A first - for Mommy

Well, my little boy turns 1 on Sunday. ONE! Knowing I could either choose to buy a $15 from Walmart that had fluff on it or make my own, I opted to learn how to make my own. Now I'm not talking about baking a cake. No...I'm talking baking the cake, shaping it, stacking sheets, making fondant, covering the cake with fondant, making buttercream icing for decorating, and decorating the cake. I'm talking about the whole shebangs.

So off I went to Walmart to get supplies which consisted of a lot of items I'll call, "Want thunder thighs? Eat this!" In other words, lots of butter, powdered sugar, and lots of stuff in between. Let's just say in this first experience I now know the ladies who work during the day by name...because I made that many trips to the store.

And I had a lot of "Oh no, I need to call Tina NOW". Thanks, Tina! :) She laughed at me A LOT. And I'm sure she rolled her eyes a lot too. But since I talked only on the phone, she spared me from humiliation.

So we started with basic sheet cakes. Three of them in fact. Well, four really, but that one ended in the trash because the new pan I got cooked it a whole lot faster than the one that was in the glass pan, and I had to learn that the hard way. We'll just say black edges and bottoms on a yellow cake don't mix, and they make your house smell absolutely horrid like flowers. And of course once you mix your cakes, you HAVE to lick it! Just the thing to do.



Cakes each got cut into 3x3 squares, and then stacked three squares high to make 5 cubes. They would soon become baby blocks that spelled out Ethan's name.

Now onto the fondant. Let's just say that the fondant making experience...not so fun. Really gross. Really sticky and gooey. Sort of like melted marshmallow and peanut butter consistency...stuck all over your hands. But in the end, it looked like this. Once I rolled it out, it became my draping over each three tiered box.



I'll spare you with my fondant goo covered hands.

Next I had to make the buttercream. Easy recipe. LOTS of "thunder thigh" potential. Just sayin'. I made two batches, divided them, and used food coloring (next time I'll actually use the icing dye) to create three basic colors.



Can we say big mess? I'm not one to like my house dirty...so I worked quickly...then cleaned up. I'm such a nerd.

After about an hour of decorating, and trying to redecorate...mommy perfectionism...they were finished.

And they looked like this.




This was my inspiration.



Product? Not so much. I don't have the tools necessary to replicate the really small details around the edges of the cake. My cake tip was way too big, so I had to fly by the seat of my pants. I will, however, stack mine and put little people animals on top. Can't go wrong with animals. But, hey, it was my first cake. I can't say it's too bad for a first.

Movin' and a Groovin' and a Turnin' Around

This is more for me than it is you. I know you're probably thinking, "you're running this walking thing into the ground.". But since we don't have a video camera other than the one that's in the digital camera, this is my way of having videos at my disposal.

So a little more than a week ago, Ethan started taking more than a few steps. He's progressed to walking across a room before falling (20-30 steps or so). And no, I don't count all the time...just once when he seemed to go forever. This little booger has gotten fast when he wants to get somewhere! Take a look at this one.



And he's also decided to learn how to turn around. This was the first time I ever saw him do this, and I managed to capture it on camera. Go me! Listen carefully. When he falls, you can hear him say, "uh oh". Evidently, I forgot the camera was on b/c it has more than I wanted it to. Oops. :)



All this, and he still prefers to crawl!

A rendition brought to you by "Little Princess Barbie Buscher"

My kid loves to dress up. She loves to dress up in this Barbie outfit with a skirt and shirt, and complete with earrings, a crown, high heels, and even a microphone. She decided to give us a concert the other day and sang all kinds of songs for us while doing her favorite dance, rocking from side to side. The girl just can't stand still when she sings...she's funny.

Dora undies, here we come!

One down, one to go! I hope, at least. So about a month or two ago, I posted about how I thought Zoe was potty trained. She just teased us for a couple of days. So not so much. Since it's warm again, I thought maybe I'd try the "naked from the waist down" thing again.

