1 month Dr visit

This is a new hobby of mine...digi scrapping! Gotta figure out how to make them bigger so they look good on here!

Here are Maci's latest stats:

9lbs 7oz

21 3/4 inches long

growing like a weed, beautiful as ever!

On Eagles wings...

Have you ever felt so connected, yet disconnected at the same time? Before having my girls, I felt disconnected (biologically) as my mother had passed away (11 years ago, this week.) Around this time of the year, I think about her. As the leaves start to fall, I think about her. As I am facing challenges as a mother myself, I think about her. Would she have thought I was a good mom? Would she have loved my girls and been that crazy grandma who doted over how beautiful they are to everyone who would listen? Unfortunately, those are questions that will not be answered. I have grown in appreciation of her and how she loved me inspite of my me-ness, if that is a word. I thought this week that I would love to call her and apologize for being such a talker as a child. Chloe has made me realize how annoying it must have been that I never shut up!
God knows exactly what we need and when we need it the most. On eagles wings, He delivers. I have been truely blessed by a very loving woman who is married to my dad. I call her "Mom." She has stepped right in and loved me and guided me to become the woman and mother that I am today. I talk with her a few times a week and am giddey to share my bargins or coupon deals with her and to hear of her great deals! It's so refreshing to connect with someone who will listen when you are frustrated, yet not allow you to walk in self pity. It is such a special relationship that I have with her. She affirms me as a mom, and I need that.

Mom,
Thank you so much for all that you do to help me grow as a woman and a mother to these little girls that God has trusted me with. Thank you for listening to me and encouraging me. Thank you for teaching me to save tons of money and to be a wise shopper. Thank you for loving my girls and baking cookies with Chloe. Thank you for flying up here to help me out when I had Maci. Thank you for being you and for loving me like you do. I appreciate you far more then I ever tell you. I'm so glad that you are blessed enough to retire so young, so now when we come down we can "play" more and find deals together! I love you!
Love,
Courtney

P.S. I must say that a trip to Canton needs to be in the works for the spring...an all girls trip!

Road trip to Oklahoma

We had a fun trip, although it was a short one. We stayed in Springfield on the way down. This was the first time we have stayed in a double bed suite. We needed the three beds. Chloe was the lucky one who got her own bed. I think this is the new way to travel. Drive half way, stay the night in a hotel, then finish the trip the next morning. The kids did great and it was nice to have a break from the van. We made it there by noon on Thursday. As we pulled in, Steve said "I sure hope we get fried okra at least once while we are here." It was so nice to walk into a home cooked meal by g-ma and it included fried okra and fried zucchini. (In the south, this is how we eat veggies...fry them up and we will eat em up.) Friday morning, Grandma Loretta and I went to a craft show, more picts and description below. Steve went to visit his best friend, Jarrod, that night. It was good for him to have some "guy time" and talk sports, as my family is pretty much clueless when it comes to sports. Ask Steve which season it is and he will say "baseball, football, or basketball" ask my family and they will say "Fall, Winter, Summer, or Spring" Grandma Loretta and I went to Fin and Feather, a craft show, on Friday and found some fun stuff! Pictured here are some of my finds! I bought the bag above for a diaper bag for Maci. It was too cute to pass up and Maci will be able to use it later if she so chooses. It can be a back pack or a one strapped bag. Too much fun!
Emma, who loves watching Dora, is always talking about a back pack. Chloe has one and Emma is always trying to sneak off with Chloe's. It was nice to see one that was Emma-sized...and it already had her name on it! Had to get it!
Okay, I know what you are thinking as you are looking at this picture. "That bow is WAY too big for that babys head" I agree...but give her a month or two! It was so cute and it had a rhinestone in it! I couldn't live without it!
So this one is a little larger then life as well. Trust me...in a few months it will be adorable on her! Just you wait and see! (isn't my bow model the cutest thing ever?)
I loved this band because you can change out the bows on it. I bought it in purple too! So as you can tell from the picture, she was TIRED of playing dress up and wanted me to stop! That was the last photo from this mommy-paparazzi.

This is Grangran, Maci's great great grandpa holding her. He is 91 yrs old. He kept calling her "doll baby" and it totally melted my heart. We kept joking that he and Maci look a lot alike...since he refuses to wear his teeth.
Here is Chloe and Emma with Deedee, their great great grandmother. She enticed them into her lap with cookies. Grandma's and cookies just have what it takes to get little girls to do about anything.
Here is Maci all swaddled up. I love making a baby burrito out of her. She sleeps so much better when she is snug as a bug! Although, in this picture she looks a little upset. And no, her hair hasn't fallen out (yet), it's just very light colored. Ladies and Gentleman, I think we have another blonde on our hands!
Here is Chloe and Emma both holding their babies. Chloe wanted to hold Maci and Emma climbed up beside her with her baby doll. So cute! At least Emma held on to her baby when Chloe let go of hers...because she was "making a funny sound." It was the basement, not the attic. Chloe doesn't do diapers yet!

Playdoh girls

So I got brave and decided to make play doh for the girls. It was really quite simple and made a lot. The texture was great and it took all of 10 minutes. (Seriously!) Emma didn't really want to get her hands dirty...so she just poked at it. Chloe, on the other hand, played with it for an hour and a half! WOW! Who would have thought that she would have loved playing with it so much? I added the recipe if any of you get brave enough to want to try it out yourself! Beware, though, makes for a few hours of great fun!

