Rainbow Cake!

Matthew is 3 months old! These three months were a blur for all of us except Matthew. He is huge; at 3 months he is in size 3 diapers, the same diapers Sarah can wear at 2 1/2 years old. He is smiling now and there's nothing better than his toothless smiles.

On Tuesday our small group started up again. To celebrate the new Bible study year I made a rainbow cake (pictured). I used two white cake mixes and added some food coloring for the rainbow colors. Then I frosted it with cream cheese frosting. Yum. It was cute and fun. I've also included a picture of Sarah "helping" by making a huge mess with the cake.

Since we are still playing Agricola every night, we've decided to purchase our own copy so we don't bend up Tim and Jen's cards and all that. It's something we look forward to like fall or Christmas or pumpkin muffins from Starbucks.

56 points on Quiddler today - terrible!

Carrots and Renovation

I have not posted in a few weeks. One may assume it is because I have started teaching online again, or because I am busy with three kids, or because I am diligently cleaning my house, or that I am looking for additions to my rock collection.

None of these assumptions are correct.

Every night, sometimes twice a night, Erik and I are playing Agricola. We are addicted to this game. We try new strategies every time we play and haven't gotten bored with it yet. Tonight I beat Erik 52-48 (although the one pictured was a different game that I won). I highly recommend this for any gamers!


Last weekend Erik took the girls to the renaissance festival. For some reason, Jon has a carrot in his nose. Fortunately the girls are not following the nose - carrot tradition. They had a great time riding ponies, riding rides, and general renaissance merriment.

I took a video of Matthew squealing and it is posted here. He has an interesting cry. It sounds more like a squeak or squeal. What do you think?

97 points on Quiddler today!

Shake your money maker!

My sisters are dancing queens. Missy and Amanda both do country line dancing. Missy even writes her own dances and Amanda has done belly dancing!

Considering I come from a family of movers and shakers, what kind of dancing should I aspire to? Obviously hip hop!

I went to a hip hop class on Tuesday and LOVED it!
This is how I imagine myself dancing hip hop:


This is how I actually hip hop:

I'm not really shaking my pompom just yet.

In more important news. I beat Erik at Agricola tonight. Agricola is a strategy game we both like quite a bit but do not own. Erik wins a high percentage of the time at this game, just like Railroad Tycoon. We have played it every night since we borrowed it and I finally won. That doesn't mean we'll stop playing, It just means we are going to the Cheesecake Factory the next time we have a chance to go on a date! Yipee!

81 points on Quiddler today!

Football Season Begins!

Erik has been talking constantly about the beginning of football season. It is his favorite time of year. Fall brings cooler weather, beautiful colors, and football. Obviously we had to get a picture of the kids in their scarlet and gray.

Yes - the big chunk in the middle is Matthew. Yes he is only 2 1/2 months old. No I'm not feeding him fried chicken and potatoes.

The other day Sarah said "I am ugly." I said "no Sarah you are beautiful. Why do you think you are ugly?" She said "because I'm sinny" (translation: skinny). I'm not sure where she got this idea. Yes she is a little skinny (in the 5th percentile for weight) but we have always told her she is beautiful. Hopefully she believes it!

Tomorrow is our 13 year anniversary. Yea Us! Since it is actually more work to pack up all the kids, diaper bags, bibs, milk, etc and go out to eat than it is to just make some pb&j sandwiches we won't be going out to dinner. Hiring a babysitter around dinner time is scary too. Dinner time is fussy time for Matthew and usually someone has an opinion about what we are eating and wants toast instead. (sometimes I just want toast).

I just finished The Briar King by Greg Keyes and can't wait to get the next book in the series from the library. I also reserved the next Beverly Lewis book called The Thorn. I'm 36 on the list for that book. Since I'm not allowed to read The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson until we finish Gardens of the Moon, I had to find some other books to occupy my time (I only read Gardens of the Moon with Erik).

53 points on Quiddler today. Couldn't find a word to make with C,O,A,I. Bummer!

New Beginnings

Last Wednesday Jenna and Sarah started their ballet classes and on Thursday Jenna started kindergarten.
It was a week of new beginnings! Jenna was anxious to start school, mostly she was nervous to eat lunch there. However she loved it and even bought milk for lunch!

