Last Day of Summer & Apple Streusel Bars

I can't believe the summer has come to an end for us!  It has been unusually cool for Oklahoma, and we  just had to spend our last day of summer outside this morning!

Love my happy and carefree girls.  

Although there can be a LOT of fighting, pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth in our house...these girls truly do love and care for one another!  It's such a beautiful thing to watch them grow up together.  

I also have to share this recipe.  I have been craving apple pie, apple crisp and apple oatmeal lately.  These are wonderful.  They have a wonderful, flaky, pastry-like crust and a nice crumble topping.  I did make a few changes to the recipe which I will post in italics!  I hope y'all have a wonderful rest of your summer!

Apple Streusel Bars

Our Best Bites

Sweet Pastry:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 egg, beaten

Apple Filling:

1/2 cup sugar (i used 1/4)

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon (i used 2 teaspoons)

4 cups sliced, peeled apples (i used gala and fuji)

Glaze: (i cut the glaze recipe in half)

2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon almond extract (i used vanilla)

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish (i used a 9x9 to have thicker bars...just increased baking time by about 10 minutes).

For the crust mix the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives until you have pea-sized crumbles.  Stir in the beaten egg.  Gently press about 2/3 of the mixture onto the bottom of the dish.

To prepare the filling toss the apples with the sugar, flour and cinnamon.  Spread over the crust.

Sprinkle the remaining pastry mixture over the apples and bake for 40 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned.

Allow to cool completely and prepare the glaze.  Whisk the powdered sugar, milk and extract until blended.  Drizzle over the bars and allow the glaze to set.

ENJOY!!!

Baby Bump Update & a NAME!!!

We finally came up with the perfect name for our little guy.  

Beckham Andrew. His initials will spell "BAM" which wasn't intentional, but very fitting if any of you know Landon's personality.  We love it and think it fits our family just right!  I can't wait to see what he will look like!  We had our major ultrasound at 22 weeks.  We saw all his little fingers and toes.  Everything looked great, and he is even measuring a week (his head TWO!) ahead of schedule.  I'm thankful for a healthy baby and a very active companion.  During the ultrasound we thought he looked just like Lily!

Here's Lily on the left at 21 weeks.  Beckham on the right at 22 weeks.  I just love technology!

I've been really praying and researching VBAC options.  I have a great doctor who is also a great surgeon, and I was able to recover from my C-Section fairly quickly than I expected (even without pain meds). With three girls and a baby, I really would love to avoid the surgery if possible and talked to my doctor about options at my appointment.  We scheduled a C-Section for 39 weeks.  If I happen to go into labor before then, we will try to pursue the VBAC.  I am finally at peace with the decision, knowing that if God wants me to deliver VBAC He will allow everything to fall into place before the surgery date.  I kept in mind the trauma with Brooke, and almost having to be taken to a C-Section. I want to do what is best for Beckham and I.  I know God is going to take care of us either way and I am trusting Him completely!

I have been SO indecisive this pregnancy.  About everything.  I second guess almost every decision I make, and that's not like me!  After returning two sets of bedding, I finally decided on something that I just LOVE!  It's very neutral, clean and simple.  I am currently working on a bedskirt out of the chevron fabric, and am almost done refinishing a dresser to use as a changing table.  I can't wait to see the room come together in the next couple months!  Of course, I will post some pictures when It's all done!

I'm so thankful for sweet girls that are so excited to meet their baby brother.  There are times where I get overwhelmed and wonder how we will get along with 4 kids.  Then I remember that God never gives us more than we can handle!  I can trust Him to take care of us just as He always has!

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."   -Isaiah 26:3

Meet Baby Beaux

Isn't he so handsome?  We were so excited to meet our sweet nephew Beaux this last weekend, and I was so honored to take a few photos of him in the hospital.  I wanted to share a few of these special memories with you...

So tiny.  So new. So sweet.

A mother's love.  So amazing.

A sweet and beautiful new family.

Sweet baby feet and fuzz.  It all goes by so quickly, you forget how little they were...

I enjoyed standing back and watching every moment....so much love and happiness.  

We are so proud of you Derek & Molly!  Congratulations!!!

Twins at Three

THREE years old.  I still can't believe it!  I never got a chance to take their three year old photos, and these kind of came about as an accident.  I was trying to take a sister pic with Brooke in the middle, but she wasn't in the picture taking mood.  I did get a few of the twins that I absolutely LOVE and wanted to share them with y'all!

Silly.  Only Lauren would pick her nose.  This photo session lasted about five minutes - and all I did was click away while they did their own thing. I love how silly, playful, sweet and fun these two are with each other.

Sweet memories - each their own little person, yet so much alike.  What a gift they have in each other as constant companions and friends!

Lily & Lauren turn THREE!

These two turned THREE Monday.  I can still remember every detail the morning I met Lily and Lauren.  They were each their own little person, yet so much alike....

Lily was born first.  She was the smaller, more active twin.  She is still exactly the same...she will most definitely be our sporty girl.  She is shy, sensitive, soft spoken, sweet and loves to touch.  

Lauren came out a minute later.  She was always the twin I had to poke to get a response while she was in my belly.  She is still that way...pretty laid back most of the time.  She is a girly girl, and is Brooke's biggest fan.  She is sweet, sassy, loud, sensitive, dramatic and loves to give hugs.  

It's been such fun watching these two grow up together.  They are no longer babies, but now growing into little ladies.  I love to watch them interact with each other - there is such a special bond between them!  

