What a Week!

We made it through our first week with Gracen! She is such a doll - a really smiley baby and a good eater. Hattie is use to her now. The first two days she was here, Hattie walked around the house saying, "Mommy loves you," as if she needed to reassure herself. That just broke my heart. And she wants to sit in my lap when I am trying to feed the baby, but she is getting better with that. I just make sure to give her all of my attention when Gracen is sleeping - lots of hugs and kisses and cuddling - that's what she really needs right now.



On Tuesday I took Hattie and Gracen with me to Hattie's doctor's appointment. Gosh, it was so hard toting around 2 since I don't have a double stroller yet. But both girls did pretty well considering that it was rainy and cold, and Hattie had to get 2 shots :0(.

I also took them both to the grocery store with me this week as well. I don't usually go to Randalls, but the one near us has the little plastic cars for toddlers to "drive" at the front of the cart, and I thought that was my best bet to still have room for all of my groceries and both kiddos. The girls both did great. Luckily Gracen likes her carseat, and Hattie loves sitting in the little car and honking the horn.



While shopping at Randalls, a woman commented outloud to Hattie saying, "My goodness, you didn't get to be the baby for very long." Grrr. How rude! I mean really. I don't understand what gives her the right to comment about something like that. The nerve! I told her that I was just watching Gracen for some friends during the day, but what are people going to think as my belly expands, and I begin to look obviously pregnant!?!? I bet I get a TON of looks and comments then. None of which will be warranted, but that's the way our society is.......and that's all I'm gonna say about that.

Other than that we have stayed cooped up in the house, avoiding the wet and rainy weather. It's been a bit boring at times for Hattie, but man, my days fly by. If I'm not feeding one, then it's the other, and I'm constantly changing someone's diaper. But I love the way that Hattie is so sweet to Gracen, and I love the way that Gracen has her eyes on Hattie, tracking her around the room, the entire time. I hope these girls will get to grow up together, and it really makes me excited for when Button arrives.



The pictures I've posted are ones that I took of Hattie this week. Her new thing that I let her do to keep her busy is let her stand on a chair and play at the sink. She calls it "wash hands." She'll stand there for 30 minutes with a rag, a spoon, and my dish brush. It's great. When that novelty wears off, we'll have to find something else!

I also took some really cute pictures of the girls together, but I need clearance to post a pic of someone else's child on my blog, especially since they don't have a blog of their own, and I keep forgetting to ask the padres about that.

It's Friday!!!! Have a great weekend!

Sean's Thought of the Week...

When did we Americans stop greeting a new family when they moved into the neighborhood? I remember a time when the appearance of a moving van would trigger a chain reaction which would eventually culminate with bunt-cakes and casseroles being delivered by eager neighbors. I suppose the idea was for everybody to actually meet the new neighbors. We've lived in our new home for over three months and nobody has stopped by with a casserole. This isn't a unique experience. We lived in Dallas for one year and only met one neighbor and that was only because she got mad because we had parked the moving truck in front of her house.

Why are we so obsessed with reality TV.? We love TV shows that peer into the lives of other families yet we won't go across the street and attempt to form a friendship with our own neighbors?

When did kids stop playing outside? I know that kids live in our neighborhood; I see evidence of them from time to time. However, I never hear them playing in the twilight hours or see them running through my yard. We have all seen cartoons which depict an angry old lady shooing away kids that are playing on her grass...I, for one, would love it if kids played in my yard from time to time!

Last December we went to a Christmas party. Santa was in attendance and was merrily taking gift requests from the all the kiddos. 9 out of 10 kids requested a "Nintendo DS." This is a hand-held Nintendo gaming system that allows kids to play their video games when they are away from their homes. It seems that many kids had a happy Christmas morning because lately I've seen a slew of children with little Nintendo screens glued to their hands when they are doing things that once entailed some sort of interaction with other human beings...I've seen these little gaming systems at restaurants. I've seen kids barely look up from the screen to order their corn-dog and french fries. Dare I admit...gasp...that I've even seen one or two of these at church during the homily.

Why is the size of the American family getting smaller and smaller but the size of our homes getting bigger and bigger? When did the pursuit of "stuff" trump the pursuit of progeny?

Whatever happened to the family road trip? I remember sitting in an uncomfortable bench seat for hours on end staring outside the car window while passing the time with actual conversation with my family. Now days the old family truckster has been replaced with virtual living rooms complete with televisions, satellite TV and, you guessed it, video games.