Jenna has started writing more and wrote her first sentence on Friday "I do love God". What an awesome first sentence!! She has also started reading more. Check out this video of Jenna reading to Matthew. He is smiling and almost laughing - he loves it!

Jenna and Sarah love their ballet classes however I couldn't get Sarah to stay still long enough to get a picture. All week long Sarah talked about her ballet class. I have two little ballerinas at home.

School is all day for Jenna and we are walkers. It is .8 of a mile to school so I'm walking approximately 3 miles a day taking her to and from school. It's a nice walk! Even at 92 deg when I'm sweating like a pig. I'm sure it counts as exercise.

For an after school treat I made smores granola bars. They are an oat granola bar on the bottom covered in chocolate chips and marshmallows. I told Erik they have no sugar in them and he laughed. I forgot that marshmallows are puffed sugar. Doh! So I guess they're not as healthy as I originally intended.

68 points on Quiddler - a terrible showing.

Chunky Monkey

Matthew reached his 2 month milestone on the 20th. Today we went to the Pediatrician and our chunky monkey weighs 14lbs exactly. Sarah and Jenna weighed 14lbs at 6 months. Matthew is only 2 months. He is such a chunk! We are in for a ride with him.

In case you have not heard, there is a silly bandz craze sweeping the world (or at least our part of the world). Our girls have silly bandz, and I even have given them as prizes for Sarah's success with the potty. The girls also absolutely love Matthew and have taken to putting silly bandz on him too (actually Sarah is the one who mostly does this). They want to hold him all the time and really love him.

Matthew's Godparents, Tim and Jen, have chosen the following life verse for him:

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." ~Isaiah 41:10. Erik says this Bible verse is "manly" although I'm not sure what that means.

The girls start ballet today and Jenna starts kindergarten tomorrow. I'm so nervous for her and I have no idea why!

57 points on Quiddler today.

(lots of children)!=sleep

Psalm 127:2 states "For so He gives his beloved sleep." Yet directly after that verse in Psalm 127:3-5 we have the following words "children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them."

This is an apparent Biblical contradiction, almost as blatant as the geneaology of Jesus contradiction in Matthew and Luke. How can one with many children get sleep? Last night Matthew slept a blessed 6 hours. While everything I've read says that a child weighing at least 11 lbs can sleep 8 hours, my massive chunky monkey can't seem to go that long without food. More on his weight in a later post. Anyway, even though Matthew slept well last night, Sarah woke up three times screaming prompting me to actually sleep in bed with her last night to calm her down. Not sure about the "beloved sleep" thing with 3 kids.

In other news:

1. I will be going back to work on Monday (the 30th) teaching an online class. It is online so I don't have to leave the house, but I'll actually have to check my email and respond with phrases other than "I'm on maternity leave now, please direct your question to....".
2. I reactivated my Lifetime membership. While I can not workout during the day since Matthew must be 3 months old to go to the childcare center, I did go to a Pilates class in the evening. It was amazing, and I felt so good afterwards. The teacher is as flexible as gumby and maybe someday I will be too!
3. I finished book 2 of the Conquerors trilogy by Timothy Zahn. This is a fun series but I am waiting to read book 3 until I finish a library book. The library tends to get mad and charge me lots of fines when I don't return books. Again I've maxed out my library card and had to use Jenna's card to check out books. Apparently this is "ghetto" according to one of my students. Anyway, the library book is called the Briar King by Greg Keyes and is very good. Terry Brooks liked it (according to the back cover) so I was less hesitant to read it than Gardens of the Moon.
4. Erik and I are working our way through Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. The author uses big words like trireme, however he has not used the word "inchoate." This is one of the words authors seem to prefer using when they want to sound smart. It's on my mind since I recently read it in Searoad by Ursula K. LeGuin. Yes - I'm reading that one too!
5. 97 points on Quiddler today. I got 20 points for an 8 letter word!! "clanking". That just made my day - who needs sleep when I can get 8 letter words!

Chocolate milk cartons

Kindergarten starts in 1 week. 1 week!! My baby is going to kindergarten. When I toured her school - I was pelted by the sounds, smells, and visuals of elementary school. It transported me back to sharpened pencils, chalk, stickers, and chocolate milk cartons. OOOH how I love chocolate milk cartons! Now they have these plastic twist top milk bottles that are far inferior to their cardboard counterparts. What has this world come to?

