One Month

My little sweetie turned 1 month old yesterday.

I am amazed at how quickly it has gone by!

She is a beautiful blessing through and through....

and we all are enjoying her very much!

Ethan,

Yesterday we celebrated the day you were born. My 7th child, we love your contagious laugh, your happy heart, and those cheeks!! You have brought so much happiness to our family. We love you so!!

Happy 8th Birthday, Ethan!

Flying Solo

Thank you so much for all your wonderfully kind comments you left about the arrival of Anna! They meant so much to me!

Today my husband returned to work. Sigh....

You know, no matter how many kids I have, knowing that I am on my own never feels less than overwhelming! Thankfully though, this little one seems to be very mellow! So we survived!

Anna is 2 weeks old today!

She weighs 8 lbs 9 oz!

Here are a few images from her first two weeks!

Don't you love grumpy scrunchy faces? :)

Finally,

after nine suspenseful months,

30+ very long, hard hours of labor,

an intense delivery,

a traumatic birth,

the removal of the cord wrapped 4 times around the neck,

and some much needed resuscitation,

we are completely thrilled to receive:

a beautiful baby girl!

Introducing:

Anna Noelle Mack

born 11/14/11

8:38 AM

8 lbs. 8 oz.

20 1/4 in.

She is a total blessing!

A Small Project, Finished!

Quite awhile ago, I bought these:

You know, those pre-cut letters you find at any of the craft stores?

And then I also picked out these:

Some coordinating papers that match the theme of Josiah's room.

Well, that part was easy.

Thankfully, I stored these project pieces in the new baby's bassinet. So when it came time to get everything ready, I had some forced motivation! :)

I traced a letter onto the back of each paper,

and carefully cut each one out. Then it was just a matter of using some decoupage medium to attach each paper to its matching letter. Two more coats painted on top of each attached paper and strung onto some twine,

and hung on the wall above his crib!

Was he impressed with his decoupaged letters?

He pointed at them and said, "Wow!"

Worth every minute!

Megan...

A beautiful baby girl delivered by her Daddy's hands,

a feisty little girl with a strong sense of determination, a black and white view of the world, and a need for justice.

(Where could you have gotten such traits? *wink*)

You touch my heart with your compassion and your desire to always do right.

I pray for your happiness, but mostly?

I thank God for you.

Happy 16th Birthday, my Megan!

Waste Not

In an attempt to make encourage my kids to eat the 4 containers of vanilla yogurt that they deemed too sour, I decided to make yogurt pops!

I dumped the yogurt into my food processor,

added some homemade strawberry jam,

and some frozen blueberries.

After it was all mixed up, I put the mixture into paper cups with popsicle sticks inserted.

I also made some chocolate banana ones. These have mashed bananas and chocolate syrup added instead.

As soon as they were frozen,

they started disappearing!

Quickly!!

Problem solved!

Ah-Chooo.... Snort.... Cough.....

The second week of school and my son not only caught a cold, but shared it with all of us. (I won't name any names, but he's really good at that.) Groan...

So right now, all the littles are sick,

but still smiling!

Well, most of the time....

Gotta love the snotty nose trail!

Hopefully we all will feel better soon!!

A Blankie For Baby

I fell in love with one of those pre-sewn panels at Jo-Ann's. (I love a good toile!)

So against my better judgement, I bought it!

I carefully zig-zagged the edges so as not to lose any precious inches when I washed it.

After I washed it? Well, it didn't look as good. The craftsmanship used to sew this panel was lacking some finesse! Oh well, I guess I should have expected that! All the ironing in the world wasn't going to fix the imperfections. (Believe me, I tried!)

So, I sewed the panel down to some muslin on the long seams (stitched in the ditch) down the front to give it some strength. 

Now that it's done, I think it will do!

Finished blankie!

I rounded the corners, just like I did with Josiah's blankie, learned here.

And the back is all soft, swirly minkee fabric!

Hopefully, baby will approve!

And So It Begins.... Again

Today was the first day of school for my kids. Sadly, I watched my older kids ride off on the bus this morning. I missed them all day!

