A Tasty Treat

I made this for Ryan and myself last night and then again today for the kids. So simple, so yummy.

This is what I've done:

2 cups milk
2 (6oz) cups of blueberry yogurt or any flavor
6-8 large frozen strawberries
1 cup (crushed) ice
*1/2 tsp- 1 tsp lemonade drink mix powder - optional

Mix in the blender until everything is mixed well.

It's been great. We get our yogurt (and most of our groceries) from Costco and it comes in 3 flavors. None of the kids will touch the blueberry yogurt, so this was a great way to get them to eat it. I also defrost the strawberries a bit (1:30 in the microwave) and use crushed ice so I don't blow the motor out on our cheap little blender. I also preferred less (or even none) of the lemonade powder. It was way to tart last night, so I put in less today and couldn't taste it, so I'll probably not use it next time. You could also 'hide' some other things in there like flax seed or protein powder etc. Give it a try. A Tasty Treat!

Baby Olivia Reece

Sorry it took so long to get these pictures up. Enjoy!

I love this expression on her face. So curious.

Getting some sun with Dad. Notice her little grin too - loving it!

Her cheeks are starting to fill out nicely, just like her brother and sisters did. She'll be a chunky monkey in no time! :)

A New Look for Fall . . . or Life

There's nothing like getting a note home from your child's school to let you know that he/she may have vision problems. At least someone catches it though right? Luckily, the school does these screenings and last Friday, Clay came home with a note. To be on the ball, we scheduled an appt the next day. Sure enough, our little man gets to (gets to - like it's something fun..?) to wear glasses. I had Ryan text me the options of the glasses Clay wanted to get. Rylee had gone along also, so I knew Clay and Dad weren't going to get some crazy pairs. Anyway, here is the new look Clay is sporting now.

Pair #1

Sorry for the fuzziness, here are pair #2 (You know, he reminds me a little of the boy in Meet the Robinsons - especially when his hair is spiked up a bit.. Don't you think?)

From Ryan's phone, these were the ones he actually really wanted to get. Unfortunately, after a good laugh, Mom said "no." Poor guy, to have such a mean mom!

What do you do when Mom's in town?

EVERYTHING YOU POSSIBLY CAN!! Seriously! Mom L came out Monday night, two days before Olivia came, and just left this morning. Here's what we've been up to:

Tuesday, we go fabric shopping to create this adorable quilt that was just finished last night. (Of course Mom did all the sewing, I just had to pick out the colors and tell her what I wanted.)

Just waiting for the binding

Lucy keeping herself busy

Mom didn't stop at the quilt though. She picked up some tulle also to whip up these cute tutu's for Kaycee and Lucy while we were at the hospital. Too cute!


Webkinz, webkinz, and more webkinz! Who loves Webkinz more than Gma L? No one!! Aside, from running the kids to school and keeping down the fort, the kids loved to spend time with Grammies playing their Webkinz.


Feeling ambitious the Saturday after Olivia was born, I really wanted to bottle peaches since they were on sale. So, I sent Ryan over to Sunflower to pick up a box. Not too big, as I only had 11 jars. So with Mom by my side we quickly bottled about 15lbs of peaches. So speedy with two, unlike the all-day event it took me the last time I did it by myself.

Love it!

Then this past Monday, we headed to Hobby Lobby to buy fabric to make curtains and pillows for the girls (Rylee & Kaycee) new bedroom downstairs. Again, I just had to pick out the fabric.

(the window isn't square with the wall, so that's why the bed isn't lined up with the window...I know, it bugs me too!)

Feeling ambitous again, (I swear nesting kicked in AFTER Olivia was born) I wanted to make some wheat bread. I didn't have any wheat flour on hand, but I did have wheat and my good ole grinder.

I didn't grind that much (pretty tedious), but did just a little more for this bread recipe. Waiting for the bread to rise etc., I felt like making some muffins and found this fabulous recipe. The muffins turned out so moist. I think the next time I make some though, I leave out the strawberries as it altered the texture enough that when my kids got a strawberry in their mini muffin, they chose not to eat the rest. So yum though! (I'm not so sure about my bread though. I just can't seem to get it right.)



