9 months & more

Carson has made it! He has now been out as long as he was in!

Fun with makeup. Yes, they're even wearing mascara!

When we can get Addie to smile normally, she is just sooo pretty. Don't you think so? Or am I just a biased mother? Good thing I don't have to worry about boys quite yet.

In case you were curious, here's what we look like opening our mouths as wide as we can-

And here is Macie refusing to do anything she doesn't want to do. This hilarious pouty face is new.

And here is cute cousin Hannah! Well, daughter of Jason's cousin Katie. (First cousin once removed, right? I have no idea.) Her and her parents came for a short visit. It was great having them- we thoroughly enjoyed beating them in every game we played. Ha!

every day life

Macie's outfit is Jason's strange sense of humor. She thought it was hilarious.

As for me, I'm still running. Jason and I will be running in Richmond, VA's half marathon on Nov. 13th. I've been having a more difficult time committing to this race. My running partner is a high school teacher, so she starts school in a few weeks and won't be able to run with me anymore. That means I'll be training on my own and I'm a little worried. But it will be awesome to do it with Jason--too bad we can't train together. I've also been doing Weight Watchers for about a month and have finally been able to steadily lose weight. Hurrah! It's true what they say about the third kid. This time the baby weight is NOT coming off easily! So, here is a picture of me from a few days ago...I think I look a little thinner! Yay!

Carson is cute, but more needy than ever. Much more than either of our girls. He is a Mama's Boy through and through. This morning, after I ran 4 miles, I opted to mow our whole lawn for another hour of time away from him. He is very charming but also very demanding of his mother. It was perfect, though. Jason got what he wanted--time to sit and chill out with the kids watching a movie--and I got what I wanted--time ALONE. I love my husband! (And I really do love my kids, too, but sometimes a mama needs a break!)

Just a cute picture of him falling asleep on Jason's lap.

Now here is a happy story. I bought a box of 100 Curad bandaids. I was ignorant of the fact that they were the world's WORST BANDAIDS. They came unstuck minutes after being put on. I have never been so annoyed by a product before, so I decided to email the company. Well, about a week later, look what came in the mail!! Carson's face looks about how mine did when I opened the mysterious box!
It was so fun to have them send me all this free product, and they are the much nicer, more expensive bandaids...so they actually STICK! Hurrah! I will definitely be writing more companies in the future.

The end.

you'll never guess my new hobby

It has to do with these: Some of this:

And faces that look like THIS:

It's true! Lately, I have been ENJOYING COOKING! (well, more often than not anyway...)

As many of you know, I have never been one who likes cooking. There are always dishes afterwards, half the time it isn't even good because I don't have natural cooking instincts, the kids are always whiny at dinnertime...yadda yadda yadda. WELL...

I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH FARMER'S MARKETS!

There is something so wonderful about fresh, colorful food, bought directly from the people who lovingly planted, watered, cared for and picked it. I ask them questions (What do you do with a lemon cuke? How would you use the mini-eggplant in a dish?) and then go home and invent something. And the best part? Usually I invent something GOOD. Usually. (Our eggplant-zucchini-tomato soup the other night was a complete bust.) And it has been pretty FUN.