Settling Down

We feel like things around our house are finally settling down!
After Scotty's first 4 months (which any first 4 months with a baby are a blur), then sickness, the holidays, and more sickness, things are finally almost normal around here!

We've been working with Scott on some sleep training- helping him learn to sleep through the night- and are seeing some progress. He's now sleeping 8pm to 6am, but we're still aiming for 7am!

He is growing like a weed! He's 18 lbs, 26 inches long, and just outgrew his infant car seat and got promoted into his sister's seat this weekend. She got herself a new "big girl" seat, and our backseat of the car is FULL!

Scott and Timmy are madly in love with each other. Scott loves to grab and pull at the fur, Timmy loves to be grabbed and have his fur pulled at. Seriously, it makes him purr. He comes looking for Scott each morning for a little wrestle-love time.
There is still a lot of brother-sister love too. Addie is a great big sister, very helpful and sweet. She is newly in love with Lego Duplos, since getting a set from my sister for Christmas and a bunch from a family at church who had outgrown them. She plays with them for a loooong time each day, which delights her mommy.








The only interesting thing that has happened lately is Scott scaring his parents half to death last weekend. After having an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin and breaking out in hives for days, he also then quit using one arm. He didn't seem to be in pain, and I thought it might be the hives bothering him, but after several hours Greg and I discovered that he wasn't using it at all, just letting it hang limp at his side. Of course, this was on a Saturday afternoon when the doctor's office was closed. We called the on-call pediatrician who had us take him right in to a pediatric urgent care (thank the Lord we didn't have to go to the ER). We were imagining the worst case scenarios all the way there (stroke? seizure?). But after the doctor examined him and was very doubtful of a break, he decided to try a quick fix before sending him off for x-rays. He told us it could be as simple as a partially dislocated elbow, and performed a special little handshake to reset it, just in case that's what was going on. Sure enough, Scott started using his arm right away. Greg and I almost fell down on the ground out of relief! The doctor told us some kids just have loose joints, and it was very likely that Scott would do this again. It was so easy to reset, the doctor even taught Greg how to reset it, so we can fix it at home and be the ultimate "do-it-yourself"ers now! What a relief to drive home that afternoon with two healthy kids in the backseat. It was a good opportunity to thank the Lord again for their health, and for "normal" family life!

Greg Turns 35

35?! Yes, indeed. Greg celebrated his birthday last week. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!
Addie, Scotty and I joined Greg for lunch that day, then we had a special dinner at home. We had a quiet celebration with just the Kropfs for cake and a little playing of their Wii that evening.
What I will remember most about this birthday is that this was the year with the ugliest cake you've ever seen. I tried following a new recipe for "Carmel Cake" and it DID NOT go well. The cake itself was wonderful, but the carmel icing was a disaster. And while I was assembling it and realizing all was not going well, I managed to burn my finger in the process too! I ended up calling Greg on the phone cracking up, and telling him, "I'm sorry, but your cake is ugly and I burned my finger!" We decided it tasted just fine, despite the cosmetic disappointment.

And here is a shot of Addie, who learned to write Daddy's name that day. We thought it was pretty cool!

North & South

It used to be pretty common for us to use this blog to talk about our food. Once I got pregnant with Scotty, all talk of food ceased, and though I have gotten my appetite back since later in my pregnancy, I hadn't yet had life return to normalcy enough to start cooking new things and talking about it. Well, I'm back, baby.

Last week I decided to try making "Southern Style Cornbread" from my Cook's Country Cookbook. Incidentally, I adore this book, which was put out by America's Test Kitchen. It's full of classic, old home-cookin' recipes, and each one was tested to come up with the best ingredients, the best methods, to turn out the perfect product. Greg got me this book last Christmas, right when we found out I was pregnant. It sat on the shelf for way too long before I started into it, and now I am really enjoying it.

