I'm a stay-at-home mother of two (soon to be three) married to one of the greatest men on the planet. This blog is simply an easy way for me to share a slice of our lives with family and friends.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

No!

Ahhh the joys of having a 2-yr-old in the home, how I missed them! Tantrums at the slightest disappointments, waking during the middle of the night, and the late late night, and the so very early morning, and 30 min before the alarm goes off, refusing to eat, refusing to dress, suddenly developing "hearing loss," the ability to make any room in the house look like a tornado has blown through in a mere 10 seconds, and my absolute favorite- when they answer every question with "NO!!"


I did not forget about potty training, this is the topic Sydni says "no!" to the most. I have waffled on which potty training technique to use and settled with the "no technique at all let them do it themselves" technique. I know a few people who have done it this way and had great success. The appeal is overwhelming- no sticker charts, no constant trips to the bathroom, no need to have goodies around the house all the time, you just wait until they are ready and they just suddenly start doing it one day. I introduced the whole potty scene when Sydni was a little over 2-yr-old. Just showed her the seat gave her the basics, no pressure. We read "No More Diapers" practically every night and Sydni tells me she wants to say good-bye to her diapers in the morning, but every morning when I ask if she's ready the reply is the same, "NO!!!" I just kept telling myself, no big deal! She's young, she'll show interest when she's ready. Sydni will be 3 in October, and she still has absolutely no desire to go potty. I'm not even sure she is truly aware of what goes on down there. She was excited about wearing panties and even went all day (twice) wearing them without an accident. She has never gone potty anywhere but in her diaper. She's hopped up on the toilet all excited about going, but then hops right off to wash her hands. I've really tried my best not to pressure her in to this because I didn't want a battle of wills, but am I being too relaxed? Where am I going wrong? I really didn't think it was possible to fail at this non-technique, but some how I have managed it. Maybe it's just the environment here, I started babysitting for my friend recently. She has two little girls one is 6 mo younger than Sydni and the other is 2 months old. The 2-yr-old Hannah, is potty trained, but won't go potty for me, even with the special Dora seat and chocolate rewards. Maybe it's me! I don't know. Potty training was a nightmare with Julia too. She wanted to at 17-mo though, so I thought this time around if the child were older it would be easier. Any potty experts out there? Any help at all??? I'm open to all advice/encouragement!

Friday, August 24, 2007

My first wedding cake!

The wedding cake is finished. Right now it is hopefully being eaten and enjoyed by all the wedding guests. The cake was massive, just massive. To me anyway. I'm sure professional bakers would not think anything of it, but it was massive to me. It was three tiers, 16"-12"-8", the largest cake I had made to date was a 10" diameter. I knew 16" was going to be a big cake, but honestly I did not appreciate how large that actually is. I was petrified when the pan came in the mail. My cake decorating friend in Texas reassured me that all would be just fine, it wasn't going to be as bad as I was anticipating. Oh how I wish that had been the case! Let just say I had a very difficult time with this one. In the end it all turned out and they were very happy with the cake. I was in such a hurry trying to get it there that I left my camera (and the spatula I use to transfer tiers yikes!! one of the many difficulties) at home. I am going to ask the bride if I can possibly get a picture from her. I hope they took one!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Two cakes down, one wedding to go!



I have been busy making more cakes this month. And I'm not even close to being finished for the month! I still have hubby's cake on Sunday, my FIL on the 22nd and then the the wedding cake on the 24th. Good thing I don't live close to my Mom or I'd be doing another for her on the the 23rd. Actually there is a good chance hubby is just going to get a pie (which he'd prefer anyway), but I do want to make my FIL's because I have the perfect idea!! And it's simple to make. I hope...

Anyway, on to the cakes. First up is the cake I made for a baby boy's 1st birthday. I really think these may be my favorite cakes to make! The client wanted a bath time theme, maybe something to do with rubber duckies. She wanted a 10" and an 8" tiered cake. One layer with chocolate cake and chocolate mousse filling and the other to be chocolate cake with bavarian creme filling. Yum yum! This is the finished product.



I also took close up pictures of the little duck and bubbles. Everything you see is edible.

This baby is made of Rice Krispy treats covered in modeling chocolate. He is so tasty! The ducks are made of gumpaste with chocolate bills. The bubbles are gumpaste as well.


This second cake is a cake I have been wanting to make for a very long time now. I actually made the royal icing tiara back in April, but my neighbor never had a party for her daughter. I ended up not really having the time I would have liked to spend on this cake, but it still turned out pretty cute. It is 8" and 6" tiers, one is lemon with lemon curd filling and the top is chocolate with chocolate mousse. Not the best of photos, but I was in a huge hurry!! Better luck next time.



Today I am off to Costco to get the ingredients to start baking the wedding cake. School starts Tuesday here, so I also have some school shopping left to do. Not to mention hubby's birthday. I don't think I will be posting or reading much of anything for at least a week, so I hope you all have a good one!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Good Mail Girls

I joined Melissa's "Good Mail Girls" group thinking it would be a great way to get over my hang up about actually putting something in the mail. I am seriously post0ffice impaired. It's really not that far from my house, the lines have never been too unbearably long, but for some reason unless I am under a major deadline I just can't seem to make it there. I purchased little goodies and have them sitting in envelopes all ready to go, well, they were until Julia ate the candy out of them. If I had mailed them right away it would not have been a problem. This obviously is not going to cure my problem, so after I send things off, I am going to ask Melissa to remove me from the group!

I thought I'd share pictures of goodies I have received:

First off, Jessica sent my yummy treats.



Then Melissa sent beautiful beaded earrings and a bracelet.



Then Andrea sent her fun summer picks.



Much to my shock Jessica, who obviously has no problem getting to the post office, sent ANOTHER cute set of goodies.



They sent fun things! I'm really hoping to get mine off in the mail by the end of the week before things get too crazy. Frankly, it's amazing I'm posting again so soon! I figured I could at least do this!!! Wish me luck!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Shayla tagged me, so here goes. I don't know that I really enjoyed this exercise. It was more work than my poor brain could handle at the moment. It's good to have something quick to post though!

Yourself:
caring


Your partner: faithful

Your hair: ponytail

Your mother: busy

Your father: patient

Your favorite item: philosphy "hope in a tube"

Your dream last night: pregnancy (I'm blaming this one on you, Jenny!!)

Your favorite drink: water

Your dream car: Jeep

Dream home: owned

The room you are in: front

Your fear: alone

Where you want to be in 10 years:

Who you hung out with last night: family

You're not: confident

One of your wish list items: home

The last thing you did: dishwasher

You are wearing: clothes

Your favorite weather: overcast

Your favorite book: many

Last thing you ate: cracker

Your life: blessed

Your mood: tired

Your best friend: Ja

What are you thinking about right now: cake

Your car: van

What are you doing at the moment: repairing

Relationship status: eternity

What is on your t.v: off

When is the last time you laughed: morning

I'm tagging, who's left?? Julie? Kristie? If you want to??