade laundry detergent

Since laundry occupies a good portion of my day and I seem to be buying laundry detergent ALL THE TIME, this project was mainly motivated by money---or rather, saving money. My friend Mandy did a post on her blog a couple of months ago about how she was going to give making her own laundry detergent a try, and since I'd already been considering it I decided that it was a sign I needed to do it. I altered my recipe just a bit and have tweaked it since the first time I made a batch. This is SO easy and saves me probably $20 every six weeks on detergent.

Here's my recipe:

2 cups Borax

2 cups Arm and Hammer washing soda

1/2 bar grated Fels Naptha soap

entire half bar (2-3 oz) of goat milk soap (in any scent you like)

*the first three ingredients I found in the laundry aisle at Publix, and the goat milk soap I ordered from here. My favorite scent so far is lavender vanilla. Before I started using the goat milk soap I just used an entire bar of the Fels Naptha. For some reason I feel like the goat milk soap gets the clothes even cleaner, though, and the smell is an added bonus.

I put the 2 cups each of the Borax and washing soda in a bowl, and then put the soap in the microwave on 45 seconds to a minute on high. The soap expands and after it cools, it crumbles really easily. It's much easier to do this than grating it with a cheese grater. After this, I mix the soap with the powders and put them in the food processor to make it an even finer consistency. Finally, I put everything in an old wipes container and keep a tablespoon measuring spoon in the container. I use 1-2 tbsp per load (more for a dirtier load, like Ben's running clothes). Clothes get just as clean as when I used commercial laundry detergent, at a fraction of the cost!

3. We kicked our paper towel habit!

Now, on to our latest transition....using paper towels has long been a habit that I've been wanting to break, but I could never take the leap to cloth. A couple of weeks ago I was organizing the drawers in Whitt's room and stumbled upon a drawer full of burp cloths from all three children. As I sat there thinking about what I could do with all of these burp cloths, it dawned on me that they could easily replace our paper towels. I ran to Dollar General and spent a whopping $7 on 24 dishcloths to use as napkins, and the conversion from paper to cloth was done!

I keep a drawer next to the kitchen sink filled with burp cloths (for wiping down counters, cleaning up spills, etc) and old baby washcloths (great for wiping dirty hands and mouths after meals), and I put the new napkin/dishcloths in a lower drawer that is easily accessible to the kiddos, and it's been smooth sailing. I still need to go out and buy some nicer napkins that are "company worthy" so when we have guests over for dinner they aren't using the ratty Dollar General napkins, but besides that, this was a really inexpensive transition since we had almost everything already.

The only negative so far in doing this is when I need to drain food on paper towels. I do keep one roll in our pantry for this purpose and so far I've only used them once--when I fried squash and used two paper towels to drain them.

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And this has nothing to do with the environment, but adding it to this post anyway...

I've made a few deeeelish recipes this week that are worthy of sharing:

Oven Roasted Potatoes and Carrots with Thyme

I didn't change a single thing. Only thing I'd do differently is make more carrots because we were fighting over them---they were that good!

Fresh Corn Salad

Also didn't change a thing. I've made this several times and it's always one of my favorites. Great the next day as leftovers, too. Go out and get some corn and make it tonight---you'll thank me.

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

This is from my friend Angela's blog (which, by the way, has tons of great recipes!). We ate it tonight and I'm trying hard not to go back into the kitchen and eat some more, even though it's now bedtime. I've made other crock pot chicken and dumplings recipes before but they always seemed to lack flavor and the chicken was always dry. This, however, is fabulous!!!! The only changes I made was using boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts (because I had a package already in the freezer) and I added some chopped celery. Even the kiddos loved it, which is a bit rare these days! :)

Dirt magnet

2011-05-11T17:22:00.000-04:00

What is it about little boys and dirt??? :)

The munchkins

2011-05-09T22:02:00.006-04:00

I haven't done an update on the little munchkins in quite awhile....here goes!

Grayson...

1. Grayson is five (and a half, as he insists on adding) and in the primary class (3-6 year olds) at his Montessori school.

2. He'll be in Kindergarten next year and is just starting to read. It is SO much fun to watch him sound out words, and we are dying for him to get the hang of it. Love watching the little gears in his head turn as he tries to master this new skill.

3. He loves anything having to do with bugs. He spends hours outside every day catching grasshoppers, butterflies, moths, caterpillars, and worms. More than once I've found a creature that he has snuck into the house.

4. It's rare to find Grayson without Emma Claire nearby, and vice versa. They are best buds and do pretty much everything together. Love this---and ready for them to let Whitt into their inner circle. :)

5. This boy loves the beach and the water. He would spend all day in the ocean or swimming in a pool if we let him.

6. He still has a little lisp and I think it's pretty cute.

7. Favorite foods are french fries, cantaloupe, blueberries, macaroni and cheese, and anything sweet. Can't get enough milk, either.

8. Is taking weekly tennis lessons and is doing so well. He loves it and is really excelling. We love that he's found a sport that he can enjoy throughout his lifetime and hope that he continues to love it.

9. Recently got his first bee sting, and then got his second bee sting just four days later. Both were on the bottom of his foot---not a fan of wearing shoes outside. :)

10. Has two loose teeth but has yet to lose a tooth. Keeps his tooth fairy pillow next to his bed every day, just in case!

Emma Claire...

1. EC is three (and a half, of course) and will be four next month!!

2. Is in the same class as Grayson at their Montessori school. She is a year behind him and will be in Kindergarten the year after next. She loves school and just soaks up new knowledge and skills.

3. Miss Priss is a rock star at memorization. We work on memorizing bible verses every night and she's usually the first to memorize verse---even before Ben or I do.

4. Like her brother, she spends every free second outside catching little creatures. She still doesn't play with her girly toys very much but has recently really started wearing her dress up clothes, especially when we have other little girls over to play.

5. The definition of "strong willed child" has Emma Claire's picture next to it. We pray daily that this serves her well as she grows older. :)

6. Continues to be pretty small. She's shorter than most of her peers and is 31 lb. What she lacks in size she makes up for in attitude. :)

7. Favorite foods are oranges, watermelon, blueberries, macaroni and cheese, and butter (seriously). She's not a huge fan of milk but can't get enough water to drink.

8. Has a best friend named Isaac and is convinced that she can't have any other friends besides Isaac. We're working on convincing her that she can have more than one friend!

9. Has the CUTEST little voice and can't pronounce her R's.

10. Gave up her naps a couple of months ago the same time Grayson did. BOO!!

Whitt...

1. My sweet boy is 22 months old! I think I'm in shock that my baby is going to be 2 in less than two months. :(

2. Whitt has a speech therapist come to our house twice a week and he is saying new words and phrases every day. A couple of weeks ago he started putting words together---today he said, "I want Gaggy here." Gaggy = Daddy

3. Adores his brother and sister. He calls Grayson "Sha Sha" and Emma Claire "Eh Eh".

4. Is the best sleeper I've ever known. He sleeps everywhere, as is evidenced below. Pretty much every morning I run errands while he naps wherever we go. I get him out of the car seat, carry him through stores, put him back in his car seat, etc. and he stays asleep. I've also been able to take him out of his crib while napping, drive to school to pick up Grayson or EC, drive home and put him back in his crib without him ever waking up. It's nuts. He sleeps from 7pm to 7am and takes a 1.5 to 3 hour nap every afternoon beginning around 1:00.

5. Is such a little love bug---he loves everybody and isn't shy about showing it. He'll go to pretty much anybody, including the people bagging our groceries and strangers at the playground. Whenever anybody stops by our house, even if he's never met them, he almost always gives them a hug. So cute!

6. Loves, loves, loves his paci.

7. Has several quirks, but the strangest is that he will only drink milk laying down on his back on the floor.

8. Doesn't have many favorite foods because he's not a big fan of eating. Pretty much the only foods he will eat are PB & J, grapes, waffles, cantaloupe, yogurt, and occasionally Cheerios and french fries. Feeding him is a struggle and we are praying that he overcomes this soon.

9. Loves taking a bath--he is always so sad when it's time to get out. :)

10. Whitt is our little daredevil. He seems to have no fear, and will jump off of the ottoman, run off in a public place, and attempt to do everything that his older siblings do. Love my adventurous little dude SO much!

Annnnnd, there went April

2011-05-09T21:26:00.002-04:00

Okay, peeps, I'm back now for REAL! Way too much going on in the past three months to even attempt to blog about and I've taken approximately 1500 pictures since my last real blog post in February. Once I get behind with this thing I feel like I need to catch up but then more time goes by and eventually I just feel so overwhelmed about how much catching up I need to do that I just stop blogging. The whole reason I started this blog was to keep a virtual scrapbook for myself and keep our friends and family updated on the kiddos, and I know I need to get back in the saddle---so now's as good of a time as any, right?

Here's a small recap of some of the things we've been doing for the past (almost) three months:

*I turned 32 in March.

*Had a fun girls' weekend in Edisto

*I had a little surgery the end of March and spent a couple of weeks recovering physically and emotionally---doing great now.

*The kiddos had a not-so-fun, unseasonably cold, rainy spring break while I was recovering. I felt so bad for them and they made it very clear how boring their break was. :(

*We spent two different weekends at Edisto (besides my girls' weekend)--one with my brother and his family and one with one of my BFF's, Laura, and her family. Both weekends were loads of fun and involved lots of laughing, eating, drinking, and playing with the kiddos.

*Grayson started going to school full days---he is loving it and I'm amazed at how much easier life is from 11:45-3 when I only have Emma Claire and Whitt.

*We had our first day at the pool (the weather has been awesome for the past several weeks) and Grayson was more than thrilled that he hadn't forgotten how to swim. :)

*The kiddos and I (Ben was in bed with a bug...boo!!) spent a day with my friend Joanna and her ADORABLE family. The fun part about this is that Joanna and I have been friends for five and a half years but this was the first time we met in person. SO much fun!

*Ben turned 33 at the end of April. Had a very fun night out with friends!

*We spent a fabulous weekend celebrating the glorious news that Jesus died for our sins so that we can be forgiven and spend ETERNITY in Heaven with Him. The Easter bunny also paid a little visit to our house and way too much candy was consumed by all. :)

*Ben and I went to New Orleans! It really couldn't have been a more perfect trip. We stayed with our friends Jen and Mark and they were the best hosts ever. We did so many fun things, from beignets at Cafe du Monde to shopping on Magazine Street to Jazzfest (we saw Bon Jovi!). I need to do a post just on this trip---not many pictures were taken but I want to document all of the awesome things we did before I forget them.

*Grayson and Emma Claire were in a bike race. EC actually did really well for her age group and was at the front of the pack. Sweet Grayson got a late start and finished dead last, but he had no clue and was thrilled when they were both rewarded for their effort with an ice cream cone.

