I walked into the living room this afternoon and Katie was eating dry Cheerios with a clothespin.  She said to me, "Hey, mama, I'm eating these Cheerios with my chopper sticks."

Butterscotch Cookies

Butterscotch has long been one of my favorite flavors.  I remember as a little girl visiting my granny and pa.  Pa always had a pocket full of Brach's hard candy.  My two favorites were butterscotch and root beer barrels. 
This weekend I was on Sugardoodle.net.  I frequently visit this website for Primary ideas but  had never noticed that on the sidebar there is a link to recipes.  I came across a recipe for butterscotch cookies and had to try it. 
I sure am glad that I did!  I love to bake but usually only bake chocolate chip cookies when I make cookies because that is what my family likes best.  This just might be my new favorite cookie.  They smell amazing as they are baking and taste even better.  Here's the recipe or you can check it out on the Sugardoodle website.

Butterscotch Cookies

4-1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 c. butter

1-1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

2 pkgs. butterscotch pudding (3.4 oz)

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3 c. butterscotch chips

Mix flour and baking soda and set aside. In another bowl, cream together the butter, brown and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Stir in the butterscotch chips. Bake at 375 for 7-9 minutes. Just watch until edges turn a golden brown.

Try them, I promise you'll love them. 

Say Cheese!

Eric is going to learn to play the violin this year

Charles is a proud big brother

The Future's so bright Andrew has to wear shades (even if they are pink)

Sissy thinks Andrew is so cute in her sunglasses

Daddy snapped this picture when Andrew was fussing but it looks like a smile

This hair is NOT due to static electricity

Charles

Charles came home from school last week with a tooth box around his neck and a gap in his smile.  There was no tooth in the tooth box however.  Eric was quite excited to tell me the story.  Charles was on the playground and ran into another kid.  His already loose tooth was knocked out and disappeared in the wood chips.  I guess the tooth box was just to show that he lost a tooth at school.  The evidence of this incident was a semi excited boy with a fat lip.  He was of course sad that his tooth was missing but happy that he lost a tooth. 

Charles also learned to ride his bike with no training wheels this week.  He has been riding with only one training wheel for quite a while.  He didn't have the courage to ride without it.  The kids were out riding and Eric ran in the house to tell me that Charles was riding on only two wheels.  I went outside and sure enough there was Charles riding his bike with the training wheel up in the air.  He hadn't even realized that he was riding without the help from the training wheel. 

mama called the doctor and the doctor said...

I love the advice the doctors and nurses give as they send you home from the hospital after having a baby.  "Get lots of rest and take it easy".  Easier said then done.  When the baby is two days old they have to visit the pediatrician for their first visit.  Then, in the case of Andrew, he had elevated Bili Rubin levels so we spent four of his first seven days running back and forth to the hospital for blood tests.  Then he had to see an orthopaedic doctor for his collar bone yesterday and back to the lab for his PKU test and another hearing test today. 

Lucky for us, his Bili levels dropped to a normal range so Saturday was his last day of photo therapy, the x-rays showed that his collar bone is starting to heal (only one more week of pinning his sleeve to his chest) and he passed his hearing test just fine this time.  Now Tuesday is his two week well baby check up then we should be good to go for a few more weeks. 

I shouldn't complain.  Things could be a whole lot worse.  I have a perfectly healthy, happy baby that came home with me from the hospital after he was born.  I am just a little out of practice with this newborn baby stuff.

Welcome Baby Andrew

Our newest edition arrived on Friday, August 13th at 4:19 pm. He weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. I was induced 6 days early (at the time of the birth I was second guessing myself in making this decision but in the end I was happy I did because he would have easily been 9+ pounds like my other children).

My doctor asked if it bothered me that he would be born on Friday the 13th but I didn't care. However, there was some "bad luck" involved. First off, my epidural did not take full effect. I only felt it in my right leg. I felt absolutely no pain in the births of my other children. Knowing that I would feel this birth scared me to death. I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to pain. I cried and panicked the entire time. I wanted to give up and stop pushing because it hurt. I still wonder why anyone would choose to not have medication. You ladies who choose not to are definitely braver than I.

The second bit of bad luck was that Andrew fractured his collar bone on the way out. It went unnoticed until the next day during his circumcision. The nurse came back and said he didn't move his left arm from the elbow up during the process and an x-ray confirmed the fracture. He spends his days and nights with his sleeve pinned to his chest to keep it steady.

We've had Andrew in our lives for 6 days now and love him to death. The kids are thrilled to have a baby brother. Katie is like a little mommy. She always wants to hold him. We are so happy he is here and is healthy and beautiful. Welcome to the family Andrew!!

Friday the 13th

I don't know if any of you are superstitious or not but I am not.  It's probably a good thing too because I am scheduled to have the baby tomorrow, Friday, August 13th.   As you can see on the baby tracker to your right I technically have seven more days to go.  I went to the doctor today and nothing has changed since last weeks appointment except that the swelling in my legs and feet has gotten a lot worse, by belly is still growing and I can't quite get comfortable.  This pregnancy has been easy (just like my other three, thank goodness) but I am ready to meet our new, tiny baby. 

There is lots to be done in the next twelve hours.  Eric still needs new school shoes and clothes, I need to buy two more notebooks, the house isn't quite as clean as I would like and there aren't a lot of groceries in the house.  However, the nursery is ready and I'm not too far behind on laundry.  We'll get things taken care of and be just fine. 

I can't wait to see what we have hiding in this belly of mine!!