You're probably thinking that I've exhausted my mom by now. I really hope I haven't, but I really wanted to take advantage of her talents and skills while she was here. There was one last thing that we needed her to show us - how to seam together and lay carpet. (Isn't she amazing?! Truly a jack of all trades!) We had the carpet just rolled out for her stay so she wasn't walking on concrete downstairs, but she had the tools (and skill) to show us how to lay and put the remnants together. Again, she and Ryan were so speedy. Just last night for about 2 hours, they cut out the pad, carpet, laid it, kicked it in and seamed the two remnants together!

Getting ready to seam/glue the pieces together

The actual glueing/seaming. It turned out incredibly well. You'd never know there were two pieces there.

Other than baseboards and closet doors, this is definitley a girls room! Now, we just hope that the girls will actually sleep down there...

A HUGE thank you to my mom for coming out here and doing SO MUCH!! I've told several people this, that she truly is Superwoman. There isn't anything she can't do. We love you, Mom. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I'll hopefully get some more pictures of Olivia up here...as soon as I figure out why every picture I take of her is fuzzy....arg!!

Isn't she precious - we love her!

The Deets..

Our Brood!

Everything went really well. I got plenty of antibiotics (although not much sleep) Tuesday night and then started the pitocin at 5 am Wed. The dr. came and broke my water at 8:50. It wasn't until about 11am that I started having regular 'productive' contractions. I labored as far as I thought I could go, and luckily got the epidural just in time to start pushing. I had just gotten the epidural and was adjusting myself back in bed when I had a feeling I hadn't ever had before - the actual urge to push. It seemed so fast. I had Ryan push the button for the nurse. Sure enough, her head was down and I was complete. After about 10 mins waiting for the dr, we were ready to go. About 4 pushes and Olivia was here!

I am really happy with how everything went and honestly, so glad that I was able to relieve most of the pain, even if it was for only 30 mins. GLORIOUS!

We came home yesterday to a bit of chaos as everyone wants to be near and hold baby Olivia. I think it was after about an hour of being home - I almost (almost!) wished we'd stayed at the hospital another day! (is that bad?) Little Olivia is such a doll, and although she had a rough night last night, she seems to be doing better today and will hopefully sleep tonight!

Olivia, ready to come home!

Meeting the fam:

SHE'S HERE!!

Introducing:

Olivia Reece Hunt
6lb 7 oz
20.5 in
2:15pm Wed Sept 10, 2008

more pictures and details to follow - hopefully soon!

My plans are being foiled...

I went to my last OB appt today. I know! No changes from last week tho - no more dilation or effacement. Bummer. But, I did have my last weigh in. Hallelujah! I've never weighed more in the my life, but then again, this isn't the most I've gained in a pregnancy...make sense? We're scheduled for induction Tuesday night. We'll go to the hospital and get 2 rounds of the antibiotics going and then start the pitocin in the morning. So hopefully not much later, we'll get to see our babe! We're all so excited to get Mom L out here too. She comes on Monday (unless we need her sooner!) YAY!

Anyway, back to my plans being foiled. First, I got everything I wanted with Lucy. There were four specific things I was hoping for:
1. to have my water break. It had never happened with anyone else and I wondered what that would be like. (I actually didn't even know it had broken until the dr. checked me after a stress test.)
2. to have a more speedy labor. (the shortest one before then was still 8 hours.)
3. Not to tear or need stitches (sorry tmi).
4. to have her during the day (it was actually the evening, but the nurses still come and bug you all through the night anyway!)

So with that said, there were some things I was hoping to do differenly this time, but alas, it's just not meant to be. And really, when it comes to health and safety, of course, those are #1! But these were the things I was hoping for and maybe you guys have some ideas/suggs for me too. Here goes:
1. Labor more at home - I seem to be at the hospital forever. But with Strep B, the minute you think you're in labor, you get youself right in. As my dr. said "don't piddle around." Ok.
2. I'm afraid to admit this, but ideally, I would love to see how far I can go without an epidural. Why? Because this is probably our last baby and if I didn't try, I think I'll always wonder...then again, once the pain hits - get me the epidrual!! I don't know... but pitocin is nasty!
3. I would like to labor out of the bed more, let gravity help. I've read that certain positions can be so much more helpful than just laying in bed, especially with back labor (which I've had everytime, but then I've had an epidural and have been able to rest too...). However, being induced, I just found out that once they start the potocin, I need to be hooked up to the monitor. Blast. Maybe I'll try the rocking chair...? I dont know..

Btw, thanks for all your comments about the Strep B. It was all very helpful!