What do you do...

when your baby is pushing 16 pounds at his 4-month Doctor's appointment AND he tries to intercept his Daddy's fork at the dinner table each time it passes him by?

Well, with Dr. Brown's approval, we introduced the little chunk to rice cereal.

Like, gag me with a spoon, Mom!


On second thought, I think I'm much better at gagging myself with that thing than you are!


Actually, that stuff's kinda good!

Now bring on the strained peas, Mama!!

Children's Museum

About a month ago, I took A & M on a preschool outing to a nearby children's museum. The place was impressive...a real catalyst for the expression of childhood creativity. I really enjoyed watching my little ones playing there, but quickly regretted the fact that i'd left my camera at home. That coupled with their success at turning the J-man green with envy resulted in a return trip yesterday.


Autumn donning one of many, many costumes lying about in the museum.

This was a room left unexplored on our previous visit. A miniature pediatrician's office...complete with babies in isolettes, doctor's instruments, x-ray light table, baby scale, and other goodies.
Autumn with a friend she quickly made, then followed around for the majority of our visit. She had a hard enough time climbing the stone; forget about pulling out the sword!!

Micah exploring a spider's leg in the jumbo microscope.

Autumn ringing up her veggie garden sales.

Jonah & Clint's favorite part of the museum

Autumn putting on a puppet show with one of several princess puppets.

Well, we only got to show you about 1/20th of the museum. But don't worry...i'm sure we'll be back another day, and maybe i'll even remember my camera! :)

*If you decide to go, make sure to print out this coupon!

Christmas Brownies

These were a big hit at my book club last week, where we do an annual cookie exchange. I have to admit they were pretty yummy, although i should've taken a picture of the plate i brought to the exchange. These were the least attractive ones, but still very delicious! Anyway, here's the recipe:

Peppermint-topped brownies
prep & cook time: 2-1/2 hours, plus at least 3 hrs. to chill (though i only chilled mine 1-1/2 hrs)
makes: about 25 brownies

10 T butter, plus more for pan
6 oz. good-quality bittersweet chocolate, broken into large chunks (i used Ghiradelli)
3 eggs
1-1/2 c. sugar
1 T. vanilla
1/4 t. salt
1 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/2 t. baking powder
80 hard, round, red-and-white peppermint swirl candies
1/2 lb. semisweet chocolate, chopped (semisweet chocolate chips work just fine here)
1 c. whipping cream (i'm slightly embarrassed to admit i used thawed cool whip, which made a delicious ganache...but because it was already whipped up, i used about 2 cups of it)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9- by 13-in. baking pan. In a medium saucepan, stir butter and bittersweet chocolate over very low heat with a heatproof rubber spatula until just melted (do not let simmer or boil). Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Slowly pour chocolate-butter mixture into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Into a separate bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder, then whisk together. With a clean rubber spatula, gently fold flour mixture into egg mixture until just combined.

3. Spread batter evenly in the baking pan. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until brownies are firm, beginning to pull away from sides of pan, and a toothpick inserted in center emerges with only a few crumbs clinging to it. Let brownies cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

4. Reduce oven temperature to 300°. Line a level, rimmed 11 1/2- by 16-in. baking sheet with parchment. With a pencil, draw a grid of 1 3/4-in. squares on parchment (5 rows of 8), leaving about a 1-in. border, and turn parchment over. Place a mint in the center of each square. Bake 15 to 25 minutes, or until completely melted into 1 large sheet, but remove before candy begins to turn yellow. Immediately score peppermint squares with a pizza cutter, using pencil lines as your guide. If scored lines don't hold, rescore quickly. Let candy cool completely. Gently break into squares along score lines. Arrange, bake, and score remaining 40 candies the same way (you'll have extra squares; pick the prettiest; or you'll ruin the first batch and then use the second bag...my oven liked 325 degrees for 20 minutes).

5. In the top of a double boiler or a metal bowl set over simmering water, combine chopped semisweet chocolate and whipping cream. Cook, stirring often, until melted and blended. Remove from heat and let ganache cool until just warm.

6. Pour ganache over cooled brownies in pan and allow to set until firm, about 2 hours at room temperature or 1 hour in the refrigerator.

7. Place peppermint squares bottom side up on ganache, leaving enough room between squares to cut brownies. Cut brownies into squares along edges of peppermint tops, wiping knife clean between cuts. Remove brownies from pan, discard (or eat) scraps, and return brownies to pan. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure wrap does not touch peppermint, and refrigerate 3 hours (to soften candy a bit). Serve slightly chilled.

