Landon's 2nd Bday Party - Bob the Builder

Landon had his 2nd bday party this past Saturday and we had a blast! Our theme was Bob the Builder. I bought nail aprons from Lowe's and covered up the Lowes's logo with fabric, bordered it with ribbon and put the kids names on them. They also got a building kit that I found at Michael's on the Dollar aisle. :) The cake was complete with grass, dirt and construction vehicles.

The kids had a terrific time playing with all of our tools and trucks, as well as, reading lots of Bob the Builder library books and coloring Bob the Builder coloring sheets. Landon was showered with fun gifts from his friends and family. To see all of the pictures go to http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

Cook a Book

If you love cooking as much as I do then everyone needs to see the movie Julie and Julia. Several girls from church plus my lifelong friend, Carissa, went to see it awhile back. Carissa and I were so inspired that we decided to start a cooking club. We searched through tons of cookbooks and decided on Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. We've invited friends from our church to be apart and we are going to attempt to cook 2 recipes a week. Every 4-6 weeks we will have a potluck and everyone will bring their favorite dish that they have cooked. Carissa's friend, Amy, set up a blog for us so everyone can write reviews of what they cooked. This is going to be so much fun! I cooked my first 2 recipes tonight and made Ina's crab cakes and sugar snap peas - yummy!

My love of cooking began way back when I was still in elementary school. I always loved to help my Nanny(my mom's mom) cook, as well as, watch my dad's parents make all sorts of yummy things like Angel Biscuits, gumbo, and dilly bread. Yes, I said "parents" because both my Grandmommy and Granddaddy loved to cook and were very good at it. Of course it goes without saying that I enjoyed helping my parents in the kitchen, too. My Daddy was famous for bringing yummy desserts to work for all of his employees. :) In the 5th grade, I was in 4H. I entered a chicken pot pie in a contest and got to go to district. The cooking continued from there on. In junior high, I would cook for people in order to raise money to go on mission trips. I even got to "cater" a teacher's luncheon when I was in the 8th grade. I'm sure they let me do this, because they wanted to help out a girl not because I was amazing. :) Since Ben and I got married in the summer, before school started, I cooked HUGE meals because I had nothing else to do during the day. Nowadays life is so hectic with raising 2 boys that many a week I call Ben and I say, "I am too exhausted and have no patience for cooking so bring home pizza. " I am looking forward to recapturing my love for cooking with exciting new recipes. To check out the cooking blog go to http://projectcookabook.blogspot.com

The Three Musketeers!

Yesterday was the big day for the sonogram. Our sonographer was very thorough and spent 45 minutes checking the baby out. She did confirm rather quickly that we are having another boy! During the appointment I was trying to take it all in. I was very glad to see that he has 2 hands, 2 legs, 2 eyes, his heart has 4 chambers, etc. The sonographer couldn't say whether anything was wrong and if there is any concern my doctor will call me. From what I could tell he looks healthy and normal. The sonographer commented on how active he was (making it hard to get a good shot of him)and called him a bucking bronco to which I looked at Ben and said, "We already have 2 of those at home." :)

To be real honest with you the rest of my day was challenging. I had hoped that we might have a girl, but I also thought about how fun it would be to have 3 boys. I really thought that I would be okay if a girl wasn't in the picture for us, but my emotions quickly kicked in and I did feel somewhat of a disappointment which startled me. I got in the car and quickly called my mom. I was trying to be upbeat, but she could tell even though she didn't say anything. I then called her back a few minutes later and could hardly get any words out of my mouth. I knew that I would love this baby no matter what, but I still wondered what it would have been like if the sonographer had said GIRL. Part of it was the obvious of wanting to have tea parties and paint toe nails, but the other part was for Ben. I so wanted him to experience what a father daughter relationship was like. Of course that made me think of my own Daddy. Even as I type that tears begin to come. My Daddy loved his girls!! He went above and beyond in loving us and making Robyn and I feel cherished. For example, he would leave me notes in my lunchbox, he was very involved and interested in my dancing, he sent me a dozen red roses on Valentine's Day while I was in college. He was thoughtful, understanding, and showed me what a husband ought to be like and more importantly he was a great Earthly picture of my Heavenly Father. No one can explain the uniqueness in a father daughter relationship unless you've experienced it. I wanted Ben to be able to have that and for me to be able to watch it unfold. The Lord knew all of those things, but he chose to give me another son. He is in control and knows what our family needs.

Thankfully my feelings of disappointment only lasted a little while. On the way home from school, I watched as the 2 boys gave each other high 5's and bumps in the car and my heart melted!! I love my boys and they give me such joy each day. Yes, they have LOTS of energy but they keep me on my toes and nothing is better than having your boys run and give you hugs and say I Love You Mommy!!!

Check out more sonogram pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

1st Day of School

Both boys are in school this year. Landon(toddler class) goes T and Th and Hudson(PreK) goes T, W, Th and both go from 9-1:30. Tuesday morning Ben and I took both boys to meet their new teachers and check out their classrooms. We are looking forward to a great year! You can check out more school pics on the picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain