Welcome to the World!

Luke Taylor arrived on Monday, September 13, 2010 at 7:01 PM, weighing 7 pounds, 14 ounces, and measuring 20 inches long.

Big sister and big brother are smitten. Mommy and Daddy are too.

More to come soon ...

Back to School, Back to School ...

You finish the line ... a little movie trivia to start your Thursday.

The kids both started school last week, so we have one week under our belts already. Claire goes into her classroom much more willingly than she did the first day. David still grabs my leg and holds on for dear life and has to be pried away by his teacher. Hopefully, that will improve soon!

Claire started school last Wednesday, September 1. Here are some pics from her first day (her last first day of preschool ... sniff, sniff).

Ready to head to school.

Giving baby brother a goodbye hug. I thought David would miss having Claire around all day, but we enjoyed some good quality Mommy and David time.

Claire and her friend Kathryn. This is the third year they have been in class together. They are best buds.

Claire and her teacher. We love Ms. Pam already. She is so sweet. Claire loves her because she does not have a formal "nap time" at school. I had to wait until the end of the day to snap this picture to give Claire some time to warm up to her new teacher.

David started Mother's Day Out last Thursday, September 2. He was excited to carry his red bag (every color is "red" right now ... he knows the difference between the different colors, but he calls every color red.)

David has the same teachers that Claire had when she was two. We love Ms. Jayne and Ms. Stacy! He was excited to see his best buddies, Will and Charlie, from his class last year too.

These are the best pics I got of the kids together in their matching apple outfits. As you will notice, David was ALL SMILES while we were outside the room. The tears started when it was time to go inside the room!

I always make the kids matching back-to-school outfits and this year it kind of back-fired on me since the kids started school on different days. Oh well! Claire just wore her outfit on the second day. [Claire was disappointed that she had a small apple and David had a big apple, but I was trying to cover-up some white screen printing that was on her shirt. She very quickly got over it when Ms. Pam complimented her shirt and told her she would have to wear it again when they were learning about the letter "A" next week.]

We are looking forward to a fun school year! So far, so good. And this no nap thing for three days is working out great for Claire's napping at home. She took a good, long nap every day this past weekend and before she hardly ever took naps at home anymore.

Medicine Man

See this band-aid? David woke up on this particular morning and walked into our bathroom with a bottle of children's Tylenol and a medicine measuring cup. He told me he wanted some medicine and I asked him what for and he pointed at his finger.

He had a small abrasion on the knuckle of his middle finger that had scabbed over. I laughed and told him we didn't take Tylenol for our finger boo-boos. I quickly got some neosporin and a Diego band-aid and all was well.

Can you believe he kept that band-aid on all day long? While at Mothers-Day-Out (where I am sure he washed his hands no less than 5 times).

Cooking Day with Claire

This past Friday, Claire and I spent the afternoon in the kitchen while David was taking a long nap.

Claire insisted on wearing her apron and hat. (We have matching oven mitts too ... Thanks Colleen!)

The first thing we made were some cookies that a parent had given me at VBS. Cookie mix in a jar. Since VBS was in mid-July, I was afraid the mix was going to go bad if I didn't use it soon.

I love this recipe because once you have the mix, you just add butter, egg, water and vanilla and then pour in the mix. So easy.

Claire with our finished product. She ate about 1/2 a cookie and decided that she didn't like them. (She would prefer to eat just the chocolate chips out of the cookie.) Will and I loved these cookies and decided that the rice krispies and oatmeal add just the right amount of texture to make the cookie taste chewy and light.

Next, we made that pesky tomato-basil quiche that I have had on my menu plan for several weeks now. I froze one quiche and reheated the other quiche for dinner on Sunday night. We liked this recipe okay, but if I made it again, I will definitely chop the basil instead of using whole leaves.

(Claire accidentally touched the hot pie plate right before this picture. We should have been wearing our oven mitts!)

The last thing we made was Buffalo Chicken dip for the first Saturday of college football viewing. It is one of my favorite game day treats and we serve it with fritos and celery sticks (for a healthier option).

David finally woke up from his nap to sample a cookie. He ate two (and so did I). Claire decided that I needed to wear her hat for the picture.

Mission accomplished!

I had one last sewing project I wanted to finish up before the baby came. I finished it today ... shorts to match the kids' big sister/big brother shirts.

Thank you Daddy Day Care and Labor Day holidays!

I did not make these shirts. They came from the fabulous Jenny Mo compliments of my in-laws. Baby Luke has a matching gown that says "I'm the baby brother". Fortunately, he does not need any shorts as a third pair might have put me over the edge.

