Arkansas weather

It's been a cold, rainy day here. Lane volunteered at an inner-city medical clinic this morning, which he really enjoyed. He hopes to sign up for another time in March. He then had to study for the remainder of the day. The kids and I stayed inside all day. We played "Jason's Deli Restaurant", watched too many cartoons and made strawberry milkshakes. (By the way, Rhett was the manager and chef of the environmentally-friendly pretend restaurant. He brought a basket to the table and told me to put everything in it when we were finished with our meal. He said, "We sort through everything: we wash the dishes and use them more times, we put the things like banana peels in the compost pile and we pick the seeds out the apples to plant and grow new trees so we'll have more apples for the restaurant.")

This evening, we made a quick trip to the clothing store where I photographed the possible portrait dresses last week (thank you for your comments and suggestions--I appreciated the input!). I thought their sale ended today (it's actually tomorrow), so I wanted to go ahead and get A's dress. I decided to try my top two choices on her--the all white one and the white and pink one. I really thought I would probably get the plain white one, but this one seemed to fit just a little better and the little bit of pink seemed really sweet on her. So I went with this one:
I didn't get a bow, socks, etc. today because the kids were in the dressing room slamming the door over and OVER, and I felt like we were driving the sales lady crazy. We'll figure out shoes/accessories later, but I'm glad to have this decided on before Crosby arrives. Now if it will just stop snowing so the azaleas can bloom, we'll be in good shape!

We have a few jonquils blooming along our front sidewalk, but can you see the sleet falling on them? It was sleeting when we left for the clothing store...
...and snowing hard by the time we left there to go meet Lane at McAlister's for dinner. I took this from the car. You just never know about Arkansas weather. Three days ago we were at the park and Rhett was wearing shorts. I think the poor Bradford Pear trees might have rushed spring a bit.Well, I said at week 30 that I was done posting pictures, but I decided to do a 35 week photo just for the sake of documentation (warning--it might scare you!). Maybe I'll do one more "on the way to the hospital" photo at 40 weeks (or hopefully a few days before that). I was glad Alexee wanted to be in the picture with me. Rhett was the photographer.

Yikes! 35 weeks tomorrow:

It has been a truly happy, healthy pregnancy. I'm so thankful for that. It is, however, getting more and more difficult to take a deep breath, keep up with Alexee, lift her into her car seat, crib, etc. I'm also finding it difficult to get comfortable at night. I wake up a lot. But I want to cherish these last 5 weeks of pregnancy because this is it for us (assuming no BIG surprises from the Good Lord). Even though I feel like Crosby is the perfect way to complete our family, the thought of closing this special chapter of my life hurts my heart a little bit. I'm extremely grateful that I've had the blessing of experiencing God's miracle of new life.

Warm day

We took advantage of the warmer day today and went to the park. The wind was blowing, but it was nice just to be outside getting some fresh air!
R's friend, Lawson:
Rhett & Garret:

Happy Birthday, Nicole!

Happy Birthday (tomorrow) to my wonderful college roommate, Nicole!
I hope you have a great day!

(Nicole, it's sad that this is the most recent photo I have of us...my wedding day in 2001! We definitely need to get together more often! Thinking of you today...miss you and hope to see you soon!)

New Birthday Album

I finally did an album of Alexee's birthday. See HERE.

Portrait dresses

I'm now on a two week schedule for my OB visits, and they didn't have an appointment available on Alexee's school day so she went with me this time. It might have actually made it go faster--I think they were trying to hurry up and get us out of there. I took a stack of books and a bag of snacks and juice, and she was really good. She didn't want to talk to the nurse, and at first she didn't want to look at or talk to Dr. B, but after he complimented her cute shoes, she started liking him (he has three daughters, so I guess he knows what to talk about). Thankfully, everything seems fine at this point in the pregnancy (34+ weeks). We heard his hearbeat and everything else is right on target. I asked him how to know when it's time to go to the hospital if I start having contractions at home (I've been induced both times before, and he said we could do that again around week 39 if C doesn't decide to come early). I have a small fear of going into labor, it moving very quickly and not being able to reach Lane at school during one of his tests or something! Rhett could probalby handle driving me to the hospital--he has an excellent sense of direction--but I'd really like for Lane to be present!

Here we are waiting for the doctor to come in. It's weird for me to think that Alexee won't be the "baby" of the family in about five short weeks. Of course I still think of her and Rhett both as my "babies", and always will, but she'll probably seem so grown up once Crosby arrives. I know Rhett seemed so much older when we brought Alexee home from the hospital. Speaking of growing up, it's time to have A's 2 year portrait made. I cherish the portrait we have of Rhett at that age, and look forward to hanging Alexee's beside his. He wore khaki pants, a blue button-down shirt and a little sweater vest in his picture. I stopped by a children's clothing store yesterday and snapped a few pictures of dress possibilities for her. I wanted Lane to vote. I think I like either the plain white one or the white one with pink at the top. What do you think?