*We spent this past Saturday celebrating our beautiful niece Taylor's 2nd birthday. I can't believe that she is going to be TWO in a couple of days!! Love that precious girl SO much!

And that's just a small sample of some of the things that have been going on. Our weeks are jam-packed with speech and early intervention for Whitt (he's doing great!), dance class for Emma Claire, tennis lessons for Grayson, driving back and forth to school three times a day, all in between (almost) daily walks for me, grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, diaper-changing, and the usual mommy-duties that we all have.

PHEW! Now that I'm caught up, I'm going to get back in the swing of things and post regularly again. I hope all of you---if anybody is still reading---are doing well! :)

Long time, no blog

2011-03-31T21:23:00.003-04:00

Hi everybody, hope you're still with me! We've had a lot going on in the past month but I do plan to return to blogging very shortly! :)

Sesame Street confusion

2011-02-16T13:55:00.004-05:00

So we started a "no television" rule for the children almost a year ago that, for our family, has worked out really well. We have relaxed a little bit over time---they are allowed to watch movies occasionally, and we allow a little bit of television when they are sick, but for the most part Grayson and EC don't watch tv, and Whitt has never watched it.

When they did watch tv, they really only watched Disney Channel, so Sesame Street isn't a show they have ever seen. Today, they received Valentine's Day cards in the mail from their Gee Gee, which included stickers for each of them. Grayson's card had Batman stickers, EC's had Dora stickers, and Whitt's had Sesame Street stickers. I passed out the stickers and they went to work decorating their cards with the stickers, happily chatting about the stickers, the cards, and life in general. I was cleaning up the kitchen and half-listening to their chatter when I suddenly realized what Grayson and Emma Claire were saying....they had no clue who the Sesame Street characters were, so they had named them themselves.

Meet....

Stinky Garbage Can Guy:

Cookie Man:

and, The Duck:

Ha ha ha!!!! What sheltered lives they lead!!! :)

Menu Monday (on Tuesday)

2011-02-15T17:03:00.003-05:00

As I said in the last post, I fell asleep at 8:30 last night, so even though I had every intention of doing menu Monday on an actual Monday, that didn't happen. Sorry! :)

I spent more time on the couch cuddling sick little ones last week instead of in the kitchen cooking, so not as much on the menu as usual. Here you go!

Monday: Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie. It's in her Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook, and like I said last week, it's the BEST BEST BEST chicken pot pie recipe I have ever had. I promise. The recipe I found online is from a blog that copied it from the cookbook (I'm not sure that's legal so I'm not going to do it), but you really need to buy the cookbook because she has pictures of every step and shows exactly what to do. It's not the easiest recipe, especially making the crust, but the effort is so worth it.

Tuesday: chicken pot pie leftovers

Wednesday: Chicken Thighs with Artichoke Hearts and Feta Cheese. I don't know why I've never made this before! Christie has told me about it enough times that I should have, and after the reaction my family had, I certainly will make it again. This was so incredibly easy to make, plus chicken thighs are always a favorite of mine anyway. I was planning on having some left over for the next night but there wasn't a single bit left after we finished.

Thursday: I can't remember!! Couldn't have been anything exciting if I can't remember!

Friday: we went out for sushi with friends and kiddos had macaroni with a babysitter

Saturday: we went out for dinner again with some more friends and kiddos had macaroni (again! their choice!) with a sitter

Sunday: Avocado Pasta with Tomato and Bacon. WOW. That pretty much sums it up. Beth is a friend from college and has this awesome cooking blog, which is where I found the recipe. It takes almost no time at all---I started boiling the water for the noodles, and by the time the noodles were ready, I was finished with everything else. How easy is that? It was so good that I intended to make it for the entire family, and when I tasted it, I ended up making peanut butter and jelly for the kids and saving the the real dinner for just us adults. Selfish, yeah, but can you blame me? :) I did double the bacon, and next time I might even triple it---we love bacon around here! This will most definitely join the regular rotation of dinners in our household. Thanks, Beth!!

Wood you be mine?

2011-02-15T15:04:00.006-05:00

I meant to post this before Valentine's Day, but I'm reading the best book and every bit of free time I have, I spend with this book. I'm seriously obsessed, and I'm losing sleep because I can't put it down. Last night I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30 because I'd stayed up so late the night before reading it. I love Francine Rivers, and if y'all haven't read any of her books, I highly recommend reading them---any of them---but if you don't know where to start since there are so many, begin with Redeeming Love. It was the first one of her books that I read, and I have been hooked ever since. The one I'm reading now (A Voice in the Wind) is the first in a trilogy, and it has strengthened my walk with the Lord---all of Francine Rivers' books do that....I could go on, and I will in future post, but now I will continue with the post I started out writing! :)

Okay, onto what we did for Valentine's Day this year. Last year, we did one a little bit simpler, but they are older and have longer attention spans now (love it!!) so this totally worked well for us. Disclaimer: this was not my idea---I found it on this adorable blog!

We started out with circles of wood, cut from a branch at my inlaws' house. My father-in-law cut these for us, and because he had the right equipment, it took him all of ten minutes to cut forty four (twenty two each for Grayson and Emma Claire). Ben drilled a hole in each piece.

Next, I used a red colored pencil to draw hearts on each piece of wood.

Then, the easy part began. I handed each child a paintbrush, put some pink paint on a paper plate for EC, some red paint on a plate for Grayson, and they got to work.

They had a really good time and it was actually pretty mess-free. The paint dried overnight and the following day we repeated this step on the other side.

Next, we made the tags.

And ended up with an original product for the kiddos to put in their friends' Valentine boxes at school yesterday!

This messy little dude ate crackers while he watched his siblings hard at work. Next year, we might let him participate in the fun. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Menu Monday

2011-02-07T21:15:00.002-05:00

Last week was a week of hits---everything was really good!!! Here you go....

Monday: Roasted Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches with Parmesan Mayonnaise (from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast). These were super-easy to make, delicious, and will join our permanent rotation. I think next time I'll try grilling them because the mushrooms weren't cooked all the way and made the bread pretty soggy, but they were still awesome. They parmesan mayo was awesome and would be great on a hamburger as well!

Tuesday: Turkey Sausage-Gnocchi Soup (from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast). I couldn't find any hot turkey Italian sausage like the recipe called for, so I used Aidells Italian Style with Mozzarella cheese smoked chicken and turkey sausage (found at Publix) and it worked perfectly in this recipe. So perfectly, in fact, that Ben declared it "the best meal you've ever fixed." I laughed when he said that, because it was so incredibly easy and I didn't agree with him (it was too spicy for me, but it made him happy so I'll make it again). Seriously, y'all, this is really easy, and if you like gnocchi (who doesn't???) and spicy sausage, then you'll LOVE this. And it's healthy! How can you beat that???

Wednesday: We had a busy day and I didn't feel like cooking, so Ben picked up sushi on his way home from work.

Thursday: Melt in Your Mouth Chicken Pie---this is a recipe that I combined from two different recipes several years ago from a church cookbook and is a go-to comfort food on a cold, rainy day. It's not very healthy but we almost always have all the ingredients in the house besides buttermilk, so it's an easy last-minute meal to make. Here you go....

whole chicken

4 eggs

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup self-rising flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 c reserved chicken broth

1/2 tsp pepper

1 stick butter, melted

Cook chicken until tender, save broth. Cut or shred chicken into small pieces and place in 9x13 pan. Boil eggs, dice, and place over chicken in pan. In saucepan, bring to boil the broth and soup. In another bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, buttermilk, and butter. Mix batter. Pour broth mixture over chicken. Spoon batter mix over top. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 to 30 min. (Until breaded topping is light brown). YUM!!!!!

Friday: Oven Chicken Risotto. My friend, Sarah, told me about this recipe when Whitt and I were at her house for a play date Friday morning and it sounded so good that I had to make it that night for my in-laws while we were at their house. Y'all, I can't tell you how EASY of a risotto recipe this is!!! If you like risotto, mozzarella, and basil, then you must make this today! I'm not a huge fan of the pre-roasted chickens from the grocery store, so next time I'll boil my own, but besides that, I won't make any changes. This was deeeeeeeelicious!!!!

Saturday: My MIL made hamburgers. Night off from cooking for me! :)

Sunday: Panko Crusted Salmon (from Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? cookbook). The only copy of this recipe I could find online is an adaptation of the real recipe (in the cookbook--get the cookbook if you can, it's full of great recipes that aren't available online), and it's actually pretty close to what I did. I also used the zest of the entire lemon instead of just a tsp, and I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. However, I didn't use canola oil, and I used dried parsley instead of fresh. This is one of our favorite recipes and has become a Sunday night staple for us.

And just because I can't wait another week to tell you about it, I made the BEST BEST BEST chicken pot pie EVER today. I'm serious, y'all. It's from the Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook, and I found a blog that posted the recipe. I think I might dream about it tonight, it was that good. And worth every second it took to make. I even made the crust. I made the crust!! Now stop reading, click on the link, and make a chicken pot pie---then come back and tell me what you think!! :)

Monster trucks, makeovers, and sickness

2011-02-07T20:38:00.006-05:00

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind! Here are a few highlights:

We took Grayson and Emma Claire to the Monster Jam in Columbia with our sweet friends Erin and Eric and their two oldest kiddos, Wyatt and Caroline. My totally awesome friend, Laura, watched Whitt and E & E's youngest, Anna Kate, while we were at the Jam so we could enjoy ourselves sans babies.

I swear, they had more fun than it looks like they did...

The Grave Digger totally stole the show

Even though we were at the very top of the stadium (I'm talking the very last row there was), it was LOUD. We brought ear plugs but they didn't do much good. Grayson has a sensory disorder and is very sensitive to loud noises---we anticipated this, which is why we were seated at the top and brought ear plugs (I promise, I didn't plan to torture him--he loves monster trucks and I thought he would love it), but he was terrified for the first fifteen minutes or so until Ben went and purchased a $20 pair of headphones that they were selling. They were worth every bit of the $20 he paid---we will be taking them to every parade and loud event Grayson attends in the future! :)

Moving on to the makeover portion of this post....pictures of the kitchen floor! Pictures don't really do it justice, but you can kind of see in this one how ugly and old the previous tile floor was. The tiles in the middle of the floor hadn't been glued down very well and several were cracked and the grout was coming out every time I vacuumed or when Whitt picked at it...so lovely....

Now....much better!!! I love it! We are also in the process of painting the walls so I'll post pictures of that once it's complete.

Another little makeover was our shelves in the den. I should have taken the "before" picture with everything on the shelves, but I took this one after I had taken most of the things off and started to tape so I could paint. Anyway, you can see how boring and white it was...

