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

Touch a Pink Truck

On Friday, the girls and I went to Touch-a-Truck at Adventure Park. I thought we would waltz right in and see a few trucks then be out for lunch. Wow. This place was packed! There were lines for the trucks and we had to park far away just to get there.

Even so, the girls had a wonderful time! I posted a picture of their favorite "truck". It is a pink limosine whose workers gave the girls star stamps on their faces. They loved this! They also got to see a bookmobile, school bus, ambulance, ER response truck, Nationwide RV, and police cars. It was a really great experience.

For Mothers Day, I decided to take both girls out to breakfast. We went to Scramblers and got a big breakfast that all three of us split. Then we went to the zoo so the girls could get their faces painted. However the face painting was not open so we just headed home. It was a nice Mothers day present.

Tomorrow (Mothers day for real) Erik will be doing Iron chef so you can anxiously await his creations!

92 on Quiddler today and I got to make the word "math"!

Eating dinner with the giraffes.

So obviously the first picture I should post after my 3 day faculty symposium in Chicago is one of the food :). I flew out to Chicago April 22 and got back on Sat. April 24. I went with 5 other faculty and had a wonderful time! On Friday night we had dinner at the Chicago zoo. I've included a picture of me and John, one of the math faculty who went to the symposium too and a great friend of mine (people who read Tolkien, Jordan, Eddings, etc = cool).
At the zoo we had a great dinner (shown) with bananas foster for dessert. The chef actually lit it on fire - that was pretty awesome!

I came home to see my family and Erik had prepared an awesome dinner of homemade tortellini with pesto, tomatoes and scallops. Yum!

On Wednesday, my friend Nicole dropped off a huge bag of play dresses. This has been loved! Very much so! The girls love putting the dresses on and dancing around. Although I'm a little concerned about this love of fashion (I am not a fashionista!). I hope I can be a good Mom - certainly not a fashion role model!

Before Nicholas came over the other day, Jenna held up two play dresses and asked which one she should wear. Is this supposed to happen this early?

My diabetes has been under control all week. I have not had a reading above 116 all week long. I think that I've been a lot less stressed lately - and I've been eating a lot of ice cream and yummies like that. I took another 4 mile bike ride too. I'm feeling great now!

72 points on Quiddler today.

Please help us pick a name!

Please help us pick a baby boy name.
	Matthew Joseph
	Matthew Nathan
pollcode.com free polls

and

Please help us pick a baby girl name
	Rachel
	Laura
pollcode.com free polls

Roughing it in the Woods

Last weekend I went on a "camping" trip with a few of my Mommy friends. I put camping in quotes since we had a cabin in the woods with a hot tub in the back (roughing it!).

Last Thursday, the day before the camping trip, Erik got a bike trailer to pull the girls behind him when we go biking. So we got on our bikes and took a 5 mile bike trip (2 1/2 miles to Graeters and 2 1/2 miles back). Yes - I survived the 5 mile bike trip 7 months pregnant. We actually had an awesome time and the girls loved it! Who doesn't love a stop at Graeters anyway?

On Friday I left for the girls "camping" trip. My friends Jen, Nicole, Heather and Amanda also went on the trip and we had an awesome time. They sat in the hot tub a lot while I dipped my feet in. We played Transamerica, Scattergories, and Truth or Dare. We really ended up laughing a lot!

Amanda and Heather both have blogs that I've been reading and they inspired me to redesign mine. I used cutestblogontheblock.com for the background. I think it looks awesome. Then I photoshopped the header using the background colors. I was inspired by their blogs!

It was a fun and relaxing weekend with lots of good food, friends and laughter. I'm excited to go again next year and even more excited that I can go in the hot tub!

I also had to post some pictures of the girls outside. They are so cute and always want to wear summer dresses. Someday I'll wear summer dresses too. I love our phlox too! It's beautiful and the best part is that it's easy!

60 points on Quiddler today!

MN+WV+OH Coopers = Awesome!

Last weekend Gramma, Grampa, Joel, and Megan came to visit for a few days. We had a great time and packed in as much Graeters and games as we could. Graeters + Games = Awesome.

Over the 4 days they were here, we went to Graeters twice, the zoo, and Damons as well as played Scattergories, Balderdash, Rails of England, Stone Age, the Bean Game, and Carcassone. Erik and Joel played a lot of Rings too. So we had a great time. Megan had not yet met Sarah so that was also exciting. The girls really loved having everyone here.

We are still making dinner for our Tuesday night Bible study. Our new study started Tuesday the 6th and we had quiche (I made tomato basil, meat lovers, and crab quiches). The meat lovers quiche had a pound of bacon and a pound of sausage. Yum. The week after I made shrimp tortellini carbonara (also had bacon). So now it has been our goal to have bacon on every Tuesday night Bible study. This upcoming Tuesday we are going to have breakfast with pancakes, sausage, and yes - bacon!

