HA

These girls crack me up. Sometimes they are just so cute that I have to grab my camera. Well, Kendall had no problem letting me snap one of her but Kate did not want to participate. Kendall asked, "Do you want me to put my hand out like this and pretend that Kate is here (her arm 'around' her sister). HA, yeah, that will be perfect honey, just like that.

Finally Kate agreed to let me take her picture, only a little bit of bribing was required.

I realized today that Kate thinks the song "Skip to my lou" is about her because we always call her Lou, Sissy Lou, or Lou Lou. 

Right Now

Right now...we never finish what we start out to do. The girls had big plans of playing in the sprinkler. They got their bathing suits on and set out to work together to get their rooms clean before we headed out. They have been in there awhile just playing together, wonder if we'll ever make it to the sprinkler.

Right now....I can't get enough water, I chug it non-stop. If you hand me a bottle I can finish it off before I take a single breath. If it's cold Jack squirms in my belly a lot : )

Right now...my hubby is getting more and more involved in local politics. He was already involved in one board and the chamber of commerce and today he was invited to join a second board.

Last night.....I slept, a good, uninterrupted sleep. It was so good I know those sleeps are about to become extinct.

Last night...she slept well too.

In The Kitch

A rounded momma and her big girl on a date night with Daddy.

Lots of grilling happening in our house this summer. I'm usually such a foodie and love planning and making meals but with the afternoon pregnancy exhaustion that job has kind of dropped off my priorities list. I mentioned to Brian how maybe he should take over responsibility for one dinner a week. He said that he thought he already did more then one meal a week. I was really at a loss for words because I could tell he was serious but I just couldn't remember him cooking....ever. Then he explained that he grilled more then once a week. HA! I plan, shop, marinate, cook all the sides, prepare the salad, plate the food, set the table and clean up all the dishes. He sits out with a glass of bourbon on the deck and flips something on the grill and thinks he is cooking. Really, I thought it was cute of him, such a man!

Our favorite dinner this summer is flank steak and corn. I use Darby's recipe from the blog Fly Through Our Window (one of my favorites).

1/3 C soy sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tbs brown sugar
3 tbs honey
2 tbs olive oil
Combine ingredients in small sauce pan and stir until it comes to a boil then remove from heat. Let cool completely before marinating. 
Actually, the first time I made this I didn't exactly read the directions and just whisked all the ingredients together without boiling and marinated that way. I've also used fresh ginger instead of the powdered ground stuff before too and I think it gives it a slightly better taste.


We've grilled corn on the cob this summer too but despite trying various methods we haven't found one that is fail safe every time. This could partially be due to our need for a new grill (most likely). However, the last few nights I've made it the following way and I think it's excellent.

fresh corn on the cob
sugar
butter
scallions
salt and freshly ground pepper

Shuck the corn and boil until tender (sorry I've never timed it) with a couple teaspoons of sugar in the water. Cut corn off cob into a bowl and toss with butter, sliced scallions, salt and pepper. I have been using a pepper grinder with black and red peppercorns in it and I love it (I'm a big pepper fan though).

We had this for dinner tonight but the camera was in the basement so I didn't take pictures. It was yummy though!!

Chick's List

I spent time this afternoon reading through old blog posts. So fun! Obviously I love the memories, the photos and the videos of my little ladies at all the different stages. I also like the Chick Lists, seeing what I was interested in at different stages.

Right now I'm loving Evernote.com I am always finding inspiration online: kids party ideas, decorating ideas, craft ideas, projects, recipes...it's hard to keep it all organized. On Google Reader you can "star" your favorite things but I hadn't found a way to organize or easily search for things. Evernote stores it all, you can tag it with various words too to make searching easier. I have multiple "notebooks" my recipes are in one notebook and I have them tagged with words like entree, appetizer, even tagged with a specific season (so I can search for good summer dishes). I even have a tag called "B out of town" things I know he wont like but that I want to try. Brian has been using this too. I currently only use the free version but I am on the verge of paying the yearly fee ($5/month or $45/year) so I can use it a lot more, I plan to scan in all my recipes, and torn out pages from magazines. Love it.

Current favorite summertime dessert. Creamy vanilla ice cream with locally grown peaches sliced on top. Oh so very yummy. We've been buying the Breyers Fat Free Ice Cream.

