Genius.

I'm so excited about this...props to my girl, Meagan, for getting the word out.

Our lives will never be the same. ;)

Corrinne's Newborn Shoot

BFF for LIFE, those two.

Cash decided last week it was finally time to hold his sister - I mean, it only took 6 wks for him to come to that conclusion. (Honestly though - I was kinda glad it took 6 weeks!) So we did what all good parents do in those situations....we propped that girl up next to him and let him love all over her. :)

It was really one of the most precious moments. It was so cute to watch him pat her on the head, kiss her forehead and my favorite - take her tiny hand in his and kiss it - something that Mommy & Daddy do a lot to Corrinne. :) She's really started noticing when Cash is around and he can get the biggest smiles out of her.

Move Over, Giada!

I'm a list person. I make lists for everything and I love, love, looove checking things off those lists. I currently have a list on our fridge - "To Do..." meaning things I need to do around the house whilst Drew is working "outside of the home", a list on Drew's iPhone and I have no clue what he's entitled it but its things to be done to the house that I want done but we both know Drew will be the one doing them (gotta love marriage), and several mental lists waiting to put onto paper. Anyways, I woke up this morning with a short mental list of things to accomplish today:

1. Take a shower -- always top of the list. I just function better if I feel presentable and clean.

2. Organize toys in the loft by age group, the noisy ones, and the big ones.

3. Actually prepare a home-cooked meal since Drew will be home tonight and we can eat dinner together for once! (This hasn't happened in...quite some time.)

...and thats it because lets not forget the many meals I'd be making/giving the kids, butts to be wiped, etc during this 10 hour time frame. Well...I'm 2 for 3. Its not bad really. I mean, why organize toys that are just going to be drug out an hour after its done and will need reorganized in a week anyways. ;)

I decided to make Italian Meat Loaves tonight since we have the stuff and Drew's been suggesting them for the last 2 weeks. This is a recipe a friend gave me and it pretty much makes me look like I'm as good as Giada from Everyday Italian - although I didn't wear a super low-cut shirt while I made dinner tonight so it wasn't quite the same. (Even though my cleavage could definitely give hers a run for its money, mmmkaaay?!) Anyways, the meat loaves are delicious and a fun spin on the traditional dish. I encourage you to try them out and if you come up with some fun side dishes, let me know! I did some garlic mashed potatoes and green beans...my boys were satisfied.

Italian Meat Loaves

1 lb. ground beef

8 oz. italian sausage

1 egg

1 cup spaghetti sauce

1 cup plain bread crumbs

1/2 tsp rosemary

1 tsp garlic, minced

4-6 mozzarella or provolone cheese sticks, frozen

Mix all the ingredients together (except for the cheese sticks) in a large bowl. Create 4-6 individual loaves - depending on how big you want them. Insert a frozen cheese stick in each, making sure to cover the entire cheese stick. Place in baking dish - 8 x 8 if you're cooking 2-3, 9 x 13 if you're making all 4-6 - and bake at 350 for 30 min. Spoon more spaghetti sauce on top of each loaf and sprinkle some shredded mozzarella cheese on top. Bake 5 more minutes, or until cheese is melted. Let them set 5 minutes before serving.

Note: I only baked 3 tonight and froze 3. They're good for 3 months!

Bon Appetit!!

Highlights from this week...

Corrinne had her 1 month visit this week and is apparently nursing well since she's now over 11lbs! She's also 22 inches long, putting her in the 75th percentile for height and 90th for weight. Girlfriend loves to eat! :)

(As you can see by the multiple chins in this picture.)

As of Friday, Cash is 16 months old! Can you believe it?! He's practically running now and has even started talking a little. My personal favorite is his nickname for Corrinne - "Ninn". :) He's still doing really well with her, although I did find myself saying "We don't hammer our sister." as well as, "We kiss with our lips, not our teeth." this week. Its a work in progress.

We've got some smiles! And lots of coo-ing, especially when she sees herself in the mirror. Ha! My mom says she's definitely my child. I'm not sure what she means by that... ;)

This has become one of my favorite pictures! It was taken just before we left to go to my brother, Griffin's, varsity football game. He's starting linebacker this year and playing very well! We really enjoyed watching him play and hearing my other brother, Landon, play in the marching band. I will say, being at the game made me realize a few things: 1. I really don't want that cheerleading coach position I considered applying for earlier in the week. 2. My daughter won't be allowed to just wear her sports bra anywhere in public -- even (especially!) if she has "GO DC" painted on her tiny little belly. 3. Its been 8 years since I was cheering on that track in an itty bitty little cheerleading skirt. It seriously feels like yesterday...

I found some awesome stuff at our community yard sale this morning. I spent a total of $81.50 and got this lovely chair (being modeled by Cash), 3 shirts 3 outfits and a sweater for Corrinne, and a lamp for her room. Score!!!!

A day in the life...

If only you could've been a fly on our wall this morning...

I had just gotten cleaned up - at a leisurely pace, mind you, since Drew was home this morning - and walked downstairs to feed Corrinne. I picked her up out of the swing to find she had an explosion in her diaper that was on the verge of leakage. I promptly cleaned her little hiney and started feeding her.

