It's a girl!

Ultrasound confirmed this week that a baby girl is on her way in January.

Now Rob will truly be the king of the castle.

Lilly told me the morning of the ultrasound that she "really, really wants a baby brother." She said, "I do not want another sister, Mom." Even after we told her the news, she was in denial. We asked her what we should name the baby girl, and she gave us only boy names. 

Claire seems excited anyways, so we're happy about that.

We are open for name suggestions, so send them our way!

 

Birthday celebration

What's a birthday without a celebration?

Rob offered to make a homemade birthday dinner, and we thought grilled pizzas would be a fun flare.

Thanks to Cook's Illustrated, we found a great recipe for grilled flat bread margherita pizza which included homemade rosemary garlic dough, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and more. Our special guests included Rob's sister Colleen (aunt CoCo) and boyfriend Tyler who are visiting from Kansas. What a great birthday! Thanks for all of the happy wishes everyone!

 We also enjoyed an icebox oreo cheesecake. I recruited help when blowing out my candles. Love the face, Rob! Thanks for the help girls!

Here's to many more happy birthdays!

Messy Morning

During the morning hub bub in the kitchen- making breakfast, concocting lattes, packing lunch- Miss Claire managed to sneak an unopened container of oatmeal from the pantry- yes, one of the BIG containers. You can imagine how much fun she had dumping it all over the living room, all over the couch and even all over the dog.

She thought it was pretty funny. Rob said he heard her giggling about something... making a mess is what she was doing. This whole situation reminded me of a photo of my sister Amy with a box of cheerios all over her bedroom floor. 

The downside to this little incident was that it took me forever to clean up! The vacuum became clogged, and I even had to vacuum the patio thanks to an oat covered Sue who escaped out the doggie door.
Have a laugh at the living room floor's expense... 

Claire seems pretty happy about it, doesn't she? This was the smile before she decided to dance on top of her oats- there's nothing like smushing it in to the carpet as much as possible.

Purple project

It's finally done... we've been meaning to make Lilly an upholstered headboard for quite some time. Well, it's done! Thanks to Rob's tool savvy and my skill with the staple gun, Lilly has a "new" bed. The duvet cover is also new as well as the Barbie sheets hiding underneath. The headboard was surprisingly easy to make thanks to simple instructions from the Internet, knowing someone with an embroidery machine and a husband willing to use a power tool or two. When asked what type of embroidered L I wanted, I flashed back to my childhood... how about a nice "L" like on Laverne and Shirley. Remember that?

Sweet dreams, Miss Lilly!

Preschool already...

The house was filled with excitement this morning as we prepared for Lilly's first day of preschool. Chandler follows a modified year-round schedule, so the school year begins a bit earlier here than the rest of the country.

Lilly will go to preschool all day long- this means packing a lunch! A few weeks back, she picked a new lunch box from the store, and this morning we packed it full of yummies... strawberries, milk, a homemade cookie, cheese and crackers, raisins... everything a 4 year old could want in their lunch on the first day of school. She met her new teacher last week during an open house, and this morning was super excited to return to her new classroom. Claire and I dropped her off this morning, and to my surprise she wasn't in the least bit sad to see us go. Instead, she was eager to begin the art activity and to meet her new friends. Here is the little school girl before class showing off hew new lunch box. This smile followed me out the door as I left her in the classroom. Let's hope she has a fabulous day!

 

Delish delights

I made a few creations yesterday in my kitchen and wanted to share. We had the pleasure of entertaining friends for dinner with chicken parm and the whole nine yards. Here was my first attempt at homemade rosemary focaccia bread...

Delish!

Next, I attempted a recipe that has been on my "to create" list for over a year...

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake. It was triple delicious.

 Now what should we make for our next dinner guests? Will it be you?

Big Girl - Big Bed

We are super excited to announce that Claire has spent several successful naps and nights in her big girl bed. She seems to enjoy the new bunk bed, new mattress, down comforter, duvet and sheets. We've noticed she sleeps a bit longer in the mornings- must be due to the cool room decor and comfort of the new bed. After all, she is a tiny lady in the full size bed, so she has plenty of room to rest. Big sister has taken semi-residence in the top bunk, trying it out a few nights before Claire attempted her first all-nighter. As Claire becomes more and more accustomed to her new bed, we may let Lilly take up residence in the bunk a few times each week.

Here's the pair playing on the bunk... or hiding in the new fort.

Here's Claire all snug  during her first nap on the big bed..

Of course the new bunk bed does not come without incident. Last evening Lilly thought it necessary to push Claire off the bed ladder, resulting in a bloody tongue and scraped chin. Poor Claire was not happy with her big sister, and Lilly was not happy to be banned from the room.

We'll see how today goes... More photos of the room to come.