Jenna's kindergarten orientation was tonight and she is not looking forward to going. She talks so much about not wanting to go to kindergarten that Sarah has started saying "I don't want to go to ballet." Not because she doesn't want to go, but because she wants to be like big sister and have something that she "doesn't want" to go to. (Jenna and Sarah will both be in ballet this year). Anyway, we are trying to encourage Jenna but she is very anxious about kindergarten. We are praying for her to have a good experience.

On a different topic, one of Erik's favorite desserts is chocolate truffle tart. It consists of 1/2 lb butter, 1 lb bittersweet chocolate and 6 eggs. It's low fat yummy. Anyway, Erik and I have become obsessed with sea salt lately. So I wanted to modify my chocolate truffle tart recipe to include sea salt. (the girls helped stir the batter - see picture). I added 3/4tsp of sea salt to the batter and then sprinkled some on top. Awww Yea. To quote the compositional masterpiece of Yo Gabba Gabba "there's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy."

I also got some hi-gluten flour from Yutzy's. Normally I add 1 tsp of gluten per cup of flour to my bread dough, but I wanted to see how the hi-gluten flour would compare in my honey wheat bread in place of the gluten. It worked great! I was excited to see the results, however Erik was less than thrilled. I currently have the following types of flours in my pantry: all purpose, self-rising, whole wheat, bread, and hi-gluten flour. Erik is not thrilled with the numerous types of flours we are storing (yes I threw away the cake flour before he noticed). He is already annoyed that I want another waffle maker (ours died the other day) since it is a unitasker.

When Nicholas and Emmerich were over the other day, all 4 kids were playing in/on/around our play car. Surprisingly they all got along well. I also snapped a picture of Sarah wearing her tigger outfit. She has been wearing it a lot lately and she looks adorable!

71 on Quiddler today and I made the word "winner"!

Tooney

Thank you to everyone who voted in my very important poll on who Matthew resembles. Erik is winning but surprisingly, many people think Matthew looks like me too! No one thinks Matthew looks like Sarah though. That's okay - she is a wisp of a girl and we don't want Matthew to be a wisp (maybe a night elf but certainly not a wisp).

I've included pictures of the girls getting their haircut. While this may seem mundane, it is actually Sarah's first haircut at a salon (Cookie Cutters). Sarah, who hates when I brush her hair in the morning, loved getting her hair cut. Now Jenna will be ready for school and Sarah will be ready for... something.

When Erik's Mom and Grandma were visiting, we took a picture of all 4 generations together. It came out really nice and is good to have everyone together like this. Now if the kids would just look at the camera!

The Cooper book club picked our next book to read. It is Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. I was so excited to read this book until I learned that Steven Donaldson gave it a good review (he is the author of Thomas Covenant). So I am a little worried. However, I am looking forward to reading this book and discussing it in our book club.

I was informed by the book club that I am not allowed to read the next Brandon Sanderson book until everyone else does. I find this to be highly unfair and will probably sneak read it. Is that actually something? Sneak reading??

58 points on Quiddler today. Apparently "tooney" is not a word. It sounds like a word to me!

Who does Matthew resemble? Please vote!

Who does Matthew resemble?
	Daddy
	Mommy
	Jenna
	Sarah

The swingset

I'm so glad we have three swings on our swingset. Daddy was pushing all three kids on the swingset the other day. Here's a video - Matthew was sort of sitting in the swing.

Erik and I are making our way through Wizard's First Rule and he really likes it. I'm so glad that we are reading together and discussing books. We sat at Starbucks and spent the whole time discussing what we liked/disliked about the book. We were so trendy!

I started reading one of the books he read called The Death Ship of Dartmouth by Michael Jecks. This book is historical fiction set in 1324. It is not fantasy but still is interesting, although not my favorite (no wizards, aliens, or Amish people in the book).

In contrast to the Amish and the technology of 1324, Erik mentioned that our cell phone contract would be up September 20. He also said I could get a new phone. Naturally I said droid???? He said yes! Yipee!!! So my life will change on Sept. 20 - I can get my droid and be really, really, really cool.

Another thing that happens September 20 is that Matthew will be 3 months old. This means I can take him to the childcare center at my gym and I can start working out. I even bought new shoes and am so excited to try them out. I'm sure I could work out prior to September 20 but I don't really want to start running with a hole in my boob. I haven't gone running in over a year. Hopefully I will remember how to run and what is happening in my audiobook.

