the player to be named later :)

here are a few sonogram photos of our precious little guy on the way. he was really showing off his moves that day and was quite acommodating in determining his sex. of course, since this is the 3rd penis that i've seen on an ultrasound since 2001, i didn't even need the sonographer to tell me what we were having :) i can spot those things on the screen pretty quickly now!!

we're still working on a name for him. jamie refers to him as the player to be named later. of course, the boys have given us dozens of daily and interesting suggestions, most of which the poor child would disown us for...i will give sumner credit for what seems to be his favorite name right now-luke-that one's not as "unique" as templeton, percy, thomas, poppyseed, or my personal favorite, nuevlia!!! he made that one up on the spot when we initially told him we were expecting. that was his first suggestion for a baby sister. he has quite the imagination!

just about every time we ask grayson, his response is "braywen". one of our best friends had a little boy a few months ago named brayden, so he thinks that since he has that name, all babies male or female should have that name, too!

sumner is just the sweetest w/ babies and i can't wait to see him as a big brother of 5 1/2! it will be so different this time around. he's so loving to our little "niece" and the other babies we are around, i only hope that that will keep up.

i can't wait to see if his personality is like sumner's or grayson's...if he has grayson's curls...or if he surprises us and looks completely different.
life will definitely be interesting in our house. i imagine my two primary daily goals of making sure they are fed and don't kill themselves (or each other) will not change! pray for me girls!

just last night grayson removed the straw from his disney goblet and was putting it up his nose to snort couscous off of his plate! between that, the ever tempting top bunk that grayson thinks doubles as a launching pad, plus the myriad of rubber snakes i find hidden throughout my house should keep my ticker in check and provide me with lots of laughter!

while they tire me out quickly, it certainly is made up for in the sweetest of kisses and loving gestures that melt a mommy's heart. and i have to raise these boys to leave? not sure my heart can take that. but, i pray i will teach them well.

4th photos

we had a great fourth celebrating with friends and neighbors. the kids as usual had a blast with face painting and putting on a "show" for all the parents. after the cookout, we all walked over to linden to watch the beautiful fireworks over vulcan. this is one of our favorite annual traditions!

you don't get to see this everyday!

a couple of weeks before we moved we noticed a bird's nest in our clematis vine that grows up the column of the front porch. being the shorty that i am, i was never able to see the eggs. but just a day or 2 before we left, the eggs hatched! i was so excited to get to show the boys. i hadn't seen a newly hatched bird since i was a little girl in my grandmother's yard. my favorite part was watching the boys faces as jamie held them up on the ladder to see inside the nest. full of wonder. they each got the biggest smile on their face. leaving was a little sad not only because i wanted to see how the birds changed and grew, but because we brought home our two and nurtured them in that nest just like this mama bird. it's difficult to leave the first house where you brought your babies home and all the memories made there. but, we're really excited about the future and where we are now, too. it's bittersweet. this poor mama bird didn't know she was picking a bad spot when she made her nest. our door was opening and closing constantly w/ all the moving of boxes. she was startled and flew away each time.

i thought i would post some of the photos i snapped of them. please excuse the poor photography as i had to stand on tip toes on a step ladder and hold the camera above my head to get these!

grayson: "the mommy bird will come back to the nest?"
me: "she will."
grayson: "she's goin' to buy them some groceries, worms, butterflies, bananas and grits."

i love this little girl!

Recently, Amanda, Anna Caroline and I spent some time at Aldridge Gardens shooting AC's 9 month photos. I couldn't have asked for an easier session! It is so sweet to see Amanda with her~she's just a wonderful mommy. I know I am a smidge biased, but is she not one of the cutest kids you've ever seen? I had so much fun proofing this session. She definitely has her Aunt Jessi wrapped around her finger!!
These are 2 of my favorites. See her full gallery here.

