wednesday what

See this picture? This picture has absolutely NOTHING to do with my post today. But I thought I'd share it because I am completely in love with it. THIS is why I love having my babies so close together.
So, as long as I have been blogging, there is one thing that I have never done. And will never do. Tag games.Don't know why, but I hate 'em. I don't hate when others do them. I don't always read them when others do them. But I, myself, will never put one on my blog. Why? Because this is my blog and that's what I want. I will, however, share random info about me. Which is essentially what tag games are designed for.Ready?
I hate blue-ink pens. Detest them. No clue why. Just do.
I organize and group my skittles. Groups with one of each color. Eaten orange, yellow, green, purple, red. Every time. The extras? Those are placed in a pattern and eaten before the rest. My OCD shining through.
I do not have a favorite color. In fact, I do not have a favorite anything. I think favorites are pointless.
I like my feet, but hate all other feet. My feet are cute. Yours disgust me. No offense.
My two most favorite feelings? Hiking to the top of a mountain. And insanely hot showers.
The only type of salad I will eat is a green salad. Cheese and black olives. Occasionally diced tomatoes or slices of cucumber. This fruit and nuts in your salad thing? Gross. I don't get it. Pasta, tuna, chicken, or potato salad? Forget it.
I have a screwy connection with my husband. When I was injured in Africa, I was brought to a sr. sister missionary for treatment. She was the same woman who was my mother-in-law's midwife for Robert's birth 21.5 years prior to my accident.
I was the first female champion for board drafting (think architectural drawings) in the state of Arizona for the SkillsUSA championship.
If I had been a boy, my parents would have named me Lee. No getting away from my name, apparently.
I use to lie about having a twin when I was younger. And I thought people believed me...
Ok. See. Ten facts you probably didn't know about me. Random things that make me unique. And that is the closest you'll ever get to me completing one of those questionnaires...

ten

Up until today, this has been just a little thing I do each month. But when I put Daniel on the 10 month drawing today, it dawned on me that my baby is so close to being a year old. And not a baby anymore. Of my three, he has (by far) been my baby the longest. Joel didn't have time because there was another one on the way, so I rushed him into "growing up". Lucas didn't want to because he wanted to do what Joel was dong, so he rushed himself into "growing up". But Daniel? He has nothing better to do than be a baby. He doesn't crawl on hands or knees. He doesn't pull himself up on furniture. He doesn't eat any table food. He doesn't seem close to words. He's just... a baby. And until today, I have let him be just that. But now that we are nearing number four's arrival, I am starting to ween myself from babying him too much. Giving him little bits of real food. Encouraging him to pull himself up to his feet. Putting him in the crib for both naps (no more snuggle naps breaks my heart a little). Teaching him Portuguese. TOTALLY kidding on that last one.I have loved this little man's time as a baby so so much. And I pray that I can remember to do exactly the same with baby girl's infancy. It is easy to forget how wonderful the first year can be.

wednesday what

See those? Those perfectly shaped semi-circles in that gorgeous red fabric? Those would be my scallops for baby girl's crib skirt. Something I told myself I would finish this week, along with the slip cover for the glider.Guess what. They are still sitting on top of my cutting board. Untouched.Why? Because I have gotten myself caught up in the mass hysteria that is The Hunger Games. I never read it. Until yesterday. First book down. In one day. Like so many of you. Guess what I will be doing today and Thursday?It's okay. You can say it. I live under a rock. But after I am done, I need to get my butt in gear. I have at least 8 sewing projects to complete. And 4 or 5 non-sewing projects.But isn't that the story of my life always?It must seem like I never have time for my children, but I do. I cuddle my baby every day during his morning nap. While his brothers sit on my legs to watch a movie. We also go on daily walks. Or we go next door to play at "the park" (hi Anna Marie!).Speaking of my boys, my hubby and I took the boys to Old Navy on Saturday. My favorite place to get them clothes. Guess who is in size 5T? My three year old. He is so stinking tall. We had to buy him a whole new wardrobe. Dead serious. Just a few cents shy of $100 later, he has enough clothes that [fingers crossed] will last him the summer. Luckily his brothers fit in last year's clothes. Or we would be broke. Just thinking of next year with a girl makes me financially cringe. But she will not be able to wear hand-me-downs from the boys. I just won't do it.Maybe next week I will have more to show. More to say. I am so close to completing a few projects. It is always just that last little part of the project that seems to require the most motivation...

green apple

I have a button. Down a ways on the right side of my blog. Don't know if you have ever noticed it. Even though it has been there a while. It has a green apple on it. Click it. Or click HERE. It is a link to one of the photographers I highly admire. She is also the big sis to a couple of my dear friends. Seriously a hard-working, talented woman (the entire family is filled with amazing women). And, because it is her birthday, she is giving away a free newborn session. A contest I pray to win. Because, although I do photography, she has SO. MUCH. MORE. TALENT. Her newborn images are absolutely dreamy. Besides, this little girl all nestled with her feet in my ribs is my last opportunity at such a contest. And I would like to do something extra special to capture the fresh innocence one last time.

