the cake tasting went well, and I never even blogged about it!

Now, it's been weeks since the wedding and I finally and making time to talk about it

It was a lot of work. 

like 

A LOT

I can tell you now that there were several sleepless nights. I kind of think I didn't sleep at all

during my entire Fresno stay.

They "the internet" said that I should expect and plan for ANYTHING to go wrong

and so I did, and when I made those mistakes I was able to not loose my cool.

even that time I didn't realize I had forgotten to add eggs untill AFTER i pulled 

a cake out of the oven. all these things were fixable because I was anticipating them.

It was my first time ever doing something at this scale and the 14 inch cake layers really really scared me, 

but in the end everything came together. 

I did learn a few valuable lessons and there are a couple things I would do differently 

next time, but I feel like it was a success and I would do it again.

ONTO CAKE DETAILS

the finished product was a three tiered cake.

the top was a 6" chocolate cake with raspberry filling

the middle tier was a 10" white cake with lemon curd filling

The bottom tier was a 14" white cake with raspberry preserve filling

 it was covered in white Swiss meringue butter cream frosting. We made small fondant sunflowers

 that sat on the top tier, we pressed coconut chips onto the sides of the middle tier, and the bottom tier was 

adorned with a brown burlap ribbon. 

it all came together so nicely.

Boys Birthday party and more cakes

On the 5th of July I decided to throw a combined birthday party for the two little men in my life. 

We had some family who were in town for the long weekend and it was just the perfect time

 to test yet another cake recipe!

I whipped up an Angel food cake, so that even if the chocolate cake was a let down

we would still have something delicious to eat. luckily for all of us

the chocolate cake was a big ol delicious success

I was unsure about it because the base for this recipe is a box cake mix, but with extra ingredients

 like flour, vanilla, and even some sour cream added in to enhance the flavor and texture. 

This cake is SO MOIST!
And it's sturdy enough to stack! It would be a delicious wedding cake for sure.

All that's left is for Julie to taste some sample cakes this weekend and tell me which ones 

tickle her fancy.

I'm thinking of making these flavor combinations 

chocolate cake, with raspberry filling

white cake with raspberry filling

white cake with lemon curd filling 

white cake with chocolate mouse filling

and I'll make a Vanilla Buttercream frosting and a Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting

they are both delicious, but have different texture and a slightly different flavor profile.

note:: I realize that I only am providing one flavor option with the chocolate cake, but the raspberry 

filling was such a perfect pair with the chocolate I just don't know if I'll ever eat chocolate cake another way.

Of course, I'll do anything Julie asks for so we'll see what she thinks this weekend!

this weekend is going to be my first time smoothing fondant onto a cake

if I can't get it right I might just have to die so I really

 need you to wish me luck. 

hopefully I can take some pictures for the next post!

Julies Wedding Cake

I can't remember if I already told you about my cake resolution for this year, but I told myself 

I would make 10 bakery quality cakes. 

So far I've made one.

 Considering half the year is over, it may seem that I am slacking, 

but trust me, once birthday season hits, I will have ample opportunity to catch up. next week even I'll be

 making a cake for Cecil and Henry each so we're basically to 3 already. 

But here is my big news

On August 9th one of my BEST friends is getting married!

and I offered to make the cake.

because I am ambitious.

and because I love her.

I'm simultaneously so excited and so stressed about it. Right now it's mostly

deciding on different cake recipes, frosting recipes, and filling recipes, then test tasting them 

all while practicing decorating techniques.

 Also, lots and lots of butter.

 I want to look good for her wedding but I'm afraid I am likely to gain 10 pounds before August arrives.

I've devised a diet plan though. 

Send any and all leftover cake with Christian to work, lest it find a new home in the garbage can to avoid my mouth and ultimately my waist.

2 days ago I made a 6" practice cake. It was a  made from scratch White cake 

that would be sturdy enough to stack, and by golly I found a winner. 

It was definitely better the next day.

That could have been because it had gone fully back to room temperature (cakes are never

 as good when cold) but I also suspect that the lemon curd filling had time 

to get acquainted with those cake layers. And that frosting had turned into creamy clouds of vanilla.

 So basically,
my morning slice for breakfast was a much more dreamy bite then the freshly finished, still slightly chilled cake from the night before.