walker

Lots of baby sessions lately. A joy indeed. I love newborn sessions. That skin....and the curl of a newborn as he snuggles. There's just nothing like it. I recently spent the morning with Emily, a dear friend of mine from college who was one of my bridesmaids, and her precious son Walker.
Children love Emily so it's no surprise that she is such a sweet mother. She's so natural at it. The hardest part of this session was not taking him home with me at the end of it!
Here are a couple of my favorites from our session. Click here to see more.

quick update

I've been meaning to get to the computer about this for about a week! But, I wanted to let you all who've been praying know that baby Brayden got to come home last week! Praise the Lord!
God has been so gracious through this long process. Brayden turned 1 month old yesterday. I hope to post some pictures of the cutie soon!
Thanks for all your prayers for him and for always checking in on him.

baking for the road

My darling husband is watching the boys all weekend while three girlfriends of mine and I head to Highlands, NC for a getaway weekend. Three of us are either pregnant or in the middle of selling our homes...so needless to say, we are really excited about a little R & R in the midst of the ongoing chaos!! We are each doing a little cooking beforehand and I thought I'd share the 2 yummy light recipes I'm making. The pound cake recipe is not originally light, but I tweak it a little and it was given to Jamie and I when we got married. It is divine! The muffins are from Cooking Light and I figure the lemon might help ward off some of our nausea!

Bon Appetit!

Triple-Lemon Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons margarine, melted
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, divided

2 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) carton lemon low-fat yogurt
Cooking spray
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

*I like to add a few shakes of poppyseeds to this recipe.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine margarine, lemon rind, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, eggs, and yogurt; stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Spoon batter into each of 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until golden.

Combine 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick. Brush muffins with lemon glaze; remove from pans.

Yield

1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 181(21% from fat); FAT 4.3g (sat 0.9g,mono 1.7g,poly 1.2g); PROTEIN 4g; CHOLESTEROL 37mg; CALCIUM 56mg; SODIUM 158mg; FIBER 0.6g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.6g

Cooking Light, MAY 1997

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Preheat oven to 325.

1 yellow cake mix
1 sm. pkg. instant choc. pudding-i use fat free
1 sm. pkg. instant vanilla pudding-i use fat free
4 eggs
1/2 c veg. oil-can substitute 1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce
1.5 c. water
12 oz. semi sweet chips-i use a little less

Mix all ingreds. except chips for 2 mins. w/ hand mixer set on high. Stir in chips. Pour into greased bundt pan and cook for approx. 1 hr. 15 mins. For my oven at home, I set it to 350 and take the cake out after 50 mins.
Garnish with powdered sugar and strawberries.

milk in the pantry

So...I'm 12 weeks pregnant and most of you know that, but if one can't tell from my already burgeoning belly, then maybe the stupid antics I've pulled of late would clue you in. It is amazing just how stupid I become once there's a bun in the oven...I mean, basically all my functional brain cells departed when Sumner made his glorious entrance into the world and I haven't really replenished them. But, being preggers just brings it all to the forefront.

For instance, I rushed home from a house showing a couple of weeks ago in Cahaba Heights...the showing was at 11:30 and ended at 12. I told Jamie he'd have to stay and talk w/ the folks b/c I had to rush back south right then to pick up the boys at school (and have time to stop for some lunch). I am starving, of course, at this stage, so I ran in Cafe Iz to pick up a quick bite-all the while impatiently thinking, "Come on people! I've got places to be!"
So, I pull into the school parking lot on the dot at 12:30 and see very few cars in the parking lot. I'm wondering, "Where are all the parents? Where's the carpool line?" Then, I panic, thinking, "I'm 30 mins late to pick up the boys...Oh my gosh! I'm a horrible mother!"...as if school ended at 12 noon. Then 5 seconds later I realize that I'm indeed 30 mins early. School gets out at 1 p.m. It has since the first day of school! Oh brother....

Or another example...sitting through an hour of conversation over ice cream at Bruster's the other night w/ some girlfriends only to realize at the END (instead of the beginning, which would have been helpful!) of our time that I had locked my keys in the Accord...thus causing a sweet and patient friend to have to drive me all the way home!