At home we started school too. Well, kind of.... We are still waiting for most of the books. But Abby got to start on her reading work!

Bunny ears and all! (?) :)

I pray for a great school year for all of us!!

What Is It

about pregnancy that causes you to not only clean out your laundry closet, but detail your washing machine with a toothbrush??

You know it's silly, even while you're doing it, but you aren't satisfied until it's all done. 

Is the baby going to care? Are you after the baby's here? It's crazy!

In other (more practical) preparation news, I made a baby sling!

I used this tutorial and made it completely lined. Brown and green because we don't know if we will be blessed with another son or daughter. I love how it turned out and can't wait to tuck a tiny babe in it!

Lee-Lee Turns Three!

Yesterday was Leah's birthday!

Leah's a BIG Wizard of Oz fan, so when I asked her what cake she was going to want, she said, "Dorothy! Somewhere over the rainbow!!" Ummmm, yeah....

Me-"How about a rainbow cake?"

Leah-"Yeah!"

Me-"Whew....."

A rainbow it is!

As is her personality, she was the most gracious of gift receivers! A big thank you to each giver for each present, piling her carefully torn paper into a neat pile.

How old are you now, Leah?

"Three!!"

What a little sweetie!

Happy Birthday, little one!

Down To One

In diapers, that is.

My gentle spirited, lovely Leah is potty trained! Yay! It took all of four days. Day and night! She's quite proud of herself! 

What The Macks Had For Dessert

After seeing a recipe for blueberry cheesecake bars, I really wanted to try them! But I didn't have all the ingredients for the recipe I found, so I made up my own! Mmmmm, and they turned out so good!

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Start with a shortbread crust:

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, cut into 1/2 in. pieces

2 cups flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, process all ingredients until small lumps are formed. Sprinkle mixture into a 13 X 9 inch pan and press evenly into the bottom. Bake 15 minutes.

While the crust is baking, prepare the topping:

2 packages (16 ounces total) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

6 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 cups blueberries

3 Tablespoons flour

6 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 Tablespoons butter

Combine cream cheese and sugar and beat until smooth. Add eggs and lemon juice. Beat well and spread over cooked shortbread crust. Sprinkle with blueberries. In a small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle streusel topping over blueberries. Return to oven. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until filling is set.

So how was it received?

Molly- "Mmmmmm...."

Abby- "Yummy!!!!"

Leah- "Take my picture too!" (But I'm not going to smile!)

It was a big hit, really! :)

A Few Things

As this baby continues to grow, I start to feel the pressure to get prepared.There are always more things on my to-do list than get done, but somehow everything that really matters is ready. So far:

I made 5 diaper covers,

all made from my favorite pattern, especially for a newborn, available here. Easy to make and only soft fleece around those tender legs and tummy!

I also made one teeny, tiny all-in-2,

filled with squishy goodness.

And amongst it all, Sarah wanted to do more cooking. So she made some rocky road bars (minus the nuts).

Mmmmmm, they were delicious!

A Couple Teeth Lost

Abby lost her second tooth last night, after losing her first about a week before. After a little help from Daddy and struggling for a while, she finally was able to free the stubborn little tooth. As we all cheered for her, she cried.

Me- "Abby, what's wrong? You got it out!"

Abby, still crying- "Now I don't have any teeth down there!"

Nothing a special crazy straw and the promise of a pack of gum and tooth fairy visit couldn't fix!

Growing up can be rough, but I think she looks adorable!

To My Husband,

Thank you for taking us all on an outing yesterday for your birthday. The cheese factory was so fun to tour! Thank you for buying us the 38 scoop special (one scoop of each flavor). It was delicious, except for the white licorice...., it was just weird.Thank you for being so understanding and allowing me to retreat to the table when they all lined up to sing. I'm so glad you are ok with me not wanting anything to do with such public spectacles.

Thank you for spending all the extra time driving down the beach to find an uncrowded place for us to play. I know that you couldn't wait to put your new barbecue together, but that you put all that effort into our beach time first.

It was a beautiful day,

and we all enjoyed it.

I hope you know how much you mean to us,

how much we love you,

and how much I thank God for you.

Happy Birthday, my love!