Now, after!! I can't believe what a difference a little can of paint can do! I love the contrast of the dark behind the books---it totally warms up the room. I have a decorator helping me with some things around the house right now, so she put everything back on the shelves the "right" way, and I love, love, love how it turned out.

Lastly, and sadly, we've had some sickies in our house lately. Last week it was Grayson, yesterday it was Whitt, and today it's Emma Claire. Grayson and Whitt thankfully recovered quickly, but Emma Claire has strep throat (and no tonsils--they were removed last May) so she may have a little longer of a recovery, poor baby. I'm not feeling so hot myself, either. We are ready for this cold, rainy weather to go away and for Spring to hurry up and get here!

Menu Monday

2011-01-31T20:31:00.004-05:00

Since imitation is the best form of flattery, and also since I was too ~~lazy~~ busy last week to post my menu for the week, I'm going to change things up a bit and start posting my previous week's menu. That way if plans change and I don't make half the things on the list, I don't have to go into a boring explanation about it like I did a couple weeks ago. Plus I can just do the hits and misses along with the menu. Whew! Easier for me and you, don't you think?

Now that our 1985 kitchen floor is gone and it matches the rest of the room (pics coming soon, once we finish painting the walls!), I'm digging being in the kitchen even more than I did before. Love it. Want to know what else I love? My new Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast cookbook that my bff Christie has been raving about. Know what else I love? Amazon Prime. I have no idea how I didn't know about this. You sign up for it and you get free two day shipping on pretty much everything (including this cookbook). Why didn't somebody tell me about this sooner? I've wasted way too much money on shipping and waiting for packages to come....

Anyways, on to last week's menu....

Monday: leftover Roasted Beef Tenderloin from our dinner party on Saturday night. Oh. My. Goodness. I can't even begin to explain how unbelievably phenomenal this is. I've made my fair share of Pioneer Recipes, but this one tops them all, for sure. It's from her Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook, and the recipe above was the only one I was able to find online. As she says in her cookbook, beef tenderloin is expensive, so it's not something you'd really make on a regular weeknight, but if you're going to have company over for dinner I highly recommend fixing this. Can't stop thinking about it!!

Tuesday: (from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast) Asiago-crusted pork chops and broccoli with sour cream sauce. Instead of cooking the pork chops in the skillet I baked them, and I've got to say that they weren't awesome. They were good, but I think they would have been better if I'd done a better job at pounding them a little thinner and cooking them in a skillet. Ben and the kids loved them, though, so I'll make them again and next time follow the directions. The broccoli, however, was awesome---I used fresh broccoli instead of refrigerated (never seen that, anyway--I assume they meant frozen?), and the sauce was delish. Will make that again for sure.

Wednesday: leftover pork chops. Not so good when left over. Soggy. Yuck.

Thursday: (from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast) Portobello and Black Bean Quesadillas . I have to say, this wasn't love at first bite, but it was love at second bite. And third bite. And fourth bite. And so on. Be sure to dip them in some salsa (it only adds a few more calories, but a lot more flavor) if you make these. I didn't use any cilantro (it was optional, anyways) and I used more green onions than the recipe called for. Will make again!!

Friday: James Island Hamburgers (for the adults) and hot dogs (for the kiddos). We also had some assorted sides that go along with burgers and dogs but nothing exciting enough worth mentioning. We had friends in town for the weekend and invited some other friends over for dinner, so with a total of 8 children ages 9 months to 6 years running around I pulled out my go-to super-EASY and awesome hamburger recipe that I think came from my Grandmama (Mom, if you're reading this, correct me if I'm wrong!). I don't have exact measurements because I just throw everything in a bowl, so I'm going to try to guess what the measurements are as I type this out....forgive me if it's not perfect and your burgers are a little crumbly, but I swear these are the best hamburgers and they're the only ones we ever make....

1 lb ground beef

2 heaping tbsp sour cream

2 (or more) tbsp dried parsley flakes

1-2 tbsp dried onion flakes

a biiiiig squirt of dijon mustard (maybe 1 or 1.5 tbsp?)

several shakes of Worcestershire sauce

Mix it all up with your hands. This part is the hardest because your arms get really cold---I usually give Ben a beer and talk him into doing it. Shape meat into patties, stick into fridge for a little while while you talk to your friends and the grill heats up. Grill for however long you like to grill your burgers. Toast your buns. Put cheese on burgers if you so desire. Put on buns and add mayo (if you're me). Add whatever else you like. Eat. YUM.

Saturday: we ordered pizza. Boring! I don't like pizza so I ordered a sub. All five kiddos were in bed by 7, asleep by 7:15. Magic pizza? :)

Sunday: leftovers from the weekend

Menu Monday

2011-01-17T21:45:00.003-05:00

I'm taking the week off from my menus this week because our kitchen floor is currently under construction and I won't be doing any cooking until it's finished, and I'm not exactly sure when that will be. We're having a dinner party with 18 people over here on Saturday and I've been promised by the tile guy that it will be finished by then, so cross your fingers that he's right! I'll post the menu for Saturday night's party (mostly Pioneer Woman recipes) later this week, along with a new recipe that I made last night.

As for last week's hits and misses, I pretty much had a crazy week and strayed from most of what I had planned for the week. I did make the French Dip sandwiches, and they were amazing. I wouldn't change a thing. The Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries tasted really good, but I think I put too many on the cookie sheets. I made three potatoes instead of one like the recipe called for, and I used two cookie sheets and they ended up sticking together and got all soggy and fell apart when I tried to flip them, so they were really ugly but that didn't stop us from gobbling them up.

I never got to make the chicken on Tuesday because I went to Charleston to see a friend and her new baby (precious little Ila Gray---isn't that the sweetest name?? She's even more beautiful than her name!) so I'll make it later this week if the kitchen gets finished in time. The soup was good, but I was distracted because it was EC's first day of dance so I forgot to put in the mushrooms so it wasn't the best. Went out for pizza on Friday and we were out of town on Saturday and last night (although I did make a really good Paula Deen recipe--I'll post it tomorrow when I'm not about to fall asleep), so pretty much my planning went out the window last week. Some weeks end up being like that!

Tiny dancer

2011-01-13T10:52:00.004-05:00

This car-truck-train-dinosaur-dirt-worm-bug-lizard-frog-loving little girl started taking dance lessons yesterday. And guess what? She LOVED it! She actually cried this morning when I told her she has to wait until next week to go back to "pink lessons", as she called it (not really sure where that came from).

It took three and a half years, but I do believe she may actually like being a girl! :) Don't get me wrong, she ran around the house pretending she was Batman all last evening, but then this morning she brought her monogrammed pocketbook into the car with her and told me that she needed "real makeup" to put in it. When I peeked inside, I found a pink comb, a pink wallet, a pink hair bow, a pink cell phone, and a necklace. The last time she carried a pocketbook it was filled with Lightning McQueen and friends. I'm starting to think that the princess movies she got for Christmas may have actually turned her into a girly girl---and I'm wondering if I should have introduced her to princess movies before now?

Either way, I'm loving it! Also loving how her underwear hangs out of her leotard... :)

Menu Monday

2011-01-10T14:36:00.003-05:00

Monday: French Dip Sandwiches with Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries served with Skinny Ranch Dip. The roast is in the crock pot right now and it smells great. It's a cold, rainy day and we are looking forward to this yummy comfort food tonight!

Tuesday: Baked Chicken with Dijon and Lime served with Baked Rice and Peas.

Wednesday: Chicken and Rice Soup. It's my mom's recipe that I've tweaked to my liking and is one of our favorites, especially in the wintertime. It makes a ton so when I make it I either invite another family over for dinner or find somebody to take dinner to that night, otherwise we eat it for the next five nights. Here's the recipe:

1 whole chicken

1 or 2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cups chopped carrots

1 package white or baby bella mushrooms (depends on what I'm in the mood for that week--I think white mushrooms have a little more flavor)

8 oz Velveeta with 2% milk (this makes it seem a little healthier, even though this part totally ruins it calorie-wise, but gives it all the flavor)

1 cup long grain white rice

Boil 6 cups of water, add a little salt. Add chicken and cook for 1 hour. Take chicken out and set aside to cool. After chicken is cooled, take off bone and chop or shred into smaller pieces. Strain broth and add a few more cups of water (it depends on how much has evaporated during cooking---I usually just put the pot under the faucet and fill it back up so it's more than half full of broth/water. Add celery and carrots and boil 10-15 min. Add mushrooms, rice, and chicken, and cook on med to med high, stirring occasionally (otherwise it will burn to the bottom) until rice is done. Chop Velveeta into chunks and put into soup and stir until completely melted. Be sure not to cook too long or your rice will turn into mush. :) Invite friends over or divide into lots of containers and take to your friends' houses---they will love you, you will have plenty to eat at your own house for a couple of days, and everybody will be happy.

Thursday: leftover soup from Wednesday

Friday: Goat Cheese and Arugula over Penne-- I'm not a pasta fan but I do try to make it a few times a month for Ben because he loves it. I like goat cheese and arugula though, so this recipe looks like it'll be good. We shall see...

Saturday: going out...will have a fun post about this day next week! :)

Sunday: Pork Tenderloin with Pomegranate Sauce--trying this out for a going away party we're having for some friends next weekend. If it's a success, it will be served then. If not, I'll be experimenting with some more recipes next week!

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Hits and misses from last week's menu:

Since I posted in the middle of the week, I already reviewed a few of the recipes....but I'd have to say the hits were the Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Salsa Verde and the Grilled Chicken Thighs with White Barbecue Sauce. It was my first time making the enchiladas, and they were AMAZING---they really didn't taste low cal at all. The only thing I changed was that I only used one 4.5 oz can of green chiles and I split it between the filling and the sauce instead of using a 4.5 oz can in the filling and a 7 oz can in the sauce and I used a tiny bit less jalapenos than it called for (I'm not a big fan of spicy foods) . SO, SO, SO good and I'll most definitely make again. The chicken thighs were really good, but they're a repeat favorite so I knew they'd make the hit list for the week.

The Pork Chops with Mushrooms and Shallots weren't really a miss, but they do need some tweaking. I'd definitely add a dry white wine to give it more flavor, and maybe some garlic salt too.

Let it SNOW!!!!!!

2011-01-09T23:02:00.004-05:00

After we finished opening presents on Christmas morning, we rested for about 10 minutes and then (with the help of my awesome family who was here celebrating) hopped up, un-decorated the tree, got it out of the house, vacuumed up all of the needles, packed up the car, and headed to Ben's parents' house for almost a week. It started snowing that night and we woke up to over three inches the next morning. Grayson and Emma Claire saw snow for the first time last February, but it was less than an inch so they were amazed at this. We were prepared with coats and hats and my mother-in-law supplied the mittens and scarves, which I think were Ben's and his sister's when they were little. :) Of course, we didn't have the appropriate footwear at all, so we improvised by putting Ziploc bags and rubber bands around their shoes. Whatever works! :)

Whitt and Gee Gee watched from inside, where it was nice and warm.

