First week in pictures

It's hard to believe Maggie's first week has already come and gone.  She is just the most precious baby and we are indeed blessed to have her in our lives.

The fun started the day we brought Maggie home from the hospital.  Our dearest friends Adam, Rosie, Claire, and Michael came for a visit all the way from Tennessee.  Rosie and I mostly just sat around and talked and napped while the guys kept the kiddos preoccupied.  Claire, Kathryn, and Olivia had the greatest time "catching up" (we all did, actually), and Michael is just about the sweetest little boy.  He and Maggie mostly just slept... and ate...  

Claire and Livie bird watching

Sweet little Michael in his favorite spot

It looks like Claire is conspiring something in this picture.  Whatever it is, the other two sure think it's funny!  These girls miss each other so much!

The guys were sure brave to take these three monsters out to the mall, then to Chick-Fil-A for lunch

Thing 1, Thing 2, & Thing 3

Kathryn is absolutely crazy about her new baby Maggie

And Olivia is absolutely crazy about watermelon...  no, just kidding =)...  she really is doing much better accepting the reality that this baby is here to stay =)

So it's probably just gas, but it's still pretty sweet... and the first "captured" smile

My big helper - doesn't she look so grown up?!?

Livie constantly wants to know if she can "touch 'Madee' head?"  She must have learned that from Claire =)

Even though I am at Mom and Dad's, and have all the help I need, life with three is still pretty crazy.  Tomorrow I will be solo as they're headed down to FL to see my nephew graduate.  Should be interesting =).  

Things aren't about to slow down, either.  Brad's Mom and Dad are coming into town this weekend to meet Maggie for the first time, and his Mom will be staying the week to help me out with the kiddos, and get the basement packed up and cleaned out.  Then Adam and Rosie are headed back up the next week to spend a few days with us!  Only three weeks from tomorrow and we close on our house!  Yippee!!!  As anxious as I am, I don't want to wish the time to fly by.  It goes fast enough as it is.

Let's hope I can rest this peacefully tonight...

Our new little someone to love

Please welcome our newest little bundle of joy

Margaret (Maggie) Ruth

Born April 23rd at 5:09 pm

7lbs 8oz

19.5" long

We're all back home recuperating (and hoping to get a little more sleep tonight =).  Kathyrn is ecstatic about her new baby sister.  Olivia is a little unsure about the move from "baby" to "middle child".  Mom and Dad are as happy as can be!  

A work in progress

Here are some pictures of the new house. We're only a month out from our close date - yeah!! They are mostly of the kitchen, since everything else just looks like a little white room =).

View from the back sliding glass door, looking into the kitchen, then the living room

Close up of the kitchen cabinets, and our very shallow kitchen sink =(. Mistake #1...

The girls trying out my jacuzzi tub =)... wish I could be using this right now!

Happy April 15th!

As the wife of an accountant, Tax Day is sadly enough getting to be my favorite "holiday" of the year. We are so happy to have our little family back together again. Last night we were going to go out and make some decisions on some things for the new house, but after hitting a couple of stores we realized we would both really rather just crash at home and RELAX for a change. Brad got the day off today and hit the golf course with a couple of guys from work. They are playing 36 holes, and I have been threatened not to go into labor before this evening =). It is a gorgeous day and he definitely deserves the fresh air and sunshine.

The girls and I have been enjoying the beautiful spring days too. I've been at Mom & Dad's as often as I can trying to get the garage cleaned out (where all of our stuff is in storage) and furniture painted and freshened up for the new house. I'm trying to make our move in a month as smooth as possible. The house is really starting to come together and every time we go over they've done something new to it. As minimal as it is, we always get so excited! Every little thing that is done just brings it together a little bit more.

Here's my "big baby" on her "se-sone"

The girls new favorite game is hide-and-seek, and they are so sweet playing it together. When it's Olivia's turn to count, she puts both hands over her eyes and says, "one, two, ready, TUM!!!" When it's her turn to hide she always hides in the same spot that Kate hid in the time before =). This is their favorite hiding spot...