At Long Last...The Nursery

He shares a room with Autumn, who is ELATED to finally have a roomie!! It was finished before Gabriel was even born, but i just barely got around to taking pictures of it today...


The outfits hanging above the beds are the ones they wore when they received a name and a blessing from Clint.

i lined the curtains with black-out lining (you can buy it by the yard at Joann's), and you can see i cut the right side a bit short, but it still blocks out plenty of light during beloved nap time!!
The funny thing about the bunny picture is that i didn't realize it would be so big!! i bought it, along with Gabe's bedding, on ebay and neglected to check the dimensions of the artwork (they came together). Anyway, when the package came, i thought the seller must be a nut to have shipped it in such a HUGE box. Well, one of us may be nuts, but it wasn't the seller!!

A rocking chair Mom rocked me in (dated, but sentimental).



Autumn's side, complete with more of her baby outfits.


The drawer pulls cost me twice as much as the dresser, a $7 garage sale find. It's a sturdy little piece that makes me smile.




My VERY favorite part of the nursery (besides the baby & the little girl, that is!). This used to hang in my baby brother's nursery. I used to rock him and sing this little saying over and over again. Now, it helps me maintain perspective each time we bring a new bundle of love into our home. The cleaning and scrubbing really does wait, and i'm SOOO glad for the reminder that helps me to let it. i can't believe 3-1/2 months have already flown by since little baby Gabriel was born. i know he'll become less dependent on me in the coming years, we'll get rid of all the baby paraphernalia, and i'll have plenty of time to clean and de-clutter my home!

You made it through this monster of a post...congrats!!

Happy Gabe & Jonah

in the middle of peek-a-boo...his belly laugh is adorable!!

silly Jonah...he got in on the ice skating action after we picked him up from school. And i had to add the picture, since he was feeling left out of the blog!

Wintry Preschool Fun

What do 2 preschoolers*, 4 small pieces of wax paper, 1 ipod playing Christmas music and 1 carpeted living room add up to??


...an indoor ice skating rink!


They had fun trying out this preschool activity this morning; i have to admit i did, too! i had my shoes on, and this seemed to be slightly more slippery than remaining bare-foot. As i didn't want to be responsible for any broken limbs, i kept the secret to myself (until now.) :) Happy Winter!!

*costumes optional

All bundled up

Look at those cheeks!

Happy 3 months, Gabe! (plus a week)

Home Sweet Home

Last night, we pulled into the driveway after a week-long trip to California. We had sooo much fun...Legoland was a big hit with our children, we loved Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, enjoyed scrumptious meals cooked up by Nana (especially our Thanksgiving feast...yummm), had a blast celebrating Micah's 5th birthday, practically ate up our newest niece Wren (it was especially cute watching her & Gabe discover each other...he even sucked on her pinky finger!), and especially appreciated all the time with family and friends (and i'm hoping to add pictures later...could you email me some, Dad?).

While there, my super-talented SIL Wendy took some beautiful pictures for us. It amazes me that she is such a wonderful mother to her 2 kiddos & has also managed to create a successful side-photography-business this past year, Blue Lily. Anyway, here's a sample:


You can find more here.

As a side-note, our cat Creamie is FAT, thanks to my ingenious plan for her during our vacation. To save our neighbors the hastle of having to shoo her into the garage each night, i placed two LARGE stainless steel mixing bowls out there. i filled one with cat food; the other with water, adding a 2x4 for her scratching pleasure, and making sure her cat box was filled. Then i shut her in the garage & drove off for 10 days of sun & relaxation. Clint & i expected to catch a glimplse of a wild-eyed cat charging out the door of the garage when we pushed the button on the opener. But she just slowly meandered out, about twice the size we left her. i'm glad she's alive & well, but i think it's time for a diet now!

Caught in the Act

I walked into the living room because I was curious why Jonah was reading aloud. This is what I found:


I guess it's hard to find an audience around here. And I guess Gabe's pretty lucky to have such a sweet older brother! He was captivated.

We were bored

...so I transformed little Miss Autumn Mae into a piggy with a piece of Scotch tape

and she built houses of straw, wood & bricks using our dining room table and a few quilts


then we re-enacted the story of The 3 Pigs.

Who needs theme parks!? :)

Happy Halloween!

i love TJ Maxx Halloween costumes! That's where i picked up Micah's knight outfit. They all had a ton of fun dressing up (well, maybe Gabriel was oblivious to his cuteness.)




ok, so maybe our dragon's not so scary after all.


jonah wore this as a newborn. It was fun to see Gabriel in it this year.


