Cookies

I had so much fun a few weeks ago baking Pumpkin Bread with Cooper that I took the opportunity this afternoon when he woke up early from a nap to do some baking with him again. This time we made Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Kitchen Aid Mixer did a lot of the work but Cooper was still able to pour in ingredients and to 'wow' and 'uh oh' as he watched the batter combine.

He wasn't very interested in watching the cookies bake.

But he loved the cookies scoop.
As soon as the first batch were out my little taste tester was ready to go.
He didn't tell me but I think he liked them as this was his face...

four cookies later.

Yum.

Last week Cooper was on a nap strike. That or he has signed up for some sport that requires him to be able to jump 3 feet high and he was diligently practicing over the side of his crib. On Thursday afternoon I finally moved him into the playroom so that at least Bailey could have her beauty rest. I was in the process of making vegetables stock (my new favorite past time) and decided to whip up a few quick breads. I decided that it might be fun to make some bread with Cooper as my sous chef. I brought him downstairs and put him on the island and set about explaining what everything was and letting him, after I measured everything, add it to the mixing bowls. It was a tad bit messy but it was so much fun. We both had a blast. I was a little worried that it may not tasted as well because a few ingredients missed the bowl but I figured the experience was worth it. I even made a few mega-muffins and let him put the crumb topping on, he put all of the crumb topping on one muffin.

They have turned out to be the best pumpkin muffins and bread I have ever eaten. Bailey agrees with me. This morning we had the last of our Ego waffles (there appears to be a nation wide shortage) and I was eating some of the Pumpkin bread. Bailey wasn't eating her waffle so I went over and asked if she was done eating. She looked up at me and said "I want pumpkin". And I'm a big fat sucker. Because hearing my 22 month old daughter say that she wants a food that I wouldn't even try until I was 26 made me go back on one of hang ups to never let my children eat something other than the thing I made for them. But fresh bread is so much better than frozen belgian waffles that I couldn't resist. We ended up all partaking in the delicious bread Coop made last week.

I can't wait to make Christmas Cookies with them.

My Little Girl

It is no secret that I have no fashion sense, I never do my hair and very seldom wear make-up.
I have never been much of a girly girl. Never been fond of dresses or things in my hair, could have cared less about the prom. But having a little girl is so different. I love to put Bailey in dresses and bows in her hair. I think tights are the best and bright colors a must.

There are days when I think of myself as a better 'boy' mom than a girl mom and I have already thought that if we do have two more children, I would be OK if there were both boys. But I am so grateful for Bailey. There is just something about having a little girl, it really is something special and I truly got lucky with mine.

Even when she points her finger at me, says 'NO' and walks sassily away from me, I still love her.

Goats are Good Fun

...if you're a toddler.

We have visited a local orchard here in Virginia three times in the last five days. Maybe it's because of my love for apple crisp, or the desire to overuse my nifty apple peeler/corer/slicer I got last year for Christmas form my mother-in-law. Could be the feeling of guilt that overcomes me when I think of my grandmother not getting her Stayman apples.

But really it's just the way that Bailey responds to the orchard's pet goats. Even after her fourth time there this fall she still thinks they are amazing.

October Already.

Time is going by so fast, too fast if you ask me. Since Sean has been born all the kids have gained several pounds and the adults have all lost a few pounds. Todd and I have starting running completing one 10 mile race (Todd) one four mile race (Alexis) and two 5ks. Both of the twins have fallen and gotten fat lips. We've been to the Orchard twice, a hay maze, a pumpkin patch and a corn maze. We have petted many a goat and seen some pigs and sheep along the way. We have been to a Sourghum Festival and a Garlic Festival. We have done a fair bit of dancing and singing and some of us have shown quite an interest in the guitar. We have all decided that Pumpkin Bread is one of the best things fall has to offer and that rain is just a symptom of the season that we're bound to come acustom to. We have been busy. We have been tired. We have taken over two thousand pictures. Now we will begin to post some of them.

Really.

I promise.

Tomorrow, though.

We're just so tired and busy.

I started this post weeks ago but am only just getting it posted today. I have over a thousand pictures I'm about to sit down and go through and I promise, promise that we will post again soon.

If we aren't to tired.

Introducing...

Big Brother Cooper




Big Sister Bailey


AND...

Sean August Orion
8 lbs 12 oz
20.5 inches
August 20th, 2009
4:05 pm

I've Been Challenged, Well, Sort Of

I realize I haven't posted very often lately, so I am challenging myself (due to a comment on another of my blogs) to post three times a week. We'll see how long that lasts.

I have been thinking for some time now that I needed to change my blog header. The thing was/is that I really liked my old blog header from when the twins were 7 months old. But now that photo is over a year old so I figured I had better choose another photo. The real challenge there is in finding an OK shot of both kids. Getting twins in the same frame is hard enough and even when you do it is often with them crying or looking away from the camera.

We've been going to the pool a lot and I stumbled across a photo today that about sums up the last month for us, so I played around with it on Lightroom and there you go, our new blog header. May be temporary or it may be there for a year.

Father's Day

I realize I have not been very good about posting updates but I'm big, busy and tired so please excuse my lack of posting. I was going to post pictures of our trip to Arizona and California but now, almost a month later I realize that task is just to massive to handle right now. So we had a great time, the kids loved Disney and getting to see everyone. OK, shall we move on? Great.

