your christmas was better than ours.

We got the stomach flu. On Christmas Eve...through the night...into Christmas morning.

We were in Jacksonville, so early on Christmas morning we had to pack up the car, including our still-wrapped presents, and drive on the empty interstate back home. I have always wondered what the people in cars stopped on the side of the interstate are doing, but now I know about the dreaded kid-throw-up-in-the-back-seat moment. Gross! And cleaning it up is so much worse when you are in the throes of it yourself. On the side of I-10. On Christmas morning.

On the bright side, I got to meet my two new nephews!! They were adopted from Moldova 3 weeks ago. They are beautiful, curious, energetic, and perfect. I am so excited to watch these boys grow up with my girls and it was so surreal to see these little guys toddling and crawling around.

Isaac and Katie (one of the very few pictures I took):

we are so excited for christmas!

Sometimes Meg gets mixed up when she gets excited and says, "I am so exciting!"

Meg wore a dress to church last Sunday that was my mom's when she was a little girl!! I won't say how old it is...but I think that is so cool that she saved it.

christmas program

Meg's preschool had their Christmas program yesterday morning. So cute! Meg was a sheep. It was so fun to see her up there singing and doing all the hand motions because I know she loves it so much.



Meg's little sisters were there to watch, too. At first they were great but by the end I think they were ready to go home.

1:30 p.m. is wonderful.

Because every girl is napping by then, and I can make the best choice of all: to be super-productive or to take a nap myself. Today with its gray skies and chill in the air, I chose the latter. After a cup of hot chocolate.

Katie is 18 months old already! She still sleeps in a crib but can you tell she loves pretending to be a big girl in her sister's bed? Not yet, Katie!

better late than never

I feel like we got a late start getting into the holiday spirit this year, but last weekend we more than made up for our tardiness. I took the girls to Target (for some reason Target trips are more fun than Wal-Mart) to pick out some stockings, we picked out and decorated our tree and the house, drove through the Living Nativity (I believe the highlights were the real live donkeys and sheep), and to Oven Park to see the Christmas lights. I love having 5 of us this year!

less than a minute

That's how long it took for us to decide on our Christmas tree. I think we set a new record. The nice boy scout who was helping us just held one up, and while Mark was wrangling 2 of the 3 girls he said, "looks good to me" and I said "looks good to me" and it was a done deal.

Easiest sale in the history of Christmas tree selling.

chocolate chip pumpkin cake

It is not like me to stray from a recipe. I must be feeling a little rebellious lately, because I have been taking liberties with quite a few dishes. Whoo-eeee...going crazy!!

I made this chocolate chip pumpkin cake with a vanilla glaze by taking bits of a few good recipes and putting it all together. It turned out really moist and is a delicious holiday spin on a normal cake. This freezes well if you add the glaze after thawing.



Recipe:
1 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 can pumpkin puree
1 t. vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. white sugar
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1 bag chocolate chips

1. Preheat 350. Grease 2 8 x 8 pans. (Note: I should have lined the bottom of the pans with wax paper...then maybe they won't crack when coming out).
2. Cream oil, eggs, pumpkin, vanilla.
3. Whisk/sift all the rest of the dry ingredients (sugar through salt). Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips.
4. Bake 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, then remove from pan and add glaze.

Glaze recipe:
1 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 T. milk
1/8 t. salt
1/4 t. vanilla
1 T. melted butter

Whisk together until combined. If too thick, keep adding milk until desired consistency.

their hangout spot

There is an almost-empty kitchen cabinet that the girls love to play in/fight over. I send them an incredibly mixed message about whether or not they can play in it. On the days they play happily and quietly with it, I encourage them to stay there. On the days they pinch each others' fingers in the door or blockade a sister and make her scream, I declare "it's not a toy!" and send them elsewhere.