Friday morning, we prepared to camp out at the house all day. I stripped her out of her pj's, and I flooded her with pink lemonade, two full glasses in the morning and two full in the afternoon. The potty seat was moved from the bathroom into the living room where we spend most of our day. She was instructed to go straight to the potty when she felt like she needed to go. I made up a sticker chart and set a goal of 9 spots (that was all that would fit). I told her that I'd let her put a sticker on her chart, and she would get 2 skittles each time she went on her own without being told. She loves ice cream cones, so I told her that when she filled her sticker chart up, we'd go get an ice cream cone.

Ok, seriously...9? I thought it'd take at least a weekend to get there. But NOOOO. She got it by 5:00 that afternoon. All 9! All by herself! About an after after the lemonade was guzzled down, the flood started. And just about every 15 minutes to 30 minutes, she would say as she ran, "I gotta go potty...I gotta go potty. And everytime, she'd just about fill the thing up. Water goes straight through her, so I knew it would make her have to go...a lot. By lunch, she'd succeeded 5 times with no accidents, and none of those I had to tell her to go. After nap, we repeated the whole thing again. Two more glasses + 1 hour of passing time = a pee flood. Only once in there did she trickle, but she stopped and ran to the potty to finish. She had gotten 5 more by evening reaching a grand total of 10.

Yesterday she did well until we went to Hot Springs, but had a couple of accidents in her diaper with the babysitter. Once, apparently Zoe ran to her and said she needed to go potty, so the girl wisked her to the potty, pulled down her pullup just in time to have pee go E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E. Zoe's response was, "oops".

This morning, even after a 11 hour sleep, she was completely dry! She told us that she needed to go potty, ran to go, and voila! Maybe she's night training too!?? I would doubt it, but who knows?

If she continues, she knows that she'll be able to wear her Dora underwear again. I for one am so proud of her! She seems like she's finally figured it out! We started the sticker chart over, but this time, she has to get 20 stickers. She's no longer being flooded with lemonade, and just going as she normally would, and she already has 4. Wahoo! Yay Zoe!

Two year old innocence

This may or may not be appropriate blogging material, but in any case, it's HILARIOUS.

Scene: Zoe had just gotten home from church with brown feet, brown hands, and a brown face. She went straight to the bath.

So I'm in there with her checking on her when she looked up panicked and says, "Momma, I gotta go poop. I gotta go now!" So I wisked her dripping and set her on her potty where instantly I hear grunting noises, followed by a sideways jaw and a BRIGHT red face. I hear the plop and then instantly the normal coloring returns to her face. At that point, she said the funniest thing I think I've ever heard come out of a two year old's mouth.

Followed by a sigh of relief, she looks at me and says, "Woah. That was a big one!"

And you're quite welcome. I'm sure I just provided you comedy relief for the day.

Sianara

Hmm...I don't even know if I spelled that correctly. Well, tonight, we begin to say farewell to the baby stage. Ethan, this year, has mastered sitting, crawling, cruising, and now we get to add walking to that list. Although I wouldn't say he's mastered it quite yet. So Ethan has been s.l.o.w.l.y. gaining confidence in his walking ability. He's such a proficient and FAST crawler, that he really didn't have any interest in walking until here just recently. He's taken 2 or 3 steps by himself, and like the post last week, he'd walk if he felt my slight touch on his shirt, but as soon as he felt me let go, he was down for the count. That changed tonight. He just decided he was going to go for it. I think he made it about 10 steps or so without tumbling a couple of times. I absolutely LOVE the first toddles. They are so hesitant, yet so determined to be like everyone else around them. And I can't help but find it absolutely amazing when they have what I would consider a hard fall, and yet they giggle, get back up, and do it again. Can you imagine what it would be like if you or I took a spill like that? I don't think I'd be giggling and hopping right back up like that. Just sayin'.