Previous episodes also include putting the milk in the pantry instead of the fridge, mixing brown and black in my wardrobe and not realizing it until after walking out the door (this is a major fashion faux pas, am i right, amanda?), going upstairs three times for something only to return without the item every time, and halfway preparing the pillsbury cinnamon rolls to go with dinner instead of the dinner rolls.

Maybe we could have a contest for the most ridiculous thing done during one's 40 week journey to motherhood?!!? At least I hope I can blame this on pregnancy....

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

The National Association of Letter Carriers along with the United States Postal Service is sponsoring their annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive this coming Saturday, May 12th.
Go here to get details and even an email reminder to put the nonperishable items by your mailbox. Check w/ your local P.O. to see if they are picking up the items at your mailbox or at the local P.O. This is a great way to get your kids involved in helping those in need, too!

fun in the city center

grayson's fish impression (with mommy's help)

grayson's mosaic

one of the reasons jamie and i are so excited about moving closer in to the city is that we'll be able to participate in more of what's going on in the city center. we're excited about the new urbanism and really hope things continue to grow and improve. we had a fun weekend in the city...the weather was just gorgeous. it was hot, but manageable, with the occasional breeze. on thursday, our friends paul and rebekah invited us to the ribbon cutting ceremony and unveiling of the newly remodeled Tutwiler Hotel and Restaurant Icon downtown. the historic hotel just underwent a 9 million dollar makeover and i must say it is posh! it's always been a pretty nice hotel, but it definitely needed a makeover. we were able to tour several guest rooms, including the balcony and presidential suites. if you are looking for a night away, without having to get away, this is the place! the halls are lined w/ beautiful sepia photography of old birmingham and several great pieces from the civil rights movement. the rooms all have large flat screen tv's, gorgeous bedding and furniture and lots of great features. most of all, we were excited about the opening of Icon, the hotel's restaurant. it's the new location for restaurant G...but with a new name.all 4 of us were huge fans of G when it was down at Federal Place, but the new location is great. very modern. we got to sample several yummy creations from chef geoff slate and it was a fun date night out in the city with friends. all you fellow foodies oughtta check it out on your next special occasion splurge! we're hoping they will continue their great Wednesday nights at the new location. if you are not wanting to splurge, they have half price appetizers and $5 martinis on Wed., plus great jazz from Good Fellas. you can't beat that!
sumner's big fish and little fish impression

then today after church we headed down to Linn Park with the boys for the Magic City Art Connection. what a fun afternoon. the boys loved all the fountains and even some of the art!
of course, we had to indulge in some yummy greek and middle eastern festival food. who could resist?

there were some really wonderful artists from our city and the southeast. it's a great way to support local artists and the boys even got to create some art of their own!
there were several stations where children could create art using various media such as fabric, tissue, clay, paper and paint. probably the most fun area was where families where making castles and tp's out of cardboard tubes and yarn! you wouldn't believe the things people came up with. the photos in this post are some of the artwork that the boys made today.

if you are looking for things to do in the city on the weekends, but aren't sure where to find out about everything....check out this great website: www.activeculture.info

it lists activities, festivals and goings-on under every category!

happy belated easter!

we should celebrate all year, right? here are a couple of photos from easter...a little late!
btw...i have no idea what's up w/ grayson's smile ;) up to his usual antics, i guess!

Finally figured it out!

So, I finally added some links for your perusal :)

Narrowly avoiding calling in the troops (aka Lauren)
to help me navigate my way through blogging basics, I have added some links for you at left.

A quick summary of some of the things you'll find...
Sites:
cooking (contessa), shopping (mahar), local artistry (sorry, it's not a site full of nudes on canvas),
the best stationer in birmingham (LG Designs), local restaurant menus and virtual tours of their atmosphere! (b'ham menus/restaurants), great writing on social justice (burnside), the best site (IMHO) for helping the people of God develop discernment in engaging the culture (ransom)...