Anywhooo, I was hankerin' for some cornbread and looked up the recipe. I found two: one for regular cornbread, and one for "Southern Style." Hmm, I thought, I wonder.... And since I didn't have the ingredients for the "regular" kind, I started in on the "Southern" kind. The book explained that this was not your "Northern" cake-like, sweet cornbread. When I think of cornbread, I think of sweet, cake-like stuff, and that was what my mouth was watering for. Well, this is definitely different! Though it was fun to make it in the cast iron, and it came out with a gorgeous crispy crust, it was NOT what my mouth wanted when my brain thought "cornbread."
We ate it with a very "Northern" recipe- a chili recipe from a woman in Yakima, WA. And this was some VERY Washington Chili. I can't really explain how, but trust me, it was Washington food. Hearty.

Greg and I decided we are definitely Northerners when it comes to our cornbread. Though we love so many things from the South, we really like our cornbread to taste like dessert.

Where do you weigh in on this issue?

My First Gruel

We tried starting Scott on solids a few weeks ago. We've since given up because it seems that whatever we put in his mouth just runs right back out. We'll give it a little while longer and try again.
But we got these pictures of the big introduction anyway.
I have to tell you, that as a food lover, it seems so wrong that a child's first introduction to this great stuff we call food would be runny, stinky, rice cereal. You parents out there know what I mean- that stuff is gross! The babies don't seem to mind it though, and I even remember Addie chowing on it with much joy, so I guess to a baby it isn't so disgusting. Scott wasn't sure what he thought of the whole experience.

Like I said, we'll try again soon, and hopefully be on our way to eating the good stuff!

Addie the FLower Girl- the GOOD pictures

I got a few more pictures of Addie's big performance at Erica & Joe's wedding. A special thanks to Lukas VanDyke, the wedding photographer, who took these. If you are in the SoCal area and need a photographer, I would HIGHLY recommend him! He took magnificent pictures!

Here is Addie signing the guest book




AND....

the big moment.

Oh. My. Word.
Who is this kid? Where did she come from? OK, OK, I know where (and who) she came from, but seriously?

Christmas #3- with Greg's Family in Phoenix

We headed out to Phoenix for a loooong overdue trip this Christmas. It was great to see everyone, and we were especially excited to meet our newest niece, Zoe, and introduce everyone to Scott!

We spent a lot of time hanging out at Mamaw & Papaw's house....
Addie tried out the Wii,
and we played card games, ate a lot, and just enjoyed being together!
Here is Greg, reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip!
Here's us four on Christmas morning. Addie & Scott were busy lovin' on each other, as usual.

A Yard!

One of the best parts of our trip to Phoenix was Mamaw & Papaw's big backyard!
Addie LOVED playing in the leaves! Throwing them up.....
and jumping in!
Also, the oversized tether ball was a hit.
And there was no shortage of croquet playing! Greg played almost every game with Scott in his arms, and he still rocked at it!

Group Shots

This picture cracked me up because our kids are into looking at each other more than the camera.
OUr family with Greg's parents and grandparents
Mark's family with parents and grandparents

Cousins

Good time with the cousins!
Micah, Addie & Ally watching a movie
Little Zoe- the miracle baby
Pig pile! Even the babies join in!
Playing our new game- what fun!

Wow! Thanks!

Gift Opening:
Addie checks out the cool home-made lip balm I got from Jess.
The (Mark) Spangler kids try out their new puppets
Scotty gets his first computer!
Addie plays with her cousin's new stuff. Of course!

The Kids Have a Blast

Scotty though Uncle Mike was soooo funny!
Addie loved being Mamaw's helper

Scott and Papaw chill out.

Christmas #2- Our Own Family

Because of the hectic pace of our December this year, our own little family's Christmas ended up being very non-traditional. We wanted to find time for a good, sit-down present opening. But it would have to come after my parents visit & Erica's wedding, before we left for Phoenix, while we were busy recovering from all the late nights and getting the house ready for company (visitors stayed here while we were gone), and getting Scotty to the doctor and baking bread for the neighbors and packing for our trip...

You get the picture. It didn't really happen.