Darin and I had baby nursery today, and it was, I think the smallest crowd in a long time...just Ethan and a little guy that's a month older than him. For sake of privacy, we'll just call him W. Ethan spent a lot of time this morning studying W walk...so funny. I guess he taught Ethan something. I was thinking back to Zoe's first steps, and realized that she started walking (more than just the few steps) on July 4th, exactly two weeks before her first birthday. And today would mark exactly two weeks before Ethan's birthday. Ironic? Maybe. Even more so since both their first words were the same? And that their first word was "Jedi" (our dog's name)? Absolutely.

So baby stage...sniff...I'll miss you, but I'm ready to move forward and see the little boy and the little man that will be one day. So sianara. And until next time...or not. :-)

Excuse the poor videography skills. It doesn't work so well when you're the one trying to both video and catch a wobbly walker. :)

Bedtime Conversations

Mommy: Zoe, I love you!

Zoe: I love you too. I love you soooo much!

Mommy: I love you soooo much too. Do you know who else loves you?

Zoe: (giggle) Daddy!

Mommy: And who else?

Zoe: (giggle) Efan does!

Mommy: And who else?

Zoe: (giggle) Jedi does!

Mommy: And who else?

Zoe: JESUS! (followed by a pause) Mommy, where does Jesus live?

Mommy: Jesus lives in Heaven.

Zoe: Hey mom, when's Jesus gonna come over to our house?

Mommy: Well, Jesus is very special. He lives in Heaven, but He's here watching over you right now, and He wants me to tell you that He loves you.

Zoe: Oh. Ok.

And.............

We're off the bottle and on the sippy!!! One more milestone reached.

Yay for me!!!!

Now just to get him fully on whole milk.

See, what I didn't think about when I weaned him from nursing (all his decision) two weeks ago was the fact that he still couldn't (or shouldn't) have whole milk. So we had to wean him from breastmilk to complete formula which was a chore in and of itself, and now from formula to whole milk. *Sigh* See, with Zoe, I think I nursed her to 11 and a half months when she just decided she was D.O.N.E. nursing, and we went straight to whole milk. So weaning her from the bottle to the sippy wasn't a big deal because all she had out of the bottle was her evening feeding. Just two more weeks...why couldn't I have done it for two more weeks.

It's been a little bit more of a struggle to wean him not only from the bottle to the sippy, but also from the warm to the cold. We did formula warm because it resembled breastmilk a little more. So this week, we dropped the bottle pretty much cold turkey and have introduced whole milk to him. Really, he doesn't seem to notice much of a difference in taste. He's figured out a sippy now, if it has handles on the sides and hasn't had a bottle in over 48 hours. We have been doing 2 oz's of warm formula w/2 oz of cold milk to get him used to the cooler taste. He'll drink it if it's that way, but he won't drink it if it's cold on top of cold. I think we probably have another week or so of formula left, and we'll continue to do half and half, but as soon as it's gone we'll be on straight whole. Picky one, we have. Any suggestions on how to overcome the temperature issue??

By the waterside

The weather has been gorgeous here lately. We had an open house this weekend and decided to use the 2 hour window to go to the lake and walk around. Obviously the water is still too cold to swim in, but they love just sitting in the sand. Zoe's favorite part was probably seeing this family of geese with brand new baby gosslings while we were walking along a trail beside the lake.

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

I think my son may be a bit confused about his human identity.

The Beauty of the Earth

I LOVE spring and what it means for blooming flowers and bushes. Azalias bloom riht around the first of April, and the ones on OBU's are absolutely gorgeous. So...I'd hoped to get some good brother/sister pictures. Didn't happen. In fact, I think I got maybe 5 total of Ethan. Just wasn't in the picture mood...wanted to look and play with dirt. I imagine he was saying something in his baby jabber to the effect of, "Come on, Mom. Boys and flowers don't go together."










Now I must show you this. These pictures were taken last year, just a few weeks before Ethan's birth. Look at the HUGE change!