Like, are you gonna eat those tots?

Autumn & Micah's jack-o-lanterns. (a straight piece melted off the bottom one, which was Micah's...my fault.)

Jonah carved his all by himself this year. How fun!

Clint's Frankenstein jack-o-lantern...what a masterpiece! i was impressed!!

The little ones had fun during the day when we went trick-or-treating at the grocery store. Papa Murphy's also gave them free mini-pizzas...a surprise when we went in to buy a Jack-o-Lantern pizza to make for dinner. Jonah got to play games at school with the other first-graders, and Clint kicked off his new ultra-strict school term (the kids were taking advantage of his lax policies, so he's laying down the law). Apparently, a student snuck behind him during class to post this bumper sticker on his desk:

pretty funny.

Hope your halloween was loads of fun, too!

happy 2 months to our bath-loving baby boy!!

Consider this Gabe's before picture. After weighing in at 13 lbs. for his 2-month check-up, his pediatrician explained that he's basically been binging & purging, and subsequently put him on a diet. After every feeding, he spits up excessively (apparently because he's overeating). So in another month, we'll take an after picture. So far, the spit-up has decreased a bunch (thanks, doc!!). (Don't worry...the diet is just that he nurses for fewer minutes. We're down to 12-15 rather than 20-25 per feeding.)

I LOVE MY HUSBAND

...and it's sooo nice when i get to spend time with him! This weekend felt like old times, the times just a couple months ago when he used to work from home. And we got to play with him all we wanted, and i was spoiled because i could also run errands during the kids' naps because he was there.

This weekend was a taste of summer, when he'll be on hiatus from teaching - and i'm realllly looking forward to it! Clint & Jonah had Monday & Tuesday off. Mostly, we just stayed home and lazed around.

But on Saturday, we took them trick-or-treating at the zoo. Then we enjoyed staying with gma & gpa overnight, going to church together and eating delicious food on Sunday. We also got to ditch the kids --er, i mean, leave the children alone for special time with gma -- Sat. night while we went out for YUMMY sushi with Marianne & Clayton. Happy birthday, Marianne!!

It was just the dose of lovin' our children needed and we came back refreshed and ready to enjoy our next two days of Clint & Jonah at home!!



Oh, and in case you think life's getting dull around here...

Micah decided to open the car door while i was going about 55 mph Saturday morning, on our way home from garage sale-ing. Luckily, he told me his door was open (cracked, not wide open) and we pulled over while he got a lecture & closed the door. Then, a few hours later, Micah & Autumn managed to get lost at the zoo. While i was tending the baby, an unnamed party (could happen to anyone) took the three others to the bathroom. While searching for said bathroom, J-Rex noticed his younger brother & sister had vanished. The unnamed party & J-Rex frantically returned to tell me what had happened. We all ran to find them. As the unnamed party stood in line to tell a store clerk at the gift shop about the missing children, i headed to the exit with J-man to make sure nobody got off with the kidlets. i told an older employee at the zoo of our plight and asked if they seal off the exits or something in such an event (blame it on my affinity for 24, my track record of 9-1-1 calls or the fact that i'm from So. Cal.). The gentleman slowly meandered toward guest services (where you apparently are supposed to go in such an event). Meanwhile, i noticed Autumn amusing herself by walking around in circles a few hundred yards away, completely unaware of the fact that she was lost! i grabbed her, then went over to guest services where a security guard began taking a description of Micah. With one eye on the guard and the other on the exit, i explained what he'd been wearing. Just then, i noticed Micah LEAVING THE ZOO all by himself! i said i'd found him, ran to the exit in time to get him back in the park and asked what he was up to. He said he'd gone to the bathroom (funny that he was the only one who'd managed to find it) while Autumn played in the sink. When he finished, he realized he was all by himself. So he consequently decided to go back to the car (which we parked on a busy street outside of the zoo.) Logical enough, right!? About this time, the still-unnamed party walked out of the gift shop (without ever talking to a store clerk) to see the children had been found. Needless to say, we decided that was enough fun for one zoo trip, packed up all the kids, reviewed appropriate responses when lost in a public place, and headed out to visit gma & gpa.

It's moments like those that have me pleading, "Calgon, take me away!" (Didn't you just love those commercials??) :)

California Wildfires

For those of you who may be wondering, the homes of all my family members are safe from the wildfires that seem to be sprouting up left and right in So. California.