Grayson's "snow boots"

This is funny--I called it the redneck sled. Ben's dad tied the barrel part of a wheelbarrow to the back of his Kubota and drove everybody around. It was kind of a cross between sledding and tubing, and tons of fun except for the snow that sprayed in your face the whole time. The kids loved it and are still asking to go back again and "go for a ride with Pop Pop".

Just a few

2011-01-09T22:12:00.004-05:00

I really didn't take many pictures this Christmas....I'd like to say I was too busy enjoying it with my family, but in reality I was too busy running around like a crazy person. We were busy busy busy, but it really was fun. On Christmas Eve we went to the 5:00 service at church and immediately came home and had friends over for a birthday party for Jesus.

EC and her bff Isaac---don't they make a cute couple? :)

a few of the kiddos at Jesus' birthday party

getting ready for bed---Whitt and his cousin Taylor

Christmas morning--I have to give the story behind this toy. This is the third year in a row that my parents have given the children this fun roller thing to Grayson and EC. I despise it---somebody always gets hurt when they play in it but they love it and my parents love that they love it. Usually about halfway through the year it pops and I'm happy to throw it away, but then we always get a new one at Christmas. I was hoping they'd forget about it this year (ours from last Christmas popped in August--shortly after one of the kids tried to roll down the stairs in it...geesh!!) but we weren't surprised when one showed up on Christmas morning. Of course, Grayson and Emma Claire (and this year, Whitt) were thrilled. I do love the awesome hairdo it gives everybody who plays in it, though. :)

I have to work on getting better pictures of more than two children at once. This was the best cousin picture I could get. :)

Christmas catch-up

2011-01-09T21:37:00.006-05:00

A few days before Christmas, we took the kiddos to a party at the island where my parents have a second home and they got to meet Santa Claus. He even brought each of them a present--they were thrilled!

Whitt checking everything out...

The only halfway decent shot of the three of them---Whitt looked like such a ragamuffin!

I LOVE this picture! This was taken when Santa was arriving at the party...Emma Claire was jumping up and down, beside herself with excitement. :)

The next three pictures make me laugh because they totally fit each of the children's personalities....

Mr. Serious

Miss Excited still bursting at the seams

and sweet Whitt just wanted to get off this strange man's lap and get back into his daddy's arms.

Menu Monday (on Friday)...otherwise known as "I'm a copycat"

2011-01-07T14:33:00.004-05:00

Inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Elefantitas Alegres, and her menu Sunday and also copying my BFF Christie who just posted this two days ago, and also inspired by a Facebook friend who had a status saying she was curious what moms do regarding meal planning, I've decided to jump on the Menu Monday bandwagon. I'll be posting my weekly menus and following up at the end of the week with my comments regarding hits and misses, and also any changes I might make in the future. I try to make two new meals every week and try to cook low calorie meals more often than not, and will post the recipes whenever possible. Feel free to share your favorite recipes---I love to cook!

Here is our menu for this week:

Monday: Dirty Rice and butter beans---Christie's husband Brad's recipe and NOT healthy at all, but it was really good and SO easy. Basically you just boil some rice in one pot, brown some thinly sliced kielbasa sausage in another pot, then combine the two and mix it up until the rice soaks up the grease. Yum!

Tuesday: Pork Chops with Mushrooms and Shallots--this was really good but lacked a little flavor, in my opinion. Loved the mushrooms and next time will definitely add more shallots and will add some wine for more flavor. Really low cal, though, and very filling. The kids loved it, which was a definite plus.

Wednesday: Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Salsa Verde---my favorite we've had so far this week. SO good, full of flavor, easy to make, doesn't taste low cal at all, and the kiddos gobbled it up. We had tons left over, too!

Thursday: Ben and the kids had leftovers from Wednesday and I went out to dinner with a friend. In case you're wondering, I had crab bisque, sushi, and wine. Delish! :)

Friday: Another girls' night for me--not the norm, but I'll take it! A big group of us is going out for sushi and to see Country Strong, and Ben is taking the kiddos on a Daddy date. They've been talking all day about Chick-fil-a so I'm guessing they'll talk him into that tonight.

Saturday: Grilled Chicken Thighs with White Barbecue Sauce--this is one of my favorite recipes and I'm so excited to have it tomorrow night. I make it all the time in the summer and we haven't had it in months, but we are having some friends over tomorrow night and I thought it would be a good meal to serve. It's a great choice to make when you have company over because you can make everything ahead of time and then just throw the chicken on the grill. I usually serve it with corn but I'm going to do twice baked potatoes tomorrow instead.

Sunday: Panko Crusted Salmon and French String Bean Salad, both from Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? cookbook---made this last Sunday and it was easy and gooooooooooood. Can't wait to have it again!

Okay, that's that, and I'll be posting our menu for next week on Monday!

Makeover!

2011-01-06T21:37:00.002-05:00

You might notice that the blog is undergoing some changes...I'm loving it so far! Katie at The Polka Dot Pig is redesigning it and I can't wait to see the final product. Thanks, Katie!

New posts coming soon, too. We had a busy Christmas with a trip to Ben's parents' house with the kiddos (a white Christmas!!!!!!) and a kid-free trip to the mountains with our friends Christie and Brad. Sorry I've been absent from the blog---the holidays about did me in, but we are home and finally settled back into our routine so I will soon be uploading pictures and writing some new posts. Hope everybody had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merry, Merry!

2010-12-11T23:47:00.003-05:00

It was a Wednesday

2010-12-11T17:51:00.014-05:00

Last Wednesday, I followed myself around with a camera all day. I like to do a "day in the life" post every once in awhile so I can look back and see what life was like when the kids were a certain age, although this is my first one with pictures. This is definitely the longest post I've ever done, so you may want to skip it since it will probably bore you to tears! :)

Started the day bright and early at 6:30 when Whitt woke up crying for a bottle...

Started a load of laundry (yawn...see, I told you this would be boring!).

Breakfast for kiddos. Nutri-grain Eggos. Yuck-o, but it's their favorite.

My friend M's kiddos, N (4) and S (2) come over every morning at 7-ish and play until I take everybody to school at 8:30. Nobody would stay still long enough for a picture...

It wouldn't be morning if we didn't have a tantrum!

Whitt fell and bumped his head. Poor buddy...never a dull moment, though!

Getting ready to leave for school...after two quick diaper changes, a hunt for both girls' bows and an assortment of shoes and socks, we are off and running!

After everybody was dropped off, Whitt and I met this little cutie, H, and his mama who refused to let me take her picture in her adorable exercise clothes, for our regular Wednesday walk. It was our coldest morning yet and we ended up cutting the walk a bit short and sitting in my car for a little while and chatting. Much more fun (and warm!). :)

Next up, a hair cut appointment for Whitt.

P.S. It's 10:00 am, in case you're wondering. :)

Back home to start another load of laundry--fun stuff, I tell ya!! I wash sheets on Sundays and Wednesdays, so I keep the washing machine and dryer pretty busy on Wednesdays.

Next up, more fun stuff---unloading the dishwasher. Oh yeah, I lead the most glamorous life!

Grocery store, then to school to pick up Grayson. Emma Claire went home with her best friend, Isaac that day for a play date. What an interesting play date that would turn out to be! :)

Home for lunch. My delicious lunch of carrots and hummus, which I ate while fixing Grayson and Whitt's lunch. I had a picture of Grayson and Whitt eating lunch but it got lost in space somewhere and I have no idea how to add a picture to the middle of all of these, so I'll just tell you about it: Grayson and Whitt ate lunch. :)

More laundry.

Whitt went down for a nap. Hooray!

Grayson helped me put clean sheets on his bed,

and his sister's bed. Such a good helper!

Then he stayed upstairs and played

while I started yet another load of laundry

put clean sheets on our bed,

and folded some clothes. During all of this, I got a funny phone call from Isaac's mommy informing me that there had been an "incident" at his house involving some scissors and Emma Claire's hair. Isaac's mommy was crying, I was laughing, and I was dying to see the damage. I hung up the phone, made a phone call to Amy, who had just cut Whitt's hair that morning, and scheduled an appointment for Emma Claire for later that afternoon. :)

As soon as EC got home, I took a quick shower

and dryed and straightened my hair and put on some makeup.

Next, we paid Amy our second visit of the day, where she fixed the damage Isaac had done to Emma Claire's hair....

Like I said, never a dull moment!! :)

Now she has an adorable bob and we still love Isaac to death! :)

So after EC's haircut, we came home and she ate a snack and played with play dough while the boys wrestled

and I fixed supper.

Whitt decided to pull out about 200 plastic baggies and spread them all over the kitchen floor, which kept him and Grayson occupied for a solid fifteen minutes while I cooked. I'll take what I can get, even if it means a mess to clean up afterward!

Ben came home from work just in time to change clothes and join us at the table for supper. We love it when Daddy gets home!

After supper, we cleaned up and put pajamas on and had play time for a little while.

Ben did a little work while Grayson played games on my iPhone.

Goodnight, Whitt! Love you, sweet boy!

Time for bed--somebody is melting down!

We love Richard Scarry books!

Daddy read our daily devotional to our nail biter and his sister....

we brushed teeth...

said prayers...

gave kisses, and it was lights out!

A couple more loads of clothes were begging me to fold them. I looked at them and decided they could wait until the next day.

I thought this looked like more fun.

With this guy. :) Spent the rest of the night hanging out with my hubby and talking about our days and our cute kiddos.

And that's it---my Wednesday, in pictures. If you're still awake, I'm impressed! :)

Christmas present ideas

2010-11-19T21:30:00.008-05:00

Some friends and I have recently been talking about Christmas present ideas and it gave me the idea to do a post on some of my kiddos' favorite toys. Most of these are toys that we've had for a year or more and they still play with almost daily, and many are toys that have been such hits in our house that we've given as gifts to others. In no particular order....

1. Plasma Car

This would probably rank up there as one of Grayson (5 years old) and Emma Claire's (3 years old) favorite toys. They each got one last Christmas, so even as a 2 year old EC loved it. The Plasma Car is the Roller Racer (please tell me y'all had these as a child! My brother and I played with ours for years!) of our kids' generation. Or decade. Whatever. Anyway, it's a battery-free ride-on toy that's powered by wiggling the steering wheel back and forth. My kiddos get more speed by just using their feet to push themselves so that's what they usually do, but they love it anyway. It can hold up to 220 lb so adults can on ride it, too---it's actually pretty fun!

