Say, make, eat, paint, and play!

Over the past few weeks...

We've said this:

Abby to Elise: "Oh, your picture is EXQUISITIVE!"
Abby to me: "Mom, how do you spell "coronation"?"
Elise to me: "I love you more than $129!"
Elise to my belly, every night: "I love you baby!"
Abby's baby names: Peter or Carrie
Elise's baby names: Rosella, Violet, Daisy, or Tommy

We made these:

We ate this:

Quinoa Cookies

adapted from Loves Food Loves To Eat

• 1 1/2 C organic stone ground whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 C organic unsalted butter
• 1/2 C organic coconut sugar
• 1/4 C local honey
• 2 local organic eggs
• 1 tsp homemade vanilla
• 1 C cooked organic quinoa
• 1/2 C unsweetened coconut
• 1 C chocolate chips (optional)
• Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes

Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

• Cooked organic quinoa
• Organic milk
• Cinnamon
• Local, raw honey
• Organic raw pumpkin seeds
• Organic banana
• Unsweetened coconut

We painted here:

And we played this way:

It has been wonderful to be outside... making mud pies, playing in the fairy garden, filling pots with herbs and flowers. We miss our chicken companions - the remaining two, Lavender and Pip, found a wonderful home a few weeks ago. As we prepared to drive them across town, Elise insisted that Pip not only kissed her but was also crying. When I said "Well girls, I think we found a great home for the chickens", Abby brought me to tears by responding with "those chickens will never have a better home than what they had with us". We decided that, with baby on the way, it would be nice to simplify the homestead - I'm sure it was the right thing to do and we found an organic, vegetarian home for the ladies - but I'm already looking forward to the next flock at some point down the road. 

Speaking of down the road... Baby L has 5 weeks left to cook. And I'm enjoying each and every day. I feel great, our weekly check-ups are looking awesome, we met with our doulas and have a wonderful birth plan in place, the babe's room is done, and the big sisters are excited! We still have no names picked out nor are we using the girls' suggestions. And the overall consensus thus far is that this baby has a penis. While I'm unsure of that detail, what I do know is that growing a baby rocks: hiccups, kicks, big sister belly kisses, nighttime bathroom breaks and all. 

The days keep MARCHing by!

Well, apparently March happened. While it's not a month well-documented in words, pictures will have to suffice for a recap:

Abby, aka Robin Hood, learned how to shoot a bow and arrow.

Trees were climbed to new heights.

Tank tops and bare toes returned. 

Charlie continues to have two modes: asleep or absurd (don't get me wrong - we love them both).

We sported our St. Patty's greens and our KU blues. Sadly the KU blues didn't have the kind of run that they had in 2008 - I was pregnant with the girls when we won the championship that year.

Speaking of 2008... on the left is what should have been my 32nd week of pregnancy in July 2008; on the right is my 32nd week of pregnancy this time. March brought us some stress as Baby Lawrence's heart had some struggles. After more visits with prenatal specialists than we had with A and E, a little maturity and extra love seem to be doing the trick - Baby's heart has been behaving and holding steady for the past couple of weeks. And, while my tiny 2008 preemies could easily conquer the world, I happily rub my belly and smile each and everyday that this one stays inside.