I'm so thankful God chose me to be there Mom.  God has taught me so much through each one of my children.  These two have taught me how to laugh and enjoy these little years.  

Teal and Co. {and a great deal!}

Last weekend I got to take a few photos for my friend Liz and her business Teal and Co.  Liz and I have been friends since Nissi and Brooke were sweet little babies.  We met in child birthing class, found each other in walmart soon after the girls were born, started Teal and Co. together, and now she runs the business on her own and is doing an AMAZING job with all her beautiful masterpieces.

                               

I love all the patriotic colors - perfect for July 4th!!!

It's amazing to see how much these two have grown into beautiful young ladies over the last few years..     

Teal and Co.  is featured on Very Jane TODAY!!! Go HERE to get these fabulous bow ties at an amazing price!  Snatch them up in every color!

Make sure to like Teal on facebook!

Destin Vacation 2013

Here are some photos of our Destin Vacation.  We went with most of Landon's family...the one's that weren't able to go were missed.  The ocean is one of my favorite places to be.  We tried to soak in every minute, but of course the week flew by as all vacations do...

After 2 days of traveling, we unloaded the cars and headed down to the beach!  The twins were super insecure about the sand, but ended up doing 100% better than last year.  

Brooke is our little fish.  She was completely soaked, and even apologized for getting her clothes all dirty.  It was so fun watching her be so free, and enjoying the ocean like she had been there just yesterday.  

We took some family pictures by the beach Thursday night.  I'm still REALLY learning how to take  photos, but I love capturing special memories shared with loved ones.

Here are Poppy and GiGi with some of the grandkids.  There are three beautiful blondes missing!

Such a fun, relaxing week.  Looking forward to the next time we will get to visit...with one more kid in tow!

His Plans...

When I look at these photographs, tears come to my eyes.  Being a mom of three can be a struggle at times, but the blessings definitely outweigh those hard times.  I am also reminded of how great His plan is for each of us is.  When Landon and I got married, we "planned" to wait a couple years to start trying to get pregnant.  Well, God had something greater for us and her name was Brooke.  Even on birth control, I became pregnant with her soon after our wedding.  That day wasn't full of excitement for Landon and I.  We sat on our couch crying, wondering how we were going to be parents.  It took a few days for us, but we started to get excited about our little "bean".  We also weren't prepared for the horrible pregnancy I was about to encounter.  During my pregnancies I suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum.  I spent several times in the emergency room, and a couple overnight stays in the hospital getting fluids during this pregnancy.  God was so good to us and kept Brooke perfectly healthy.  She is such a blessing to us with her sweet spirit and loving heart.  

We knew we didn't want Brooke to be an only child, but our plan was to have only two children close together.  We tried for almost 8 months, which I know isn't that long compared to many of you, but it seemed like an eternity to us!  We were overjoyed when we found out we were expecting again.  Those next couple weeks were a trial for us as I was extremely sick, and was in the emergency room for a LOT of bleeding.  I went to Tulsa for HCG tests every other day, since there was no other way to tell if the pregnancy was still viable.  At 8 weeks, we waited in the ultrasound room just praying that the baby was alive.  Not only did we see one babies heartbeat, we saw TWO.  God had blessed us greatly, and again we saw that our plans are not always HIS plans.  Our family was about to go from three to five!  Countless emergency room visits, hospital stays, trips to the cancer treatment center for nutrients, many precious prayers and twenty weeks of bed rest later we met our beautiful twin girls Lily & Lauren.  They were born at 36 1/2 weeks and never saw the NICU.  Wow, His goodness, love and strength are so amazing.

Brooke is almost five, and the twins will be three in June!  I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.  I sometimes questioned if we would have another baby in the future.  Over the last six months, I had a peace in my heart that we would not be having any more children.  I was a little sad, but after potty training the girls and selling every baby item we had in our home I knew that I was ready to focus on the girls and our future together. 

 Did I mention that our plans are not always HIS plans???

Rewind to April Fools Day.  I have been having some problems physically (to spare the details) since the twins were born.  Even though I didn't think it was possible, I had an overwhelming feeling to take a pregnancy test.  I packed the kids up in the car and headed to wal-mart.  Yep.  You guessed it.  It was positive.  

Is my husband going to believe me, it's April Fools???

What are we going to do?

We just sold EVERYTHING baby!

What is everyone going to think about us???

Sigh.  Sadly, those were the first thoughts that came to mind.  I called Landon (i wish i had that conversation recorded) and he brought home more tests.  Yep, no false positives.   It took a few hours to get over the shock.  It was a comfort to know that God wouldn't give us anything we couldn't handle, and this was no surprise to Him!  Children are blessings, and I know He is going to give us everything we need to take care of this little one. We saw the doctor a few days later and our little baby was 6 weeks old!  He or she will be here right before Thanksgiving! Believe it or not, Landon is hoping for another girl!  We will be equally excited either way, although I would love to experience that mother/son relationship!

The girls are all of course, expecting a little sister and love talking about the baby!

Thanks to medication, I am feeling a lot better than my other pregnancies.  I have gotten to see our little baby 3 times already, and it never gets old.  Seeing his/her little heart beating is the most amazing miracle.  We have had amazing family and friends encourage us along the way.  I'm so thankful for His blessings, and that His plan that is greater than anything I could ever imagine.  

Our sweet baby at 10 weeks - may be a soccer player - look at that kick!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE."

-Jeremiah 29:11-