2. Little Tikes Deluxe Wooden Play Kitchen and Laundry Center

Santa brought this when Grayson was 3 and EC was 1, and it's also been a toy that has been played with daily. It's now also one of Whitt's favorites. I like it because it's a pretty gender-neutral kitchen, as so many play kitchens are geared toward girls, and I also love that it's held up really well over the past two years.

3. Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube

This toy has been a favorite of Whitt's since turned one. It is really cute---you push one of the instrument buttons and it starts playing that instrument's sound as part of a Mozart song, and you can continue adding other instruments until they're all playing together. The songs don't get annoying like a lot of other baby toys (I don't put batteries in most of our toys, but this one is worthy!) and the edges are rubber and rounded so it can stand up to being dropped, thrown, etc...

4. Hot Wheels Monster Jam trucks

If you have a four or five year old boy in your life, you HAVE to go to your nearest Target or Walmart and get some of these. Grayson is OBSESSED. They're only $3.50 each and provide hours of entertainment---could it be any better than that?? He went through the cars/train phase (and still plays with them, but not as often as he did), but he went to a friend's house this past summer and loved his monster trucks, so we gave him a bunch for his birthday in August and he continues to play with them every. single. day. We're even planning on taking him to a real Monster Jam in January---he's going to flip!!!! :)

5. Smart Snacks Sorting Shapes Cupcakes

Emma Claire got these for her second birthday and they are still a hit, both with my kiddos and with friends when they come over to play. It's a fun shape sorting game that also doubles as a play food for their kitchen. They're much heavier and more durable than they look, which for some reason gives them added appeal to the kids. They really are one of my favorite toys, too, and I've given them as a gift a few times as well.

6. The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name

I cannot say enough about how much we adore this bible. We have several children's bibles, but this is the one that Grayson and Emma Claire actually ask to have read to them--and once we start reading, it's hard to stop! It has 348 pages and we read the entire thing in a week and a half, and have just started to read it again. The stories are captivating to little ones, the illustrations are beautiful, and it's written in a way that preschoolers and younger children can understand. I love how it teaches them about both the Old and New Testaments, and it leaves them with minds and hearts that crave more.

7. Bilibo

The Bilibo is such a fun toy! It's a shell-shaped piece of plastic that has endless possibilities---my kiddos like to sit in them, spin in them, stand on them, put them on their heads, and lay on the ground and put them on their backs and pretend they're turtles. We have two, and now that Whitt has discovered how much fun they are, I'm thinking we might need a third. :) It's really a simple toy that encourages the children to use their imaginations, but I have a feeling it will be a favorite for awhile!

And....

2010-11-18T22:23:00.002-05:00

...this is why Grayson doesn't get much blog time anymore. He thinks it's hilarious to make goofy faces every time I pull the camera out. Typical 5 year old boy, but I guess I'll keep him! :)

Oh, and notice the typical 5 year old boy DIRTY hands in this one---he's a dirt magnet!

I got a semi-decent shot here---my grown up boy. :)

Forget the LBD

2010-11-18T22:04:00.006-05:00

It's more like LBC....Little Black Cat. Emma Claire's must have accessory these days:

16 months

2010-11-18T21:50:00.003-05:00

Sweet Whitt is at one of my very favorite ages. He's walking all over the place and is so happy to explore his little world. With his new mobility comes lots of bumps and bruises, but he's a tough little dude and usually takes it in stride with just a few tears and a quick kiss from Mommy before he's up and running again.

Whitty, how we love you and love to watch you grow and learn! You are such a blessing to our family, and it's hard to imagine how we ever lived without you! :)

Deliciousness

2010-11-15T21:38:00.004-05:00

If you haven't read Pioneer Woman's blog, you must. She's amazing and I've never been unhappy with one of her recipes that I've cooked. I made her Chicken with Mushrooms and Artichokes tonight and oh. my. goodness. It was unbelievable. Not healthy---at all (can you say heavy cream??). But soooooo good. I don't even like pasta but I pretty much licked my plate clean. I couldn't feed it to the kiddos because Grayson is allergic to garlic, Emma Claire is going through a picky phase, and Whitt throws everything on the floor and I wasn't about to let this yummy goodness go to waste (or have to deal with cleaning it off the floor), so it just left more for Ben and me (no complaining here!). I will definitely be making this again!

*photo via The Pioneer Woman

Low budget laundry room makeover

2010-11-08T15:24:00.006-05:00

My friend, Jo, inspired me with her laundry room and helped me out via text message and email (thanks, Jo!!!!!) to give our laundry room/pantry a little facelift last week. Our laundry room isn't even a room---it's more of a closet, and it resides in our kitchen and shares its space with all of our food. Not ideal but it's all we have to work with. My dream laundry room looks like the second picture you see when you click here, but there's always our next house, right? :)

Okay, the pictures are crappy because I took them with my phone so I could text them to Jo, but you get the idea. Here's the before....a big, cluttered mess:

Annnnnnnnnnd.......drumroll.............the AFTER! Not HGTV worthy or anything, but it looks so much better!! All it took was some baskets and bins from Target, a little fake plant from Pier 1, and a lamp that we already had:

There you have it! A simple, low-budget laundry ~~room~~ closet and pantry! Easy as pie, and many thanks to sweet Jo for the inspiration and suggestions!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T13:46:00.005-04:00

Halloween is so much fun when you have children! This year Whitt had croup so he didn't get to partake in any Halloween festivities, but he did get to dress up in his costume a few days earlier and pose for pictures before he got sick, so at least I got a few good pictures out of him. :) If anybody is interested in an adorable Baby Gap cow costume, size 12-18 months, let me know--otherwise off to eBay it will go!

Halloween, round one: Spiderman and "Scawy" cat before a party on Friday

Whitt got in on a couple of pictures a few minutes before Ben convinced me that I needed to take him to the doctor. P.S. Doctors' offices aren't too fond of parents who call at 4pm on a Friday insisting that their child needs to be seen....

Cutest scawy cat I've ever seen! (I really need to post a video of how Emma Claire talks--it's so sweet and I don't want to ever forget it)

Halloween, round two: Trick-or-treating with friends

Grayson playing football, mid catch

A good time was had by all!

Resiliency and pumpkins

2010-10-15T14:58:00.006-04:00

Whitt and I went on a date this morning to the Methodist church "pumpkin patch". It's amazing how resilient children are---you'd never know he had surgery just two days ago, aside from the shiner he's sporting. He was his his usual happy self, and he loved checking out all of the pumpkins. Just for fun, here's a picture I took of him at the same place last year--what a difference!

Okay, first of all, is this not the most awesome pumpkin you have ever seen? It's the beauty we brought home with us today and I am so obsessed that I just might have to go back and get a few more. I think gray might be the new orange when it comes to pumpkins at our house this year.

Now, on to the best part of this post. My cute little Whitty. I could just eat him up!!!!! Love this little dude so much it's ridiculous. :)

Surgery update

2010-10-14T16:00:00.002-04:00

Thank you for all of your sweet notes and prayers for our precious Whitt. His surgery was yesterday and it went really well. We got to MUSC at 7am and he did surprisingly well after not having anything to eat or drink since the night before. He got checked in and went to the pre-op area and was given a little medicine to make him relax a bit so he could be taken away from us without freaking out. Here's a picture of him not long before they took him back to the operating room. The little marks on his head were where the doctor had written with marker right above the cyst so they knew where they'd be operating--I guess it's routine to write on the patient where you're going to operate so you don't accidently cut them open in the wrong spot.

The surgery took right around 2 1/2 hours, which was a little big longer than we expected it to take. It was a LONG time for our baby to be away from us and under general anesthesia, but we knew that he was in good hands and that he had many, many people praying for him so we really had a sense of peace about the whole thing. There was a clock on the wall in the waiting room that I swear had the loudest second hand though--it was almost rubbing it in how slowly time was passing by. They called us from the OR when an hour had passed by and let us know that everything was going well, and about thirty minutes after that the ENT came out and said he'd gotten the cyst out and the plastic surgeon was working on closing his face back up. About an hour later, the plastic surgeon came out and told us that she was finished, and fifteen minutes later a nurse came to take us to the recovery area to be with our sweet boy who was not feeling so hot. He had a reaction to the anesthesia and threw up for a few hours, but they gave him some anti-nausea medication and he stopped throwing up by the time we got back home (although I am still not sure why they sent us home from the hospital with him throwing up---his car seat was covered in vomit....not fun) and he slept for 14 hours straight last night.

Whitt is back to his normal self today, besides a big shiner on his eye. Even though the cyst was on his forehead above his eyebrow, the doctors made the incision underneath his eyebrow so one day when his eyebrows thicken and darken the scar hopefully won't be as noticeable as it is now. If anything, he'll just look a little tougher! :)

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers!! We appreciate each and every one of them!!! xoxoxoxo

Introducing...

2010-10-14T15:14:00.004-04:00

the

newest (and tiniest)

members of our family,

Tillman and Rally Cat, or Tilly and Rally for short. :)

Aren't they precious?????

Look who's walking!!!

2010-10-10T19:47:00.003-04:00

Whitt is now taking more than just a few steps---he's really walking! Crawling is still his main mode of transportation, but he is getting better and better at walking every day. Our baby is growing up! :) SO, SO, SO proud!!!!!! Check him out...

Be careful or your face will freeze that way :)

2010-10-08T14:45:00.002-04:00

My littlest munchkin

2010-10-05T22:19:00.005-04:00

My sweet, sweet baby Whitt....there are hardly words to describe how amazing this child is. I could seriously just eat him up every second of the day! He is the most precious, snuggly, happy, affectionate little boy, and I thank God every day for blessing our lives with him. Whitt hasn't had the easiest life so far---he's been going to occupational therapy, physical therapy, and early intervention five days a week for the past eight months due to his developmental delays, but he's made so much progress. He turned 15 months a few days ago and just started taking some steps---we couldn't be prouder! His early interventionist recently cut back to seeing him just twice a month instead of once a week, and just this morning his OT decided to start seeing him just once a week instead of twice. I'm not sure what his therapists' outlook for him is, but I'd love for him to graduate both PT and OT in the next couple of months---and if he keeps progressing the way he has lately, I feel certain that will happen. :)

Sweet Whitt also needs some prayers, if y'all don't mind. He has to have a little surgery next Wednesday to remove a cyst from his skull on his forehead. It's not a major surgery or anything, and the cyst is perfectly harmless, but he will have to undergo general anesthesia and the surgery will last about two hours. He's already had a CT scan to determine exactly where the cyst is and how far in his head it goes, and his doctors are highly respected at MUSC so we feel very comfortable knowing that he will be in good hands. However, he's our baby and we love him so much that we are more than a little nervous about this. We'd appreciate prayers for a safe surgery and a speedy recovery for our precious Whitt.