*Some of you may have noticed that I haven't posted my menus in a while. It's not because I haven't been following my budget or menu planning, but since Brad has only been here for supper one night a week, we haven't needed to be quite as organized. I will pick it back up as things start to settle down a little.

The Wateraholic

Those of you who really know my girls are not at all surprised by this picture. This morning I gave Olivia both cups and asked her to deliver one to her sister. She *started* to obey, then couldn't resist the urge...

If you have taken advantage of the amazing Kroger deals this week, then you, like me, have nothing short of an extreme excess of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits. If you bought the flaky kind, here is a fun recipe to try. It was given to me as a "breakfast recipe", so I made it this morning. They were actually more like cookies, and quite a bit of sugar for "breakfast", so we ate lots of fresh fruit, then had them as a "breakfast dessert" =)

INGREDIENTS (I did half recipe since our biscuit cans were the small ones)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 (12-oz.) can Pillsbury® Golden Layers® Refrigerated Buttermilk Biscuits

DIRECTIONS
1.Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease cookie sheets.
2.In small shallow bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; mix well. Separate dough in 10 biscuits. Separate each biscuit into 3 to 4 layers. Dip each layer in melted butter; coat both sides with cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheets.
3.Bake at 400°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

I'm updating. No foolin'!

The girls and I had a wonderful trip down to Tennessee with Mom and Dad a couple weekends ago. (I am sick to report that I did not snap one single picture while I was there.) Everyone was so welcoming to us, even inviting us to meals that should have just been for Mom and Dad. The girls got to spend some much needed time with Gramma and Grandpa, and I got to see Baby Michael for the first time. It was such a nice reunion with so many old friends and loved ones.

Things have been more than a little crazy in our corner of the world lately. Brad's tax season has picked up a little bit, and because of his hour drive he usually doesn't get home until around 8 or 9, which wouldn't be too awful if I weren't 8 1/2 months pregnant. As it is, though, it gets a little tiring. Since he's working Saturdays too, he is very ready to just have a day off. They have an initial deadline of April 7th, so even though things won't officially be wrapped up until the 15th, things will definitely start slowing down in about a week. The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel...

Things are progressing very well with the house. We have a pretty definite close date of May 22nd, which, of course, is not as soon as we had originally hoped, but at this point we're just happy to have a date so we can see the end in sight. We're to the "fun stage" now, of picking out paint colors, fabric for curtains, bedding for the girl's rooms, and other "accessories" that will hopefully add a little personality to our little "cookie cutter" =). Here is our most recent outside picture. They just bricked it last week!

Things are definitely progressing with the new baby too =). It's hard to believe that we're almost to the 2 week mark! This pregnancy has absolutely flown by, and we're not sure that we or the girls are prepared for the changes that are about to occur. Brad asked me the other day if/when I was ever going to be really ready for a newborn. I told him when I could grow an extra arm =). I'm a little worried about where this baby is going to ride!

I've been trying to work with Kathryn on understanding what is about to take place. She is officially confused. Yesterday in CVS we ran into Heidi and the girls, and she lifted up her shirt and told Aunt Heidi that she had a baby in her belly too. She told me later that her baby wanted pineapple. Last night Brad and I met with our doula. I told Kathyrn she was going to bed a few minutes early so I could talk to Miss Julie about the baby in my belly. She hadn't been in there long when we heard "Moooooooommmmmm. Daaaaaddddddd." So Brad goes to see what she needs. Turned out that she needed to get up so she could talk to Miss Julie about the baby in her belly too. The only name she can come up with is Baby Michael. She is really, really set on that. Maybe she knows something we don't =).

Now for a few pictures... Kathryn is very into whatever I'm doing these days. She loves to craft with me, and she always has to have all of the tools that I'm using.

The girls LOVE trying to ride in this car. Weird.

And here they are sporting their new shirts from Aunt Rosie and Uncle Adam that were in their Easter baskets.

Then a totally random shot. I just happened to have my camera along. Driving around the roundabout at Rockville and 100... Someone decided it needed a centerpiece...