Inaugural 7 Quick Takes

So we're linking up with Conversion Diary for the first time...mostly because it seems like a fun, fast way to update on everything we've been up to recently. We've got enough for 14 Quick Takes but you've probably got better things to do. Let's begin, shall we?

1. It's that time of year. Corn on the cob time. Yum. And Viv doesn't really like corn on the cob. WHO IS THIS CHILD?? But Miriam LLOOOOVEEEEESSSS it and snatches Viv's when she can. Felicity hasn't stated a preference yet. When Viv's not eating her corn, she's making mustaches. Wheels are always turning in there.

2. Look at this cool fungus. It's growing at Tim's grandparents house. Fun stuff. Could we have a Fungus Week? Doubtful. Tim hates mushrooms. As The Beast would say, "It is forbidden!"

3. We've also been spending some QT at the pool at Tim's grandparents' house, even though it is rarely above 80 degrees. The ladies love the fudge pops. So we do it.

4. This little girl (seen here with her Papa) used to just suck her thumb. Now she's putting her whole hand in her mouth, gnawing, drooling everywhere. Teething? Who. Knows.

5. Remember the whining about people saying Viv and Miri are twins? Fine. They do look like twins when they're sitting. (Oh, and we gave them the same haircut.)

But when they're standing, it's another story. Miriam has SUPER-extension legs. And Vivian has an incredibly looooong torso. Turns out Miriam's about a head taller when they're back to back!

Vivian is doing her new pose! She sneaks this into tons of pictures now!

6. We went to the zoo again this week. We're the members who make them hate charging so little for the membership fee. At least one of us knows to look at the camera when Dad says, "Everyone look at me!!!" He didn't even try for a second shot.

7. Last week we went to visit Great-Grandma Wellman with Aunt Bridget. Mommy's not brave enough to do the nursing home with three little people by herself. So many hallways to run away in and buttons to push...Anyways, the girls had an awesome time pretending Restaurant and feeding us lots of delicious meals like spaghetti and meatballs, fudge ice cream, oak tree salad with raspberries and cheese, chicken with powdered sugar, etc. Hilarious. Grandma still has her sense of humor and enjoyed every minute. That's a blessing.

On Our Plates: Crockpot Chicken Tacos

We're here to share another way easy, incredibly good recipe from the pre-Felicity crazy frozen crockpot meal extravaganza. We all seriously loved this. Mom and Dad wanted to fight over the leftovers. It's good enough we would serve it to guests. Needless to say, we're making it again. A-sap.

Crockpot Chicken Tacos  
1 taco seasoning packet
3 chicken breasts
2 c salsa (hot as you can stand it)
¼ c of olive oil
¼ c water
Label your freezer bag. Throw in all the ingredients. Seal bag. Lay flat in freezer. When you're ready to cook it, place in crockpot for 6 hours on high. Take the chicken out and shred it. Put it back in the crockpot. Give everything a good mix. Put the lid on and let it go for another 30 minutes. Serve on tortillas with sour cream, cheese, cilantro, lettuce, avocado, a squeeze of lime...basically whatever you have going on in your fridge.

We also served it with this Spanish Rice recipe. Eat up.

Four Months!

Felicity turned four months old on the 6th!

Yeah, that's a size four diaper (same size as Viv)...she wears them to prevent any nighttime leaks. That's not lazy. That's genius.

Cutest rolls. And eyes. And little wispy hairs on her head. And toothless smiles. And...

You get the picture. We love every little inch of this child. She is generally so happy! She rolls over both ways, does her little pushups to get her head and chest off the floor to look around, and watches every move we make. She's even starting to reach out for things and shove them in her mouth. Her best trick: when Mommy is taking a drink of water, Felicity leans in and and smacks her lips like she needs a sip, too. So Mommy gives her a drink from the glass, but most of it ends up dribbling down her chin. She loves getting Daddy's attention and giving him her best smiles and playing shy baby with him. Felicity is also pretty good at entertaining herself for 20 minutes or so at a time while Mom is trying to take care of the bigger girls (this must be a learned skill for third babies who are neglected by their very busy parents because we cannot remember Miriam or Vivian being able to do this so early). That mostly involves eating her fingers and squirming off her blanket. Another great development!!! She doesn't hate her car seat anymore!!! Makes the drives to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Fort Wayne unmiserable. Maybe that's a sign she wants us to go on another vacation. She really knows how her parents love vacation...

Literal Hunger Games

No one was hurt...just hungry. And then very, very full of sugar!

So these three sisters, Maria, Sarah, and Nichole, made cupcakes.

And this guy was the judge. A very professional, unbiased judge.

We're scared of Nichole's ripped arms, too. Guess the girls know not to mess with her when she's babysitting.

So after lots of mixing, baking, testing, and icing. Naturally, there was the eating.

There was the very lovely blackberry cupcakes presented by Maria.

 The tasty lemon blueberry cupcakes by Nichole.

And the churro cupcakes (not be be confused with chorizo cupcakes). Made by Sarah. And declared the WINNER by Tim! As we said, professional and unbiased. Make them (all), you won't regret it.