And now for his 15 month stats, just so I can remember them since I still don't have a baby book for him (poor third child!):

weight: 22 lb 6 oz (25th percentile)

height: forgot already...need to call the pediatrician and ask...but it's in the 50th percentile

diaper size: 4

clothes size: 12-18 months

words he says consistently: mama, cat, uh oh, more, meow, red

sleep: still taking two naps a day (1.5 hour morning nap and 2-3 hour afternoon nap) and sleeps from 7pm to 7 am

teeth: he has a mouth FULL of sixteen teeth!

other fun things he's doing: waves by holding his arm up in the air, smiles at everybody and will go to anybody--this boy has never known the meaning of stranger anxiety :), crawls all over the place, pulls up on furniture, cruises around furniture, climbs up stairs (hasn't mastered going down them yet--he wants to go down face first!), blows kisses, and gives hugs by laying his head down on your shoulder.

Thinking outside the (lunch)box

2010-10-05T22:00:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I needed to branch out from the boring sandwiches that I fix for the children for lunch every day and start making other healthy lunches for them. Sandwiches were starting to get a little old (for both them and for me), and I wanted to be sure that they were getting a variety of healthy foods as well as branching out and trying some new things. So far it's been a success! Whitt eats pretty much everything that the older two do (with the exception of choking hazards like raisins and celery), I just cut it up into smaller pieces. I documented week one in pictures for your enjoyment... :)

Day one: Kashi whole wheat crackers with cream cheese, pretzel sticks, cheddar cheese slice, "ants on a log" (celery with peanut butter and raisins), carrot sticks, and hummus.

Day two: carrot sticks with peanut butter, tortillas with cream cheese and turkey rolled up and sliced into bite size pieces, pinwheel pasta, and grapes.

Day three: we went out of town right after school to visit friends so I cheated and took the easy way out---Chick Fil A drive thru. :) Older two had chicken nuggets and fruit and Whitt had a Kashi bar and some grapes that I brought along.

Day four: rolled up ham, strawberries, raisins, pretzel sticks, and cheddar cheese slices.

Day five: cheese (one wanted string cheese and the other wanted American), carrots and sunbutter, cucumber slices, and pretzel sticks.

Grayson and EC have really enjoyed the change in their lunches and I've enjoyed taking a break from making turkey and PB & J's every day. I'm open to more suggestions for lunch ideas if any of you have some, too!

It's that time again...

2010-09-19T16:52:00.003-04:00

Soccer time! This year both Grayson and Emma Claire are playing, although it's not going as well for EC as we thought it would. The pictures are pretty self explanatory. The first game was yesterday. Here they are, in chronological order:

Before leaving for the game, EC was excited to go and Grayson just wanted me to leave him alone. :)

We got there, and Grayson was happy to pose for a picture...

Grayson was awesome, participating in the game with his team, although he did stick pretty close to his coach's side for most of the game. We have no idea who won his game--and one of the best things about this league is that it doesn't place emphasis on winning/losing. It's a Christian soccer league that teaches different core values that help make every child feel like a "winner".

But not really sure how Emma Claire can feel like a "winner" when she's not even on the field during her game....she would rather climb fences

and sit on the goal. A bit frustrating at times but I just kept reminding myself that she's only three, and she looked pretty darn cute in her uniform even if the only interaction she had with her team yesterday was eating a snack with them. :)

Tigertown!

2010-09-19T15:38:00.007-04:00

Last weekend we took Grayson to his first official Clemson game, if you don't count the game he went to when he was nine weeks old. He had a BLAST! Ben and I had so much fun showing him where we went to college and experiencing the excitement of the day through his five-year-old eyes.

I love this picture---we were walking to my friend's tailgating spot and passed this truck with a tiger tail hanging out of it. Grayson yelled, "Mommy! You HAVE to see this! Come look!!!" and proceeded to pose next to it and ask for his picture to be taken. Ha ha!!! :)

I think this might possibly be the first picture taken of the three of us in over four years.... :)

The most exciting 25 seconds in college football....the players touching Howard's Rock and running down The Hill. I get goosebumps every time I witness this!

Grayson was in awe....love this!

Such a tired little Tiger. He had a great day! :)

Sunday Funday!

2010-09-01T21:43:00.005-04:00

We were actually in town with no plans this past Sunday, which is a rarity, so Ben and I decided to take the kiddos on a little adventure down the road to Botany Bay Plantation. Botany Bay is a hidden gem that was just recently opened to the public (in 2008, I believe?) and is absolutely worth a visit if you're ever in the Edisto area. It's filled with majestic live oaks, 200 year old ruins, beautiful wildlife, and 2 miles of an undeveloped beach with loads of gorgeous shells that unfortunately must be left there (or you will be presented with a hefty fine, as the signs everywhere point out). It was so hard for Grayson and EC...okay, and me too...to leave those enormous conch shells just sitting there on the beach, but we had a great time checking them out. :)

The live oak canopy you drive through to get to Botany Bay....

sweet babies

Whitt's new funny face--I love it because Grayson used to make the exact same face when he was a baby!

The mosquitos were out in full force--check out the sucker on EC's cheek! :)

Back again!

2010-08-20T11:06:00.002-04:00

I'm back! After taking most of the summer off from blogging, I have returned. :) I hope some of you have stuck by me and will remain readers, and I promise I won't stay away for so long again. Like I said in my previous post (over a month ago! How did that happen??), our simple summer was anything but simple, but it was a fun one. School is now back in session and we are regaining somewhat of a routine in our lives. My three little monkeys are all happy and healthy, and for that I am thankful...

I had a grand plan to catch up on all the blogging I meant to do over the summer and do a recap of everything we did, but I may just scratch that plan and start from here. Who knows, we'll see! Happy August, everybody!

Simple Summer

2010-07-12T21:48:00.004-04:00

Long time, no blog! :) Ben and I had grand plans for a "simple summer" that involved a whole lot of nothing. We had the cable turned off and decided to go "unplugged" for the summer. We envisioned a simple summer of lazy days at the beach, nights in with the children, and spending most of our time at home as a family. Well, reality hit and those plans went right out the window! Our simple summer has been anything but. It's still been wonderful and fun, but simple is not the best word to describe it.

Our last month, in a nutshell....

Whitt still has therapy every morning, and in between that we've managed to squeeze in Emma Claire's third birthday, Whitt's first birthday, a trip to Gee Gee and Pop Pop's house, a trip to Nannie and Granddaddy's beach house, a new kitten for two weeks, losing that new kitten (so sad!), Whitt's first haircut, six stitches in Grayson's chin, and lots of play time at the park, beach, and pool, among other things.

So sorry I haven't blogged in the past month, but I do have lots of new pictures from the birthday parties, beach trip, etc. that I plan on uploading very soon! Until then, here are a few pictures of my cutie pies. I hope everybody is having as fun of a summer as we are!

Little fish

2010-06-10T21:38:00.002-04:00

It's been quite the week for learning around our house! Grayson started swimming lessons on Monday, and this video was taken on Wednesday. His teacher is amazing--she says that he was ready, but I know it had a lot to do with what a great instructor she is, too. Today he was jumping off the side of the pool and swimming to the ladder all by himself--what a little fish! Way to go, Grayson!!!

Lilly lover

2010-06-10T17:37:00.005-04:00

I've been meaning to blog about my friend, Liz's, business for awhile and now it ties in perfectly with another blog's giveaway, so I'm kind of glad I waited! :) Liz is the extremely talented creator of Brookie Cookie's Bows, one of my favorite Etsy shops. I've ordered several bows and hair pins from Liz, and she's even done some custom bows to match Emma Claire's outfits. Liz has now outdone herself---she has started making Lilly Pulitzer hair pins and clips!! Does it get any cuter than this??? I think not! Please go check out Brookie Cookie's Bows and see for yourself how beautiful the bows, clips, headbands, and necklaces are---I promise you won't be disappointed!

Now, for a giveaway! I'm a sucker for Lilly. I even had an entire Lilly Pulitzer-themed birthday party for Emma Claire last year, and I promise it was adorable and I would have taken pictures if I hadn't been a little over a week away from giving birth and missing half of my brain. Anyway, I was so excited today when my friend, Jen, blogged about Pink Preppy Lilly Lover's awesome giveaway. Go check it out and enter to win this awesome Lilly loot!

Look who's CRAWLING!!!!!

2010-06-06T09:09:00.002-04:00

Well, Whitt is just full of surprises! He started crawling the day after he turned 11 months old and is ALL over the place now. So proud of our little dude! You can see him modeling his stylish "jiaper" by Huggies (yes, I'm aware that this is not cute at all, but they were on sale and I was so curious as to what they looked like that I just had to buy a pack. We have had the best time laughing at his jiapers but I'm ready for the pack to run out so I can start putting him back in regular diapers) and zooming across the playroom. This is just three days after he started crawling for the first time---not bad, if I do say so myself! :)

Twinsies

2010-06-03T18:52:00.002-04:00

I keep meaning to post some comparison shots of Whitt and Grayson, and this is the best I have right now since I'm too lazy to get our external hard drive out and look for more old pictures of Grayson. Isn't the resemblance uncanny? Whitt truly is Grayson's little twin. On days when I have him dressed in one of Grayson's old outfits, I feel like I'm looking at Grayson four years ago--I still can't get used to it! I just love these boys! :)

Case in point.....

Whitt

Grayson

Three little lovies

2010-05-24T16:46:00.002-04:00

This last picture cracks me up--Whitt and Emma Claire had both had enough, and Grayson's smile was about as fake as they get! :)

Just because

2010-05-23T23:31:00.002-04:00

Sharing these cute pictures of Emma Claire just because I'm happy that she's feeling better, not whining anymore, and finally SMILING again! Tonsil surgery is no walk in the park, and this little drama queen milked it for a lonnnnnng ten days. So glad our sweet girl has returned! Woo hoo!! :)

God made dirt and dirt don't hurt

2010-05-22T22:09:00.006-04:00

My children love looking for worms,

standing barefoot in the mud,

digging in the flower beds,

and just getting dirty.

I don't think our bath water has been any shade besides brown for the past few weeks! This is the last week of school for Grayson (EC is still in the toddler class at their Montessori school and they go until the end of June) and we couldn't be more ready for SUMMER! Bring on the dirt and worms!

Life

2010-05-19T20:47:00.006-04:00

Life has gotten in the way of blogging lately. Last week was a rough week, but I'm so, so happy to say that everything turned out well. God is so good. I'll start at the beginning...

