Toranado Warnings & Mud

The hill Sadie drug Gavin down.

Gavin didn't want me to take this photo. Can you tell?

There is nothing like emergency sirens blaring away at 6:00 am to start the day off right! I am not a morning person and I need my sleep, lots of sleep. Saturdays are pretty much my only day to sleep in and I look forward to them immensely. I wasn't too thrilled to find myself crammed in the downstairs half bath with all three kids, reading poems from Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends". Where was Chris? Oh, he was outside hoping to see a tornado while fighting the urge to hop in the car and try to track one down. His need to protect his family was a little stronger though and he resisted the temptation. Thankfully the storm passed us by and we were eventually able to leave the bathroom.


The day might have started out with wicked weather but ended up in blue skies and sunshine. The kids and I took Sadie for a walk since she had been housebound for the last couple days due to the torrential rains. I'm not sure what came over Sadie because she is usually very mellow and scared of everyone and everything. She literally dragged Gavin (knocking him down onto his tummy) down a muddy hill in order to confront someones berserk dog. Poor Gavin had his hand looped through the leash. Whitney had to rescue him since I was waddling along behind them with Ashlyn.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Craving

I uploaded these pictures in reverse order but I'm too lazy to start over. Here's Ashlyn enjoying the best part of baking - the clean up!

Whoopsie!! Look closely, notice the oats that are spilt everywhere. Such a big help.

Mommy's Little Helper. The first photo I took because she just looked so cute. That chair is her best friend and my worst enemy.

Whitney was giving me grief the other day about how I needed to post something new on my blog. She loves reading my blog and finds me sooo amusing! She laughs and laughs and even likes to revisit old favorites. I know this won't always be the case so I have to enjoy it while I can. =) Not much of interest going on hence this cookie post.

Yesterday, after intense deliberations on my part, I decided to make oatmeal raisin cookies just for me since I have been craving them for quite some time. My kids won't eat them and Chris is on a particularly strong health nut kick so I have to hide them from him or suffer through yet another "are you trying to make me fat" lecture. Last time I made them he made a healthy version that tasted like cardboard and I was forced to sample them. And I really didn't want Whitney and Gavin to know or I would have to hear them complain about why I didn't make chocolate chip. Sheesh! The twisted mind games I have to go through just for a cookie. Though I did give some away to my neighbors so they won't all be going straight to my behind. If anyone has a great recipe, I would love to have it. I don't make them very often so I just try a different recipe every time but have yet to find one I love.

Little Question Mark

Whitney has taken to referring to the baby as Little Question Mark as we are still nowhere near to choosing a name for this little guy. Gavin votes for Bear, in honor of Bear Grylls of Man vs. Wild on the Discovery channel. My main worry with this is that we would have a nudist on our hands. As anyone who has seen the show knows, Bear seems to have a hard time keeping his clothes on. =D Whitney votes for Zachary, she says if we don't use it she will someday. This one is actually a pretty solid choice. And Ashlyn likes Jesus. Hmm...Jesus Weaver...uh, no. Somehow it just seems sacrilegious to name your child Jesus not to mention pretty daunting for a child to live up to. Meanwhile Chris and I keep hoping for a lightning bolt of inspiration but so far it has yet to strike.

I am 29 weeks along now so only 10 more weeks to go! (My doctor has already said we will go ahead and do the c-section at 39 weeks, so he should be arriving around May 14th.) I had a high definition ultrasound yesterday because they wanted to get a really good look at his heart since Ashlyn was born with a bicuspid aortic valve. Dr. Dobak pronounced his heart "gorgeous" though so no worries there. This was my second high definition ultrasound during this pregnancy and they are so much clearer, its amazing! His face was so clear and we could even see the individual hairs sticking up on his head. In the past I've just had the routine ultrasounds, no 3D's either so I was pretty impressed. The technician said he is weighing in at 3 lbs. 1 oz. All my babies have been very active but I think he takes the prize for the strongest.

A couple of weeks ago we finally started buying baby gear and I think this has really made the whole thing seem more real to Ashlyn and Gavin. Ashlyn loves to carry around an outfit or put a stuffed animal in his swing and push it. Or basically just fiddle around with all the baby stuff. She informed me that she wants her baby brother NOW! I think she honestly expected me to hand him over that instant and was pretty disappointed when he wasn't immediately produced for her enjoyment. Gavin keeps asking how much longer and talking about feeding him his bottle. (He loved to snuggle Ashlyn and feed her a bottle when she was a baby.) Chris is obsessed with finding the perfect crib bedding and is torn between the age old battle of price vs. the bedding of his dreams. With the added catch of matching Gavin's bedding with it. He has literally spent hours online searching.

Snow!?!

Big fat snowflakes too!

What is this stuff!?!

Snowing=Scooter Time!

Yesterday we woke up to Snow!!! Okay, so it was more like snow flurries that didn't stick but still a very, very rare sight in lower Alabama! The kids were pretty excited. Especially Gavin who really misses snow. He always says he wants us to live somewhere it snows next time we move. Just try to ignore the fact that my children look like urchins and know that Whitney picked out that outfit all by herself. =)