Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

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.

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!

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!

The Sleepy Wrap was my first baby carrier (other than the Infantino front carrier I used with Little) and I fell in love with it the first time I wore Boo in it. The wrap is still my favorite newborn carrier (I recommend them to everyone who asks – and maybe even a few people who don’t), and I used the Sleepy Wrap a lot with Baby Girl in her first few months (it is currently out on loan). The makers of the Sleepy Wrap, Nap, Inc., are a great company with great products and great customer service.

About a year ago, Nap, Inc. introduced a new carrier, the Boba, designed for older infants and toddlers (9 months to 4 years), and as soon as I saw it I wanted one. They retail for $100+, and I just couldn’t justify the cost since I don’t have that many opportunities to wear Boo right now because I’m usually wearing Baby Girl. I did, however, begin entering any Boba giveaway that I came across and hoping that I might get one that way.

So, imagine my surprise when I received an email from Lindsey while I was out of town in which she casually mentioned seeing a comment on my blog from Drea about me winning the Boba giveaway on her blog. I was so excited! It had been a few days since Drea left the comment, so I quickly e-mailed her hoping it hadn’t been too long and she’d drawn another winner. It hadn’t! I soon had a shipping confirmation and the package was scheduled to arrive at my house the day after we got home from our trip.

The delivery guy in brown dropped my new Boba off during naptime, and I couldn’t wait until a child was awake to try it on. So, I unpacked it and put it on right away. After Matt got home I tried it on with Boo and wore him around the house for a few minutes. He didn’t want to get out, but he had to so Matt and Little could try it out. Little loved it, too (she rode again for a few minutes the other night when I was showing it to a friend and didn’t want to get out).

Finally I have a carrier that Matt hasn’t deemed too “girly” for him to wear! It is the Aspen pattern; very neutral, very lovely. And I think he liked the idea of wearing one of the older kids while I wear Baby Girl.

Now we just need the weather to cool down a bit so we can go hiking!

Disclaimer: I was in no way compensated for this post. I’m just excited about winning this carrier. And I love Nap, Inc. products and would recommend them to anyone.

Okay, so I’ve neglected my little friend the blog for a few weeks now. The first week I just didn’t feel like writing. No other reason, just didn’t feel like typing. The second week we were out of town for several days visiting my brother and his family. I didn’t have time to write except late at night, and then I pretty much fell into bed asleep. Last week I spent every naptime and several evenings engrossed in a book.

Today I would like to compose a coherent and thought out post, but I can’t seem to string sentences together. What’s with that?? I would also like to post about our trip to my brother’s house, but I want to upload pictures and that’s not happening either (I can’t figure out how to get them from my phone to the computer).

Instead, I’m posting some random bits and pieces from our lives lately…

~Matt starts a new job on Monday. This is exciting and a bit disconcerting at the same time. We’ve drawn a paycheck from the same place for the last 9 years. Although I am thrilled for Matt’s new opportunity, there is a sense of stability lost at the same time. I have no reservations about him taking this new position, but there is a bit of “fear of the unknown” that I’m battling.

~One of our big changes with the new job involves budgeting. For 7 of our 9 years of marriage our primary income (the one we budget on) has been paid monthly. Matt’s new employer pays weekly. I have to change my mindset as I approach our budget for next month.

~One of the great things about Matt’s new job is his schedule. He will work 7 to 5 Monday through Thursday and 7 to 11 on Fridays. Because he is trading a 40-45 minute commute for a 15-20 minute commute his time at home won’t really change Monday through Thursday, but we’ll have an extra half day every weekend!

~Matt had to make this statement to Boo on Saturday: “Don’t ride your horse n@ked in the living room!” File that under things you never thought you’d have to say.

~Saturday I asked Little a question and she answered, “Indeed!” Sometimes she talks like she’s 30 years old.

~One of my bestest friends is having a baby in a few weeks. I’ve bought 4 gifts for her. I really need to stop (it’s not like I don’t have my own baby girl to buy for).

~Matt’s Father’s Day gift was more coffee preparation paraphernalia. We have a friend who refers to Matt as Mr. Coffee. There’s a reason for that.

~The baby is teething. She’s been a bear the last couple of days.

~She also turned 5 months old last week. I’m struggling with the fact that she’ll start solid foods in less than a month.

~Little wrote her first sentence yesterday (in Matt’s Father’s Day card). I love you. I had to spell it for her, but she wrote it all. I’ll have to post a picture.

~I just bought Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I’ll let you know how it goes. This experience could be a deciding factor in whether or not we homeschool next year.

~I bought a new cloth diaper last week (in amethyst). I know you’re surprised.

~I got the kids a small inflatable pool today. They were so excited you would have thought we bought a water park.

And I think that’s all I have for now. Hope you’re having a happy Monday!

One day last week the kids were in the hallway giggling like crazy. When I looked to see what was going on, this is what I found…

They discovered that if they lay in front of the air intake vent while the a/c is on it will suck their hair into the vent.

I love seeing how little children’s minds work!

Check out more Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom.

I’m doing some behind-the-scenes work on sidetrack’d messing with post categories and such. In the process, I realized that I posted not one single thing about Little’s third birthday. In July.

So, I’m going to remedy that now.

On Little’s actual birthday, we had a mini-celebration with her friends. She requested chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and sprinkles, so that is exactly what we had. Her best friends came over for a playdate that morning, we had pizza and cupcakes for lunch, and she opened her gifts. That evening, we celebrated as a family with dinner at Chick-fil-a and her gifts from Mommy and Daddy.

A few days after her birthday, my parents came to town and we celebrated Little again. She spent the day with Bebe, Mommy, and Boo going to Build-a-Bear, having lunch in the mall food court (her choice), and riding the carousel. Unfortunately, Grandad wasn’t able to join us due to having a sick leg.

A couple of weeks later, Matt’s parents were able to make the trip to see us, and we had a fun birthday weekend with them. We took them to visit our zoo one day and spent the rest of the weekend enjoy spending time together.

I hate that I didn’t do a better job of documenting her birthday in a timely manner, but at least I do have a record of it now.

To my three little ones:

I am so glad you were born. Each day you bring joy, laughter, and love into my life. I thought my heart was full until you came along, but with each of you I’ve discovered a new depth in my ability to love.

I am so glad you were born. Sweet voices, precious baby giggles, adorable belly laughs. Unexpected bear hugs around the knees, snuggles on the couch, kisses from cute little lips. These things fill my days, my home, and my heart.

I am so glad you were born. We have our share of tantrums, whining, and tears (sometimes from Mommy, too). But the good days far outweigh the bad. Even in the midst of the hard times, looking into your eyes makes me glad that I’m the one you call Mommy.

I am so glad you were born. Watching each of you grow, seeing your personalities develop, observing your discovery of the world. God made you, He designed each facet of you for a purpose. His purpose.

I am so glad you were born. The days are sometimes long and hard, filled with teaching and training, with correction and cautions. Other days are fun, filled with light and laughter, with playing and pretending. But each day is a gift that we share together.

I am so glad you were born. We were given to each other for very specific reasons. I am to prayerfully help you become the women and man God has designed you to be. You help to make me a better person, mother, and Christian.

I am so glad you were born. You are gift like no other. It is a privilege to be your mother. I love you more than you will be able to fathom until you have children of your own.

I am so glad you were born.

This post was also entered into a contest to win a $100 gift certificate to Cottonbabies. If you’re a cloth diapering Momma you should check out the contest and check out the Cottonbabies website.