Anticipation. I am so not a patient person but I do love the planning, the dreaming, the giddiness that comes from having to wait. Oh so very anxious to get this party started. To hold him in my arms, to be sitting up in that hospital bed with a baby on my lap, my husband sitting on the bed and my girls crowded around to see (and Lorie snapping pictures the whole time, ha).

Checked out these books from the library. I have a grocery list made and I plan to have a big cooking and freezing day.

School supply time will be here before we know it. I have my eyes on these for the girls.

She

She is an introvert but still would be happy to be stuck to my side 24 hours a day.

She is looking way too old to me.

She has a brain that is constantly working--playing with numbers in her head or just thinking through things.

She is excited about having a brother but still reminds me that she likes girls better.

She has not forgotten her best friend Anna even though we moved 2 years ago.

She is learning to express her feelings and it cracks me up, "YOU ARE REALLY FRUSTRATE ME!"

She wants to pick out her own outfit everyday which results in fully color coordinated outfit (usually pink).

She takes a long time when while working on an art project because she wants everything perfect.

She cleans up after herself and chastises me if I don't turn off the bathroom light.

She rewarded her sister with various prizes yesterday for playing a game nicely (giving her a dollar, a My Little Pony, various jewelry...

She still sleeps with her snuggly bunny.

She is one sweet little lady

She

She knows something is about to shake things up because she wants extra snuggles lately.
She has the ability to make anything messy.
She can antagonize her sister to no end.
She randomly tells us she loves us.
She has started telling me that I'm her best friend.
She would happily wear an entire box of band-aids.
She likes to change her clothes during the day.
She will eat a HUGE meal for breakfast and then barely eat anything else all day (two waffles, two eggs, "Daddy cereal"--Fiber One).
She constantly is making noise--this one is hard for me to handle.
She has an easy time making friends.

I Heard & Motherhood Ramblings.

This week I have heard a few things that I immediately had to write down and I have been thinking about non-stop.

Elizabeth Edwards said she wanted to live eight more years because at that time she would have walked each of her children to the next chapter of their lives.

I have had this image in my head of mother's holding their children's' hands, leading them to a doorway and then encouraging them as they walk through the door. Isn't that what we do as mothers? We're just working each day to teach our kids what they will need to know for that next step. We're constantly observing, seeing what is missing, incorporating lessons of life in every little milk spill, tear fall, and good or bad choice. We're teaching through the accidents, loving through the mistakes, and disciplining through rebellion (not my line either but another one that I love).

Motherhood in general has been on my mind a lot, not a surprise since I'm preparing to increase the number of ducklings that follow me around. I've always been really attracted to Brian's ambition in his career. It's not an ambition that I have ever had, my ambitions have ALWAYS been family related. Would this make feminists gasp? It's okay, it's what I choose and I'm not ashamed of my "Stay-at-home-mom" title. It's my job (one that I absolutely love) and I work hard to do it well. I think that is part of why I get frustrated during pregnancies, my body won't let me do as much as I would like to or what I know it is normally capable of. It frustrates me to no end that my kids are watching Barney movies in the afternoon because I need to lay down. I have been laying awake every night, mind racing, so excited for what is to come. Excited for the baby smell of sweetness, lotion, and milkshake all rolled into a snug swaddled bundle, excited to watch Kendall and Kate stretch and grow into this new role of extra big sisters (their next chapter?), excited to get into our new routine--finding what works for us and what doesn't, excited to see Brian hold his son, a son that will carry on the name that Brian shares with his own father and grandfather.

Don't get me wrong, it's not all sugar and spice, there are definitely fears and guilt and anxiety about if I'm doing a good job, fears that change depending on the week. This week my fear was that I'm not instilling enough confidence in my girls. Again, something I heard--a middle school age kid that suffered from such poor self esteem that he was filled with self doubt and negative feelings about himself. But, we learn as we go...them and me. They're teaching me as much as I teach them, I think. We make it, we will make it. We'll work towards this next chapter and then the next one until finally... (the last thing I heard this week that has had me thinking), "The little person that I hold in my arms tonight is the one that will be holding my hand when I die." All three of them, hmmm, one will just have to hold my foot because I'm running out of hands. Mom--you don't have enough appendages for all of your kids.