Playdough RecipeIngredients:

1 c. flour

1/2 c. salt

1 c. water

1 tbsp. oil

2 tsp. cream of tartar

Food coloring by drops

Directions: 1. Combine all ingredients in a pan and stir. Cook over low heat, stirring until a ball forms. 2. Add food coloring and mix thoroughly until desired color. 3. Cool on foil. Store in covered container

Maci is 4 weeks now!

I guess if you take enough pictures, you are bound to get one with a smile in it!
"Two, count that two hour break is all you get Mom, then it's time for me to eat again"
Love the wink! Don't you?
Look at those long skinny legs!
Now we know where the term "baby blues" came from!

Cat guy?

Today, Chloe gave me the best laugh ever! I love three yr olds! They are so funny! We were out and about and ran into a friend of mine who said "hi" to Chloe. Chloe did not respond. For our VERY talkative 3 yr old, this was a little strange. So I said to her "What? Does the cat got your tongue?" She didn't say anything. I guess she was thinking about it. Once we got in the car, she said "Moma, what does the Cat Guy look like?" I really had to think long and hard about what she was asking. Once it hit me, I knew! Instead of hearing "Cat got" she heard "cat guy" LOL Then she kept repeating, "the cat guy has my tongue" LOL So funny!

All Clean!

Couldn't resist bringing Maci up from the basement like this! I had my laundry, and I had her! She got a nice ride!

Our Annual Apple Picking Fun

Emma flying her plane! She did NOT want to get out!

Chloe and Emma posing for the first pict of the day!
We had to get a family photo! Remember, I am only 3 weeks post pardum here...I felt so bloated...first day back in pre-preg clothes!
Chloe on the pony rides!
Chloe flying her plane!
Extended family watching the pig races together!

We had so much fun at Apple Fest this year! Steve's family was all in town and met us there! This increased the hands to keep up with Chloe and Emma! We had never gone during Apple Fest! This was the first year for us to experience everything! Chloe loved the pony rides, Emma loved the airplane rides, and we all enjoyed the pig races. It was so cute...some of the pigs were named: Hamma Montana, Shaqielle O'squeal...so fun! We had a great day, and ended it with hot apple pies (homemade of course!)

Three weeks already?

These pictures make her look so much bigger then she is. I can not believe she is three weeks now. It totally breaks my heart how fast the time is flying by. I want to enjoy every moment, at the moment...not look back and regret that I didn't cherish it while it was in front of me. Maci is awake a little more in the day and I am loving the interaction that we are getting. I love being a mommy of a newborn!

Our little artist...

Chloe continues to amaze us with her artistic abilities! We were not so excited to share her artwork with everyone the last time she tested her abilities. She painted the bathroom...brown...need I say more? Tonight, she drew a picture of a little boy in her preschool class. So cute!

Maci's first bath...

So I don't think Maci enjoyed her first bath! She pretty much screamed thru the whole thing. It was so nice to actually soap her up! Steve had been waiting for this day since she was born! Take note of her modesty...I'm trying hard to raise these girls right! LOL She smelled so good with her baby lotion on. She is sleeping soundly...just waiting for me to go to bed so she can wake up to eat again! I swear they have a radar!

Maci's 2 week appt

Maci weighed in at 7 lbs and 9 oz, which is 15 oz more then when she left the hospital! Go Maci! This puts her in the 25% for weight! She was 21 1/4 inches today! This is a whole inch longer then when she was born...I just can't blink...she grows! It was so strange sitting there in the pedi's office...I had no questions for him this go around. I guess it's true, you become a little more laid back with each child. She goes back in two weeks, then not again until 2 months of age. She is still wearing mostly premie outfits, but I am starting to work in some newborn things! Oh and she gets her first bath tonight! I can't wait! I hope she loves it! The picts will be posted later tonight, I am sure!

Girlfriends...

How on earth would we make it without each other? I love my girlfriends and their wisdom! It's such a blessing to have friends who will look me straight in the eye and tell me what I NEED to hear, not what I WANT to hear! Honesty, trust, laughs...it's so refreshing!

Maybe she does look like Chloe...a little?

Chloe wanted so badly to hold Maci. I let her after Emma went to bed. So sweet.

Kids will be kids!

Tonight as Steve got the girls their baths, they played a lot! Evidently Emma wasn't finished. Steve got her out, put lotion on her, combed her hair, and put a fresh diaper and her PJs on her. Next thing you know, she is in the tub with Chloe again...this time fully dressed! Steve was so mad! All I could do was laugh my head off! Kids will be kids!

All that for $3.77???

Today is "Cheer for chicken" day at Chick-fil-a. This means if you wear a football logo, you get a three piece chicken strip meal for free! So we pulled out our OU stuff, loaded the heard and headed to the mall. On Mondays, it's also church bulletion day at Chick-fil-a, so we took two of those as well. With those you get a free sandwich with the purchase of a drink. So we bought three drinks (totalling $3.77) and got three three piece chicken strips, two sandwichs, and I had a coupon for a free milkshake with any purchase! Not bad, huh?

This momma knows if she wants to enjoy the finer things in life (like Chick-fil-a) then she has to play her cards smart! This pict to the side is of the girls in their OU garb. Steve was one proud daddy! And full, too!

As for Maci, she was gracious enough last night to let me sleep three hours between feedings. It was so nice! Today she is wanting to eat every 2 hours. Guess she is going thru a growth spurt. It's so sad how quickly they change. I have a feeling that she is going to be momma's girl!