Please say a prayer. . .

I'd like to ask everyone to say a prayer for our good friends, Jeff and Dawn and their 3 boys, Tyler, Jason, and Brandon. In Feb they found out about they were expecting a new baby. The boys are 8, 6, and 4 and Jeff and Dawn thought they were past babies. Once the shock wore off, they were pretty excited. Everyone was lining up to place bets if it is a boy or girl and giving their opinion on names and other fun stuff of pregnancy. Then at her routine 20 weeks ultrasound there appeared to be some small problems. Dawn was sent for an amnio and the results came back last Friday. Their new baby has Trisomy 18, a chromosomal problem that is unsurvivable. Their baby will most likely not survive for more than a few hours.

So please, pray for grace and strength for Jeff and Dawn. And hug your babies tonight and thank God for the miracle that they are.

Just a swingin. . .

We have a really super cool swing set in our backyard. It's wooden and sturdy so the girls can climb all over it. We had a cheap metal one when I was a kid and we used to get in BIG trouble for climbing on it. Hmm. . .a playground that you really can't play on. One of those things I swore I'd never do to my kids that I have actually stuck to! Here's some fun pics of all 3 girls swinging. Hopefully, Amelia will learn how to pump her legs this summer so I don't have to listen to "Push Mommy Push!!"

Guilty!

George Ryan GUILTY on all counts. WOO HOO!

My Newest Idea

I really wanted to get a manicure last week but alas, they are an extragance not in my budget these days. So I scoured all my parenting magazines~cuz that's the only kind I get~for some "at home" ideas. I found a basic recipie for a body scrub and changed it around and voila! It turned out so good I wanted to spend all day in the shower. I was so excited I wanted to share it with you all. Exfoliated and softens and makes you smell prettier than a spotted pig.

COCONUT LIME SCRUB
1 c raw sugar
1/3-1/2 c olive oil
juice of 3 limes
5-8 drops coconut extract

Mix together. If it's too dry, add more oil. Too wet, more sugar. Yumm-O!

Nick at Nite

I love Nick at Nite. It's just such happy TV but it's also so much more. When my girls were newborns I knew the schedule from start to finish. I would hear Greta cry, see 3:06 on the clock and think "Well, at least I can watch "Cheers" It was my touchstone~when my life was upside down it was comforting to see Norm was still at the bar, Lou Grant was still in charge, and Alex P Keaton was still the cutest guy ever.

They have recently added one of my favorites, "Mad About You", to the lineup. While I was folding a mountain of laundry and watching Paul and Jamie's antics, I was wondering why I like it so much. While I do like Paul Reiser's dry wit, Helen Hunt borders on annoying. Then it hit me. I had an Oprah Lightbulb Moment. (Well, I think Oprah is more refering to life change than medicore sitcom revelations, but hey. It works.) When "Mad About You"-show about newlyweds~started I was a newlywed! So I applied this theory to other shows I enjoy and EUREKA! I love older episodes of "Roseanne" (with the real Becky!) as that is so much like how my family was in the mid-80's. (Shout out to my sis Darlene!) What woman of childbearing age has not watched "A Baby Story"? (Except for my sis Darlene) When the US was embroiled in Vietnam what was popular on TV? MASH. Now as we are fighting a global war on terror, what do we love? 24.

TV is so much more than entertainment. It shows us ourselves and has the power to inspire us to do and be more. Med school enrollment went up right after ER premiered. Who among us has not wished for a marriage like the Buchman's? Parents like the Huxtables? Friends like Chandler and Phoebe? A boss like Lou Grant? A hot crime-fighting boyfriend like Jack Bauer. . .but I digress. Why do you love the shows you love? Next time you plop down in front of the boob tube to bond with the 4077 or the gang at the Peach Pit, think about why.

AI Predictions

Bottom 3~Ace, Elliott, and Paris. Ace is going home. Bye bye Ace.

Tofu anyone?

I was just watching a new show on TLC called "Honey, We're Killing the Kids". It was basically a spotlight of on family's eating habits and nonexistant exercise. A nutritionist came in a showed the parents computer images of what their kids would look at 40 if they didn't change their ways and adopt a healthier lifestyle. Then the cameras filmed the mayhem that ensued as the parents tried to convince their offspring that tofu is preferable to pizza and that XBOX is not exercise. As I watched, I had 2 opposite reactions.

1. I need to get my butt off the couch or I will look like them soon.
2. I don't have Twinkies in my pantry so I'm all good. Anyone up for a McDonald's run?

As the mom of girls and a woman who has struggled with my weight, I am boderline obessessed with preventing weight issues in my girls. Sometime I worry about turning them into little buliemics but overall I have really tried to talk about healthy foods and limit TV to 30 min a day in bad weather and none on nice days. (With the obivious exception of White Sox games and American Idol) Caroline eats really well~prefers apple slices to french fries, loves all fruit and most veggies. Loves to ride her bike and play outside. Amelia is again another story! That girl never met a cheeseburger she didn't like. I have discovered that reverse psych works great on her.

Mommy: Oh! What a yummy carrot! None for Mimi, just for Mommy.
Amelia: Mimi not like carrots. Carrots yucky.
Mommy: Oh, too bad. This is one yummy carrot but you can't have it.
Amelia: Mimi want carrot. SCREAM!!
Mommy: Are you sure? I thought Mimi didn't like carrots.
Amelia: Mimi like carrots. Carrots yummy! (Mimi gobbles up about 10 baby carrots)

And Miss Greta Boo will eat anything. Peas, corn, fruit, cheese, french fries, lint, Bounce dryer sheets, dirt, socks, and anything else she can fit in her mouth.

So now Tim and I are again trying to improve and lose a bit more weight. Though with my track record I'll just end up pregnant. Wish me luck.

Wanna Buy a House?!

Our new house is slowly taking shape!! It is completely framed~so cool to see it spring up from nowhere. We walked through yesterday. Don't tell Scott THE Foreman, he'd have a cow. "This is a closed job site!" The girls were so excited to pick out their rooms and I can't wait to get Judy, my decorator stepmom, out to help me start to place where things should go.

The proverbial fly in the ointment is that we can not seem to sell our house. It's a really nice house but no one else seems to love it like we do! Everyone who walks through comments on the paint colors. Well, cart yourself down to the Home Depot and buy some paint! Ugh. So if ya know anyone in the market for a neato 4 bd, 2.5 ba house~send 'em my way!!!

Here's a pic of the new place. Ain't it awesome?

A funny. . .

OK, last post then I'll go watch the Sox pummel the Royals. . . Really funny!

http://www.holyobserver.com/detail.php?isu=v01i10&art=church_sign

Awww. . .ain't they cute?!?

As my little ones (and big one) sleep, I have some time on my hands. Well, I should be doing laundry and sweeping the floor but hey. . .it's Friday night! I thought I'd throw up some semi-recent pics of my girls. Which one of these is not like the others?!?! Can ya guess which one is making me reach for the Prozac?!

Happy 1st Birthday Greta!

Being the 3rd little girl in our family, Greta's birthday kinda got overlooked. Doesn't help that her birthday is 2 weeks past Christmas and everyone is partied out. Pizza and pink cupcakes with Uncle Doug and Aunt Christine was about it! Sorry Sweet Girl!

Here goes. . .

OK, think I'll type in pretty pink! Dinner is boiling over on the stove, the girls are watching "Clifford", Tim is in the shower, and I am messing around on this blog. hhhmmmm. . .kinda makes me wonder what I should be doing. . .

OK, chicken stroganoff for dinner, baths and PJs, a little "Survivor" and then off to bed. Then mommy can play~~woo hoo!