Practice makes perfect

Lena Kate has been practicing being a big sister. She talks about baby Ainslee often and the other day she brough in her doll calling it Ainslee, pronounced "Ainswee", and propped her up on a billow with a blankie. Then she went and got her monkey and girafe and laid down right beside her. She said, "shhh, be very, very quiet. Ainswee sleeping." I think Lena Kate is going to be such a good big sister and I can't wait to see them together and capture the sweet moments in my memory forever.

Of course, we can't forget biggest sister, Missy. I'm not sure she'll be as excited about ainslee joining us but if she gets handouts like she does from LK then she'll be fine.

Smile pretty Missy!

Put a little SPRING in your step

Springtime fun at Mimi's

This is the time of year when Lena Kate gets a nice farmer's tan on her arms. Playing outside is her favorite pasttime. Doesn't she look all grown up with her ponytail?

These are a few...

of my favorite things...

Lena Kate- of course!....I also like strawberry cake.

I love the original flavor drumsticks. I allowed myself a box of 4. They are now gone and I'm sad. The flavor just takes you back to being a kid.

These chips are addicting...just enough heat to keep you coming back for more. TRY THEM!

I've been on a deviled egg kick. Trying to find something to keep me full. I make mine with mayo, sweet relish, sometimes a squirt of mustard, salt, pepper, and topped with paprika

I got these for my birthday and absolutely love them. I needed something with a little more support than a flip flop but was tired of my tennis shoes and sweaty, stinky preggo feet. TMI-sorry. Anyway-I LOVE THESE SANDALS.

Ken's Steakhouse Thousand Island Dressing - the best Thousand Island you can find...no need to make homemade with this stuff. Kraft is yucky, Ken's YUMMY.

If you live in Texas and shop at HEB try Hill Country Fair Beef Ravioli. (couldn't find a picture) They are in the frozen section and take about 5 minutes to boil. Top with your favorite sauce (I like plain old traditional Ragu) and HEB shredded cheese pizza blend for a TASTY dinner. Kids would enjoy these too. I like mine with a side salad topped with none other than the dressing above.

Yes, there is a trend here. I'm pregnant and food is good...and my hiney is large. The end.

I'm now off to make my kitchen sink Mexican casserole...everything that is tasty all in one casserole.

Whew, what a great week

We've had a busy and fun week around here. I just happened to have a birthday last Thursday. Lane got me a new camera, a Nikon D3100. It is a SLR fancy one, and I'm still learning how to use it. Hopefully my pictures are better! He's a great hubby and I know it was a big purchase. How blessed am I! Wednesday Mom and I did a little shopping and had lunch at PF Changs...LOVE IT. Then Mom fixed a birthday lunch on Thursday at Granny's. We had yummy roast and chicken salad sandwiches, jalapeno Kettle chips (a big hit-try them, they are addicting), salad, and a tasty strawberry cake. Mom, Dad, Granny, Uncle Ray, Uncle Cassie, Aunt Lynne, and "Aunt" Jo and John Lee all joined us. We had fun watching the kiddos play. Lena Kate had a great time with her bubbles on the porch as well as digging her little finger into the icing several times. Right now it is cute, when she is 8 it might not be...I guess we have a few years to work in it. It was always so fun to reach up and get a taste so I enjoy letting her-it doesn't hurt the taste any!

Here are a few pics from my little birthday party on my new camera. So far, I'm operating on Auto, but you can tell how crisp most of them are compared to my previous photos. I have some learning to do, but will get there.

Me and my gal, Mom took this one. I've got to work on how to handle the lighting of these.

Mmmm, I like to lick the icing as much as she does.

Sweet family

John Lee giving me birthday head butts

John Lee and his Mommy Erin, AKA Aunt Jo. I've had so much fun with these two over the last few months. We get together once a week and just visit and let the kids play and enjoy lunch. It is so nice to have Mommy friends to talk to and enjoy!!!! Erin is married to Clay Jostes who I grew up with. We were babies together and have stayed close ever since. I love him like a brother and he's always treated me like a sister-good and bad:) I think it is great out kiddos are going to grow up together too!

