And so, with great reluctance, I give you my photograph.

About Quinn:  He is pretty terrific.  But you probably already knew that. We are enjoying the good life now... well maybe not Q this week.  He is working like crazy, but as for Annie and I- we are seriously catching up.  Yesterday I took her to a park for the first time and we had so much fun, we went again later that evening.  Nearly every night we sit outside on our front patio and eat dinner while we watch cars and people go by.  It is so awesome to have a front yard.   I think Q would rather be doing yard work than extra work at the parlor, but I'm sure he is glad to have a break from yard work for a bit. Right now he is down to the last decision.  We have $60 of yard money left and he is debating between one more landscape rock or a nice outdoor light for the patio.  In the meantime, we are gearing up for Meg's wedding this Saturday and then it is the single digit countdown to baby.  A good respite in life indeed.  Here are a few photos from May's final front yard completion:

Q's family lives in our basement apartment.  We see them almost every day and eat dinner together a few times a week.  Meree is having another baby.  That will make 11 people living in this amazing house.  Sometimes I pat the walls and tell my house, "Way to go house, 11 people. Look at you go!"

Annie's has two little cousins who live with us.  She is pretty competitive with Owen who is her age, but idolizes Porter.  She loves to be near him and follows him wherever he goes.

 Annie also really loves juice.  She is so good not to spill and squeeze too hard.  She loves sitting on the front steps and sipping her juice but usually requests company as she sits and sips which means lugging my huge tummy up and down.

The grass is so green, which is so much better than looking out at dirt all day.  Annie says,"green grass grow go dad!" as we admire it daily.  I've also noticed a huge decrease in dust... at least in the front of the house.  There are still a few spots to reseed but overall, considering the slope we started with a year & 1/2 ago, it's coming along nicely.

I requested this Flamingo Maple and it is still alive [which is more than we can say of  more than a few things we have planted].  We have 3 shares of irrigation water which is awesome, it means we can afford all this grass, but it also means one more obstacle in the way of some of our young plants from making it since the Ph or something like it isn't as perfect as culinary water.

And so, with great reluctance, I give you my photograph.  You know it's bad when your tummy even pops out of your hubby's T-shirts.  Although, might I add that I just ordered some terrific and stylish hospital gowns online and I'm kind of excited about it.

We are so proud of our house!  We couldn't be happier if it was the Taj Mahal.  Actually, that isn't a good comparison because India kind of scares me.  Anyhow, it's getting closer and closer to our vision every few months.  It is super fun to see our hard work proove results in reality.  We can hardly wait to paint the outside and start on the back.  Alas, we must.  We've got to buy a baby and a new car this summer. So  my advice is GO for the fixer-upper.  You have to be patient and work forever, but you just might fall in love with your house and the process of molding it into your vision like we have.

He is a much better man than I

Just yesterday Q ran into someone I went to high school with.  This someone basically said to Q that he should feel honored to be in his presence and the presence of his family because they were so rich and at least four of them were millionaires.  My Q, my perfect Q, simply replied, "cool."

Well, Q is a much better man than I because I can think of at least 7 come back lines that would include rude, sarcastic remarks. There is no way I could have let something like that slide with grace and humility on my part.  It's times like these when I am most proud to be married to Q... a real man who is ten gazillion times more fantastic than any rich millionaire!!!

Speaking of fantastic:

 I'm not quite sure how it was managed, but the day after school got out, I put on this fantastic bridal shower for my sister Megan.  Never mind the fact that my body hurt so wretchedly from teaching dance the day before (really, that was one week too many- my baby dropped this week and all that bouncing was no bueno).  It took 3 days to recover.

I even made and strung way cute banners that I am planning to leave up all summer because Annie and I love waking up to them.

And I made these fabulous clothespins covered in ribbon and lace...

 Check out our new rug.  New Zealand wool and it is 12 x 9.  Got it for a dream at the overstock warehouse!

 It is still quite unreal to see little Meg so close to getting hitched,

 I bought these darling candle magnets at 50% off and am now wishing I had picked up all of them.

 Also splurged on this party banner. Planned to give it away as a gift but in the end I couldn't part with it.

 A few extra details...

 The guest of honor:

 And some really awesome hair the morning after:

"This. Just not at midnight."

On Monday I was baking away - and swearing - at midnight.  The last week of school is always hectic.  I lamented to Q.  It went like this:

me:  "HONESTLY, what DO women do all day who don't have to work?"

Q:   "This.  Just not at midnight."

We both started laughing.  There was many a time this year when I had to suck it up and deal with work.  More later...but, THAT my friends, is in the past.  Starting today I officially have a two and half month vacation!  Can you believe it?  This is our first summer without moving or renovating!  My my, whatever will we do?  Well, for starters, may I just say that I woke up early this morning and cleaned my whole house.  It looks gorgeous. I even watched half an episode of Downton Abbey (before Porter walked in on the kissing scene and I had to turn it off - drat).

So that awful night (and so many others like them) when I needed way more hours in the day for what needed to be accomplished which pushed cookie-making for co-workers into the post midnight hours, THOSE nights are in the past.  I get to be a certified stay-at-home mom for 2 months.  Life is bliss.  Someone reminded me yesterday that I was jumping the gun on thinking I have vacation time coming because I'm having a baby in two weeks.  OH-CONTRAIRE I quickly corrected them, compared to this past year, having a baby will be a cake walk.  I'm even looking forward to my catheder at the hospital.  TMI? 

Annie (aka:  Little Mommy) requires a front row seat to any baking I do.  She is going strong at 11pm here.  It took more than a few spills before I figured out I should give her her own bowl to mix her own cookies in.  Duh.

Couldn't Wait to Show You What This Handsome Devil...