A special thanks goes out to Pinterest. We couldn't do it without you, friend.

Grocery Shopping with Vivian

We share this story because someday, when Vivian has children, we'll point to this as an example of how she earned all those special parenting moments.

 

Last week, Sarah took all three girls to the grocery. This is very normal - nothing most other human beings care about. Yes, we know. Lots of people take their children to the grocery everyday and don't think that if they all emerge alive they are heroes with superpowers (or at least as deserving of their own reality show as Survivorman. With a huge signing bonus, the Nielson ratings of The Bachelorette, and a four season contract. We may not be the Duggars, but Vivian probably can out-ornery three or four of them combined.) So this Mom's superpower: not melting into a puddle of bad public parenting.

And, finally, the story. Mom got everyone Baby Bjorned and two-seat cart buckled in. No fighting during the first five minutes of the outing and both big girls entertained the produce department with their "funny" rhymes about "Dora, Dora, Dora the Tomato". Which may or may not sound that cute, but it was. Mom is fantasizing that this may be a nice trip to the grocery! Maybe if she moves quickly enough, there will be no fighting, no screaming, no whining! If that's a possibility, Mommy can run through this store pushing a 3 ton cart...

But alas, those were dreams. After those first five blissful moments, Vivian got bored. And a bored Vivian strapped down in the grocery cart just has to find something to do. What to do? What to do? Hummmmm. How about pinching my sister, pulling her hair until she screams, screaming myself? Mom doesn't like any of those things? What to do next? Hummmmm. Empty Mom's purse? Poke a hole in the bread bag? Beg for cheese at the deli counter?

Yes, by the third aisle, Mommy was about to lose it. The Frito Lay restock man, who we see pretty regularly there, got to hear the "if you do not behave yourself right now we WILL leave this store immediately and you will be in BIG trouble when we get home and you are NOT watching anymore TV for the rest of the day and you won't get a story before naptime" threat. This temporarily calmed Elfie. Toddlers really don't get threats. She sang a song not too loudly for about one more aisle. And then a pinch to her sister and the evil eye from Mom...What to do? What to do? Soooooo bored....what to do?

Ah ha! She could unstock all the shelves! Yes! Let's throw things on the floor! So Mom started parking the cart in the middle of the aisles so Vivian couldn't touch anything on the shelves. A reasonable solution...but honestly this just made the trip that much more humiliating for Mom. (God might call us to be humble but this is NOT a fun virtue to cultivate.) Not only were her children loud and out of control, but now she was in everyone's way.

Miriam was playing the tortured soul and Felicity was getting tired. By the time we finally made it to the check out lanes, where Vivian threw two boxes of single serving peanuts and about twenty packages of batteries onto the floor, Mom was barely hanging on. Threats produced nothing but a three second blank stare before being forgotten. The word "no" had lost all meaning.

In the car, Mom (mostly) calmly explained to Vivian that she wasn't going to be allowed to visit the grocery again for a while. "Because I didn't eat all my food lastmorning?" Vivian asked. What? How does that even apply!?!? "No, because you....ahhhhhh, nevermind."

We love that Viv and her sisters and we will make it through these days, but don't think we won't smile just a little when she's calling us in 25 years about her own little Vivi-monster in the making.

Rub-a-dub-dub

Three girls in a tub

"This is so exciting! I'm going to hang out with my sisters! Pinch me. I must be dreaming!"

And who do you think they be?

Miriam could not have been more excited to have Felicity join them for bathtime.

The Squeaker, the Mouse, the Littlest Dollbaby

"Please please please don't splash."

Clean them up! Babes, all three.

Cutie pies.

Bring Me a Dream

We've had some t-i-r-e-d children around here. Lots of partying this weekend: picnicking with friends, picnicking with our church group, celebrating Aunt Nichole's birthday, normal weekend stuff, etc. Wiped out.

We're kinda strict about naptimes around here. 

Don't like overtired kids + like a bit of midday peace and quiet = naptimes trump all. 

Except when they (very rarely) don't. Which was this weekend. We've never had a kid just pass out in a public place. But on Saturday, Felicity couldn't take another moment of the fun at the park. She was a laying on a blanket when she popped that thumb in her mouth and sailed off to Dreamland. It was probably the most adorable thing we'd ever witnessed as parents. She's an angel.

And HUGE Happy Birthday to Aunt Nichole! She's now the big 2-3 and is starting a new job this month as a high school geometry teacher at the same school that Sarah and her siblings attended!

Back to the tired children. Vivian refused to nap today. She stayed in her room just playing, reading, and singing for over an hour. But didn't sleep. Her loss. After naptime, Mommy took the girls to swim in Mema and Pepa's pool. It was chilly...the water was warmer than the air. (Will the real Summer Weather please stand up?) So during a warm up session on Nana's lap, Vivian nodded off. At one point she was even snoring. Amazing. The most active child on the face of the Milky Way slept when she could have been splashing her sister! Miraculous!

P.S. Isn't picnicking a weird word? Why the "k"?