A couple of weeks ago, I took Whitt to his 9 month well visit (a month late, he's now 10 1/2 months old, but with your 3rd baby you're lucky if you even remember to schedule these things, let alone show up to them within a few weeks of the child's birthday) and our pediatrician was concerned about a few things. I've mentioned on the blog before that Whitt is developmentally delayed, and he's still pretty significantly delayed. The things that the pediatrician were concerned about would not normally matter in a "normal" (I hate that word) baby, but she was a little worried that they might be causing his delays so she said that she wanted to call and consult a pediatric neurologist at MUSC and see what he thought. She told me not to worry about it, it was probably nothing, so I didn't even mention it to Ben. The next day, I received a phone call from her saying that he wanted us to have blood work done on Whitt and get him in for a brain MRI the following week just to make sure that there weren't any neurological issues that were causing his delays---which, of course, caused us to freak out just a bit. I spent the next four days crying, praying, and basically worrying about all of the million things that could be wrong with our sweet, amazing little boy. Last Tuesday, Ben and I took Whitt to MUSC in Charleston and had to have him sedated for a brain MRI---not fun at all. Looking back, and knowing now that everything is fine, it wasn't that big of a deal, but at the time it was horrible. Lots of tears were shed and my heart was broken into a million pieces that day seeing him laying on that table sedated and worrying about all of the what if's. I love our pediatrician so much and am very thankful that she wanted to be sure that everything is okay, but she sure put us through the ringer! A few days later we got the results that Whitt's blood work and MRI came back perfectly normal, and although he is still delayed, there is no cause for the delays and we are to keep doing what we're doing and he doesn't need to be seen again until his one-year check-up. PHEW!!!! :)

Whitt is doing GREAT!!! He is currently in occupational therapy two mornings a week for an hour each, physical therapy two mornings a week for an hour each, and early intervention one morning a week for 30 minutes. I also do therapy with him at home in the afternoons, so his schedule is quite crazy, but it's so worth it. He has made huge improvements over the past few months. He's now sitting up on his own very well and can spin around in circles. He can't get into a sitting position on his own yet, but that will come with time. He is starting to be able to scoot around on his bottom and although his therapists want me to discourage that, I think it's pretty cute--he has to get around somehow, right? :) He can almost roll from his back to his tummy--he is SO close--and he can roll from tummy to back really well. We are really hopeful that he will be crawling by the time he's 12 or 13 months old, too. Whitt has the sweetest disposition---he is such a happy, easygoing baby. He is a great sleeper, too---he takes a long morning nap, a long afternoon nap, an occasional late-afternoon nap, and then sleeps 7-7 every night. At the same time, if he has to skip a nap he usually doesn't seem to mind--he just goes with the flow--but I guess he doesn't really have a choice! Such a sweet boy! :)

Oh, but there's more to our crazy life! Two days after Whitt's MRI (last Thursday), our sweet Emma Claire had her tonsils and adenoids taken out. She has had strep throat four times in the past five months so we really didn't have much of a choice. She has been a trooper, but it's been a bit of a rough road for our little drama queen. My awesome mother-in-law came to help out for several days, thank goodness, because EC decided she ONLY wanted her Gee Gee. She must have been mad at Ben and me because Nancy did pretty much all of Emma Claire's care for the first three days after her surgery. We're now on day 6 and she's still in pain but she's starting to feel a little better each day, and we're really looking forward to no more strep throat.

Since things always come in 3's there had to be something else, right? Yep! Last Wednesday, the day after the MRI and the day before the tonsil surgery, Grayson fell and split his chin open. A total freak accident---my mother-in-law had literally been at our house for maybe 10-15 minutes and I was doing dishes while on the phone with the surgery center answering their health questions about EC....Grayson was eating apples at the kitchen table, and MIL had EC, Whitt, and the little girl I babysit all sitting on her lap (other baby I babysit was upstairs screaming because he had just woken up)....all of a sudden I hear a chair topple over and Grayson screaming. I turn around to see Grayson on the floor and blood. I quickly hang up the phone and grab some paper towels. I don't do well when I see lots of blood coming from my children and I think I started to freak out a bit, but thankfully my mother-in-law is the calmest person on the planet and gave me a look that basically told me to get it together so I did (thanks, Nancy!!) so I left four children with her and threw Grayson in the car and raced off to the pediatrician. :) When we got there, the nurse practitioner told us that he needed stitches, but when the pediatrician came in Grayson was still hysterical so she decided she'd glue it instead---praise the Lord! My nerves were still shot from everything we'd been dealing with with Whitt, Ben was out of town that day, and I was wondering how I was going to handle my hysterical 4 year old with a gaping cut on his chin who needed stitches. Ten minutes later, some Dermabond glue, steri strips and a popsicle, and we were on our way home. Piece of cake! Ha!! He's fine now--it's healed quite nicely, besides the reaction he got from the darn Bandaid! :)

And now, for some fun pictures with no dramatic stories! God is good---we have healthy, happy children, and wonderful friends who we love so much. Our best friends are moving away this summer (only an hour and a half away, but I still am going to miss sweet moments like this, which I'm sure won't happen nearly enough anymore). :(

Gorgeous Tyler

Cutie pie Gibson

Silly Sanders

I think these might be some of my favorite pictures we've ever taken of these children. I can't wait for Whitt to be able to join them! Only a few more months, I'm sure!

Swagger Wagon

2010-05-05T21:24:00.003-04:00

I don't have a swagger wagon (sorry, minivan moms, I just can't do it), but this video is awesome!!!! Love it!! :)

Holiday-lover

2010-04-24T21:26:00.003-04:00

So Grayson is my little holiday-lover (and Cheerios-lover, as seen on his shirt). He loves any kind of holiday, so this time of year thrills him. First, there was Valentine's Day. We heard "Happy Valentine's Day!" for weeks. Then it was my birthday, followed by St. Patrick's Day. Easter came shortly afterward. Next up, Ben's birthday. A few days ago was Earth Day. Oh, how Grayson loved Earth Day. He wished us a "Happy Earth Day" fifty times at least that day. That afternoon he came down with a yucky throat virus and ended up spending the night in our bed with a high fever. Yesterday morning, he woke up and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Happy Earth Day!". When I told him that it wasn't Earth Day anymore, his face fell and his response: "well, just because it's not Earth Day anymore doesn't mean that we can't pick up trash, right?". Oh, how I love this kid!!! :)

Princess Emma

2010-04-23T11:23:00.003-04:00

...has all of a sudden gotten into dressing up and I am loving it. She is also totally into monster trucks, but I'll take every bit of princess that I can get! :)

Top 10 baby faves

2010-04-22T21:08:00.004-04:00

I've had several friends give birth in recent weeks, so babies have been on the brain lately, so I thought it would be fun to do a top ten post. These are in no particular order, and I'm not being compensated in any way by any of these companies (hey, but if anybody feels like compensating me, feel free to!). :)

1. Homedics Soundspa Lullaby sound machine. We have always used sound machines with our kiddos, but the ones we used with Grayson and EC weren't very loud so I decided to try a different one with Whitt. I love this thing---it is LOUD, drowns out the noise from the other children, and has a cute projector that shines a little scene onto the ceiling for the baby to watch. The only downside is that the projector is supposed to rotate the scene on the ceiling, and the projector stopped rotating on the second day we owned it, but it hasn't been a big deal. We turn the projector at night to use as sort of a night light, and use the sound machine portion during naps and at night.

2. Green Sprouts stacking cups set Stacking cups are always a perfect baby toy, and I love this brand in particular because they are PVC, phthalate, BPA-free and made from eco-friendly materials. Stacking cups probably rank in my top three baby toys of all time---you can grab a couple when you're on the go, they can be used in the bath, babies love to chew on them, stack them, bang them...the possibilities are endless. At less than $6, these are a great gift as well!

3. Shopping cart cover. I cannot live without this thing. This isn't the one I have for Whitt, but it looks just like the one I had for Emma Claire....in fact, I'm trying to sell hers if you are interested! :) I love shopping cart covers mostly because they keep baby's hands and mouth off of that nasty shopping cart---who knows what gross germs are all over that thing?? It also provides a comfy place for baby to sit and an extra buckle when baby is still learning to sit up. I got Whitt's cart cover from Paisley Pineapple on Etsy---her products are adorable, and I highly suggest you go check her out! :)

4. Aden and Anais muslin baby blankets. There's not a whole lot to say about these blankets except that they are pretty much perfect. They're the perfect size, the perfect weight, and you can use them for everything. You can swaddle with them, use as a nursing cover, lay on the ground to put baby on top of, cover baby up in the car seat or stroller, play peek-a-boo, the list goes on..... We live in a fairly warm climate and I love that the the muslin keeps the baby warm but doesn't make the baby too warm, if that makes sense. I give these blankets as a baby gift all the time, and believe that you can never have too many Aden and Anais---AND I recently heard that Target now sells them!

5. Miracle Blanket. Oh, Miracle Blanket, I probably couldn't have survived the past four and a half years and kept my sanity without you. All three of my children had to be swaddled, and when I say "had to", I mean they could not fall asleep or stay asleep without being in the Miracle Blanket. We were hardcore swaddlers---so hardcore that poor Grayson was in the "straight jacket" as more than one of our friends/family members called it, until he was 9 months old, and Emma Claire and Whitt were in it until they were 6 months old. We were judged like crazy, but the Miracle Blanket was a lifesaver with all three children and it was our #1 baby product all three times. Love, love, love this thing, and if you have a child who likes to be swaddled, I promise you will love it as much as we did.

6. Fisher Price Papasan Swing. I'm pretty sure everybody who has a baby these days has this swing so I won't say much about it because if you have a baby you already know how awesome this swing is, but it most definitely rocks my world. EC and Whitt both slept in it more than they did the bassinet (while swaddled in the Miracle Blanket, of course!) in their first few months. The side-by-side swinging motion puts babies right to sleep---Fisher Price knew what they were doing when they invented this puppy!

7. Britax Marathon convertible car seat. One of the safest car seats on the market, super-comfy, and so easy to install/uninstall. I love that it rear-faces up to 35 pounds and forward-faces up to 65 pounds. The LATCH system is super-easy to use as well. I'm a car seat nazi and have a car seat safety post brewing in my head....stay tuned for that sometime soon. I know you all are on the edge of your seats for that one! :)

8. Summer Infant handheld video monitor. Love this thing so much that we have two--one in Whitt's room and one in Emma Claire's room. The customer service for Summer is great, too. I had an incident a couple of years ago where the screen broke (user error, not because of a faulty product), and all I had to do was call the company and they immediately sent me a new one along with a prepaid box for the broken one. I recommend this to all new moms---I've had a regular monitor without the video and this is absolutely worth the extra money!

9. Mustela Dermo-Cleansing and Baby Shampoo. Mustela is my all-time favorite baby wash and shampoo....it smells soooooo good!! The lotion is a little strong so I use the wash and shampoo, and then an unscented Aveeno lotion on Whitt. There is nothing like a freshly washed baby...YUM!!