95 on Quiddler today!

One Month Birthday!

Little Dude is not so little. Today he had his 1 month checkup and we found out that he weighs 10lbs 14oz. In one month he went from 8lbs 2oz to 10lbs 14oz. That's pretty impressive. No wonder I can't keep up with him (in milk production that is, not in physical activity).

As with the girls, we took a picture of him with his horse to show his growth. We will continue this for a year to show how he is progressing. This outfit is particularly cute - I love the fish. There's even a big orange fish on his bottom - too cute!

Warning - these next few paragraphs talk about my surgery. If gaping holes in breasts gross you out, don't read this:

I was wrong about getting the gaping hole in my breast stitched up. The surgeon said he is letting it heal on its own and will take a few more weeks. It feels much better now. The Tuesday before I had surgery, I was in tears much of the day due to the pain. Erik has been changing the dressing on "stupid boob" twice a day (that's what he calls it).

Erik also said "having seen the outside of your breast and the inside of your breast, I much prefer the outside." This comment is a good representative of Erik's sense of humor. This is why I love him. No matter what - he can see the lighter side of anything.

I have not been producing enough milk to feed Matthew. This is very sad considering after I had Sarah I had so much extra milk I sent it to Africa. Fortunately two of my friends, Joy and Erica have given me some of their breastmilk to give Matthew. I have tried nursing him several times but he hasn't nursed for long.

I did terrible on Quiddler today, only earning 41 points since I lost the Q. Apparently QED is not a word. Hello? Have they never done a proof?

Cooper Book Club

Our family has been so blessed by friends bringing us dinner and my mom and mother-in-law coming to help out after my surgery. It has been a good experience (as good as having a gaping hole in your body can be). Our small group had a welcome baby party for Matthew. From the party Matthew got some nice clothes and even some swim trunks. I don't know when I'll be out swimming but at least Matthew can be out in the pool.

I snapped a picture of all three kids when they were about a month old with just a diaper on. Looking at these pictures, I'm amazed at how similar all three kids look. Besides the size difference their faces are remarkably similar. I showed Sarah's picture to Erik and he thought it was Matthew!

Erik and I along with David and Joel have decided to form a Cooper Book Club. This is totally awesome. I've always wanted to be in a book club, sipping tea, eating crumpets, and discussing books but have always assumed the books picked would be lame. Since Erik, David and Joel are in the book club we will pick good books. Currently we are reading Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. The world is rich and complex and the storytelling is excellent, however this is the series I had to stop reading because it became too gruesome for me. I'm not a wimp either - I have read some pretty gruesome stories (Dark Tower by Stephen King got pretty gruesome at the end). Anyway, we'll see what they think when they get to the mord-sith!

This book club is going well and I've been so happy that everyone is reading the book. Now we can sip tea and discuss the book while playing EQ2.

I've compiled a list of books I want to read in the future and as possible book club books.

• Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. I've read Soldier's Son by Robin Hobb and liked it quite a bit. The book was slow moving at the beginning but she has fabulous character development.
• Magister Trilogy by C.S. Friedman. C.S.Friedman is one of my favorite authors that I have recently discovered. Usually when I read a novel I tell Erik about the plot, characters, and my theories of what will happen in the book. I can't do this with C.S.Friedman books. Her books are too complex to even explain to Erik (which I'm sure he doesn't mind at all).
• Malazan Book of the Fallen Series by Steven Erickson. This series was created as a world for role-playing games. I like role-playing games :) and love entering new fantasy worlds so this series sounds interesting to me.
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This book is always on a list of top fantasy novels. I liked Stardust (by Neil Gaiman) but thought the movie was actually better than the book. The book was good though. Really the only reason this is here is because the book is always listed as a top fantasy novel so I've wanted to read it.
• Magician by Raymond Feist. The Riftwar Saga has long been on my list of books to read. This is another series in which the world was created for a role-playing game.
• The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. This book won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. A few years back I made it my goal to read all Hugo and Nebula award winners. I got through many of them but never read this one. I read The Left Hand of Darkness by LeGuin a few years ago and liked it but never got to this one.
• Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark. This book is one that maybe only I would like :). I have read that it is a combination of Jane Austen and Fantasy literature. I love Jane Austen and love Fantasy so this book appeals to me. That's about all I know about it though.
• Sevenwater Trilogy by Juliet Marillier. This is a celtic historical fantasy novel that several people have told me I would like. I haven't read much historical fantasy so this sounds interesting and different.
• Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. One of the fantasy bloggers I read loves Guy Gavriel Kay so I wanted to read something by him. This book is set in a place similar to Italy. I like Italy (and lasagna and gelato) so this sounded like a good one to start with this author.
• The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Brandon Sanderson is the author of Mistborn, Elantris (which I just finished), and is finishing the Wheel of Time series. I love his writing - it moves fast, is intriguing and fun. I am excited about this new series that will be released Aug. 31.