Sportin' a new do

Well - I finally gave in. I cut hair. I am Darin's "barber", Jedi's "groomer" (our dog), and now our son's barber as well...well, sort of. I just took the clippers to the back of his head and to a section on the top so it could all grow out evenly. I've cut Zoe's hair numerous times, mostly bangs, but the back as well. Her hair grew out SOOOO SLLLLOOOOOWLY, and in some places, it's just now getting hair (like the area right by the ears. So I've been trimming the back in a bob type style to keep it at about chin level so that the rest of her hair had a chance to grow out as well. I have been trying to grow her bangs out and train them to do the side swept look. Not happening. So a few weeks ago, I trimmed her bangs by angling them downward hoping that it would allow them to train to brush off to the side. Again, not happening. Looked like I just had no clue what I was doing. So I trimmed the bangs all one length again...this time much shorter than I would have liked so I could even them all up. Something just didn't look right. So I gave in. I took her to a stylist to get her hair shaped. I grabbed a lollipop and off we went. I had zero clue what to expect from her in the way of behavior. I could imagine her going bazerk on me and freaking out, screaming and refusing to get in the chair out of sheer panic. Not the case at all. In fact, she just sucked away at that lollipop and watched the hair fall off her head. The lady who cut it said she was by far the best first timer she'd ever had. She didn't wiggle, didn't fight, didn't fuss, just didn't even seem to care. And we even got a "real official certificate" to prove it. :)

She didn't too much cut. Actually, she didn't cut any off the length. Mainly, the girl put in some layers to help it all blend and grow out better. Layers aren't my thing...I do boy's hair and dogs...the kind of hair I can do with clippers (don't worry, they're separate sets). Layers? No clue how to do them, and not gutsy enough to try on her. It's a cute style on her and frames her little face. I like short hair on her, but I think now that it's shaped by an actual professional, I'll let it grow out. But we'll see...only time will tell.

Warning: Descension of Yellow Cloud

All Arkansans beware!!! There has been a large yellow cloud that has been spotted heading your way. This particular cloud seems to have descended over your area and blankets everything in its path in a yellow dust. Nothing is safe. Take all valuables inside and avoid contact if at all possible. It has been known to make people sneeze, make their eyes water, and cause some completely miserable days for those who might react adversely to it.

Also beware that your car may not look the same. Make sure to make a mental note of where you parked your vehicle. Otherwise, upon return you may have trouble finding it due to the increased number of yellow cars in the parking lot. Be aware that when you are walking across a parking lot and cross behind someone who is starting their car, you may be hit with a sudden burst of yellow smoke coming from their exhaust pipe. Don't say I didn't warn you!




What's the good news in all this? It makes your front porch look like a popular place.

One foot in front of the other

So I think I may have mentioned last week when I did my "11 month post" that Ethan had no interest in walking. Yeah....that changed on Saturday. He took three steps by himself and was just ready to take off on us. Caught some footage of it today. He can do it himself, but he just needs some more self confidence. If he feels me even just slightly touching his shirt, he feels secure and will walk. The instant I let go, he intentionally falls to the ground. Zoe did the same thing. So to get him to walk this morning, I barely had a hold of his overalls...just enough for him to feel me there, not enough to support him in any way.



I imagine he'll be off for good in two to three weeks. Lookout toddlerhood, we're knocking on the door!

Happy Resurrection Day!

I thought since it'd been about 6 months since we'd had any family photos, I'd get us all in "Eastery" attire and snap a few pictures before church this morning. Yay for tripods and fun blinking red light on the camera to capture babies' attention. It is virtually impossible to get both kids looking at AND smiling at the camera at the same time.

