The Making of An Announcement

The word is finally out.  We are TOTALLY pregnant!

We never waited long to share our news.  With Li'l Bit we announced at week 5.  Gizmo:  week 5 and 1 day.  The Rascal formerly known as Ladybug:  week 5 and 3 days.  I might have been only 4 weeks preggo when we told our family about our fourth pregnancy.  Obviously, after losing that teeny, tiny thumbprint of a baby we have different feelings about when to spread the good news.  After much thought it basically boiled down to this:  I wanted to wait until our announcement could be a true celebration.  Any time before 12 weeks felt like a tentative celebration.  "Hey y'all!  I'm pregnant!  (I sure hope I stay that way.)"  Yeah, not fun. 

So we finally reached 10 weeks.  We took the kids to see Jill--she's my amazing, loving, compassionate midwife.  She caught Gizmo and The Rascal, and she has been my mother hen--a very highly educated mother hen--these last few months.  So we all piled into an examining room to let the kids hear the sweet thumping heartbeat.  It was a little anticlimactic as most things are with my kids.  I thought their jaws would drop to the floor and their eyes would bug out.  No.  They responded the same as they do to everything.  Chill.  Nonchalant.  "Yeah, that's cool."  It was, however, later that afternoon when each of them came to me in their own way to express their wonder at an actual human being beating inside of me.  Thumper, we've temporarily named him/her. 

A few days later Stac took our announcement pics so we'd be ready to send them out at 12 weeks.  I wanted to tell EVERYONE personally--without making seventy phone calls.  (Plus there's the whole which-sister-do-I-call-first issue.)  We also have a lot of friends that we couldn't call, but we wanted them to know without finding out through the grapevine.  You know, Facebook.  That's why I wanted to do a paper announcement.  So snail mail it is!  (And snail mail is really fast, in case you were wondering.)

I had this great idea that involved the kids putting balloons under their shirts.  Apparently I forgot to run that by them.  When I explained it to Gizmo on picture day his whole countenance fell.  Totally defeated, he mumbled, "I'm not doing that."  Which meant, I really don't want to do this, but I know you're going to make me.  Well....below you see me trying to cajole him into cooperating.  He would not be cajoled, so I finally had to just tell him he was going to do it...and he was going to smile.  After all that he really was a good sport about it.  Time to take some pictures! 

We soon learned that telling the kids to do "whatever you want" wasn't very productive.  They wanted to stop taking pictures and just go for a walk already.

 And of course there was plenty of goofing off because taking pictures gets really boring for kids:

 I'm not sure what I'm saying here, but it looks very important:

 This one, below, won third place.  We loved the setting, and the kids faces--the trickiest part--were all relatively pleasant.  But the plan was for B.daddy and I to be smooching in the pic, so we had to scratch this one.

Below is the one that came in as a very close second.  Stac had the adorable idea to have this be the front of the announcement with "Make way for the fourth duckling!" printed in the bottom right corner.  I mean, how cute is that?!  In the end, we decided the winner was just so Us that we had to use it.  But we totally wanted to send both announcements to everyone. :)

This is the winner:

When we were trying to decide between the ducklings and this one, we would just chuckle every time we'd click back to this picture.  The kids' expressions are all pretty appropriate for how they were feeling about the whole picture-taking mess, and B.daddy and I are, well, at it again!  (I'll let you explain that one to your own kids.)  The smooch and "At it again..." were Stac's idea, which is so funny because we totally gross her out. ;)  The announcement was a postcard so the back just says when baby is due (February) and praise God and we love y'all.

I got the announcements in the mail the day I turned 12 weeks.  I addressed them and mailed them before the final mail pick up at 5pm.  It's the most efficient thing I've done since morning sickness hit.  I could not wait for everyone to know!  

Call Back

If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back--
'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track;
And, if perchance, faith's light is dim, because the oil is low,
Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.

Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;
Call back, and say He kept you when the forest's roots were torn;
That when the heavens thundered and the earthquake shook the hill,
He bore you up and held you when the very air was still.

O friend, call back and tell me, for I cannot see your face;
They say it glows with triumph, and your feet bound in the race;
But there are mists between us, and my spirit eyes are dim,
And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.