Last night, Mom called to say that the Fallbrook fire (or Rice Canyon Fire, as it is also being called) was within 200 yds. of their home when Dad evacuated with his truck full of sentimental treasures. (The whole town was under mandatory evacuation.) She said they would likely not have a home in the morning. Several hours and countless prayers later, family members returned to the home to find it completely unharmed. There were two burning logs in the driveway to clear out, but otherwise everything was fine.

And the Temecula fire is far from my sister's & my brother's houses; the Irvine fire doesn't appear to be near any homes either (so Lavender's fine, too it seems). YEA!!

Notice anything different??

...because no one around here did. :)

Before:


after:


still can't tell? let's see if this helps...

well, if you're still having a hard time noticing --

a) you must be kindred spirits with my hubby, and
b) the furry caterpillars that were formerly my eyebrows have been tamed & trimmed with the help of a feisty lady and some very hot wax!
i'm embarrassed to admit this was a first for me (unless you count the time i went at 'em with my Mom's tub of wax. That didn't turn out quite as well.) And considering that i've inherited my father's eyebrows (love you, Dad...but the eyebrows look much better on a man!); anyway, considering that fact, i ought to be more than just embarrassed that i waited 33 years to take the plunge!!

i'm happy with the outcome, especially now that the scarlet outlines around my brows have faded away.

What a Wonderful Weekend

On Friday, we drove down to my 10-year mission reunion. The traffic was awful; it added a full hour to the drive. But Clint was sweet and just pressed on, despite his urge to turn tail and run. I got to visit with some old companions and roommates, as well as my mission president and his wife. It was fun to see what people's children and spouses looked like. i'm sure others were amused as they observed me trying in vain to keep M-Boy from running outside in the torrential rain to try and pick the lock on our car, all in an effort to recover his coat and play in the backyard. Seems like a worthy goal, but I really didn't want to lose him so we tried to keep him in the house.

I got to meet Jenny Phillips, a former companion's wife. (His two comps ditched him a couple days early, so he was melded into my MTC companionship along with another sister.) Clint's eyebrows about hit the ceiling when I introduced him as my former companion. (Hee-hee.) And our kids really did have a blast playing with the dozens of children who had also been dragged along.

The next day we celebrated Jonah's birthday a day early by going out for Mexican and dropping by his favorite toy store just so he could play with their cool Playmobil display. We let him choose any family activity he wanted, and were delighted when he picked a free one!

Gabe hangin' out with Ethel Mae (Clint's paternal
grandmother and one of two great grandmothers Autumn's named after)

Sunday was doubly special because it was Jonah's actual big day and Gabriel's blessing day. We invited immediate family members as well as the local great-grandmas (Clint's extended family is ENORMOUS and i really didn't feel up to putting on the equivalent of a wedding reception just short of 6 weeks after giving birth...can you blame me!?). Anyway, it was a memorable day. I'm glad my bookend boys got to share it with each other!

awww, how cute...
Gabe and i have matching double chins

They're having fun!

Already looking up to his oldest bro.

Look...room for one more!
...Clint had to get a pic of how many people were squeezed onto our couch.

Happy 7th birthday, J-Rex!

Jonah with his Harry Potter cake.

Happy one-month, Gabe!!

He lived it up in an effort to celebrate the big day. For example, the kidd-o decided to eat every two hours all day long, insist on being held during and in between said feedings, and even projectiled a couple spit-ups to boot! If only we'd made a cake and lit a candle, the celebration truly would have been complete!!



Autumn still can't get enough of him. She loves holding him and stroking his head. Here she is holding his hand between hers. What a sweet older sister! And his older brothers love him lots, too. I love hearing Micah sing made-up songs to Gabriel about what a cute baby he is, etc.


Notice the spit-up spot left on his onesie...he has become quite accomplished in this arena lately. It's ironic because, two weeks ago, I was sitting in the mother's room during church nursing him. Another mom came in with her baby boy and preceded to tell me about his spitting-up woes. She wondered aloud whether or not to take him to the doctor to see about reflux. As we discussed it, I was thinking to myself how glad I was not to share this problem and how nice that Gabe doesn't spit up much at all. A few moments later, I found myself (sweater, blouse and skirt) covered in spit up. And it hasn't improved any since. So I got a dose of humility to go along with the spit-up! Anyway, here's another picture of Gabriel, all nice and clean! :)



Hope that's enough of a fix for now, Wendy!! (My first hyperlink...hope it works!!)

P.S. I'm actually a few days late with this post, a-la-Eve. (Thanks for giving me reason to believe I didn't need to worry about posting on his actual one-month date.)

P.P.S. Wow... two hyperlinks in one post!! I think I need to go take a nap or something.