Bad parenting, I know...I know.

rosemary roasted vegetables with quinoa, feta and walnuts

Something about the cold weather makes me want to cook. Maybe it's the warmth in the kitchen. I made a great new recipe last night and I think it's going in the official Webb Dinner rotation. I used a recipe from a magazine and added my own spin on it to make it even healthier.



rosemary roasted vegetables with quinoa, feta and walnuts
1 lb. butternut squash, cut into 1-in. cubes
1/8 t. black pepper
8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, cut into thin wedges
1 T. fresh rosemary, or 1 t. dried
1 T. olive oil
2 c. chicken broth
1 c. quinoa
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 c. chopped walnuts, toasted
1.4 c. crumbled feta cheese

1. Preheat 450. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Put squash in one, sprinkle with pepper, cover with foil, and bake 10 minutes. Uncover.
2. Put mushrooms and onions in other baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle rosemary and garlic on both baking sheets, mix around, then bake uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.
3. Meanwhile, cook quinoa: bring broth to a boil, add quinoa, reduce to simmer, cook 15 mins.
4. Add vegetables to cooked quinoa. Add toasted walnuts. Top with feta.

thanksgiving

Our family came to our house this year so we didn't have to travel with all our baby stuff. And for that we were thankful!! We had a great time with all of the cousins, siblings and parents...all 18 of us.



I love watching all the cousins play together - every one of them is so sweet, fun and funny.



Claire hadn't met most of her extended family yet, and she was more than happy to be passed around from lap to lap.



I will remember this Thanksgiving for all the music: piano playing, violin, guitar, and the "chorus"; and for the cutest front-yard football ever (if football could be cute, this would be it).

banana bread

I've always felt guilty about constantly turning down Meg's requests to help me cook in the kitchen. Since I really want her to learn to enjoy food and cooking, I need to develop the patience to slow down and let her participate. Today was our first try together and we made banana bread. She was so happy that I am encouraged to do this again.


I also roasted some brussels sprouts (without Meg's help) - one of our all-time favorites. I cannot believe so many people dislike them!! They are so delicious, I could eat them every day.

7 weeks

When does a baby's personality begin to reveal itself- is 7 weeks too early? Because I think I like where Claire is heading. She smiles so easily - sometimes I will glance over at her and she will just be sitting there staring at me with a big smile on her face!

When I see her smile, I can't help myself...I am reduced to babbling, cooing, and making crazy faces to get her to smile some more.

hard but good

The best way to describe life with a preschooler, a toddler and a newborn is hard but good. It is equally difficult and wonderful. Seemingly small tasks - like getting dressed to go outside - take forever. But then, like this morning, they can quietly play for half an hour in the driveway. They were perfectly happy playing with the mulch, stones and dirt.







And when Claire decides to sleep in the stroller during the driveway playtime, it's even better.

butterfly & bumblebee

Meg was soooo excited for Halloween this year! Katie didn't know what was going on but she was a good sport and got excited, too.



This is the look Katie has on her face whenever she doesn't know if she should be touching something:

fall festival

Last week Meg's preschool had its Fall Festival (Meg called it the "fall customer"). The girls loved looking at all the animals and Meg got to go on a hayride and pony ride. I had all three girls so we only lasted an hour since Katie had to stay in the stroller and Claire had to eat! Katie doesn't look happy here but I believe she actually had a good time.


Meg got her face painted with a butterfly. I could tell she felt so beautiful afterwards.




Claire hung in there like a champ, until she got hungry and we had to go...

i needed a good laugh today

And I got it.

I walked into the girls' playroom to see this staring back at me:

pumpkin patch

We went on our first outing as a family of five last weekend to pick out our Halloween pumpkin. We lasted about 30 minutes before we decided to head home again, but at least it was a good trial run. Since my hands were tied with holding Claire and the camera, I had to let some things go, like Meg's crazy hair or Katie's shoes being on the wrong feet (and I was the one who dressed her!). But it was a gorgeous day and I'm glad we went.

weekend away

Mark took Meg and Katie to visit their cousins in Jacksonville while I sat around at home and nursed Claire. It was a win-win for us - he got a full night's sleep without newborn interruptions and I could nap freely without interruptions from the older girls.

The girls love hanging out with their cousins!

she saws logs

It's hard to imagine something this tiny could snore so loudly. I really didn't know it was possible with babies.

But we love her anyway. A lot.



Claire's smiles are only reflexes, but they melt my heart anyway.

our grandmas

We miss our grandmas already! My mom and mother-in-law were here at different times the last couple of weeks and were so wonderful to have with us. They are such good grandmothers to my girls - I love seeing them form strong relationships with each other. I loved getting to hang out with them so much, too.




