Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

Man, it’s been busy around here this week! I’ve been prepping clothes for consignment, our washer had to be repaired (yay for handy Matt!), we’ve had three playdates, and I had a BSF leaders workshop from 9 to 1 today.

So, there are the excuses for posting this on Wednesday. Lol

Anyway, there isn’t really much to report, unfortunately. I had zero loss (but also zero gain) in both pounds and inches. I did okay with exercise, but I kind of sabotaged myself with my eating on Thursday and Friday. Oh well, there is always this week!

But, on the exciting front, I’m posting this from my new toy…my iPad!

Let’s visit Little’s fourth birthday one last time…

Since Boo’s birthday in April, Little had told me that she wanted a rainbow cake for her birthday. I had it all planned out in my mind – ways to ensure all the layers of the cake turned out (unlike Boo’s), what icing to make, how to decorate it, what to serve it on. Then, the Saturday morning prior to her birthday she and I were out running an errand and on the way home she told me that she changed her mind, she wanted cupcakes instead.

I kicked back into idea mode and began figuring out what kind of cupcakes we might make. I considered borrowing the Wilton Big Cupcake cake pan, but Little really wanted individual cupcakes. Next, I thought of those pull-apart cakes where you use a shaped pan to make a variety of different cupcakes that make one “cake” (yeah, that description isn’t great, this is what I’m talking about). Finally I settled on just plain ol’ cupcakes.

The next challenge was finding a strawberry cake recipe. I have a recipe from my grandmother that I really like, but it uses gelatin and boxed cake mix. Since we are trying to limit our processed food consumption I was trying to find a recipe that was truly a from-scratch recipe. Thanks to dear ole Google, I stumbled upon a recipe at A Dash of Sass and it was wonderful.

Since we weren’t doing a rainbow cake I decided to do several colors of icing so the cupcakes would look pretty in the cupcake stand. I settled on vibrant blue, pink, purple, and green. I was very pleased with the colors. (the icing is a double batch of Wilton’s buttercream icing made fairly stiff and divided into fourths for tinting)

I used a large tip to pipe the icing on in swirls. (Funny story – the couplers I had were too small for my decorating tip. I had to forcefully hold the tip on the bag with one hand while piping the swirls. As long as I held it in place tight enough everything was fine, but if the tip slipped icing went everywhere) Then I placed the cupcakes on the stand. Matt added some sprinkles to the blue iced cupcake on top – per the birthday girl’s request. The candles were put in place and lit.

All that remained was the blowing out of the candles and the eating of the cupcakes.

Based on the icing on faces and the rapid rate of cupcake depletion, I’m pretty sure they were a hit.

Several months ago I set out to lose the rest of the weight I gained while pregnant with Baby Girl. Well, I did really well for the first ten pounds. Then I was able to fit into my jeans again and lost all motivation.

So, here I am again, challenging myself to get fit and lose some weight one more time. Only this time there is a little twist…Lindsey, Stacey, and I will be doing this together and blogging about our results every Monday (well, except Stacey since she doesn’t blog). The “official” challenge begins today and goes through October 18. I’m hoping that the additional accountability and encouragement will help keep me from losing momentum as I go.

I have about 30 pounds that I would like to lose, but that is a totally unreasonable goal for me for the next 10 or so weeks; so my challenge goal is to lose 15 pounds (and then hopefully retain momentum to lose the other 15). Each Monday I will record my weight loss/gain for the week, my inches lost/gained in several areas (waist, hips, thighs, arms, chest, etc), and a little about the exercise I’ve done and anything else (stress, holidays, etc) that might have effected my loss.

I plan to use some combination of T-Tapp, jumping rope, walking/running, and some other workout videos as my exercise each day. I will also be following the “No S” diet (no sweets, no seconds, no snacks except on days that start with “s”) to help control my caloric intake.

If you’d like to join us, we’d love to have some company. Here’s to a good 10 weeks!

Last weekend we celebrated Little’s fourth birthday. I can’t believe my first baby is four years old already!

All she has talked about for months is being able to wear a seat-belt instead of the 5-point harness on her carseat. She’s excitedly proclaimed about a million several times that, “When I’m four I’ll get to wear a seat-belt!”

Matt’s parents came into town for the weekend, and the kids had lots of fun playing with Nonnie and Pops. It is always nice to visit with them since we don’t get to see each other nearly as often as we would like! On Saturday, Matt’s grandparents (Grandma and Papa John) came for a visit. Little was very excited that everyone came for her birthday (which she shares with Pops).

