Blackberry Crisp

I love blackberries. I love to pick them, make jam, make pies, make crisp and cobbler. I picked 12 ice cream buckets full last summer. I enjoyed giving a few away but I love that I had several for my freezer. I had great ambition last fall to make a ton of jam but that never happened. Now I have enjoyed quite a few blackberry crisp lately. My family likes it ok but I LOVE IT!!! Of course right now it gives me super bad heart burn but I still love it. Making a crisp is the easiest thing ever and it is so tasty. I still have a goal to make some jam and syrup for the cupboard in the next couple weeks (before baby comes) and I'm quite happy to do that. But in the meantime I love to make and eat blackberry crisp!

New Camera!

I got a new camera the beginning of March and I LOVE IT!!! It is a Canon Rebel T3, 12.2 MP Digital SLR. It is so much clearer and quicker then my other camera. I have been playing around with it the last 3 weeks and have had fun. The girls are always willing to be my models (rather funny) and I am so happy I made that investment. I am not a super techy person and have avoided the "digital" and fancy electronics that are out there but.... I don't know what I was waiting for! I look forward to learning how to use it better with all the settings and extra lenses. A good hobby for me because I really enjoy taking pictures.
And as a side note this is now the form of my birthday, Mothers Day and Christmas present for the year but I am so happy I don't care!

My new camera and my little super model girls, they are so much fun!

 

Flowers on a rainy day

I am feeling so much better today. No more sickness and I am feeling so much more clear and peaceful inside. Sometimes when we are pregnant we don't always feel ourselves and I have totally been feeling that way the last couple months. It was so refreshing to see the sunshine over the weekend and it gave me hope of better weather and also a better attitude for myself. It's easy to look at the negative things that are around us and focus on the things we can't control. But this weekend I decided that I do have control over certain thing and I am making some changes. Nothing grand just little things to make me happier inside.
I have some wonderful friends who love me even though they know me and I am so appreciative of that. One friend brought me flowers the other day just to say thanks for being a friend. I'm not one for wanting or expecting presents from people but that took me off guard and I felt so thankful for my friend. Sometimes it doesn't take much to show that extra love and appreciation for someone and it made me want to do the same. I have so many people in my life that I need and love. I think it is important to tell them so that they know.
"The Greatest Need we as Human Beings have is the need to be Appreciated". I'm not sure where I read that but I always remembered it because it's true. We all want to be needed and appreciated.

Not the flowers my friend gave me but ones my kids picked for me. Flowers make your home alittle brighter!

Fuzzy Mouth

I hate being sick! What I hate more is being sick while I am pregnant because you can't take ANYTHING!!! (FYI this is totally a pity post so if you aren't interested stop reading now).
I started not feeling great on Saturday when we went to a funeral and now has carried on to today. Renae has also gotten sick which is double not fun and I am soooo tired! I have been sucking on Halls all day because apparently that is one thing I can do for a super sore throat (I haven't heard otherwise so I am sticking with them) and my mouth feels fuzzy and full of sugar bugs. Rest assured I will be brushing before bed but in this moment I am feeling sick and sorry for myself. My little one is sick, Nicole doesn't listen to me and thinks it's funny that I can't talk much, Steve has been gone all day (no phone calls or anything) and I am 32 1/2 weeks pregnant.
To be fair I have had people offer to help but besides taking the pregnancy away till I get better or snuggling with Renae because she only wants me there isn't a whole lots others can do. I did have a friend come pick up Nicole for an hour which was nice but Renae basically woke up when she left so I didn't get a nap. Nice to have a break from my sweetness but lame that I didn't get any extra rest.
I have felt pretty useless that last couple days but hey what are you going to do. I know in the big picture this is for but a fraction of a moment but right now it sucks!

Let there be Poop!

Renae has been labelled as the "Pooping Monster" this evening after a bathtub event which I did not photograph because of nudity and poop. No word of a lie Renae pooped in the bathtub tonight 4 times. My other girls NEVER pooped in the tub but Renae is my little pooper. She has a wonderfully healthy bowel but seems to take quite a bit of enjoyment in pooping in the warm water.

So as soon as dinner was ready Steve got a phone call which preoccupied him for an hour. So I did spaghetti for the girls (no big deal) then thought I'd stick Renae in the tub after. Well, solo baths are rare in our house and as soon as Nicole heard the water running she wanted in too (again no big deal). Then Lindy sheepishly came in asking if there was room for her, whatever the more the merrier. So they were in splashing and playing for about 7 minutes when all of a sudden I hear "RENAE POOPED!" followed by screaming and laughing. (Steve is still on the phone and unable to help for any of this). So I go and clean it all up as the big girls try to get above the water line and are killing themselves laughing. As I am scooping, Renae takes the Ariel barbie (which I clearly should have taken as soon as I saw what had happened but didn't) and starts splashing the dirty water everywhere then hits me in the face with the wet barbie hair. FOR THE LOVE!!!! Trying to stay calm, I continue cleaning up and getting everyone soaped down. I did not fill the tub again because I obviously need to disinfect after they are out. After the girls are soaped and rinsed I let them play for another minute in the shower. 2 minutes later, Renae squats and poops again. Lindy and Nicole are laughing hysterically and calling her the "Pooping Monster". I clean it up again. 1 minute later, she poops again (seriously what did this kid eat!) I clean it up again as Lindy "accidentally" splashes me with the shower water. Keeping in mind I am 7 months pregnant, bending over to clean this all up. I peeked out the door but Steve was STILL on the phone trying the fix our stupid printer (it had to be done and I was grateful he was doing it but bad timing for my poop drama). I go back in, soaping Renae down again and as I'm washing she poops a little more. I just started laughing because I don't know what else to do. She is so happy through all of this and thinks it is quite a game that she has discovered. Again I clean up, soap her down and get her out before she can do it again. She was quite irritated with me for taking her out but I did not want to clean anymore! The other girls continue to laugh and have fun for a few more minutes while I get Renae changed for bed. 5 minutes after she is changed, Steve gets off the phone and smiles asking "What was all that about?" . I was so glad that he got the computer fixed and so glad she was out of the tub. All I said to him was "That was the most exhausting bath I have EVER given the girls! Renae pooped 4 times!" He smiled and then carried on getting a bottle to put her to bed.

I am glad for a blog where I can put something random like this down so I can remember my girls at these fun ages and look back with a laugh.

This picture was from swim classes we did last month. Let it be known, she pooped in her swim diaper 4 or 5 times out of 10 lessons. She is my sweet little pooping monster!!!!!