EXPECTING A LITTLE ONE THIS YEAR AND WANT TO ENTER? Click HERE.

Just know, if you win over me, we can't be friends. Just [slightly] kidding...

yum

So, as you all know, Pinterest is my best friend. I find resources for everything there. Preschool. Crafts. Recipes. Clothes I covet but will never have the money to buy. You know. Everything. Our St. Patty's Day breakfast was brought to you by Pinterest. I am totally THAT MOM that tries to cute-ify everything. So this meal was no exception.Just look at that marshmallowy goodness!Unfortunately, I was unable to partake in this fun treat for two reasons. One, I am a celiac. And cannot eat Lucky Charms. Sadness. Two, I immediately left for the dentist after snapping a couple shots of this adorable breakfast. Getting a cavity filled is more fun than devouring sugary cereal, right? Ugh.We all wore green on St. Patty's Day. Because I am THAT MOM. I told people we were patriotic.I would have insisted on corn beef and cabbage for dinner, but we had a family get-together instead. I made two desserts. Cherry pie. And avocado-lime cheesecake. Because I love you, here are recipes for everything.
CRUST for both the pie and cheesecake can be found HERE. (pie was un-baked, cheesecake was pre-baked). I get so many compliments on this crust. I LOVE it. And if you are GF, I highly suggest making loads of her GF flour mixture. And using it for everything you do. It is that amazing.
CHERRY PIE. Buy 2-3 cans of cherry pie filling at the store (depending on whether using a 9 inch or 10 inch pie pan). Flip the can over. Read the instructions. Bam. Cherry pie. Usually 40 - 45 minutes at a 425 degree oven when lattice or top crust. 10-20 minutes into baking, you may want to crimp foil around the edges of your crust so it does not burn. I did not do this. And burned the edges quite severely on one side. And yes. I cut out a bazillion little dough circles to cover my edges in a pretty pattern.
AVOCADO-LIME CHEESECAKE. My recipe below.
AVOCADO-LIME CHEESECAKE1.5 packages cream cheese, softened2 avocados, peeled, seeded, & diced1.5 cups granulated sugar1 teaspoon vanilla extract4 large eggs1 tablespoon lemon/lime juice (portioned any way you want)1 teaspoon lemon/lime zest (portioned any way you want)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. In a large bowl, whip cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add avocados, sugar, and vanilla. Mix until no lumps remain. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each egg. Add lemon/lime juice and zest. Mix until just combined. Pour mixture into a pre-baked pie crust and bake for 45 minutes or until cheesecake is set. Cool to room temperature and store in refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

Zoo

I feel that, as a mom with a handful of little kids, I am constantly blogging about the zoo. But, as a mom with a handful of little kids, it is a place we enjoy frequently when weather permits. Mom gets her exercise. Kids get their entertainment. Win/win. Our last visit to the zoo was with several of my friends. Five friends. Ten kids. Three on the way. It was crazy fun.

(Kristi, I totally stole your picture. Hope you don't mind.) The three pregnant friends. Come June, there will be nine children between the three of us. Crazy thought. I will have almost half of those nine children. Even crazier thought...