Instead, on the day before we left for Phoenix, while busy with errands and cleaning and the like, we decided to just gift our presents to each other at any random time during the day. It ended up being really fun! Greg would leave a gift on the bathroom counter to surprise me while getting ready, he would find one on the kitchen table after coming downstairs. Addie loved getting gifts all day long, and we even saved a few of her gifts for the car ride to Phoenix, to make the trip more fun! It might not be what we want to do every year, but it was great for this year!

A cute shot of Scotty
Greg loved his new book!
An ipod docking station! Wahoo!


Sorry, no pictures of me receiving my gifts. At least not any I am posting online. Mostly I am in pajamas with bad hair, and the world just doesn't need to see that. But I got some great gifts!
Addie plays her new electronic saxophone, which mercifully, has an earphone jack. So she rocked out in her own private concert.

Addie's 4th Birthday

I cannot believe that I am blogging about my daughter turning FOUR! But believe it or not, she is a big four-year-old now, and I am finally posting these pictures from her birthday party.

This year we had a small "Storybook" birthday party, because when we asked ourselves what Addie really likes, the answer was books!
We had my parents in town, and invited the Myers and Kropf families for dinner. On the menu was:
-Green Eggs & Ham (deviled eggs with green filling and regular looking ham)
-Cheesy potatoes from the "Ox Cart Man"
-Peter Rabbit's salad (with radishes of course)
-Little Red Hen's bread rolls
-Pooh Bear's honey

We put out all these books as decorations, and had stories and a puppet show and present opening. It was a great night to spend celebrating our wonderful gift from God, named Addie.

Somehow is all the busy preparations, we missed getting a picture of the food table, but here is Addie's plate to give you a glimpse.
Here I am, reading "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" to the kids.
Greg reading another book to the kids- "If you give a Moose a Muffin"
Addie and Ally Myers, and the big 'ol stack of gifts waiting to be opened.










Like I said, I can't believe it has been four years since we first met our daughter. We love what a wonderful additon to our family she is. We love her spunk and her big vocabulary, what a quick learner she is, and what a tender heart she has toward the things of God. We love how God made her petite little frame, her genuine smile, and her big blue eyes. Thank you God for our Addie!

Gifts

Addie got such nice gifts! Here's the music-playing card from Mamaw & Papaw- a big hit.
A new Karma Wilson book. Love this author!
A "Super Why" puzzle
Ooh! A Little Einsteins Rocket from Mom & Dad!

Party Play

During the party, Greg and I put on a puppet show about some farm animals named Addie, Grant, Ceana & Ally. We did it all on the fly, without script- and it turned out quite good, if I say so myself!
Here's Addie peeking over the "curtain" to see what was all the laughing about back there.
At the end of the party, Addie and the Myers girls played dress up one last time (The Myers' moved away just a few days later).
I loved when these girls played dress up together- they came up with some fabulous ensembles!

The Cake

To go with the theme of this year's birthday party, I attempted to make a cake based on one of Addie's favorite books, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." I copied one I saw online, and instead of complicated fondant decorations, cheated using a ribbon and refrigerator magnet letters, along with the plastic palm tree from the neighbor's VeggieTales Nativity play set. It came out great!
Addie counts her candles,
gets sung to,
and blows out the cake! Actually, blows all OVER the cake, which grossed me out, hence the face.

At the end of the day when she was all tucked in, we asked her what was her favorite part of her birthday and she said the CAKE. I couldn't have been more delighted! Well, she said the cake and the puppet show, so we were both happy parents. What a great birthday!

Visiting

Christmas time is great for visiting! We were thrilled to finally get some time with Niki's cousin Heather and her husband Matt, who live in Pasadena. Here is Matt and Scotty having man time.
Gettin' some love from Heather too!
And Scotty also likes to visit with Timmy. Actually, Timmy and Scotty are ALL OVER each other these days. Timmy likes his face petted (actually grabbed is fine with him too), and Scotty loves to grab at Timmy, so they make each other quite happy!
And you too! Let's have a visit!

