Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Isn't He Dreamy?

I love that it is no unusual circumstance to walk into the kitchen in my home and find that my husband has, once again, outshone me in the culinary department. Although I am reasonably proficient in the kitchen, baking is not my strong suit. Not because I can't do it, it just doesn't occur to me to do so. You see, I grew up in a family where desserts were typically only served on birthdays or major religious holidays (of course, birthdays were by no means an infrequent occurrence in our household of [insert large number here] children). These muffins were just a Saturday impulse of Jessie's from a few weeks ago. Even though he has comparitively limited experience in the kitchen, he's not afraid to get his hands dirty, um, in the mixing bowl. I wish I had a picture of the puffed pancake I found when I finally stumbled out of our bedroom on Sunday morning after a night of quality time with Ingrid and my allergies. It was almost as puffy as my eyes. Jessie nearly always makes breakfast before church on Sunday mornings - and its hardly ever oatmeal. Isn't he dreamy?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

At Least We Try

Trying to get a picture of all three girls together
is like pulling teeth around here.
At least the 7 month old knows what to do
Must maximize the short window of time
in which Eliza will sit still...
Ope... Its gone.
That Eliza!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Would You Believe It?

Would you believe it if I told you that both my sister-in-law and my cousin gave birth this past Saturday? And would you further believe that both gave birth to baby girls? And would you further, further believe that both chose the same name for their baby girl?
You don't believe me? Well you should, because its true. Astounding, isn't it? Well, not so astounding when you consider the fact that my cousin Bree married my husband's brother Josh a couple years back.
With no further ado allow me to present my brand, spankin' new niece/second cousin,
Taylor Patton
Born March 14,2009
7lbs, 18in
Is she sweet or what? I was tickled that they chose the middle name Patton for her. We had that name picked out for Eliza if she had been a boy because it is my Mom's maiden name (and of course, Bree's mom's maiden name as well) and my grandparents had four girls - consequently no one to carry on the family name. Little Taylor will do it proud, I'm sure.

Taylor joins her big sisters Kadyn and Sydney. Yes, they have three girls as well. And Kadyn and Sydney's birthdays are just days apart from Theia's and Eliza's. We live very parallel lives in some respects.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Gumming the Grandparents

Ingrid is already very well-acquainted with her Pennsylvania grandparents even though she has only met them once. She is even on chewing terms with them. My mother-in-law made this cute little toy for Theia when she was about 5 months old since she did not see them often. It is only a photograph between two transparent pieces of contact paper, but it has lasted through all three girls, and it has been a favorite with each of them. Granted, Grandpa and Grandma have a few more wrinkles than they started out with, but I don't think they mind :).

Ingrid carries on a very lively conversation with her favorite teether.

Friday, March 13, 2009

If your right eye offends you...

Up till now I have escaped the scourge of seasonal allergies. Every spring and summer of my life I have watched my afflicted loved ones grow wheezy, red, itchy, and drippy while I sailed merrily along, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, all the while trying to seem as concerned and sympathetic as possible. Not so anymore. I have joined the club and upgraded my membership to the insanely itchy eye package. My right eye in particular. The form of treatment I have found to be most effective is to rub it incessantly with my knuckle take Benadryl. I do not like taking Benadryl for the following reasons 1) I am nursing and I worry about medications affecting Ingrid 2) The side effects work even better than the relief and I don't need to be any more tired than I already am with a baby who thinks she needs a snack at least 3 times most nights and a husband who is recovering from abdominal surgery (that's right, no lifting). I'm wondering if there are any eye drops that would help allergy itching at all. I used some Dry Eyes drops that didn't help at all. Anybody know? This is an unexpected side effect of moving to Florida.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

...In which we receive visitors, and have a lovely frolic at the beach.

Last week we had the pleasure of entertaining our first house guests since we moved to Florida. Its lousy that we don't live nearby, but quite fortunate that we actually live somewhere that people would want to visit, especially during these months. They were the best houseguests ever. They even spent a night of their stay babysitting so we could go on a date!
Jessie had to be at a meeting the day John, Penny, and Ethan arrived so I had to pack up
all three girls in our minivan to pick them up from the airport. John had to sit between two carseats for the 45 minute ride. Theia and Eliza were thrilled with this arrangement.
It was fun to add a boy to the lineup for five days.
Ethan is such a delightful little guy to have around.
The girls love to make him laugh, and they're pretty good at it.
We went to the beach on the one day that the weather cooperated with us.
The mean meteorologists went and changed their minds on us again.
(who do they think they are, anyway?)
With my sister Penny (who is a gem among women)
and our babies.
Ethan was diggin' the sand.
Is that a cute nephew or what!
Speaking of really hot mamas and perfect beach shots,
how bout this one? Ingrid's first feel of the ocean. She loved it!
Penny, John, and Ethan