I'm an aunt!

My sister Desiree had her baby Friday around 2:30 a.m. via emergency c-section. She came 3 or 4 weeks early because of a few complications, but mom and baby are doing really well. They named her Elsie Maline and she came in at a whopping 5 lbs. 6 oz.! Tiny, tiny! I know this picture isn't a great close-up of her, but it's the only one where her face is mostly turned to the camera. I think she looks a lot like her dad. She's my first niece on my side of the family. My parents now have two grandsons and two granddaughters.

No, I wasn't there for the birth. This photo is courtesy of Desi's best friend. But I FEEL like I was there for the birth. Mom is in Italy and my Dad was AWOL (actually he was watching a movie and couldn't hear his phone) so my sister Savanna and I were up quite late coordinating phone calls, getting in touch with people, etc. I didn't go to bed until Desi's hubby told me that they were able to get in touch with everyone they needed and my Dad was at the hospital. Whew!

In other Martin news, Olivia has a temper. My, oh my. She also "tee-teed" in the potty last night and today in church told me that she pooted. Typically that means that she broke wind, but now it means that she has to poo-poo. A couple of minutes later, you could smell it. When I crinkled my nose, she announced to the whole congregation, "Poo poo, Mommy! Poo poo!" What a gal.

In pregnancy notes, the swelling has begun. I am destined to yet again give birth disguised as a puffer fish. Oh, well. As long as I get healthy babies, it doesn't much matter to me what my body goes through. I'm also starting to wake up stiff and sore. That can only mean one thing: LESS THAN THREE MONTHS TO GO!!!!!! WOO-HOO!

Catching up...

I'm into my third trimester now and I couldn't be happier about it. I have not been able to get my life in order with this pregnancy and it's been a really difficult thing. Since I've been pregnant, all projects have ceased; I've sent out ZERO birthday, Mother's Day and Father's Day cards; I've neglected the blog; I've neglected my writing; and I've scheduled and cancelled or just plain skipped over social engagements of any kind. And the weird thing is that physically, I feel about 1,000 times better with this one than I did with Olivia. Things are getting better, however, so for that I'm grateful. And with that lead in...

Happy late birthday, Aubrey! Aubrey turned 31 last Friday. What an old man! For his birthday present, I let him play electrician for the day. I just gave him his birthday money to wire the closet he's building in our soon-to-be family room. His mom and dad came for the day and the guys spent their time working on the lights while Olivia discovered her love for the word "Pop" (which is Aubrey's dad). She says it all the time now. I think she just likes the P sound (although I'm sure she likes her actual Pop as well!)

I'm really glad that I have Aubrey for a husband. There are worse people out there I could have married. I've known him since I was 18 years old. Can you believe that? Of course, he did not leave a lasting positive impression on me when I met him...most people don't. I'm hard to impress, even if I do know you. But when he made the hard decision to go on his mission, I thought he must be OK. But I still think he's kind of a punk. He still gets me riled up (on purpose), he still aggravates me (on purpose) and he still spoils me completely rotten. And now, thanks to his stellar example, Olivia smacks me on the hiney every time a bend over. Nice. Thanks for being such a great guy, Aubrey. Hope you had a happy birthday!

Simple Summer Suppers

I love the summer not because of the heat, but because of the food. For my family, summer means light suppers full of fresh garden vegetables. It also means simple, simple, simple. This is a recipe that I tried out last week and everybody loved it; we had no leftovers. I loved it because there was hardly any prep work and the recipe is so versatile. It can be a great lunch or snack, too. I definitely encourage you to try this...especially if you're pregnant and tired and don't want to cook!

Turkey Cheese Pockets

2 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 Tbsp. mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

1 tsp. dijon mustard

4 slices shaved turkey lunch meat, finely chopped

1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 can refrigerated biscuits (10 biscuits)

Preheat oven to 400. Mix cream cheese, mayo and mustard in a small bowl; add turkey and cheese and mix well. Press out each biscuit to a 3.5 inch circle and place about 1-2 tsp. filling in the center of each. Fold biscuit over into a pocket and press well to seal the edges (fork works great). Bake 10-12 min. on an ungreased cookie sheet or until browned. Serve hot.

Trust me, these are good. When I made them, I used ham and cheddar cheese, but you could use ham and swiss or chicken and monterrey jack or whatever you want. I added pepper and herbs, too. You could also use different flavors of cream cheese (chive and onion would be soooo good). Next time, I'm going to try an all veggie pocket. Olivia LOVED these, so it would be really easy to sneak a vegetable in with the meat, too. For supper, I paired it with pasta salad and raw veggies. Healthy (each pocket has about 100 calories) and really yummy!