Meg has a "quiet time" every afternoon, when she has to be in her room while Katie naps. Usually she ends up taking a nap, too, but sometimes she surprises me with what she does to entertain herself. The other day I laughed out loud when she came out wearing her jeans backwards! What would make her want to do that?? It could not have been easy to put on her jeans this way!

fresh air

Yesterday one grandma left and I had my first real day alone with all 3 girls before the next grandma came to help us (we are fed/dressed/clean ONLY because of our wonderful grandmas!).

The weather was crisp and gorgeous and I ventured out on my first walk with the girls. This was Claire's first official outing that did not involve a doctor's office or lab!


In other news, I am totally turning into that mother who calls her children by the wrong name.

freedom

Our around-the-clock feeding of Claire must have worked, because Claire's blood tests came back well enough for her to be taken off the phototherapy machine. Ahhh!! Feels so good to have her untethered from that thing and to be able to carry her places more than 3 feet away.

This is pretty much what she does all day. Two previous babies' experience tells me this will not last, so I am going to enjoy this while I can.

1 week

Claire is over 1 week old already, and I'm pretty sure I've never had a week fly by as fast as this past one. Claire's jaundice was (and still is) more on the serious side so I had pump out milk and bottlefeed it so we could measure how much she was eating. We also had to keep track of how often she ate (every 2 hours), every dirty diaper, weight, and bilirubin levels. The nerd in me secretly likes this part:


Feeding Claire every 2 hours has broken my days into 2-hour increments: one hour is spent pumping, bottlefeeding, washing bottles and pump parts, and changing diapers. The other hour is spent driving Claire to the lab to have her blood tested, driving Claire to the doctor's office, eating, sleeping, or paying attention to the other girls. Oddly enough, this isn't driving me crazy. Yet. I find myself savoring what is probably my last newborn experience.

In other news, Katie is 16 months old! She is definitely in an adjustment phase with having Claire around (read: whines a lot), but otherwise is the sweetest and most hilarious thing to have around. This is one of my favorite ages. And she is walking!!

claire's birthday party

When we brought Claire home from the hospital, the girls hadn't met their new sister yet. They had been busy preparing a birthday party for her! Meg helped her grandma make a birthday cake (the "2" is because she was 2 days old).


Always good to have a reason to throw a little birthday celebration! Don't know why Katie is wearing nothing but a diaper and a hat...


Poor Claire has some serious jaundice and has been hooked up to a phototherapy machine. We have her camping out in the living room where she can get fed, changed, and sleep while staying on the machine. She looks like a sad little glo-worm! We're hoping it will not be too long before she can be free again.

claire

Welcome, Claire Josephine! Born Sept. 21 at 4:30 p.m., 7 lbs., 10 oz., 20.5 in. long.

10 days

Dear Claire,
You are due in 10 days, but you are welcome to come earlier. We are ready for you.

The carseat's in the car.
Your onesies and blankets are washed.
Your nursery is ready (although still partially occupied by one big sister).



The hospital bag is packed.
The swing and baby seat are back out of storage.
One sister knows you are coming and one sister still thinks she's a baby, but let us worry about that. We'll take Katie out of your swing for you.



Just come on out.
Seriously, we are ready.

Love,
Your Family

back to school

Meg's first day of 3-year-old preschool was Tuesday - she loved it! I am not surprised, since she sometimes seems a little bored at home. I'm pretty sure she was most excited about having a new water bottle to take to school.

kale chips

I've made kale chips twice in the past 2 weeks. They aren't very nice to look at but they are so good!!

The first time I made them, Meg and I had this conversation:
Meg: (looks at plate) I don't like that.
Me: You don't even know what it is.
Meg: (walking away...) What is it?
Me: kale chips
Meg: chips??? (makes a u-turn and immediately grabs one to taste).



Meg and Katie both like them. Here's the recipe:

1 bunch kale, woody stems removed and torn into chip-sized pieces
1 T. oil
1 t. kosher/sea salt (resist the urge to put more on!)

Coat kale with oil in a bowl, then lay pieces flat on a baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes at 350. Be sure not to burn them - they should be crispy but not brown.