So I have compiled a pretty good list of books I want to read. This list may be different than other lists of those in our book club but I wanted a start. One issue we have with these books is that many of them are series'. Since we may not want to read the entire series, we need to know if the first book in the series has a satisfying ending or if we need to read all the books in order to find out what happens. This recently happened to me when I was reading a new series by Timothy Zahn (the Conquerors trilogy). I finished the first book but was left dangling. Anyway, we need to find out how the first book in some of these series ends. Erik said he knows only one person (our friend Tim) who has read more fantasy than me so we should ask him, but I don't know if he's read the books or not either. We might be stuck.

87 points on quiddler today. I got to make the words "sinned" and "froth"

now my nude modeling career is shot!

Ahhh nursing.... Such a good bonding experience with your baby. You feel close to your baby and know you are providing the best nutrients he or she needs. I wanted that - I really did this time.

I had nursed Matthew without giving him a bottle until Saturday night. Today (Thursday) he is only on bottles. Last Thursday I went to my OB because my left breast was very painful and I thought I had mastitis. Mastitis is a breast infection that usually clears up in 24 hrs after taking antibiotics. So I got antibiotics and was excited that my pain would go away.

On Saturday night my pain was so bad in the left breast that I had to stop nursing him and just pumped it. He nursed only on my right side.

On Sunday I went to the emergency room. Something was not right. My pain was excruciating. The internet (source of all that is good) told me I should have been better in 24 hrs after taking the antibiotics. The emergency room didn't know what to do and told me to go to my OB on Monday.

So I went to the OB on Monday and he said it was an abscess and I should go to the breast surgeon to have it drained. Yea!!! I could have this pain fixed. I was so happy. The breast surgeon looked at it and said it was too deep. I would have to have surgery. What???

My surgery was scheduled for Wednesday. On Tuesday the abscess broke open and was leaking blood and pus. That was not fabulous. I could not nurse on the right side on Tuesday since if he barely touched the left side with his little legs or hands, it caused miserable pain.

I was put under twilight sleep on Wednesday (which was pretty cool by the way) and had my surgery. It is a big gash in which I will have to change the dressing twice a day until Monday when he will stitch it closed. I can not shower or bathe until then so I'll be pretty stinky.

Now I'll have a scar and can no longer be a nude model. Bummer since this really was a career goal of mine :).

The real problem is that I will not be able to nurse the baby. This is something I've wanted all three times and never had. I had three weeks of nursing which is better than 0 though. I should look on the bright side! Another good thing is that my friends have been pumping milk for Matthew so I haven't had to give him formula. Thank God for that!

75 points on quiddler today!

Bath Time!

Matthew had his first bath on Thursday (the 24th) and is now a clean little baby. He screamed during the entire bath but was happy later when both his sisters brushed his hair.
Life with three kids is fun. What I've noticed is that there is no downtime. I've had a lot of help - thanks Mom!! But when I'm on my own, there is always something going on or some argument to break up or some naked 2 year old running around the house (really? do you have to pick this time to decide to potty train?).

I'm so thankful for the help we've received though. I'm not sure how I'm going to make it on my own full time :). Erik is wonderful and helps a lot too. He is very happy that I'm nursing too since he can sleep all night long!

I was always jealous of other women when they nursed and felt like a failure that I couldn't do it. The fact that I've been able to do it (even though it is painful!!) is such a blessing. I'm so happy we named him Matthew meaning "God's gift" because God has given me a gift to be able to nurse him.

Here is a video of Matthew hiccuping. It's not super exciting but I think he is cute so I took the video. The girls really do love him and I'm sure they will spoil him as they all get older.

65 points on Quiddler today!

Well off to attempt sleep!