We also got the shelf for the nursery painted, purchased the diaper champ and baby monitor, and bought gifts for the big kids from their baby brother. The "to do" list is getting shorter!

Summer Sitters

Last week, we said goodbye to our summer babysitters as they headed back to college. We enjoyed having these two sweet girls keep our two sweet kids this summer!

And we are forever grateful to Miss Courtney for introducing Claire to the movie "Pocahontas". (Can you hear my sarcasm?) I think they watched it every day this summer since Claire knows the words to every single song in the movie!

Miss Courtney

Miss Stephanie

We hope to see you girls back next summer! Have a great school year!

Menu Plan Monday: September 6-12

This will probably be the last menu plan for a while since Baby Luke is scheduled to arrive on September 13. Our Sunday School class is great at providing meals for parents with new babies for several weeks after the baby arrives. And it is a ton of food!

Monday: grilled turkey tenderloin (from Sam's Club), mac & cheese, fried okra

Tuesday: leftover vegetable/beef soup, cornbread muffins

Wednesday: leftover Tomato basil quiche, muffins, fruit

Thursday: spaghetti, salad french bread

Friday: leftovers

Saturday: order pizza or eat out with a coupon

Sunday (lunch): eat out with coupon

Sunday (dinner): leftover turkey tenderloin, fresh veggies, bread machine wheat rolls

Check out other menu plans here.

37 (almost 38) weeks

Oh my word, could my belly get any bigger? I don't think so, but it does. Each week, I manage to gain 2-3 more pounds. I think total weight gain is now 40-42 pounds.

But, that is okay because THE END IS IN SIGHT! We have a inducement date.

September 13.

I was sad to not be pregnant anymore when I had David. That is so not the case this time. I think the heat and sheer exhaustion have done me in!

Nothing else really to report on the pregnancy front so much. I was dilated to 2cm and 50% effaced at my doctor's appointment last Thursday. My blood pressure is still low and swelling is minimal. (I can still wear my wedding rings.)

My due date buddies this go round, however, are dropping like flies! My friend Mrs. Phillips delivered her baby boy on August 31st (10 days before her scheduled c-section) and Maggie delivered her sweet twins on September 1 (full term for twins). Oh, and Clay and Emily have their sweet baby boy in their arms (4 weeks early) and are awaiting adoption finalization. I have one more friend at church who is due two days after me and as far as I know, she has not had her baby yet!

Claire wanted to by in this belly picture. I thought it was funny that she was standing just like me. (She plays "mommy" all the time. Unfortunately for David, he is her victim. David will be very glad when baby Luke arrives and she can transfer all her "mommying" to someone else!)

Now that we have a date, I have cranked it into high gear to get everything finished up for Baby Luke's arrival. Everything is finished in the nursery except for (1) pictures in the picture frames, (2) a shelf that needs to be painted and hung and (3) name letters. We also need to buy (1) a diaper champ, (2) a new baby monitor and (3) a going home outfit for Luke.

I think that is it! The letters have been ordered and I am hopeful that Will will paint the shelf on Monday. The pictures won't be in the frames until after Baby Luke's newborn photo session. The rest can be taken care of with a quick trip to Target and a children's clothing boutique.

Sadly, I have to work on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but we have two big mediations on Thursday and Friday that we are trying to get ready for. If these cases settle, I will have a much more pleasant maternity leave! I am hoping to spend Thursday getting a manicure and pedicure and running a few last minute errands while the kids are in preschool. On Friday, we have playgroup, a birthday party and soccer practice, and Will is headed down to the Alabama/Penn State game on Saturday.

A quick survey ... we want to buy Claire and David gifts from the baby when they come to see him in the hospital. Any suggestions?

Water, Water Everywhere

We went to Alabama last weekend for a baby shower. Will took Friday off and we went down Friday morning. We met RiRi and DiDi for a yummy lunch and then took the kids to a nearby splash pad. Claire had a blast playing in the water. David had fun too, but he preferred to stay on the periphery.

The picture below pretty much sums it all up!

Will and Didi were standing in the fountains trying to stay dry!

David found plenty of other things to keep him entertained. He climbed and ran all over the place!

Fashionista

The little shop where I buy most of my fabric and such has a fashion show every year where their customers can show off their handiwork. Claire and my niece Evie both modeled a few outfits this year. That had quite a fun time on the runway!

Here are a few pics from the show.

My mom made these matching dresses for the girls.

These girls love playing with Meme's camera. And, they have gotten pretty good at taking pictures too.

Meme and her girls.

Claire and me.