Lane voted for this one:
Will I regret not doing pink, since I'm going to have a house full of boys?
This yellow one is very sweet, but should I stick to basics, pink or white?
I like this one a lot:
The timing of her portrait might be a little tricky. I wanted to wait and do it when the azaleas are in bloom here (they're always gorgeous!) like we did for R's portrait. The thing is, the few weeks that they're in bloom will likely be right when C is born. Hopefully it will all work out.

Broccoli Salad Recipe

I made this tonight:

Broccoli Salad

Mix:
1 head broccoli (tips only), cut in small pieces
1 small red onion, chopped (I used less than that)
1 cup raisins
1 pkg. real bacon pieces (or 10 bacon strips fried and crumbled, if you want to do it the long way!)

1 cup sunflower seeds, optional (I forgot to buy these)

Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sugar
2 T vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix the dressing. Add the broccoli, onion, raisins and bacon that have been mixed. Add sunflower seeds to top of salad, if desired. Chill 1-2 hours before serving.

Sweetness: siblings, cinnamon rolls & cookies

Some days Rhett and Alexee get along better than others. Yesterday was one of those great days where they played together all day long, and R was super sweet to his little sis. We stayed home all day, which is unusual. I did tons of laundry, ironed clothes (and C's new sheets), cleaned toilets--that sort of fun stuff--while they played in a heap of pillows, played chase and bundled up to play in the back yard. It makes me so happy to see them getting along. They probably don't even realize yet what a blessing it is to have a sibling. My sister and I used to fight a lot growing up (we're 5 1/2 years apart, so I think the age difference was a factor in that...well, that and I was just plain mean). But now that age gap is insignificant, and we're great friends--I'm so thankful to have a sister! I hope Rhett & Alexee (& Crosby, too) will always be close friends.
I peeked out to check on them and they had their little lawn chairs side-by-side with their feet propped up on the edge of the deck. Alexee likes to do everything he does. I might have posted about these hot rolls before--I can't remember. This is what we had for Saturday breakfast. It's a great mix that makes yummy cinnamon rolls (recipe on the side of the box). It was another occasion to use my new pastry mat, and once again, I was not disappointed. If you ever roll out crusts, cookie dough, etc., find a Pampered Chef rep and order one today!

After breakfast, Lane moved all the "junk" from C's room to the office. He assembled the extra bed in the nursery, moved the changing table from A's room and arranged the other furniture in the nursery. The office is scary (we're seriously considering just boarding up the door and never going in there again so we don't have to sort through everything), but the nursery is looking nice! I didn't take any pictures yet because I want to finish some things in there first, but I will soon. Dad is going to help me with a vintage-vehicle painting during our next trip to Flippin, we need to hang other pictures, find a duvet cover for the bed and colorful pillows for the bed and chair, etc. I feel SO much better just having this much done though. The room is clean and the crib is ready, so if he decides to arrive early he at least has a place to sleep (not that there's much of that the first few weeks!).

Mom e-mailed me this evening asking for a cookie recipe that I used to make. She had a new bottle of orange extract from a Christmas gift basket, and thought of these...a great use of orange extract, in my opinion! I haven't made them in a long time, but they're yummy. Here's what they're supposed to look like:

Chocolate-Dipped Orange Melts

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. orange extract, divided
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
sugar
1 pkg. (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 T vegetable shortening

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, cream butter and 1 cup sugar until fluffy. Add egg, 1/2 tsp. orange extract, and vanilla; beat until smooth. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Shape teaspoonsful of dough into balls and place 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten balls with bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake 5-7 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

In a small saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining 1/2 tsp. orange extract. Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Chill cookies to allow chocolate to harden. Place in single layers between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container. Store in a cool place.

Yield: about 6 dozen cookies

Mighty to Save

Muffins, boxing, lunch with Grandparents, etc.

The kids love to make muffins--I think they like helping make them more than eating them. Rhett likes chocolate chip muffins, so that's what we made this morning. Now that Alexee is big enough to help, there's a little competition involved...who gets to put the most liners in the pan, who gets to spray them, etc.
Lane bought a Wii a while back. Rhett's played it a few times, but hasn't really seemed too interested in it (his attention span is about like mine). For some reason he thought of it yesterday and wanted to play. He's playing the boxing game below. Lane said he'd improved a lot at the golf and bowling games. He also had fun creating the Wii characters (not sure what the term is for those?)--we laughed about some of the ones he designed. One of them was Crosby, which he named "Trouble". This morning R had a haircut, then we met L's parents for lunch at P.F. Changs ("the place with the big horse" as R calls it). I regret not taking a picture of the kids with Grammy and Bobba there, but we all had our hands full between Rhett poking people with chopsticks and Alexee playing musical chairs and sampling everyone's food. There wasn't much time for photos.

