Bumper Debacle

A few weeks ago, Blythe's toes became entangled in the thread from the monogram on her bumper. The monogram had actually come unravelled and wrapped around her little baby toes.

Though she was fine after we cut the thread, it could have been more serious.

Needless to say, we contacted Pottery Barn Kids customer service. I cannot begin to describe how well they have addressed the issue. They no longer make our bumper, so I got to pick out a replacement (which was tricky since there is another crib to coordinate with!) and they sent a gift card for the balance between what I chose and what I originally paid for the first bumper.

Today I was told I would be receiving another $50 gift card for all my trouble. Ours is the first incident like this, and it got passed onto a claims firm that had several questions for me, even though we assured them we were not going to pursuing the matter past getting a replacement. Based on they way everyone treated me, it may be an understatement that we raised a lot of red flags at PBK!

So here's Blythe's new digs.

Unmonogrammed, not because of safety concerns, but so it can match Joy's better. I think she likes it.

Moral of the story- go to the trouble of contacting customer service if you have any problems, even if the product is not brand new. PBK did their job well- I am very motivated to continue to be a customer there because their service was so impeccable!

The Things She says...

Abby Jane is always cracking us up, so I thought I'd give you a little sampling of a typical day's favorite lines...


When we first go in to get her up in the morning: "We going somewhere special today?" or "Who's coming to our house today?" or "What are we having for dinner?" It's one of those three.


Multiple times a day: "Mama, whacchu doing?"


"Awww, I love her!" to one of the babies.

When Jake tried to hide a snack in his lap on the way home from A-Day: "Daddy, whacchu eating right there in that bag between your legs?" "Uh, sour patch kids. You want some?"

"Can I have (fill in the blank) after I finish my vegetables?" Makes me feel like a veggie nazi. But hey, it's in my job description.


"Mama, can we go (fill in the blank) after you finish feeding the Blythe and Joy from your chest and from their bowls over there in those high chairs?"


"I need to make a phone call."


SHE sings "Jesus loves me" when the little babies both cry. Precious.

Us: "Abby Jane, where do you think that plane is going?" Abby Jane: "To the airport." (must think Mom and Dad are a little slow)

And most importantly, Abby Jane has said "y'all" twice in the last week. Our work here is done.

Seven Months

We are really getting to the golden months with these ladies! They are cracking us up, totally coming into their own little personalities, interacting with each other, and the rest of us more and more.

Blythe is a giggler and smiles at the drop of a hat... or the opening of a door, or anyone walking into the room. She is such a rolly poly! She does all these flips and turns that makes diapering her akin to wrestling an octopus. She's got fast hands and continues to love watching whatever action is going on and getting into anything she can reach. Blythe has become a tummy sleeper, or side sleeper, or whatever she was doing in her crib when she conked out. She's a nut.

Joy does this funny laugh at random times- I'm not always sure what it is that is cracking her up, but I love hearing her little sense of humor develop. Don't be offended if she doesn't smile at YOU right away, though- she's more discriminating with her smiles than Blythe. Joy's sitting up skills have vastly improved, especially in just the last week. She also bounces in her exersaucer with some pretty serious zeal.

They moved into highchairs this month. Blythe likes to have a leg propped up on the tray, and Joy likes following her bites with a little nibble on her straps. We have tried a few finger foods- bananas, cheese, and Puffs. Still no teeth, though.

Blythe started scooting last week- she will be crawling eminently! She also can stand for a decent amount of time with only a little help staying balanced.

Joy is more stable than Blythe at sitting up- funny how not having the tendency to fling yourself backwards can help.

Jake loves this picture, even though it's blurry- they both just look nutty. Joy looks like she was doing her clucking sound that is part of her talking repetoire. Blythe has started saying "da da da da" much to Jake's delight. Abby Jane and I are really working on teaching them "ma ma ma ma," but it's tough going!

Forecast for this month- two solid sitters, one crawler, and one scooter!

Summer Saturday

Yesterday was the first Saturday we've all been just hanging out at home in a long time. We busted out the baby pool in the morning!

In my head, this was going to be a sunny, refreshing water experience. It was instead shady in our backyard and that water was COLD!!! It was the babies' first baby pool experience...

And they were fans.

Once the little girls and I got out of the way, the party really got cranking. I like this picture because Jake looks like a) Lucy stomping grapes and b) he might do an AFV move and fall out of the pool.

Jake and I made a pact a few weeks ago that we would make homemade peach ice cream the first week our farmers market carried peaches. It worked out perfectly that peaches showed up this week, because we were able to celebrate Friday's very successful first summer orientation day!

This peach ice cream was from my Aunt Boo's cookbook and is THE BEST PEACH ICE CREAM EVER. It is so good that if it were not already on public record, I would make it and not give out the recipe so I could just know that I personally hold the recipe for world's best peach ice cream. Since it is already out in the public, I will share the recipe so that you, too, can experience perfection.