But if you'll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,
And if you'll say He saw you through the night's sin-darkended sky,
If you have gone a little way ahead, O friend call back--
'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track.

~author unknown.

Food. It Does a Body Good.

It's wicked hot up here.
When our "ancestors" built this house back in 1832 they didn't leave room for central air ducts.  They also built the ceilings nice and low to trap the heat during those long, cold winters.  So we're kind of hot.  My tiny kitchen gets super hot, when used.  My solution: don't use it!  Brilliant.  Oh, but we still have to eat?  Everyday?
How then do we eat full, healthy meals everyday AND keep my brow dry?
The Crockpot.  She's not just for winter time anymore!  I do the work in the cool morning hours, and there's no giant heat source running in the kitchen.  Just a cute, little pot. (Mine is actually really big, but you know what I mean.)
Using the Crockpot in Summer has really challenged my creativity.  Maybe the heat is making my brain sluggish, but when I see a Crockpot I think of Chili and Golden Autumn Stew. That's it. When I think of Summer food I think of the grill.  I did that last Summer, and let me tell ya'. That thing puts off A LOT of heat.  I wasn't sweating in the kitchen, but I was boiling outside.
So. Summer Crockpot ideas.  I've found that Mexican food bodes well with Summer heat.  I did some chicken tacos via Crockpot that were delicious, and so easy.  I did Taco Soup--wonderful.  Last night we had Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice--so easy, so filling, so good.  In lieu of grilling burgers or chicken for sandwiches, I've done Sloppy Joes in the Pot, as well as BBQ Pulled-Chicken.  What I'm really excited about, though, are my Fancy Franks and Beans.
We love Red Beans and Rice, but it is a cold weather meal in our house.  We love it because it is super yummy, extra filling, and you can make a ton of it for next to nothing.  You can also leave the meat out and still have a complete meal.  I've been trying to think of a Summer alternative for years.  I have finally found it!
Fancy Franks and Beans.  The beans are white, and you use white wine and fresh herbs for your flavor.  Although you use a lot of herbs, they are whole and bunched during cooking and removed before serving.   Your sweet kids (and husband) don't have to look at a bowl of dark, green broth, trying to figure out how to convince you to NOT make them eat it. :)  The flavor is very full and complex, but also clear and light.  It is perfect for Summer!  Here's the recipe:

Fancy Franks and Beans

(these quantities are for a large Crockpot and lots of empty bellies. you can easily cut it down to size.)
ingredients~
1 lb. bag great northern beans, soaked overnight
olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
9 garlic cloves, minced*
2-3 pounds smoked sausage (or Italian sausage, if y'all like that sort of thing)
2 cups dry white wine
15 fresh parsley stems
15 fresh sprigs thyme
5 fresh sprigs oregano
4 bay leaves
4 chicken bouillon cubes

prep~
~Put your soaked and drained beans into the Crockpot.  Add enough fresh water to allow the beans to cook thoroughly, turn Pot on high.  Add the bouillon and wine.
~Gather herbs into bunches and tie together with kitchen twine.  Add bunches and bay leaves to Pot.
~Heat olive oil in skillet and cook onions, garlic, and 1/3 of your sausage, cubed, until onion is softened.  Add to Pot.  Cook on high for about 6 hours, stirring occasionally and testing beans for softness.  As soon as the beans are soft enough, turn the Pot to low.
~At the 6 hour mark, remove the herbs and bay leaves from the Pot. (If there seems to be way too much broth, you may remove some and set it aside.)
~Slice the rest of your sausages and saute in olive oil.  Add to beans, and serve it up!  You can also top each bowl with chopped fresh herbs.

Everyone in this household loved this recipe--even Bruiser!  And all three kids liking the same bean dish is kind of a big deal.  The recipe is pretty simple, so you could take it any which way you want, depending on who you are cooking for, of course.  I'd like to taste it with some fresh, Summer tomatoes added at the end.  But my fam would barf. ;)

*Best garlic tip I've heard to date:  in your grocer's produce section, buy the fresh, peeled garlic.  Put it in your freezer, take out cloves as needed, leave @ room temp for about a minute, and then you can mince it.  Better flavor than anything dried or preserved and easier than peeling them yourself.