Friends' Blogs:
writings from some folks I dearly love...the rest of you out there need to join us :)

Books:
A collection of some of the books that have impacted me the most, have gotten me thinking in a different and refreshing way and that have opened my eyes...in addition to some of the best fiction literature out there.
They are listed alphabetically, but I highly recommend reading Searching For God Knows What if you haven't already. It along with Blue Like Jazz have done more for my heart and soul in changing my perspective in this walk of faith than anything I've read in a long time.
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. One of the best thinkers of all time and one of my favorite authors. Read this apologetic classic!
A few others on the list are:
Till We Have Faces is also by Lewis and is a page turning re-telling of the mythological story of Cupid and Psyche.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. This may very well be my favorite modern work of fiction. She is an amazing writer. This book will make you cry, laugh out loud and angry all at the same time. It is the story of of a Baptist missionary who takes his wife and four daughters to the 1950's congo. The daughters as well as the wife tell their story over the span of 30 years from each of their perspectives.

The Red Tent is a fictional extension of the biblical story of Jacob and his family. I could not put this book down. It is told from the perspective of his only daughter, Dinah. The author gives an illuminating look inside the culture and lives of these women in Canaan and Egypt.

The Working Poor still reading this along with the hubby. A synopsis from amazon.com: The Working Poor examines the "forgotten America" where "millions live in the shadow of prosperity, in the twilight between poverty and well-being." These are citizens for whom the American Dream is out of reach despite their willingness to work hard. Struggling to simply survive, they live so close to the edge of poverty that a minor obstacle, such as a car breakdown or a temporary illness, can lead to a downward financial spiral that can prove impossible to reverse.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Narnia Party!

NARNIA PARTY!
Sumner's favorites stories are the Chronicles of Narnia, so we celebrated his fifth birthday at the park in the lion, the witch and the wardrobe style! Jamie and I decorated a refrigerator box from Lowe's as the wardrobe and each child entered the pavilion through it to receive either a crown (for the girls) or a sword (for the guys).

*Ginny, sadly, I couldn't con Jamie in to dressing up as Mr. Tumnus! Even with our prodding :) That would've been a picture! I do need a rating on my cardboard/glitter handiwork, though...does it measure up to my former homecoming glory?????

After entering the wardrobe, we played with bubbles, made Super Snow, played Freeze Tag with the White Witch's wand, and hunted for Turkish Delites (hidden in eggs around the field). Sumner had a big day and loved having his buddies there to celebrate with him.

"Peter" and "Edmund" greeting their guests

Carson and Sumner in a duel

pretty princesses...Olivia and Ellie

cake time

Austin and the winning swing

Sumner's turn at the pinata

Mr. Jason gives everyone a turn with the arrow launcher

Explaining the finer points of freeze tag to Sum, Carson, Austin and Jillian

Kailyn loved watching all the big kids at the party

an exhausted family :)

opening gifts with friends

baking photos

it takes great strength to stir this batter!

fun with the flour

can i have a turn?

the fruit of our labor

i couldn't resist posting photos of the boys baking. who knew superman could make such tasty treats?

Easter Baking

The other day we met some friends at the park for a playdate and one of the moms brought some awesome oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that her husband made! They were so yummy and it got me thinking that we hadn't made those in a while. The below recipe is probably the best recipe for these we've found. There are 757 reviews for it on allrecipes! Beware, though, the batter is so good, there may not be any left to cook them with! The past few weeks we've been so busy with birthday parties and house stuff since it's on the market that we haven't done many craft/baking activities together. So today we are making up for that with cookie baking and Easter egg dyeing! Another recipe we will be making Saturday night is Easter tomb cookies. This has become a favorite Easter tradition of ours to help illustrate the true meaning of Easter. It's a really great little activity (I must admit not the best tasting cookie ever, but a neat "experiment" and the result really brings it alive for the kids). I've included the instructions below. Happy Easter!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

from Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour-we always use whole wheat flour and my word! is it yummy!
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Easter Story Cookies Begin this recipe on Saturday, the day before Easter. 1 cup whole pecans 1 teaspoon vinegar 3 egg whites pinch salt 1 cup sugar zipper baggie wooden spoon or a wooden meat hammer duct tape or packing tape Bible Preheat oven to 300*F. Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon or hammer to break them into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3. Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon of vinegar into the mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30. Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave his life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11. Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste. Then put your pinch of salt in the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus's followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27 So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing! Add 1 cup sugar to the bowl. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because he loves us. He wants us to know and belong to him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 10 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks form. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3. Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheets. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus's body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60. Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape to seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66. Leave the kitchen. If you've been making these cookies just before bedtime, GO TO BED! Acknowledge that the kids are probably sad that they've worked hard to make these cookies, and now have to leave them in the oven overnight. Explain that Jesus' followers were in sad when Jesus died and the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22. On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Ask the kids to notice the cracked surface. Have them bite into the cookies. The cookies are hollow! Explain that on the first Easter morning, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9. HE HAS RISEN!

garden session

how precious is this cutie?
we spent some time in the gardens shooting her 2 year portraits.
these are a few of my favorites....
miss ella was so fun. she loved the "gapes" (gates) in the bridal garden. so we spent a lot of time hanging out there capturing her little personality. i love the catchlights in her big blue eyes...she was so expressive.
the gardens are GORGEOUS right now! if you are in b'ham, get there while the tulips are blooming!

Birthdays, Birthdays Everywhere...

the girls

the guys

"sleepin' with the fishes"...g decides to take a load off.

petting a sturgeon in the tank

in the Nemo tank

mom and her boys

the fam

March is the month for birthdays among many of our family and friends! We've had a fun month of celebrating so far and look forward to even more.
My St. Patrick's Day baby, Sumner, turned 5 on Saturday! I can hardly believe that my oldest child is 5! My friend, Lauren's daughter, Ellie, turned 5 four days before Sumner. We think this must be a rite of passage among the pre-school set b/c they can't stop talking about it..moreso than any previous birthday! On Saturday, about every 10 mins, Sumner would exclaim, "I'm 5!" Or he would tell random people that we came in contact with of his new age. Jamie has built up a lot of things that you get to do once you're 5, so I think that may have something to do w/ it!
We took the boys to Chattanooga on Sat. for a special day since Sumner's party is 2 wks away. They LOVED it! Sumner was the most excited about seeing sharks and Grayson got to pet a sturgeon....and I loved the sea horses and jelly fish exhibits!
I've included some photos from our trip and also a couple from a recent date to Sol y Luna where we celebrated another March birthday....our friend Matt's. Mindy did a great job planning a fun kid free night for all of us with food, drinks and great conversation!

Dwight K. Shrute and Jim Halpert

altoids, fitness orbs, and bat bites...the best of jim's pranks!

The Office: The Best of Andy Bernard, Vol 2

when jamie and i got in last night, we watched our tivo'd episode of the office. we nearly laughed ourselves into a stupor. i found this montage of andy bernard on youtube and had to post it for all you fellow office fans. if you don't watch this show, do yourself a favor and start!
stick with it to the pig latin "rainbow connection"!

Menu Plan Monday

here's what the plan in the parris household looks like this week. i realized later i had planned a lot of meals from the mediterranean region! bon appetit!

Lunedi: Creamy Chicken and Noodles-Italian variation

Martedi: Mediterranean Couscous Salad

Mercoledi: Homemade Pizzas and Salad...basically Wheat Boboli crust and toppings of our choosing.

Giovedi: No cooking tonight! The hubby and I have a friend's b'day dinner at Sol y Luna. Yum!

Venerdi: Rose' Pasta and Salad. Don't have a link to this one...it's my friend Shawndee's recipe and super easy. Choose your favorite pasta, then simmer the following and mix: a little olive oil and a few cloves of garlic sauteed, one 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, Italian seasonings and 3 T. whipping cream. top w/ grated parmesan.

We'll also be sending cupcakes to school with Sumner today. We're going to use the basic recipe from the famous Magnolia Cafe in NYC and add our own variations... Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes

Sabato: Happy 5th Birthday to my sweet Sumner...we'll be out for a day just for him!