11 weeks and a heartbeat

We heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time last night! It was so exciting! The pregnancy really starts to seem real after that big milestone. We had a meeting with a potential midwife, and she had brought her little ultrasound machine with her. We really liked her and decided she was the one after our meeting. I am so excited to have a midwife for this baby! And she is going to come to my house for prenatal visits! To see what the baby looks like right now, click here.

Relish Muffins

I had just finished mixing up some muffin batter and was putting it into the cups when Max said to Claire: "We're having relish muffins! Yum!" 

He had just walked into the kitchen a few minutes earlier and had seen me adding something greenish and finely chopped to the muffin batter. Since he loves relish, I guess he was pretty excited about it!

I looked around at them. "Relish muffins?" 

"Yeah," said Max, "I saw you putting relish in them!" 

At this point, Claire was thoroughly disgusted.  "Yuck!" 

I laughed. "Those were chopped dried figs, not relish!"  We have two fig trees- one with purple fruit and one with greenish yellow fruit.  I guess when they are finely chopped, they must resemble relish?  What do you think? 

Here are some of the finished muffins:

If you'd like to make some "relish" muffins, here's the recipe:

I doubled this recipe and it made 2 dozen standard sized muffins plus 1 dozen mini muffins. The recipe as written is supposed to make one dozen standard sized muffins. It is adapted from the Whole Wheat Muffins recipe in The Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Grease muffin pans or line with papers

Whisk together in a large bowl:
1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt

Beat in a separate bowl:
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons melted butter
Add to the dry ingredients with a few swift strokes.

Fold in, before the dry ingredients are entirely moist:
1/2 cup chopped dried figs

Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Claire's family drawing

Claire made an especially nice drawing the other day!  The whole family. Not sure why Joey only has one arm...

Claire's Puzzle

Claire with her new fairy puzzle.  She had a lot of fun with it!



Pregnancy Clumsiness Log

I am only eight weeks pregnant, but I have already had my fair share of serious clumsiness. I am normally a pretty clumsy person, so this pregnancy clumsiness is a bit scary.  This morning I tripped on Max's wooden train tracks (it is hard to walk in his room at times due to his elaborate track setups) and stubbed my pinkie toe.  OUCH!  It has been hurting all day. I was convinced I broke the toe, but it hasn't swelled much- just turned purple.

About two weeks ago, I shut my index finger in the car door as I was dropping Max at school. It still hurts.
And before that, I dropped a salad spinner on my head while getting it down from a high shelf.
And there is just more general clumsiness.  I hope I can make it through the rest of this pregnancy without hurting myself too badly...

My baby girl turns 7 today!



It's hard to believe that in five years, this little toddler wearing a diaper...



would blossom into such a lovely young girl!  Happy Birthday, Claire Sophia!



Christmas Collective

Our holiday started December 16th, with the much anticipated arrival of my Dad and Christine. The following day, we headed to Atlanta to visit the Georgia Aquarium.  The kids had a blast.  Max really enjoyed the huge tunnel tank that had four whale sharks swimming around in it. He's a big shark fan, and there aren't many big sharks that can live in an aquarium. Max spent a lot of time studying the animals.

Max watching some smaller sharks

one of the whale sharks swims by

love Max's expression in this one- pure bliss!

Manta ray

really pretty yellow fish I don't remember the name of

another shot of a whale shark



Max in front of the Beluga whale tank

Two days after our visit with Dad and Christine, my mom arrived! The photos below were all taken by her. 


The kids and I in front of the Poinsettia Tree at Greenville Airport



Claire showing off her toothless grin. I think it works for her.

The kids and I reading a story on Christmas Eve 

Claire's gift from Santa- an amethyst necklace

On Christmas Eve, Joey's sister and her boys arrived. First order of business: find a Christmas tree. The following photos were taken by Joey's sister.


The kids decided this was a good Christmas tree. It's a good thing they don't know what they're missing.

  

Just after Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone's ready for pie!



Claire enjoying Granddaddy's rendition of the Cajun Night Before Christmas



Max and Granddaddy building a birdhouse together. I'd love to know what they were
discussing when this photo was taken!  If I had to guess, I would say that Grand-
daddy is either trying to explain how the hand drill works or telling Max he is
too young to use it. Or maybe both.

A few days after Christmas, Granddaddy and Joey's sister and all three grandsons made a trip to the Diamond Hill Mine. It was their second trip, and the boys had a great time. Their digging (and playing) were captured by a local newspaper photographer, who happened to be at the mine that day on assignment.  A few days later, Max was featured on the front page of the Anderson Independent Mail!  The article is featured on their website, too.


Max on the front page!




You can see Max and his cousin Nathan in this one. The beginning of the article features
our family, too! Very exciting!