10. Lastly, my Baby Jogger City Series Double stroller is probably in my top three of my favorites (remember this list isn't in any kind of order). I love that it's narrow enough to fit through doorways, it can handle bumpy terrain, the seats recline, the shade comes way down to block the sun, there are plenty of vents in the sides and in the shades, the handlebar is adjustable for this tall mama (not a lot of strollers work for tall parents!), and it's easy to maneuver. I have used it several times a week for almost three years and it's still in great condition. It was definitely a splurge but it's gotten so much use that it was definitely worth splurging for.

And there you have it! Next up will be the top five things that were a waste of money.... :)

Cute giveaway!

2010-04-21T14:46:00.001-04:00

Be sure to check out my friend Jen's blog, I'm a NOLA Girl, for a really cute giveaway today (and more every day this week)!

Fun with friends

2010-04-19T15:45:00.005-04:00

Our friends the Hogans came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. They were our neighbors a few years ago when Grayson, Sanders, and Henry were babies, and then they moved away to Maryland (sniff, sniff...) but thankfully we've stayed close friends and have managed to get together a few times a year despite the distance between us. Our children are literally days apart in age and always have a blast together, and this time was no different. Gretchen is expecting their third baby in July, and we can't wait to find out if Whitt will have a new best friend or girlfriend! Here are a few of the millions of pictures I took while they were here....

Grayson being silly in the park...

Ruby and Emma Claire

future model? :)

The whole gang, minus Whitt: Gibson, EC, Ruby, Sanders, Grayson, Henry, and Tyler...

...and then Whitt joined them for a picture but Henry wasn't interested. :)

My monkeys on Easter morning

Best buds Grayson and Henry at the playground

We love you, Hogies, and had the best time with you. We can't wait to meet the newest little Hogan, and know that he or she will fit right in with our crazy little crowd! :)

Healthy again!

2010-04-07T11:22:00.003-04:00

Everybody in our house is happy and healthy again, and the streak of bad luck has disappeared (thank goodness!). We had a wonderful spring break and Easter, which we enjoyed with some fabulous friends who spent a few days with us from Maryland. Another post with more pictures coming shortly---I just wanted to update with a happier post....that doom and gloom post was getting a little old! :)

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!

2010-03-28T14:44:00.004-04:00

What a crazy week we have had!! From Friday to Friday, our week included:

RSV (Whitt)
strep throat (Emma Claire)
stomach bug (Ben)
104 degree fever/ear infection (Whitt)
sprained ankle (me)
me backing into Emma Claire's teacher's car
the police visiting our house because a neighbor didn't like where the men doing our yard work were putting the leaves and yard debris so they called and reported us (RIDICULOUS, and the police just laughed, thank goodness)
our cat taking an enormous dump on a rug
a toilet overflowing onto the floor
two sinks and a bathtub stopping up

...and I could go on, but you get the picture. At one point I wondered if we were on candid camera or something. This has just not been our week! Thankfully, everybody is feeling better except for poor Whitt. He just cannot shake this RSV and we're well into week two of it. The ear infection I'm sure doesn't help things, but please say some prayers that his cough and wheezing start to ease up soon. The good news is that he's really been healthy up until this point, so at least it's not anything he's had to deal with for a long time--and this is his first ear infection and the first time he's been on antibiotics, so I don't think that's too bad for an almost-9-month old.

In other news, it's SPRING BREAK, baby!!!! Grayson and EC have the week off from school and we are so excited to have a whole week to do lots of fun things together. We are trying to plan as many fun things as we can around Whitt's therapy schedule, and the weather is supposed to be beautiful so that's an added bonus. We're babysitting Emma Claire's class pet, Belle, the guinea pig, for the week---so all fingers are crossed that we can keep Belle alive, especially after our week of bad luck and the warning from EC's teacher that Belle is very old so "please don't feel badly if you wake up one day and he's not alive anymore." Great, that's all I need!!!! :)

Happy Spring Break, everybody!

Proud mommy moment

2010-03-23T20:43:00.003-04:00

Look at who learned how to write his name today!!!!! My heart almost burst with pride for my sweet boy, who has been working SO hard to learn how to do this!

On a lighter note....

2010-03-17T15:30:00.005-04:00

The sad thing is this wasn't even staged. I sent Ben to the store before my Jersey Shore bday party (another post in itself....HILARIOUS!) and was busy getting ready when I walked into the kitchen to find this. Our 8 month old guarding the beer. What fabulous parents we are. :)

Overloaded

2010-03-17T13:31:00.003-04:00

Overloaded. That's the only word I can use to describe how I feel these days. I don't think I've mentioned it on the blog, but I've taken on a "job" of sorts. I'm now the babysitter of my friend Lindsay's two children, Emery (3) and Wilks (6 months). Lindsay is a teacher and went back part-time when her maternity leave was up last month so I now keep her kiddos every afternoon from 11:30 until 4 on Mondays and 12-4 on Tuesdays through Fridays. This means that for four hours every afternoon, I have a 4 year old, a 3 year old, a 2 year old, an 8 month old, and a 6 month old. Yes, overloaded. :)

As if that isn't enough, Whitt has recently been diagnosed with having some significant developmental delays. We've known that he was delayed, and he was referred for OT (occupational therapy) back in December, but referrals are slow around here and a few weeks ago we were still impatiently waiting for him to get in when it occurred to me to try a different OT--one that Grayson went to last year and we LOVED. She wasn't taking new patients but thankfully made an exception and has started seeing Whitt twice a week. She also recommended that he start twice weekly physical therapy, as well as feeding therapy (a whole other story--basically, he won't eat any baby/soft foods due to some sensory issues), so we are now in the beginning stages of several hours per week of OT and PT for Whitt, and hopefully soon we will introduce some feeding therapy. I'm now trying to figure out when I'm going to get to the grocery store, run errands, cook healthy meals, clean this house, etc..... Like I said, overloaded! :)

I apologize if I'm absent from the blog for awhile. I did get a sweet new lens for my camera for my birthday though, so I hope to get a chance to try it on the kiddos soon. If I do, I'll be back to post some pictures. Don't abandon me while I'm gone! :)

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

2010-03-03T17:44:00.004-05:00

My mom sent me this video today, and it was absolutely what I needed to see. It's several minutes long but I highly recommend watching it. It's a great reminder for those of us with young children that we need to cherish these ordinary days---the days where nothing special happens besides sandwiches being made, noses being wiped, books being read, clothes being washed---because eventually these needy children of ours grow up and don't want anything to do with us, and then they eventually graduate high school and turn into adults who don't need us anymore.

The ordinary days that Katrina Kenison talks about--the dandelion bouquets, caterpillars in a jar, ice cream cones, lopsided snowmen--sound so sweet and nostalgic, and I really hope those are the things I one day remember about our "ordinary days." For now, I think they're filled more with dirty diapers, spit up on my shoulder, vacuuming the kitchen floor three times a day, telling a child over and over to stop jumping on the couch, sending children to time-out, cleaning poop off the bedspread, breaking up arguments over a favorite toy, wiping noses and tears and bottoms, listening to screaming when somebody doesn't get their way, picking up toy after toy after toy....I could go on, but I'm sure most of you are living the same life so you get the picture!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did, and I hope it helps put things into perspective like it did for me. I adore my children and although my life is far from glamorous, I wouldn't have it any other way. It won't be like this forever and I need to cherish these ordinary days.

Oh, and get your Kleenex ready! It's a tear-jerker! :)

10th picture

2010-03-01T14:32:00.003-05:00

My friend Jen, from I'm a Nola Girl, did a little game where you go to your pictures on your computer and pick the 10th picture and post it. Here's mine---my sweet Grayson and Emma Claire when EC was a few weeks old and Grayson was almost two. I can't believe how much they've grown, and especially can't believe what a baby Grayson was when his sister was born! :)

Feel free to play along! I'd love to see everybody's pictures!

A hint of Spring

2010-02-27T10:51:00.003-05:00

It was in the high 60's last weekend so the kiddos and I enjoyed a great day at the playground. Whitt got to swing for the first time and he loved it! Spring, please hurry up and get here!!

The rug

2010-02-27T10:48:00.002-05:00

"Mommy, Mommy! You have to come see! We made you a beautiful new rug for the kitchen!" :)

One of the reasons I've been absent from the blog....

2010-02-27T10:18:00.003-05:00

Yes, she is ridiculously adorable, but Miss Emma Claire is not as innocent as she looks. She is wild, daring, adventurous, curious, mischievous, independent, loud, and silly. In the past week, some of the things she has done include (but are not limited to): throwing a cup of water into and all over Grayson's room, swinging from the chandelier in her room and pulling it from the ceiling, coloring on the kitchen floor, coloring on the kitchen table, coloring (with ball point pen) on the couch, biting Grayson's stomach and breaking the skin, putting a chair onto an ottoman and somehow sitting on it without toppling over, having her first accident after being potty trained for months, and pitching a royal fit in TJ Maxx and drawing the attention of every customer in the store. This little girl is wearing me out!!! I don't know what has gotten into her, but it seems like every time I turn my back she is getting into something else. I can only imagine what her teenage years will be like!

As much as I complain about her, I love this child so incredibly much. She is amazingly smart and helpful, can instantly make friends with every child at the park, makes us laugh all the time, talks non-stop, and can entertain herself for hours on end. She is such a girly girl but a tomboy at the same time. She knows how to whine like every other two year old on the planet, but is also so sweet, kind, and affectionate. She adores her big brother and I trust her completely with her baby brother. She's my only female alliance in our house and I don't know what I'd do without her. She makes me crazy many times a day, but she's my sweet EC and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her.

Now I need to go see what disaster she has created while I was writing this post! :)

Cousins

2010-02-27T10:10:00.002-05:00

We love sweet baby Taylor!

Snow!

2010-02-27T10:02:00.004-05:00

Trying to catch up on posts--we've had a lot going on lately! Two weeks ago it SNOWED!!!! From what I've heard, this area hasn't gotten snow since 1989, so this was a huge deal. Grayson and EC got to see snow for the first time and it was so cute. We got about 2 inches but when we woke up it had already started to melt, and was gone by lunchtime. Unfortunately, we don't own heavy coats or mittens/gloves, so we didn't play outside for too long since the kiddos didn't like how cold their hands got. We did make a snowball and eat some snow cream though, and they are still talking about the snow almost daily. Yay for snow! :)

Another great read!

2010-02-15T22:15:00.002-05:00

It seems like everybody is reading or has read The Help by Kathryn Stockett, but if you haven't read it I urge you to get your hands on a copy. It is most definitely one of the best books I have ever read, and I was SO sad when it was over. Does anybody else get down for a couple of days when you finish a really great book, or is it just me? Our book club is discussing it next week and I can hardly wait to hear what everybody else thought about it.

Hello!

2010-02-15T21:57:00.003-05:00

Hope everybody had a good weekend! Our little valentines did! :)