Tonight our friend, Amy, stopped by to pick up a painting. It was great to see her! I couldn't get R to cooperate for a photo with her because he was in his silly mode (sorry, Amy) since he was excited to have company. She babysat Rhett a lot when he was a baby, and he always loved her (we did, too!). While she was here, Alexee climbed on the couch beside Bogart and put one of her pink blankies over him and covered herself up with the other one. It was so cute--I had to grab the camera. Bogart has always been so good with the kids--he's a great family dog. I would recommend a schnauzer to anyone!

Sunday

Ready for church. Poptart in one hand, pink blankie in the other

I was excited to get to dress Alexee in her new cherry dress for church yesterday. I thought she looked like a little doll! She even left her bow in for a while.
Rhett looked handsome, too. He likes to wear his cowboy boots to church. He got this neat guitar from his Bobba & Grammy at Christmas. He's been making up songs and even singing Alexee good-night songs. He came into her room a few nights ago while I was rocking her and asked if he could sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" to her. I said, "Sure, she'd love that." So he started playing (his version) and singing, then Alexee joined right in. It was cute. He says he's going to take the guitar and play/sing "Our God Reigns" at Mo & Granddad's church next time he's there.
Yesterday afternoon we were invited to a friend's 1st birthday party. It was a really fun firetruck-themed party, and he looked so cute in his smocked firetruck outfit. Here he is checking out his very own cake:
There were firetruck crafts on each table for the kids to work on.
And hot dogs and chips and juice...and yummy cake. Alexee skipped right to the cake.
Rhett liked the cool hats for the kids. He somehow got completely stuck in a chair at one point, but I was talking to someone and not paying attention. I looked over and one of the dads was trying to free Rhett from his chair!
Then last night I went to the store after the kids went to bed. I was exhausted, but I'm so glad I made myself get that task over with. Today was my day to cook for our meal "club", and I made this casserole recipe that I found out about from my friend, Tracie. I also made a Pina Colada Cake. Have you ever made one? They're easy and good (and I don't even really like coconut, but I like this cake for some reason). My Great-Grandmother used to make this.

Pina Colada Cake
--1 box white cake mix--bake in 9x13" pan according to box directions
--poke holes all over it once it's done and slightly cooled, then pour one can of cream of coconut over the whole cake.
--Once completely cooled, top with a container of Cool Whip and sweetened, flaked coconut.
--Refrigerate.
I also finished a name painting for C's room this weekend. I can't wait to get his room together. Lane painted the office on Saturday, so we're ready to move furniture. I'll post pictures once everything is where it belongs.

Volcano kit

Last fall Rhett gave a buddy of his a volcano kit for his birthday. I later thought that Rhett would probably have fun with it too, so I picked up another one at Hobby Lobby a while back. I'd forgotten about buying it, but recently found it when sorting through some stuff in the closet. R was anxious to try it out, so we started it last weekend. We did the plaster volcano on Saturday, painted it on Sunday and made it erupt today. It was a fun little project and not too messy or complicated. One of R's favorite parts was placing the "DANGEROUS!" sign right at the base of the volcano.
Mixing the plaster:Painting portion of the activity:
(R's not smoking...that's a sucker stick)
Time to add the baking soda and vinegar and watch it go (it was more colorful the first eruption when we used our last two drops of red food coloring):
The "Dangerous" sign, carefully placed:

Valentine's Day party & pies

We dropped by R's MDO class this morning for the Valentine's Day party. The week started off rough, so I hadn't even planned on taking him, but Alexee's well and he wanted to go so we did. He took a bag of Scooby Doo valentines. Some of the others brought cards & candy tied up with cute ribbon and computer-printed to/from labels, etc. I'm kinda over all that though, and life is much less stressful that way. I was just happy to have remembered to grab the box of Scooby valentines on Wednesday--two whole days early!

Alexee likes to go to R's classroom. She helps herself to markers, paper, toys, snacks, etc. Rhett was sweet about sitting with her.
Her Aunt Kala got her this dress for her birthday--she looked so sweet!This is R and his friend, Thea. He talks about her a lot--she's really cute. She looked at me and said, "Your belly is really big. Is there a baby in there?" I told her that before long Rhett would have a new baby brother (then we can really crash school parties)!
These were the valentine sacks they'd made. Rhett said, "These are so big I could get a giraffe for Valentine's Day."
Mrs. Susan snapped a picture of us:
R & his teacher:
Showing one of his crafts:

******

And it's time once again for the annual Valentine cherry pies. This was my first time to make pie crusts using the new dough mat (don't know the official name of it) that I accidentally received from my sister's Pampered Chef party. It was with my order, and I asked Mic if it belonged to someone else, but it remained a mystery.....sooooo, I decided to keep it. It's the best thing ever--I love it! It's way easier than my small cutting board with a bumpy texture that I've tried to use for pie crusts in the past. It even has circle measurements for making certain size crusts.


Well, the oven timer went off and they smell good...off to try a piece.

Happy Valentine's Day!