A Lot of Time with Poppi

During my parent's visit, the kids spent a lot of time with Poppi...
playing trains,
sleeping,
being silly,
and just chillin' out.

Christmas #1

Our first Christmas came this year when December wasn't even half over yet! But we opened gifts with my parents since they were here.
Addie opens her stocking
A "Hu-monica!"
An elmo stamp. Pretty cool.
And our favorite part: she tears off the paper and says excitedly "OH MY GOODNESS, OH MY GOODNESS!" We say, "What is it?" and she answers "I Do NOT know!!!"

Stevens Christmas

Niki got a welcome sign for the front door. Yeah!
Greg got a neat corner clamp. This is his "are you serious? Do you see how cool this is?" face
Some cool vice grips
Addie unwrapped a new train set for her and Scotty.

Addie Makes A Memory

Addie was asked to be the flower girl in our good friend Erica's wedding on December 19th. We were all so excited! Here is Adds at home, modeling the dress.
The night of the wedding, our dear friend Kellie did her hair. It was Gorgeous!











Now, we all have those childhood moments that live on in family history, and this night was a night Addie will always remember. And if she forgets, her family will always remember it. So will Auntie Erica and Uncle Joe.

See, when Addie has a job to do, she takes it VERY seriously. She will work really hard to do exactly what she thinks is expected of her. And she was all set to be an all star flower girl. Also, it had been a BIG day for us- our dear, dear friends the Myers family moved away to North Carolina and left that afternoon. There were a lot of tears, and emotions were all running ragged. I would like to think that is why the following incident happened:
She started down the aisle with friend Clayton like a pro. I was watching from the back and bursting with pride.







Then, when she was almost to the very front of the church and out of my eyesight, I heard the audience chorteling and laughing a bit, and then I heard it: Addie's TANTRUM cry. A wail, followed by crying. Then I saw Pastor Steve get down off the stage and head for Addie's approximate location. I could NOT figure out what could be going on! Surely, that WAS Addie crying, but WHY would she do that?!?! Steve ushered her to our waiting friend Erin in the front row.

I took Scotty and sneaked up to that front row just as soon as I could! When I got there, Addie was sitting, just fine, coloring. Erin whispered to me that Addie had gotten upset when she ran out of petals. WHEN SHE RAN OUT OF PETALS?! She flipped out for that?! Oh boy! I was mortified! Then, Scotty happily added to my mortification by LOUDLY filling his diaper during the gospel message. Not once, not twice, but three times. A proud mommy evening I will always remember!

Immediately after the wedding, I was dying to talk to Addie and hear more of what happened. She calmly told me she had run out of petals and cried. Then the bridal party told me the rest- she had run out of petals, slung her basket up over her head, and thrown herself face down on the aisle and cried. That's when Steve intervened and got her up and to her seat. God bless Steve.
And look! someone got a picture of it!


Actaully, Greg got video of it, because he was video taping the ceremony, but the church was dark and it is hard to see. Nevertheless, we may post that video clip sometime in the future.

I was feeling mortified still until Greg reminded me that I would be embarrassed for a little while and then feel fine, but Addie would hear about this night for a very long time. You can bet that on her wedding day, we'll be reminding her not to get to the front of the church and throw herself down on the floor and cry.

Sleeping Babies are Cuter than Regular Babies

Our Cuties

Just a few shots from December of our precious kids. They're so cute, it's hard to believe these are the children that kept Greg and I up so much last night! I (Niki) have a sinus infection, and Addie and Scott are sick as well. Between losing binkies, coughing, wanting to eat, more coughing.... we barely slept all night.

But they sure are cute!

Good Food

I can't believe I have to go back over a month to begin catching up our blog posts! So pathetic!

Just a couple of happy moments from our kitchen:
Greg working on his pie for our Church's "Turkeys, Tarts, & Testimonies" at Thanksgiving.
He made Sour Cream Peach Pecan Pie. It was delicious!!!
A Broccoli Chicken Divan I made that was just scrumpty. Ya'll should come over for some!