Peach Ice Cream

4 c peeled, diced peaches

1/2 c sugar

4 cups half and half (don't shoot me, but I did use fat free, and it was still divine)

5 eggs, beaten

2 (14 oz) cans sweetened condensed milk (again, used fat free)

1 1/2 c milk

1 T vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Combine peaches and sugar in large bowl; stir well. Combine half and half and eggs in a large saucepan, stirring with whisk until blended. Cook over med-high heat, stirring constantly, 10 min or until mixture is thick enough to coat a spo

on (do not boil). Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in sweetened condensed milk, milk, vanilla, and salt. Stir custard into peach mixture, and pour into mixing can of a 5 qt ice cream freezer. Freeze according to instructions. Makes 3 1/2 quarts.

Things that are grown...

By the way, yes, Jake found my camera. Yet another reason I am in love with him!

I am obsessed with our farmers market. I thought I'd show you how we roll at the market. Everyone always remembers us and wants to see/speak to the girls each week... something about the number of little people or the length of my stroller seems to stick in folks' memories...

We have subscribed to a 10-week weekly delivery of veggies from Turtle Bend, a local sustainable farm. I HAVE LOVED IT! We receive different veggies each week, many of which I have never prepared. It's been such a fun challenge to figure out what to do with things like rainbow chard, turnips, kale, and baby leeks. Pictured below is my first week's delivery. Don't you just look at that and feel healthy and fresh? We are now on week three, and so far have liked everything we've tried!


And now I have a story about how little people think.

I had been saving up a fun activity for Abby Jane and I for just the right time- an afternoon or morning she wasn't too tired for me to could keep her up after putting the twins down for a nap. This is how it went:

Me: "Abby Jane, do you want to do something fun with Mama?"

Abby Jane: "YES, Mama!"

Me: "OK, go put on your hat and shoes and meet me in the driveway!"

Abby Jane runs to obey, and I meet her in the driveway with empty washed baby food jars, potting soil, and seeds.

Me: "Abby Jane, do you want to plant some seeds in these jars so we can watch the flowers grow?"

Abby Jane, utter delight: "YES, Mama!"

We pour the potting soil, poke holes in the dirt for the seeds, "tuck the seeds in bed", put a little water in each jar. I sit back on my heels, pleased with how well it had gone.

Me: "Abby Jane, was that so fun?"

Abby Jane: "Yes."

Me: "OK, it's time to go night-night."

MELTDOWN.

Abby Jane: "I WANT TO WATCH THE FLOWERS GROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Oops. I forgot to clarify that the flowers wouldn't grow instantaneously.

Me: "Oh, Abby Jane. You know how Blythe and Joy sleep a lot? Well, the seeds need a lot of sleep, too. We tucked them in the dirt, and they'll need to sleep for a long time before we see the flowers grow."

Abby Jane is OK with this and goes to bed. Three hours later, she wakes up and I go into her room. I had barely cleared the doorway when she says with great anticipation,

"Are the seeds awake yet???!!!"

Here are the jars right after planting...


Now, two weeks later, almost all of them have sprouted!
I love thinking about what kind of magic she must have thought we were making that we could put a seed in dirt and a flower instantly grows. Sad to disillusion her, but her belief that what Mama says will definitely happen is so precious!

Family extravaganza

It was fantastic!

All the cousins on Mom's dock...

Celebrating Ashley's 2nd birthday...

Scott's 7th birthday...

and Jodi and Susan's 30-something birthdays with a 4-layer strawberry cake (the recipe is Holly's and was amazing!)

Ryan is a cupcake fan.

So is Ian.

My sweet Grandaddy and Granny Joan walked in the door and were both promptly handed various babies. Thankfully they love loving on our kids! Here is little Maggie with Grandaddy.

Katie did a great job helping me feed Blythe and Joy. I'll take all the little helping hands I can get!

Jake spent the majority of his weekend down in this vicinity, fishing, canoeing, etc. This is some daddy/daughter time doing a little pre-bedtime fishing.

Greg and Jake took the big kids out fishing and for rides during the little kids' naps.

I never get tired of this picture each visit. The number of kiddos big enough to sit safely on the stools at the counter seems to change each time!

Ashley was given a tutu for her birthday. Grammy produced another one for the other two-year-old in the house.

She loved it.

Jo and Chris stopped by our house on their way home today, and we got a quick pic of Abby Jane, Blythe, and Joy, with Maggie! Bless our hearts, it's going to be trouble when all these little girls get older!!!

Rainboots

Sorry we've been MIA, but it's because I misplaced my camera last Friday, and I had not uploaded any of last week's pictures. I'm sure you can all tell by our blog that our camera is sort of an appendage to my body, so the past week without it has been quite sad.

I do, however, have a delightful video to share with you. Let me know if you see my camera in the meantime!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! My entire family is descending on Atlanta for the big quadruple birthday and the showcasing of little Maggie. Hope your three-day is fabulous as well!