This Tuesday will be my last Bible study as I'll be teaching on Tuesday nights next semester. Erik and I call this upcoming semester the "countdown" since it is the last semester I'm teaching before this baby comes. Hang in there until June 20th baby! I'll be leading the Bible study about prayer. Looking through the Bible, made me realize I need to narrow down my focus. It's hard to find verses NOT about prayer!

58 points on Quiddler today!

Is that contestant on American Idol a Christian? Scorecard

The “Is that contestant on American Idol a Christian? Scorecard”

77. They give a few “prayer grunts of affirmation” when the judges are giving them feedback = + 1 point

To add up your score with over a 130 other ideas on this scorecard, visit stuffchristianslike.net

I'm linking to this site because I love reading stuffchristianslike.net
If you haven't been there - check it out!

Happy Easter

This comic is SO funny. My research was based on genetic algorithms which are optimization algorithms (not going to get in the gritty details). Anyway - I was rolling after reading this comic that no one else probably gets ;). It is from xkcd.com - a hilarious math comic website.

Today is Easter! We had a fabulous Easter. My mom and dad took the girls on Wednesday and we went home to pick them up today. I had an all day meeting at work on Thursday which was fun. Since we were sans kids, we went hiking at Highbanks twice, went out to dinner at Carrabas, went to Stations of the Cross at the Catholic Church, saw Clash of the Titans, got to play games with Tim and Jen, and slept in. It was a little vacation.

On Sunday we went to Amanda's church. It is Mercy Vineyard in Canton and it is a great church! Then we had Easter dinner where relatives said things to me like "are you sure you're not 9 months pregnant?" and "there's a woman at church who is due around the same time as you and she's not nearly as big as you." Umm....thanks? I bit my tongue before I said "thanks - I think you look fat too." Apparently it's funny to tell a pregnant woman she is huge.

Joel, Megan, and Grandma and Grandpa will be coming to visit on Wednesday. We are so excited! I made a hoho cake although it has too much sugar for me to eat.

85 points on Quiddler!

Beach sand carpet

Beach sand. That's what our new carpet feels and looks like (except without the sandyness of sand). It's so soft. The girls love running on it - I snapped a picture before Erik moved all the furniture back. I feel like we have a new house now!

On Thursday Jenna had a sleepover. Her friend Paige came to spend the night. The girls were up until 10pm talking! The next morning we colored eggs and had an Easter egg hunt around the house. Jenna had a blast! And took a 2 hour nap - she was so exhausted.

Today we went to an Easter Egg hunt at New Hope church where Jenna goes to preschool. It was great fun. There were activities as well as the Easter Egg hunt. The girls decorated foam eggs with a magnet on the back so we have those on our refrigerator. There was also a big trough of dirt and the kids got a cupful of it and then planted flower seeds in it. I guess I'm supposed to remember to water them. Then they decorated Easter egg cookies. Each of the kids could find 13 Easter eggs and both girls found so many more so we had to put some back. Sarah was really not a fan of that.

This upcoming week is very exciting. Holy week is a great time to reflect on God's love for us. Jenna is working on the following memory verse this week: Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." ~John 14:6. She's doing a great job memorizing it! I'm excited for Good Friday to go to Stations of the Cross and Easter Sunday.

The following week will be exciting too! Joel and Megan and Grandma and Grandpa will be visiting. We haven't seen Joel and Megan in a long time and are very excited. The girls are really excited to see them. They know Uncle Joel likes ice cream and Aunt Megan likes tacos :)

In other news:

1. I'm currently reading two books: The Legacy of Heorot by Niven, Pournelle, and Barnes. I've really liked everything these authors have written and this is no exception. Fossil Hunter by John Olson. This is a book given to me by someone at church and is really good. It is about evolution - a topic I like to read about.
2. I decided that I could do Pilates. So I went to a pilates class at Lifetime. This video (sorry about the ad first) shows one of the exercises we were supposed to do. Yea. Right. I'm 7 months pregnant - I do not bend.
3. 73 points on Quiddler today!

Where is Thumbkin?

We should be getting new carpet early next week. So Erik is in home improvement mode and is painting all the trim in the house (while I sit on the couch and eat kettle corn). He ripped the carpet out of our closet to paint the trim and in doing so had to move all the shoes.

Jenna was wearing Daddy's shoes all over the house. I just had to snap a picture.

Since today is Sunday and not technically part of Lent, we decided to have a sweet treat and go out for ice cream. So I went out for ice cream. I got a cookie dough concrete mixer (similar to a blizzard from Dairy Queen but WAY better) from Culvers with extra peanut butter and marshmallow cream and chocolate instead of vanilla ice cream. Let me tell you it was fabulous! My sugar was 165 (highest it's been this entire pregnancy but who's counting). Tomorrow is another day - no ice cream for me. But oh yea baby. I'm getting that again!

I was innocently singing "where is thumbkin" with Sarah the other day when I realized her rendition of "where is thumbkin" doesn't quite sound PG. Listen to this video and let me know what you think.

Today was the most awesome day in Quiddler ever! I got the high score 103. I had to take a screen shot - yipee!!