Rainbows and promises

So we made this rainbow cake the other day. A friend of mind suggested it as a way of talking about Easter and teling about God's promises. Have you ever tried explaining the meaning of Easter to a two year old? One of the toughest things I've ever done! I talked briefly (very brief) about what a rainbow actually meant, but then led into the promise of being in Heaven because of Jesus dying on the cross. Of course there was a TON that I left out since she is only two. But she asked some questions like "Did Jesus go home to his daddy when he woke up?" Pretty profound for a 2 yr old, I think. Our "death on the cross" was explained more like "Jesus was put on a cross and was hurt really badly." Tough stuff, let me tell you! But she obviously got something out of it, because she's been "reading" out of her toddler Bible book and saying, "Jesus was on a cross and hurt bad. He woke up and went to Heaven." Sounds good to me!

Anyway, this cake was actually easier than it looks. We just had a simple white cake, divided it into 6 different containers, and used food coloring to color the layers, spreading the colors in the pan one at a time.

Dr. Ward, I hope you're not reading this. She doesn't get this often! :)

Mixing colors

The pre-cooked product

The finished product (complete with the mishapen server)

The best part - eating it!

One month

Ethan, in one month, you will be one year old! That means that 11 months ago, you entered this world, completely helpless as a little baby. Eleven months ago, God entrusted your Daddy and me with the awesome responsibility of raising you and teaching you about Him. I hope we're doing a good job so far.

At eleven months, you are:

*No longer nursing as of two days ago. You, as I mentioned before, wanted to quit at 9 months...but Mommy wouldn't let you. I fought you tooth and nail (or in your case gum and nail) for 2 more months. You take only about 16 oz a day of formula and will start on whole milk within a few weeks.

*Still have NO TEETH! No sign of them, except for the three cups of drool a day the last few days.

*Hit a HUGE growth spurt a few weeks ago. One day for lunch you drank a 4 oz bottle, ate an open faced sandwich, half a cup of chopped carrots, a slice of cheese, an entire chopped banana, and a few crackers. We didn't have much in the house after that week.

*Still don't weight quite 20#. I know you're growing, you're just growing longer and getting skinnier. You teter the 19.5# mark. After your growth spurt, you may have topped that, finally.

*Eat anything that is gummable...well, almost anything. You have your dislikes. Being 11 months with no teeth is a challenge, but we're making it work. You eat pretty much what we do, but chopped up...unless it's spicy of course.

*You are already starting to annoy your sister. Not intentionally, but you just admire her soooo much and want to be where she is and play what she is playing with.

*You are a momma's boy. It doesn't matter who's holding you...if you see me, you start to fuss and hold arms out to me.

*You are wearing 18 month clothes. You still fit into 12 month, but I like to buy things with room to grow, so whether you really fit into it or not, you're in 18 month clothes.

*You L-O-V-E to play outside. You're totally content just playing with rocks for an hour straight. You try to eat them, but I won't let you.

*You are trying to make animal sounds. You think a cow goes MMMMMMMM...and a sheep goes aaaaahhh ahhhhh. It's really cute.

*You give LOTS of kisses. Very slobbery kisses.

*You are doing well with ear tubes. You've had one ear infection since them, but you'd had a month long cold (which developed into your first sinus infection) before you got it.

*You still take two naps. One at 10 and one at 2. You still sleep from 8 until between 7 and 7:30 most days. Today you slept until 8:30. Do that more often, please. :)

*Are still not that interested in walking. You can stand and cruise w/only one hand on anything. You'll even stand by yourself for about 10 seconds. But as soon as you realize you're not holding onto anything, you plop. You like to walk holding hands or on your push cart. But overall, you're just not interested in taking off on your own. You just prefer to crawl.

*Climb on, under, over, and around E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. But you're learning the word no...and actually obeying it. Good job!

*Are still very much an observer. You observe everything that goes on around you. I wonder what goes on behind those baby blues. If only for a moment I could be a fly on your brain to see what you think. Do you converse with yourself? Do you think we're morons yet? What is your favorite thing to do? What do you really think of your Mommy's cooking?? Huh?



*And last but not least, you make the same faces your sister did at your age. Hilarious!
You at 11 months
Your sister at 11 months.









Until next month...