I think Americans are scared. At some point in the last several decades we became collectively scared and we've responded by becoming shut-ins. We are scared of perverts kidnapping our children...therefore little Johnny and Sue naturally can’t play outside. We've become scared of lawsuits...so naturally we can't offer a homemade casserole to our neighbors because what if they get sick? We've become scared of legal liabilities so naturally we can't invite our neighbors over for a barbeque...what if they slip and fall on our foyer? We've replaced handshakes and friendly waves with insurance policies and security systems. We've replaced genuine relationships with our neighbors (even the weird ones) with virtual relationships that are played out in the glowing light of our television sets.

Goody.......it's Friday!

1.) First of all, I promised I'd post a picture of the ultra-sound yesterday. I feel kinda silly posting it because it's a bad angle and the picture doesn't show much, like arm and leg buds like I got to see yesterday. But this is our little blob.....isn't it a beautiful blob! I still can't believe we have 2 babies - though only 1 in utero!



2.) I've been in a baking mood lately. This morning I made this amazing carrot cake recipe for dessert for our guests (and us) tonight. My house smelled of sweet goodness when it was baking. Then it came out of the oven, and Hattie and I sampled it.....you know, just to make sure it was suitable to serve to others :0). Oh, it is so yummy, and I haven't even put the frosting on it yet. So here's the recipe:

Carrot Cake

1.)Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cup oil
Mix the above 3 ingredients. Then add:
2 cups flour
1/3 tsp. salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
Add and mix well:
1 small can crushed pineapple (juice and all)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup flaked coconut
3 tsp. vanilla
2 cups grated carrots

2.) Cook at 350 degrees for @ 45 min to an hour (sheet cake)

3.) Cream Cheese Frosting:
Mix: 8 oz. cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 box powdered sugar

Hattie's been my big helper this week. Here she is "helping" me with another goody I baked up earlier in the week.

Have a SWEET weekend!!!!

Happy Thursday!

I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday. And Sean has Monday off so we'll have a good long weekend together. Lots planned, but hopefully we'll also have some down-time to make up for our busy weekend last weekend.

I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon. I'm excited to get another ultra-sound, and see Button again. I'll have to post the ultra-sound picture this time as I never got around to doing it last time. I'm starting to feel a little better....still tired but mostly just in the evenings and not quite as sick as I have been feeling. I think I've figured out the eating thing. If I eat more earlier in the day and then barely graze in the afternoon and evening, I don't seem to get quite as sick in the afternoons, which is when it usually hits pretty hard. Just based on my morning sickness, I definitely think I am having another girl as my sickness was the same with Hattie. Not as intense, but I think that's just because I don't get to rest as much this time around. Maybe I'll get to hear Button's heartbeat today, and that will give me further indication of whether it'll be pink or blue!



Hattie has really started using a spoon more and more. She still makes a really big mess, but I feel like she needs the practice. She does get food in her mouth sometimes. Yogurt is definitely a winner since it sticks to the spoon mostly. I take her next Wednesday for her shots. We already did her 18 month check-up almost 2 weeks ago but had to delay the shots as she was still under the weather. I'll post her stats after her shots because I'm too lazy to go and get the paper right now, but she was exactly in the 50th percentile for both weight and height. Very solid. A good eater these days, so I feel blessed about that! I hear about all of these babies who won't eat much at all. That would really stress me out, I think. Each baby comes with his or her own set of challenges, though, I guess. Perhaps Button will be the best napper ever but a picky eater?!?! Hey, maybe that wouldn't be so bad :0).



Next week I am going to start keeping an almost 3 month old little girl. The mom is going back to work (teaching), so I'll be keeping the darling until the end of May. I am excited about it because I think it will be so good for Hattie to practice sharing me before she really has to share me permanently. I also think it'll be good for me to learn to balance things. I'm nervous about it only because I think it's going to freak me out and show me how hard it's gonna actually be when Button is born. I am most worried about outings at the moment. Luckily my energy is back up during the day for the most part. Right in time - that's a saving grace!

Well, Happy Thursday to all of you. The weekend is almost here!!!!!

When You Know That You Don't Deserve Your Wife....

After 4 years of marriage it is easy to fall into the habit of taking my beautiful wife for granted. I'd like to blame this on outside influences such as stress and other various distractions but really it is just my sinful self that sometimes refuses to acknowledge God's many blessings. Among the ways that God has blessed me I can think of no greater blessing than the day that Stephanie said, "Yes."

My life wouldn't be complete without her. She is my beautiful companion and constant help. She is a great mother and a great homemaker. I deserve much less in a wife but God in his infinite mercy decided to bless me abundantly with Stephanie Lynn.

It is with this in mind that I loudly proclaim my praise for God because he created sweet Stephanie Lyyn on January 14th 1981. Happy Birthday Stephanie!