Matthew's Birth Story

On Saturday 6/19, Erik and I were in the basement watching Sherlock Holmes when I needed to take my obligatory bathroom break in the middle (at around 10:30pm). I stood up and water gushed everywhere.

We never finished watching the movie.

We called Tim and Jen to watch the girls. Jen came immediately and picked them up with their car seats while Erik and I headed off to the hospital. They were watching a movie too but they actually finished their movie.

At the hospital a nurse determined that my water indeed had broken and I was taken to labor and delivery. We were having the baby!!

My contractions started getting worse but it took awhile (not until around midnight). Then at 1:30 I got my epidural which was nice. I was just laying there waiting to push when I remembered that I really don't like labor.

At around 3:30 the doctor, Todd Jenkins, came to visit me. I've never met him but he is part of the practice I go to. He was great though and I'm glad he delivered the baby.

At around 3:45am the baby's heartrate had decelerated enough that they wanted me to push even though I thought it was a little early. Baby's heartrate was down to 112 which they said was too low. So I ended up pushing for awhile until the baby's head came out and the doctor said "stop pushing". I thought that was odd but I'm glad he didn't tell me in full detail or I might have freaked out. He was moving the baby's shoulders all around because the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. Fortunately, he knew what to do! Then he said I could start pushing again. Before the baby came out the doctor said this would be a big baby - of course I said I don't have big babies :).

Finally, at 4:16am on June 20, 2010 Matthew Joseph Cooper was born! Happy Father's Day! Matthew means "God's gift" and he certainly is a gift to us. He weighed 8lbs 2oz and was 20.8" long with a wide head of 14.2". I couldn't believe I had an 8lb baby! Anyway he cried immediately and was fat and pink and cute. What a blessing!

Erik posted a picture on facebook right away (because he has an awesome phone) and I tried nursing him. He actually has a strong sucking reflex which I didn't have with the girls so it has been more successful nursing him. I think I can do it this time!!!

When Jen told the girls that they have a new baby brother she said "isn't that cool?". Jenna's response was "that's so not cool". Jenna wanted another sister and always drew pictures of the baby in Mommy's belly with a dress on. Hopefully she will accept Matthew.

We came home from the hospital yesterday and nursing was so successful that I got up with him myself all night long! Erik only got up once because Matthew was screaming his brains out and woke him up. Erik is happy that nursing is going well too since he can actually sleep :). Now for when I'll sleep....that's a different story.

We still have some challenges as it looks like Matthew has jaundice - just like Jenna and Sarah both did. However, we are a happy family of 5 now and when my feet stop swelling I'll be able to actually go outside :).

Just as with the girls we have a stuffed animal (a horse) and will be taking pictures every month of Matthew with the horse so we can see how he has grown.

Welcome Matthew!

Sprinkle

I was blessed this past weekend by my friends throwing a "sprinkle" for me. Not quite a shower (since this is baby 3) but an opportunity to get together and receive diapers and wipes. That's really what we need anyway. My friend Christine made a cute diaper cake (pictured). Erik was horrified and said that diapers and cake are two things that should definitely not go together. I think he missed the spirit of the diaper cake.

I snapped a picture of my friends at the Sprinkle (minus me and Joy). It was a fun time.

In other news:

1. 
   The OB thinks this baby is coming sooner rather than later. On Monday (June 7) she said I have about 7-10 days since I'm 3-4cm dilated. NO! I need until June 20 - that's when grades are due.
2. Jenna had a sleepover at Nicholas's house last night. She had a wonderful time and was actually really upset when she came back home today. Apparently Nicholas's house is a lot more fun than ours.
3. Jenna is done with preschool for the year and they had a pool party in one of her classmate's backyards. It was an amazing pool (I snapped a picture) and next to it was a koi pond. Gorgeous house! Not in our price range though :).
4. Our watermelon and cucumbers are already starting to come up in our garden. I'm hoping to remember to water them after baby comes!
5. I just finished The Madness Season by C.S.Friedman. I just love her books. They are so complex that sometimes I have to reread sections to really figure out what is going on. I always look forward to reading her books.
6. I'm going to start on some Timothy Zahn books next. Apparently, according to Tim, his books are like bubble gum. This might be good after C.S.Friedman which is more like well done steak.
7. 71 points on quiddler today!
   