As I started feeding her, Drew took Cash upstairs to lay him down for his nap. Then Drew took off for work, leaving me to sit and stare at the dust accumulating on our entertainment center...and desk...and dining room table...and pretty much everything else in our house since I haven't had the time to clean since my daughter was born. 5 weeks ago. Yikes. That got my mind going and I quickly realized it had been that long since anything in this house (besides dishes and some of our clothes) has been cleaned. Nasty! As I'm realizing this I could hear Cash talking and shaking his crib rails upstairs. It had been almost 35 minutes since we laid him down. My mind fast-forwarded to later this afternoon when I would unsuccessfully lay Cash down for a real nap if I didn't get him out of his crib soon, leaving me with a cranky 16 month old and a 5 week old to deal with until Drew gets home at 10:30pm. I could feel the stress level rising. (When you're sleep deprived, it doesn't take much.)

At this point my sister, Ashley, calls. She could tell something was wrong by the way I answered and I took her asking, "What's wrong?" as an open invitation to unleash all my stress on her - complete with tears. Thankfully she understands where I'm coming from. She just had her 2nd baby 2 weeks ago. During our conversation (if thats what you call one person listening and one talking through sobs) my mom beeps in. So I briefly fill her in on my overwhelmed state of mind and then get off the phone actually feeling somewhat better.

I go upstairs and get Cash out of the crib, get him dressed and we head downstairs while I tell myself to make the best of a long day and to take advantage of Corrinne sleeping in the swing and spend some one-on-one time with Cash.

It started out well. We read an alphabet book. Then he decided he wanted lunch - mandarin oranges, milk, and peanut butter crackers. Well he ate about 3 orange slices, half a cracker and decided he was done. Fine. About this time Corrinne woke up -- poopy, once again.

I changed her diaper and asked Cash to throw it away for me. He gladly walked it over to the trash can and threw it away. I started to put Corrinne's onesie on her -- a newborn onesie she's never worn before and my guess is she won't ever wear it again since I had a hard time getting it over her head!

Just about this time I look up and Cash is bringing me the cup of oranges I threw away at lunch. Except the cup I threw away was mostly full and the one he was carrying towards me only had 3 or 4 slices in it...which means....the rest of them were on my dining room floor. Awesome! I cleaned those up and ran back to the couch to finish putting Corrinne's onesie on her since she was squirming with it stuck over her eyes. Poor thing...

I got her dressed in time to look down and notice Cash has figured out how to make milk pour (not leak, POUR) out of the "spill-proof" sippy cup making milk puddles on our carpet. I quickly grabbed the cup, smacked his chubby little hand (for like the 15th time today) and gave him a wet wipe to clean it up with. He actually did clean it up and then proceeded to throw it away. He threw it away and decided he was ready to read again. So he picked up his book and started to rip a page out. I take the book out of his hand, picked him up and started to explain to him why we don't rip pages out of our books when he threw up all over my shoulder.

Lets just say there were more tears, lots more wet wipes, and a quick decision to get the heck outta my house long enough to re-gain some sanity. So we went to the Chick-fil-a drive thru. Because sweet tea always makes things better.

I'm sure someday I'll read this post and laugh...

1 whole month

Corrinne will be one month old at 6:00 this evening! I can't believe it. Mainly because I can't believe 4 weeks has passed since she entered our world yet it seems like just yesterday I had her. But then I also can't remember what our lives were like before she arrived. The irony of parenthood.

Yesterday I commented on how before she was born, I had thoughts of how things might have been easier if I hadn't been pregnant at the time. Like moving, taking Cash out to play in the summer heat, walking up the stairs, etc. But since I met my brown-eyed beauty I've never once thought of how our lives would be easier if she weren't here. I seriously cannot imagine a world without both of my kids. (The fact that I now refer to them in plural still freaks me out at times.)

Now don't get me wrong - things are definitely not easy. There are moments when our world is at peace (like now - both kids are napping allowing me the time to post this blog). But usually one or the other - or in a lot of cases - both kids need my attention. And they need it RIGHT THEN. We've had our share of cry-fests. All 3 of us. But the heart-warming moments far outnumber them. Like yesterday when I got to hear Corrinne's first coo's. Or every morning...and after every nap time...and several other times throughout the day when Cash just has to stop what he's doing to give her a hug and kiss.

Before she was born, in those moments of doubt, I told myself that we'd just learn to adjust and go on. And adjust we have...I've figured out how to nurse Corrinne while feeding Cash. We read lots of books together during Corrinne's meals and Cash has even learned to help me with her diapers by throwing them away after I change her. (Although there was one unfortunate instance where he returned from the trash can licking his yogurt container from the night before!) I've managed to get a shower everyday and have even been able to make it to church alone with the kids. (Thanks to some help from my brothers/dad.) Corrinne is nursing and sleeping well - last night she even gave me a 7 hour stretch! Better days (or nights, rather) are on their way...

It looks like we're gonna make it. :)