 Remember this?

Couldn't wait to show you what this handsome devil has done for me lately:

 We have grass!

And our planters are full of beautiful flowers!

Oh Q- you are such a stud!  I am one lucky woman!

Front Yard Status:  Phase 1 = 99% complete!

Thank You Anita: Lemon Bars for Dinner (you're going to want this recipe)!

I've been wanting to blog and blog for ages it seems and am now dedicating my lovely summer vacation (three more school days!!!) to catching up and documenting our lives.  Finally, some real mom time.  For those of you who blog, don't you love it!  Don't you love that your posts are labeled by category and your pictures are dated and your journal is archived?  I do!  And I'm so sad to have lost so many potential posts to the crazy that has been this Spring.

So for today:  I miss Anita.  That's Quinn's sister.  I should call her, but I am not one for calling.  Actually, I have clinical phone phobia. Is there anything worse than talking on the phone?  Maybe natural childbirth... but that's just me.  So, in lou of my missing Anita, I am going to make her lemon bars!  They were fabulous when last she whipped these up and I don't even like lemon desserts.  Hopefully this works without lemon zest.  Here goes.  You should try them too!

Lemon Bars

Crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup granulate sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp kosher salt

Filling:
6 extra large eggs at room temp
3 cups granulate sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest(4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Confectioner's Sugar

Preheat the oven to 350
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light. Combine the flour and salt and with the mixer low add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press into a 9 x 13 baking sheet. Chill. Bake for 15-20 mins, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack.
For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool completely. Cut and dust with confectioners sugar.

Enjoy!!!!

Ghetto for Now

 Dad took us to the airshow a while back.  Despite the loud jets, Annie LOVED the event.  Ever since, she identifies a plane whenever she sees or hears one.  Traffic was insane so we waited things out inside Dad's hangar eating sandwiches and snacks when it was over.

 The backyard continues to look ghetto- and will so until August at least.  Luckily we were donated one piece of fabulous sod and it has saved us!  The kids love to be outside.  We are nearly complete with our front yard and cannot wait until we can start on our backyard plans.  Alas, the funds have been depleted.  I experienced a huge bout of ... shall we say bitterness?  I might as well.  Frustration didn't quite nail the head yesterday.  I was mad because I have to use my work money to pay for my new baby when so many other people just hop on the welfare train and walk away with free medical insurance when they have their kids.  It was brief, but sharp.  I wish I didn't have to work to pay for my babies even when we do have pretty good insurance.  I wish I could take that money and buy a killer play set and start landscaping our yard.  I'm done.  Feeling quite blessed now, but every now and then I get depressed when I think about government assistance.  Sometimes it seems I am the only person in the world who doesn't want it.

So I'm 9 months with child and it is quite obvious.  I'm to the point now where it's all I can do to make it through work before running home and throwing on one of Q's soft T-shirts.  He has decided to relegate my selection because he thinks I'm getting stains on all of midsections where my massive tummy sticks out.  I guess he has an argument there.  I will make it passed the end of school and Megan's wedding in the nick of time.  We really cut it close with this one but I am so glad to have summer vacation on the other side of this baby.  With Annie, I had a C-section and went back to work just over a week later.  This time I will have exactly 2 full months to find a routine. Thank heaven.  We have been going warp speed for so long and I'm anxious to not be in constant survival mode.  I may even learn how to thread my sewing machine again!

 For now, Q's brother who lives with us [Matt] runs his cement business out of our back yard so he has all this construction stuff parked back there.  Anyway, last week Megan was babysitting Annie when some of his guys came back into the yard to pick up some tools and a truck.  It scared her so bad she said she almost called the police.  Annie likes when Matt's guys come back to get stuff.  She calls all of them "MATT" and says "BUH-BYE" to them as they drive away.  May I say, we have been quite blessed to have Matt help us with so many miles of cement and more to go.  I've decided that everyone should have a cement guy in their family!

 Have I mentioned that I am head over heels in love with my house?  And my esteem grows deeper each day.  I cannot believe I am one of the lucky people who gets to be perfectly happy with where they live.  I sit everyday in a new spot and look at my house with adoration.  It's not perfect and I have so many projects in mind, but in a way I think that's one of the big things I love about it.  It has so much potential.  We get to mold it. This house is my heart.  A few weeks ago my favorite day dream was picturing the porch redone to match the beauty of my hanging flowers.  These flowers are one of the few bright spots in the yard.  Someday we'll paint and add patio furniture and I'll rock my new baby while watching Q play baseball.  Oh- and let's add some lemonade to the equation for good measure.  Doesn't that sound fantastic?  The amazing part is that, even though we have to wait a while and work really hard, it's a daydream that will come true!  This house is my dream house.  I'm so blessed.

 All I want is sugar.  And i feel so sick all the time but I can't restrain myself.  It was this way when I was expecting Annie (who we were positive was a boy right to the end).  I am sorry to report that I have passed my horrible addiction of sweets onto this little girl.  Scarce is a day we can overcome without at least one package of fruit snacks, a popsicle, and some sort of baked good like this home made Oreo cookie.  That's it, I am vowing to make a big chef salad for dinner tonight.  Never mind my plans to bake nano bars afterward.

One Last Thing:

On the days I don't work, I curl Annie's hair.  It is so dang fun having a girl.  She sits still and plays with my perfume while I curl and then requests hairspray and one of her favorite bows.  When we are finished, she runs to the full length mirror in my room to inspect the result and says "PRETTY" and "CUTE" as she turns around.  She also picks out her own outfits and we are full-fledged house players with her baby doll, little kitchen, and Flavia & George (her stuffed animals).  Is there anything better than having a little girl?

NO!  2 please!