Hey Lovebirds...

Here is our Valentine photo essay.

The decor:

 The drinks:

 The crafts:

 The eats: (if you have not tried this recipe yet, it's a goody.)

The rendezvous:
My intentions: Meet caleb at the door before he sees the surprise the girls and I set up, greet him with a kiss and send him back out to take our girls to the arranged babysitter, put the baby to sleep while he's gone, and treat him to a romantic dinner for 2 in our "cafe" (um, I nailed sheets to the ceiling.)

What actually happened: I spent the day baking, running cookies to preschool, driving kids back and forth, and making a horrendous mess of my kitchen. Caleb arrived home earlier than I expected. My 6 year-old lookout forgot to warn me and instead welcomed him into the house. Non-showered and wearing a filthy apron, I walked around the corner calling orders to the kids about getting on shoes and coats, then actually jumped and screamed in shock upon seeing Caleb in the entry, and blurted out, "What are you doing here?!"
Welcome home, Valentine.
Later, Emme joined us for dinner where she ate, pooped, and barfed during each course, and then insisted on dancing with us to death cab for cutie by candlelight.

It was all the stuff my Valentine dreams are made of.
Actually, for real it was.

My other valentines (blurry ones):

Hope your day was memorable.

It's Date Night in the Cultural District

We went on a date. I totally recommend doing that.
All my real photos are currently tied up in hard drive limbo, so you get these:

Hot chocolate at the andy warhol museum cafe. So good.

The only human being in the museum that night not wearing a shade of black: Emme Wilson.

(She was a big hit. I don't think the museum crowd gets enough baby.)

The coat room of the Warhol:
Dark outerwear lined up like soup cans.
The white one is mine.

So what did we learn from date night?
1. We aren't as hip as we think we used to be.
2. It is nice to be married to someone just as unhip as you.
3. People on first dates who put their fist to their chin, nod, and say "uh-huh..." with a discerning expression, while looking at abstract art, as their date uses their hands like a viewfinder, are fun to secretly chuckle at if you are married. Because we've so been there. Isn't it nice not to be there?
4. We still love each other.

All in all, I'd say the evening was a success.

I Miss My Hard Drive and my Self-Control

Blogging from Caleb's computer tonight because mine crashed this morning. I weep for me! Please bless the good doctors at geek squad can make it all better.

I don't know if what followed was a result of computer-crash-induced desperation, or a simple, albeit shameful, case of supply and demand, but here's what I ate today-

Breakfast: the rest of the Oreo's we found leftover in the kitchen at church on Sunday, with a root beer chaser.

Lunch: 4 or 5 funsize snickers.

Dinner: half a bag of haribo gummi bears.

Before you flog me with a licorice whip, let it be known that I did feed my children actual food today.
(Although it's questionable whether my nursing newborn got much more than sugar water.)

Caleb got home just before nine and thought dessert and a "Chuck" episode sounded about right. I didn't tell him about my other dietary selections for the day until after I'd finished the large root beer float he made me.

Upon hearing, Caleb told me to sit on the time-out stair and think about what I'd done.

Funny, funny man.

Well goodnight, all. I think tomorrow I will try to find my running shoes and some spinach.

Have You Seen This Girl Lately?

She's suddenly sprouted curls, and I'm just eating them up.

Olivia spends her day following me from room to room, chatting me up. She is in love with her new little sister in a major way and whispers "Oh!" in adoration whenever Emme is near. It's about the sweetest thing I've ever heard.

 She became a smash hit with the Sam's Club staff last Friday by shouting, "Free sample! Free sample!" from her cart-seat the whole way through the store.

Another choice Sam's club moment from the week:

Caleb rolled up to a sample cart with three of our four girls.
The pretty, slender black woman working the cart looked at him with wide eyes and asked, "Are these all yours?" He confirmed. She replied, "You done LOST yo' mind!"

Caleb spat with laughter. Olivia shouted, "Free sample!"

Then Caleb pointed to me heading their way with our fourth girl.

Woman: "Another girl?"
Caleb: "Yep."
Woman: "Tell me the day and year?"
Caleb: "Of what?"
Woman: "When you done LOST yo' mind!"

We are quite a spectacle these days.

Speaking of spectacles:

Kids in glasses: never not funny.
This girl pretty much has my heart in her pocket.

Her Public Needs Her

So Emme is back, by popular demand.

Pardon the hiatus. Emme has had a full schedule, consisting of:

Getting less squishy-

 Getting even more less squishy (please notice double chin)-

 And getting positively plump-

Emme has been a pure delight thus far. Slept six hours straight three nights last week, and she is ridiculously pleasant when she's awake.

Good thing. Because I suddenly feel like I have a LOT of children. I may have almost forgotten her in her car seat at old navy when moving from the infant's section to the girl's section with my other 3 girls in tow. Mom, I hereby forgive you for the time I got left at Surf 'n Swim for half an hour when I was 7. I totally get it. And what was I thinking taking all 4 girls shopping with me? Not again until they're 20.

Just a few gems from the ladies lately:

While working on Malan's homework-
Malan: "You don't know about math problems, Jane."
Jane: "What's a math problem?"
Malan: "Like, if you don't know what 4 plus 5 is, then you have a math problem."

Jane at our FHE about spirit prison/paradise: "Well, I just hope I get a pretty dress. I don't want to wear the stripes. You know, the black and white stripes?"

Olivia, feeling a little displaced by new sister, is now alerting us to her need for attention by, multiple times daily, spinning rapidly in circles while shouting: "I'm funny! I'm funny! I'm funny!" until she falls down and we all laugh and applaud. Very mature, I think.

Caleb and I are doing fine. So busy. Hope to come up for air soon.

We are in Love...

...with our little Emmerson.
She arrived Sunday the 19th at 11:14 am.

And we've all been mugging on her since.

Welcome, welcome sweet girl. You're in for some major smothering around here. So glad to have you at last.

Things That Keep us Warm

It is like one degree in Pittsburgh this week. Here's what's keeping us warm-

Getting exercise:

 Fuzzy slippers:

 Movie night in mom and dad's bed:

 Christmas tree glow:

"Our sweet little Grandma" (Jane's words) who flew across the country to come take care of us:

Lovely little old fashioned Christmas Eve flannel jammies made by the above-mentioned wonderful lady.
If she stays long enough I think my whole "to do" list will disappear:

 Little urchins who sneak into my picture taking session without notice:

 And finally, incubation! This is the most pregnant I have ever been, and boy, I'm plenty warm.

May I hereby pay homage to all you ladies who have been 39 weeks pregnant.
I never knew. . .

 Little baby, I know it's cold out here, but we promise to keep you cozy if you'll come out now.

Dear friends, hope you're staying toasty, wherever you are.

Turkey, Tree, and Tummy

We shared a lovely thanksgiving with our other disem-familied friends. . .

Then went the next day to hunt our christmas tree.

It was absolutely freezing, but we wouldn't have missed it.

 Caleb cut down a big fat fabulous fir for us with his own two hands. Doesn't that sound manly?! It was.

 Sleeping hard:

 And working hard: (My coat, I mean. I don't think I can get any bigger. . .are those my feet way down there?)

 We had to move some furniture to make room for our robust Christmas tree. I know just how it feels.

Thanks for reading. . .hope your holidays are shaping up nicely!