Her only birthday requests have been a horn, a drum, and a guitar. Any time anyone has asked what she wants for her birthday, her reply has been a horn, a drum, and a guitar. [editor's note: Mommy & Daddy were not thrilled by the prospect of instruments but knew that one set of grandparents or the other was sure to buy them]

So, of course, her Nonnie and Pops found a music set that included a horn, a drum, maracas, a tambourine, and a pair of cymbals. [editor's note: Mommy & Daddy were really not thrilled about the cymbals] And, she got a new carseat that doesn’t have a 5-point harness. She was very excited!

She also got a bunch of art supplies (thanks Aunt Lu and Sarah!), several games, the adorable fishy outfit that she’s wearing in the first picture (thanks Grandma and Papa John!), and a variety of books and other gifts. And she gets to celebrate again this weekend with Bebe and Grandad.

I think she had is having a great birthday!

Now I am six months old and…

…I am sitting up unsupported.
…I get on my hands and knees and rock.
…I still nurse exclusively.
…I love to be worn in the BabyHawk.
…I tolerate the stroller now that I can sit.
…I don’t like my baby containers (swing, bouncy, etc) anymore.
…I like to lay in the floor & play with toys (especially Sophie the giraffe).
…I like to pull down the bumpers on my crib (so Mommy took them out).
…I am still wearing 3-6 months size clothes (and a few 0-3 months).
…most of my skin issues have cleared up (except occasional flare ups).
…I love my cloth diapers.
…I am a very happy baby and love to smile and laugh.
…my Mommy is way behind on writing this post.

It’s a week of milestones at chez Sidetrack’d…

This Little bit of girl turns four this week:

This little Boo decided it was time to potty train:

And this Baby Girl started army crawling and got her first tooth:

All in all, a good week!

I’ve run across several good reads in the last few months that I thought I would share with you guys. Enjoy!

~ Suck it! The REAL Way to Prep for Breastfeeding @ Parenting.com – as a veteran nursing mom I find this article hilarious; if you are expecting (read: Lindsey) don’t let it scare you, it’s usually not this bad…usually

~ Why Having a Toddler is Like Being at a Frat Party @ Suburban Snapshots – absolutely, laugh-out-loud, hysterically funny

~ I Don’t Want My Children to Be Happy @ It’s Almost Naptime!! – The only non-funny link in the bunch. I read this several months ago and think about it often. Right in line with much of our parenting philosophy.

~What Your Email Address Says About Your Computer Skills @ The Oatmeal – I’m married to a web programmer. ‘Nuff said.

And finally, my new favorite quote (seen recently on Twitter): “Unless life also gives you water and sugar, your lemonade’s gonna suck.”

Happy Friday!

This girl. Our first born. Our almost four year old. Our Little. She keeps us laughing. Sometimes she talks like she’s grown. Other times she babbles while she pretends to be a baby.

Over July 4th weekend my parents were visiting and over dinner one night we were conversing about cocktails, specifically mojitos. Matt was talking about how you smash the mint leaves in the bottom of the glass before pouring the drink into it when Little piped up with…

“You can’t smash me, Daddy, because I’m a woman!”

We all burst into laughter. I’m not sure which was funnier, that she misunderstood “mint” as “men” or that she referred to herself as a woman.

Little has discovered that she really likes Chinese food. Or, more accurately, that she really likes eating with chopsticks (and she’s quite good at it, actually).

Last Friday we met Matt when he got off of work and went out to lunch as a family. Ahh…Friday afternoons off are so nice. Little wanted to eat at Pei Wei so that’s where we headed.

After our meal we had to have fortune cookies, of course. The fortunes in fortune cookies are always funny, but Boo’s really made me laugh.

“The best times of your life have not yet been lived.”

For the two year old. Well, yeah.

Wow, where are the weeks going? It’s mid-July already!

The last few weeks have been pretty busy around here. We’ve had playdates almost every weekday for the last three weeks, had VBS in the evenings the last week of June, had a visit from my parents over July 4th weekend, been adjusting to Matt’s new job and schedule, and doing laundry, lots of laundry.

Nothing real exciting has occurred, but life is good. We’re enjoying Summer, trying to stay cool, and beginning to gear up for school-time activities.

Hope everyone is having a great Summer!