   

Quiet times with ice cream

Quiet. Our house is too quiet. My girls have been in Florida with my parents and sisters for the past week and our house just seems so empty. While Erik has been sleeping in until 10am every day, I've been missing them terribly. Usually when they spend time with Grandparents it is because I have meetings or one of us is traveling - not because we are just at home while they are having fun. It's been hard!

Even so, we've managed to get a lot of things together before the baby comes. Erik stained the deck, I've done some cleaning and organizing, and we got some things fixed (like our Taurus which was a $1113 bill!!!). Unfortunately, our air conditioner broke but Erik fixed it himself by putting a new circuit breaker in. And our external hard drive we use to back up our data overheated but Erik was able to pull the data off of it. I love having a mechanically handy husband as well as a computer genius husband! He truly is a renaissance man!

In addition to getting things ready for baby, we have eaten ice cream every day. In fact, we have made a mind-blowing discovery of tremendous proportions. I found a new favorite ice cream place! Jenis ice cream in Dublin. They have flavors like rhubarb rose, lemon blueberry, salty caramel, etc. The dark chocolate ice cream paired with the salty caramel ice cream is one of the greatest treasures on earth. At least it is to my pregnant craving body :).

Speaking of pregnant body. I have taken pictures of me wearing the same shirt at different points in my pregnancy all three times. I'm considerably bigger this time but at least I can fit in the same shirt!

It looks like we've decided on a girls name for this baby:

Rachel Marie

However we have not decided on the boys middle name. We like both:

Matthew Joseph

and

Matthew Nathan

I like Joseph because it is a family name on my side. However our girls have middle names that start with N and have 6 letters. So Nathan would add some continuity. So I need to decide on family name or weird pattern (I'm a little crazy about patterns). Actually our girls names both have 5 letters in them and if I could convince Erik then I would pick a boys name with 5 letters too. I actually suggested Mateo to Erik because it is a form of Matthew but then I had to pick him up off of the floor because he was laughing so much. Also our girls both have an "a" sound at the end of their name (like the name Laura) but Erik likes Rachel better. I'm just a little weird about continuity.

56 points today on Quiddler!

Princess Giselle

May is coming to a close and with it, the excitement of summer. This spring has been so beautiful and filled with fun activities.

Jenna finished preschool last Thursday, and next year starts kindergarten. Real school - I can't believe it! On Sunday she had her ballet recital. Each class was a different princess. Jenna's class (4/5 year old ballet) was princess Giselle from Enchanted. The song they danced to was Happy Working Song from the movie. Jenna did so well and we ordered the DVD of the show so we can watch it over and over again. Jenna is excited to do ballet next year and I'm contemplating putting Sarah in the 2/3 year old class.

I've also included a picture of Jenna and Nicholas doing magic tricks. When Nicholas came over for a sleepover, he showed Jenna how to do "magic tricks". These basically involved putting a card behind your back and then taking it out again. It was still cute. This picture is when they put on a magic show for me and Sarah.

In other news:

1. We planted our garden on Saturday. Hopefully we will remember to water it after the baby comes!
2. We planted a blueberry bush I bought at Sams. I'm hoping we will actually get some blueberries!
3. I finished reading Beowulf's children and loved it! Now I'm reading The Madness Season by C.S. Friedman. Here is a picture of the cover of the book. Yesterday I went to the beauty salon to get my haircut and eyebrows waxed (necessity before the baby comes). Anyway, the beautician looked at the book with an odd expression and said "oh." No - I'm really not weird, it's a good book I promise, I just like sci-fi!
4. We signed up Jenna for Safety Town the last week of June. It will teach her to be safe in a variety of circumstances. She will learn about crossing the street, what to do if she gets lost, etc. It should be a fun week!
5. 79 on quiddler today and goul is not a word. I must need the "h". Really - if a letter is silent, why do you really need it anyway?
   
   
   

Scruffles

Would anyone be interested in a wonderful, fluffy, lovable, orange cat? He has been in our family for 13 1/2 years and we do not want to part with him but it looks like we will have to.

Since we have gotten our new carpet, Scruffles has pooped on it just about every day.

We have tried locking him up at night, changing the litter box frequently, putting all sorts of stuff on the carpet to get him to stop, and buying this expensive $60 pheremone stuff to get him to stop. He thinks this carpet is a giant litter box. Most likely because it is so soft.