Hugs and kisses for the birthday Mama!

Got you!

Inside, outside, inside, outside...

Bubble are so fun!

This is her "hmmm" face. It cracks me up. Do you like her Aggie Chick shirt-Mama does!

All by myself-another favorite saying of LK's

Mid-sentence...but I love how crisp a pic this is with my new camera!

We had a quiet weekend and Lena Kate was even pretty good during her time in church Sunday. She got her first taste of communion too. She was all about the bite of bread, but after it was dipped in the grape juice...she said, "here Mommy." She quickly lost interest. I'm thankful that our little church family has embraced our busy, and sometimes loud active girl. Then after a Sonic brown bag lunch (maybe that is why I've gained 30 lbs already with this pregnancy-AHHH, oh well, we won't go there now. We were hungry! Let's just say the treadmill and I will be really good friends once again after little sister has arrived. Until then, I will eat cake and enjoy it.) we spent the rest of the day hanging out with her Daddy, since he only gets to see his sweet girl on weekends now that he is working so much this tax season. Nice run-on sentence, Elaine. Oh, and BOO TAXES!..but I guess it is a good job, so i can't complain too much. We can't wait until April 15th!!!! Lena Kate loves to get both of us to go to her room with her and play giving her our full attention. It is fun family time.

I also got most of my garden planted. Big thanks to Lane for tilling it for me. I planted green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, jalapenos, and cherry tomatoes. Mom has a nice bigger garden, so these are the only things I felt the need for. I will add okra in a week or two. I've got 2 rows set aside for it:) It was a pretty day and nice to get out and enjoy it.

On another exciting note we finally decided on baby sister's name. Ainslee Lane Bowen will join us in June. We think it has a nice ring to it. I also had a repeat ultrasound yesterday to ensure her stomach was not still distended. All was good yesterday so apparently she had just swallowed lots of fluid at the time. My doctor said it was fine this time around and no need to worry. God heard lots of prayers for that over the last month and we are so grateful for his many blessings.

Funny story: I was trying to get Lena Kate into the car the other morning and she chose to run out of the garage out past the driveway since the door was already open and I said, "Get over here, I don't have time for that non-sense this morning!" She answered with a cute smile, "Nonsense, what's that Mommy?" Ahh, for comic relief of a 2 yr old. LK is so full of personality these days, you just never know what she is going to say. I think she is super smart, but I may be a bit biased. She knows her colors-red, yellow, orange, brown, black, purple, green, pink, blue, and sometimes white. We are working on counting and ABC's. So far her favorite letters are W and K...not sure why?!

The warmer weather has been so nice and we play outside often. I got Lena Kate some new tennies at Beall's the other day and she loves them. Thank goodness for a great sale...she now has Disney princess light-up shoes for all of $11. She's already scuffed them up, but that is what they are for. She has some fun sandals too, but our yard is full of stinging nettles and I have enough trouble keeping her from falling in them with her hands, so closed-toed shoes are a must. We just can't keep those buggers out of the yard these days....especially considering the yard is about 1/2 grass, 1/2 weeks, and 1/2 dirt...wait a minute. I'm a CPA, that was way too many 1/2's...but you get the point right? Speaking of CPA, I completed my annual CPE credits this past week too...nothing like procrastination. It is just no fun to shell out cash to renew my license and take classes when I'm not earning an income with it right now. Oh well, worth it in the long run. Right now, I'm blessed that I can stay home and raise my girls!

I love early mornings after I've woken up a bit and had a little, or alot, of breakfast. Lena Kate is usually up around 7 so we watch Mickey Mouse and then Super Why. while waking up. This morning she is setting up her dollhouse and barn and blowing them down like the big bad wolf. She LOVES the story of the 3 little pigs. We tell that story several times a day...especially when she is on the potty. We also read the book. I sure hope I remember all the fun things she does and enjoys when I'm old and gray--wait a minute, I'm already graying! I also hope I make it to old and gray! God is in control, right?

Pretty sure my ramblings has now made up for my lack of posting if anybody is still reading. Hello, anybody out there??? We are off to the grocery store. AGAIN-GEEZ, they are expensive. Darn commodities market.