"Give your sister back her nose!! NOW!"

The things we say as moms. I found myself yelling the above phrase from the kitchen this afternoon. A month ago we discovered that the old "got your nose" trick was a lot of fun with Lillian. It didn't scare her, but she was not satisfied till you "put it back." So, it's morphed into a family game. We take her nose, throw it in the air, put it in our pockets or our mouths, and she laughs as we grab it and stick it back on. Better yet, she'll "grab" it: out of the air if we throw it, dig it out of our pockets, etc, and stick it on her own face. Now if you don't give it back to her, or let her get it, she will eventually flip out: "Gimme back my nose!!" or more common, "Mom, he won't gimme my nose!"

This afternoon, she was bothering Luke, so he methodically takes her nose and won't give it back. Now starts the ear-piercing screaming and crying which mights as well be nails on a chalkboard. Prompting me to yell the most ridiculous phrase to date, and not be the least bit joking.

Sullivan graduated from Pre-school! One grade down, 17 more to go!

The Best Brownies Ever!

I'm trying to lose baby weight, but my cravings for chocolate, peanut butter, and sweets keeps getting in the way! The other day, I succumbed, and made some brownies which came out slightly overcooked around the edges. To cover that up, I looked online on a whim, and found the best recipe ever for Peanut Butter Frosting, which would satisfy my other craving and pack on more pounds. Yay! Thanks to the frosting, these turned out to be the best brownies I have possibly ever had, and made me feel so incredibly sad for people with peanut allergies. Here's the recipe, Enjoy!

Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting (from Allrecipes.com)

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
• 
  
• Cream the butter and peanut butter together till well-blended (and try to ignore the fact that you are about to eat all of that fatty buttery goodness). Add in the sugar gradually, mixing well. Finally, add in the milk. Mix just till blended and creamy. If you overmix, it may start to look grainy. Supposedly you can fix that by microwaving it for a couple seconds and then mixing it a bit more.

I only made HALF of this recipe to frost my pan of brownies, and I am telling you, it is soooo GOOD! The frosting tastes similar to the insides of Reese's Pieces, so if you like those, you'll love this.

Introducing . . . Andrew

Our little guy was born April 8th, weighed 7lbs 11oz, and was 20.5". Labor was fine, thanks to an epidural, though long (it was an induction), and the delivery was short--a personal record of about 2 minutes worth of pushing! He looks like a blend b/w all three of my children as newborns: Lillian's mouth, Luke's hair, Sullivan's head shape, and a blend b/w Luke and Sullivan's nose. Everyone says he looks a lot like Cameron, too, but everyone says that about all of our newborns who are born with dark hair, so time will tell.

We chose a nice, classic, neutral first name that Cameron and I could both agree on, which is not easy. I was pushing for Phineas so we could call him Finn. Cameron was still rooting for Matai, which is both his and Luke's middle name. "But it makes a great first name too, Sara!" Andrew's middle name, Knox, was chosen in honor of my grandfather, John Allen Knox, one of the most neat and admirable people I've ever known.

We had several scares during this pregnancy regarding Andrew's health, one of which actually was valid. He had Wenckebach heart block, a very unusual heart rhythm to be found in a fetus, and it was considered to be a high risk pregnancy. We were lucky to live near one of the best pediatric heart care programs in the nation, MUSC, and attended weekly ultrasounds and echocardiograms for a while there to monitor his heart and make sure the condition didn't worsen. We had so many wonderful friends help us out. Luckily, after a lot of worrying and some special blessings, Andrew's heart block, (an interruption in the electric circuit which controls the rhythm of the heart) disappeared suddenly a few months before his birth, and did not return. We're so grateful for that miracle. He had a temporary heart murmur for about 24 hours after his birth, and while more common and not considered a big deal, it of course caused me a little worry, but that cleared up as well. His heart was monitored after his birth for a couple days, and he's been given a clear bill of health. We're so grateful to have him here, seemingly healthy and strong, and very sweet.

The kids have really enjoyed having a baby brother. Lillian is constantly telling me, "She's so cute!" (everyone's female to her). Sullivan just adores everything about him, and is always telling me, "You need to feed him" every time he makes a peep. Luke is a terrific and helpful big brother. Luckily, they all give him space enough that it's not overwhelming or dangerous! 4 kids feels good, and for the moment, complete. (And yes, we think we're done).

Oh and by the way, Cameron found a job here in town that he started last week, so it looks like we get to stay here a little longer after all--though we'll still be moving to a new house next month! Thanks for all the kind words and prayers for us over these last months. They've meant a lot.