We love Scruff. This is so hard - now Erik wishes we hadn't gotten the new carpet; he was fine before that.

So we lock him in the basement forever or try to find someone who would be willing to take him and give us visitation rights. He is a part of our family. However we will have a new baby in a month and we do not want poop on the carpet. That is not going to work.

Now you might ask yourself, why would I want a cat who poops on the carpet? Great question. I believe it is our new carpet that is causing this behavior, not that he has forgotten how to go in the litter box. So if anyone in the world reading this blog would like Scruffles and he poops on your carpet, we will take him back.

Just throwing this out there - who wouldn't want a lovable, fluffy, orange cat?

Buckeye Lake

Last weekend we went camping at Buckeye Lake with the Masts. The weather was perfect and we had a fabulous time. Since we won't be doing much camping this summer (due to new baby), we rented a cabin instead of getting our camper out of storage.

On Saturday we went to Buckeye Lake and walked around the lake. We saw baby geese and lots of litter. To Jenna and Nicholas, the litter was the most exciting part of the trip. Buckeye Lake KOA has a jumping pillow and the kids had a great time jumping on it. Unfortunately I was unable to jump since pregnant women can not go on the jumping pillow - bummer.

We also celebrated Maddie's first birthday and Emmerich's 3rd birthday. Jen made a poke cake with red and blue jello. The girls loved it. Both nights they were up very late but they had so much fun, it was worth it!

On Sunday Jenna had her rehearsal for her ballet recital this Sunday. I can't wait (I might be more excited than she is). We are ordering the DVD so we can watch her recital over and over again! Sarah keeps talking about doing "bayyet" so we will most likely put her in ballet next year too.

In other news:

1. I've started reading Act of War by Dale Brown. This is an author recommended by Tim, and I'm enjoying the book. Although I wonder if he gets mixed up with Dan Brown.
2. I'm reading Beowulf's Children by Niven, Pournelle, and Barnes. It is the sequel to Legacy of Heorot and is also a great book. I've liked everything I've read by Niven and Pournelle.
3. I'm already packed for the hospital. I'm so excited to meet this little one!
4. Erik's picture is in the Catholic Times newspaper. While I was in Chicago for work, Erik went to the PDHC volunteer banquet for me and he happened to be featured in the newspaper. I thought that was pretty cool!
5. 73 on Quiddler today - not that great.
6. I made baked beans from scratch for our Bible study and they were the most flavorless baked beans ever. I reheated them with an entire bottle of barbecue sauce and it made them much better!
   
   
   

Iron Chef Erik: Key Limes

My idea of a perfect Mothers day is Iron Chef (obviously!). Jenna picked out the secret ingredient for Erik (he was iron chef). It was key limes! This was by far, Erik's best iron chef performance.

He made:

• Lime pepper chicken with fresh citrus salad. This appetizer had a lemon, lime, and orange salad served with chicken strips coated in fresh lime peel and fresh ground pepper. The chicken was actually really good but the salad was too sour for my taste.
• Lime linguine with citrus alfredo. This was amazing! Erik made fresh pasta and instead of using water, he used freshly squeezed lime juice. The pasta had a really good lime flavor - better than other flavored pastas. But that's not the beauty of this dish. Erik made an alfredo sauce with heavy cream, lime juice, and sugar. The combination sounds weird but WOW! This was so good we ate it the next day (I made him make it again). The citrus alfredo sauce was so unique and delicious he got an excellent score.
• Raspberry lime milkshake with lime whipped cream and salted lime chocolate. So one would think he couldn't top that last dish. Au contraire. The salted lime chocolate was incredible. I love salty chocolate and this was amazing! It was Erik's idea but I actually made it as his sous chef. I melted chocolate chips and put in quite a bit of grated lime peel. Then I smoothed it out on a pan and put sea salt on it. Then stuck it in the freezer to cool. WOW! This was SO good. He could market it - I know salt and lime go together in some alcoholic drink (margarita maybe?) so it could be a big seller. The milkshake was delicious too with a nice raspberry lime flavor. He also made whipped cream and put lime juice in the whipped cream. This was an amazing dish!

Erik rated himself as a 16.33 and I rated him as a 17.33. This is the highest rating we've ever had in iron chef (even better than apples which was my previous best).

So it was a pretty exciting day at our house.

65 points on quiddler today. Not a good showing