Last year for Father's Day I had a lady who makes cakes make a cake for Todd. Then we hid it and surprised him after family dinner. Unfortunately, for me Todd doesn't like cakes or surprises. I was angry at his lack of enthusiasm and declared that I wasn't going out of my way for Father's Day anymore. So this year I had my brother and his girlfriend go out of their way for someone who isn't even their father. Worked out beautifully!

I wanted to get Todd flowers for Father's Day, but not any old flowers. I wanted to get him Daisies from Edible Arrangements, that is until I saw the price. I was pondering the idea of making them myself when Tyler and Jordan offered to do it for me. They stayed up late the night before Father's Day dipping dozen pineapple daisies, not all of which made the arrangement. Then they snuck it over Sunday morning while Todd was helping move my mom. When he got home that afternoon he smiled and said 'how much did I pay for that?'. To which I replied $85. He was about to go into cardiac arrest when I told him the truth. He was quite surprised and he loved the chocolate dipped pinapple, just like we thought he would.

If you want to get Todd something special, it's pineapple. That morning for breakfast he was going to eat pineapple and I told him that he couldn't because I needed the pineapple for the kabobs I was making for dinner. So when he was out packing up my mom do you want to know what he had for lunch? A pineapple fruit cup from Sheetz. So when he got home to his flowers that afternoon all he had had to eat all day... was pineapple.

Here are some pictures of the arrangement that only looked like this for about 10 minutes, at which point all the cantaloupe was gone as well as half the pineapple. Did I mention our kids love pineapple too?

The super big mug says "World's Best Dad, Hands Down" and has Bailey and Coopers hand prints on it.

May The Force Always Be With You

When we were in Arizona a few weeks ago all of Cooper's older male cousins seemed to have Light Sabers. Cooper was very envious so we did what any parent on a budget would do, we came straight home and bought him one. This is him on day one of his Jedi training.

Happy Mothers Day

I just want a small piece of you
a token to put in my pocket
and I will own that one thing
and it would make me happy
I just want a small piece of you
somethin to put in a locket
and i will look at it daily
and that will make me happy

I guess it's human nature to want to hold you very still
I guess it's in a mother to inject a little guilt
Go on son and see the world;
I hope you see it all
But please please please don't forget to call

Free to fly free to go free to not look back
That's how free I want you though it scares me half to death
Free to wander miles and miles and free to come back home
That's how free I want you though it chills me to the bone...
Go on son and spread your wings;
I hope that you take flight
But please please please don't forget to write

I know you're just a baby sleeping in your bed
And you probably have other thoughts drifting through your head
I know this conversation's a little premature
It's just that I've heard eighteen years goes by like a blur

-Sara Groves "Small Piece of you"

To all the mothers out there, have a happy mother's day.

23 Week Ultrasound

The baby is most definitely a boy. We have had three ultrasounds and at each one it has been rather clear, one tech even told us to 'definitely' buy blue. We had a third ultrasound last Friday because the video from the previous session hadn't worked. The tech, possibly feeling sorry for Todd that he couldn't be there, switched the ultrasound over to 3D for a few minutes, it was really quite neat to say the least. It makes me even more excited for his arrival.

I hope to have more pictures posted soon but blogger in draft is causing too much of a headache at the moment.

Xavier's birthday weekend!

Xavier turned 2 on Friday and my Dad and Grandmother came in to spend the weekend with us. Saturday morning there was a party at my sister's house and Saturday night we had everyone over for dinner. After dinner we took our little quads outside as it has finally gotten warmer here.Bailey talking on the phone bark.The birthday boy. Two already.

Tyler and Jordan, aren't they a cute couple?

Grandpa Tony.Coop loving on his daddy.Chicken?Not much of a lap dog anymore.Isn't he cute?Bailey was trying to put flowers in her hair.Playing with a snake. Todd always has to have some fake snakes around. I'm not really sure why.

It is increasingly difficult to get these two in the same frame.

Easter Sunday

We had Easter at my Aunt's house and it is not exactly child friendly so we took the kids outside on a eggless sort of hunt.  They ran off some energy and had a good time.  Cousin Xavier.Bailey-girl.

(Coop brought his own eggs, smart kid)  We tried to mohawk Coop's hair but it is just too thick, even post haircut.  Thanks Pam for the Easter clothes.

Our first PB&J

I don't know why but I really wanted the kids to try peanut butter so at their 15 month well visit I asked our pediatrician.  He told us to go ahead, that most people (doctors?) now think that more children have allergies when they aren't given peanuts until 2 or 3 years old.  So on Easter we decided to give them their first sandwhich.  You may find these pictures in messy, but I absolutely love them.(This is Coop the day before trying out his new booster seat.  He was eating a PB sandwhich only).  This is pre-haircut.This is Coop post haircut enjoying jam.  Yes, we use grape jam.  You won't find jelly here.Crazy mohawk girl.They really enjoyed it.

The Easter Egg Hunt

So I have been planning on posting pictures from our Easter Egg hunt a few weeks back, I have just been a combination of too busy, too tired and too lazy, so at last here they are:Mean Girl #1 who still had her stitches in at the time.Coop looking a little silly.I thought it may be too early to do an egg hunt but all of the kids did really well.  My sister and her family came over and we had breakfast and then we went hunting.  On the hunt.Chris caught Daddy having a great time.The kids were so proud of their find.

I kept trying to tell them they weren't real eggs, but it turns out it doesn't matter to Bailey.Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

And by the way.  In the hopes of not sounding idiotic, what is MBC under 100?  I love all the visitors and comments, I was just wondering what it is :)  Thanks for stopping by.