wednesday what

Don't worry. Didn't forget. Just procrastinated.This week has felt as if it has lasted forever. And we are only just over half way. I can't complain too much, we are all finally healthy. Able to soak up this sunshine and wonderful weather.Monday was uneventful.Tuesday was a relief.I had a doc appointment. My doc did an ultrasound to check on baby girl. She had not moved much in the previous 24 hours. The reason for her inactivity was quickly found. SHE HAS FLIPPED. I could not be happier. No guarantee she will stay this way, but chances are good. It has been strange trying to get use to her movements in a new position. Regardless. So glad she is head down. Today was productive.I finished the crib sheets for her bedding. Just have to make her blanket, bumper, crib skirt, changing pad covers, boppy cover, chair slip cover... ugh. But the sheets are done! And I baked a batch of delicious cookies. Orange creamsicle cookies. Thanks, Pinterest. Going to devour a couple after I finish blogging. After that I will be working on headbands. My adorable friend/hairdresser sells them for me. I like money, so it works well. The rest of the week? Who knows. I try not to plan out too far in advance. Something about a bunch of little kids equalling an unpredictable life. Random thoughts:Silpats are amazing. SERIOUSLY. They make the bottoms of cookies turn out perfect.I would die without my seam ripper. I do not use patterns when sewing. So it is essential. I love my children. But they drive me nuts at bedtime when they don't go to sleep. Like now.I tell myself I will make my husband dinner. Been telling myself that for over a year and a half.I detest chipping my nails. So annoying to have my nails snag on everything.Dandelions make me smile. I WILL stop, pull them out, and blow on them. Without pause.Once again. Children who stall at falling asleep. Last night Joel was up after 10. Bedtime is 8...Love that smile.Sema, thought of you. Joel remarked, "just like your ladybug shirt, Mama!"

new

Scratch that last post (the one I deleted, so don't bother scrolling down). Turns out that the charity is sketchy with their funds. Which is something I cannot back. Spreading the word? Definitely; so many atrocities are occurring around the world. But having only 1/3 of my donation reach the cause? Nope; there are too many other orgs out there that put a vast majority of your donations to good use. Hate getting caught up in the hype of something awesome that turns out to be less-than. Dang it.

That aside. I am going to do something new. Or try to. We will see if it works. I have a bajillion awesome ideas. And generally only two ever happen. I am going to try to post every Wednesday. Call it my Wednesday What. Just random crap floating through my head. Or happening in my house. I often feel obligated to have pictures or some amazing tale to tell when blogging. But really I should just write to write. If I waited for amazingness (or pictures for that matter, as I have ditched the comp for the iPad), new posts would never happen. So if I have a picture to share, I will share it. A story to tell, I will tell it. None of the above? I will wing it. And steal a pic from pinterest. Because that is how I roll. I will still post outside of Wednesdays. But this gives me a blogging goal. And, oh darn. Today is Thursday. Looks like we still have 6 more days before I start my Wednesday What. Shoot...

mr

I just want a take a minute to talk about something important to me. My husband. I am not writing this for brownie points, though I am sure I will get them. I am writing this because I am so incredibly grateful to the man I call mine. He was absolutely amazing yesterday. He is amazing EVERY day, but yesterday in particular. I woke up with a nasty case of pinkeye on top of whatever respiratory junk is going around. My throat hurt. My head ached. My eye burned. I was a mess. Still am. But I knew I had to just keep going. When you are a stay at home mom, you don't have much of a choice. Instead of rushing off to work once the boys were up and running, Robert called in. And used his sick leave on me. He sent me to bed to catch up on rest. He did all of the laundry (aside from folding because he knows I am super picky). He cleaned the whole house. He took care of the boys. When dinner time came, he made hamburgers and french fries. He did not complain. He did not make me feel guilty. He just let me rest. Unfortunately, I am not much better today. But I know I can make it through because of the boost Robert gave me yesterday. He is so good to me. I feel so blessed to have him in my life.

kindness

If you truly know me, you may know that I am kind of a brat. At least, I view myself as a brat. Not quite sure why I am a brat. Just a personality flaw I guess. And I have accepted that about myself. But nothing makes me feel happier than a random act of kindness. Done to me. See, I told you I am a brat. I enjoy doing random acts of kindness for others. It makes me feel good inside. But today I am blogging about one that was done for me.

The last few weeks have been, well... rough. miserable. exhausting. Illness has thrown off all schedules and made everyone in our house impatient and cranky. There have been moments where I have wanted rescuing. Times where I prayed and pleaded that everyone would magically heal. Nothing changed. I was still mom. And we were still sick. But the boys (including the hubs) are finally on the mend now. While I am just falling pray to whatever bug or germ or icky that has zapped the health out of the rest of us. When I woke up this morning, all I really wanted was enough energy to have a normal day. Even if sore throat, cough and congestion were still there. And my wish was granted. I didn't ask for anything above and beyond that. So I was quite surprised when a knock came at the door. Behind that knock was a dear, sweet friend with a delicious drink and a bar of chocolate. Just because she knew everyone was sick. Her quick visit made me so happy. It made me realize that the world is not full of brats like me. But of people who are willing to take a moment out of their day for someone else. I feel special. :)