I did start to stress out when it came to frosting the cake and making perfectly smooth sides and 

sharp edges from the top. I got as close as I could to a 

perfect professional look but still wasn't happy with it so I turned to the Internet.

 The source of all things helpful when you just want to know how to do things yourself.

 I watched a couple You Tube tutorials and realized which tools I would need to get a better finished product. 

So here is to my first successful cake recipe testing and hoping for more of the same for my Chocolate cake trial this weekend.

updates to follow...

Switching Gears

I've been thinking a lot about this blog and how it just isn't very cohesive or interesting... even for me. 

I've been so uninspired by it and in return am uninspired to post anything. 

I wondered why this was, because I've been writing online journals since high-school and used to have no trouble feeling satisfied with the things I had to say and the way those things layed out on the screen. Then, last night, I went and read some old posts on my old live journal account, and it all made me super nostalgic. I noticed that my posts were completely random but they had a common theme : 

"what is on my mind riiiiight now"

I realized that that is still kind of how I've been writing posts with one important difference... I'm trying (and failing) to emulate other blogs I follow. The fact is, I'm just not a food blog, a fashion, blog, or even a lifestyle blog. That's fine! but I haven't been myself in my posts and it is showing in a really uninteresting way. when I read my recent posts it felt like I was saying things I thought I should say

 it just felt so unoriginal

so uninspiring
so insincere

But I really want to figure this thing out, because I love the idea of having a cohesive blog that I am passionate about. last night while I couldn't sleep for HOURS I thought up a solution. What do I love to do? what are my passions in this stage of life? I mean, besides the obvious which are my husband and our beautiful children, what makes me feel most fulfilled is what I do in the kitchen. I have thought a lot about blogging about food, but because I don't have a good camera or the camera skills even if I did, I've been too afraid to venture in that direction. But I've realized that those things will come in time. in the meantime, I am going to start talking about the things I love, the recipe's I'm trying, what's working, what cake I'm trying to perfect. and sprinkle in little bits of myself and my loves throughout it. 

Hopefully I can remember how to write like myself again. One day I plan to look back and feel some of that good nostalgia about this awesome time in my life that deserves to be remembered in an awesome way. so here's to that.

early mornings

It's 6:38 as I sit here typing, and I've already been up for about an hour and a half. Despite the slight feeling that being up before the sun should be against the law, this is the second morning in a row that I've done this to myself. I wanted to start sending Christian off to work with some breakfast because, as he's proven again and again, left to his own devices it just isn't going to happen. But then waking up at 5 isn't easy for me to do, and when I'm half asleep I don't even remember what breakfast food is if I haven't already mentally prepared something pretty simple. So the idea for morning smoothies was born. Christian loves them and I feel much better about sending him off with a stomach full of fruit than a lame bowl of cold cereal. Plus, Cecil I get a smoothie out of it too! I just stick a cup full for Cecil in the freezer and wait for him to wake up. It makes the wake up grumps instantly vanish.

Another plus side to waking up at 5, I get a couple hours of quiet all to myself. I've been wasting it on Internet surfing yesterday and today, but that doesn't mean I couldn't be productive if I wanted to. It gives me time to reflect and to map out the kind of day we should have. I don't want to make any promises, but I hope I can keep this early morning routine up. I'm going to try to dig up my old camera and take some pictures of the boys today. I found another awesome park nearby and it's my favorite yet, so maybe I can get some action shots in.

Valentine

I know that Valentines day is today, but I am so excited for tomorrow! We Rarely go out, but we hired a sitter for tomorrow (for the first time ever) and we're going to spend a big chunk of the day just the two of us! I love my boys so much and I'd be lying if I said I'm not nervous about a new person coming in and taking charge of them. There are just so many variables to consider. I also love my Husband very much and I miss spending time just the two of us, and I mean more than those exhausted few hours after we've put the kids to bed before we climb into bed ourselves. Our big date is going to be worth every penny we spend on that babysitter!

 tonight we have plans to make a home made pizza and try out a recipe for a cherry chip sponge cake with almond whip. I feel confident that deliciousness will ensue. I have about four hours until Christian gets home and presently the boys are both asleep (Actually, I can hear Cecil playing with his toys, but he's happy and quiet in his room) so I'm going to shower and pick out something cute to wear while I still have time, and finish that love letter before he gets home.

naptime rush

I just put both Cecil and Henry down for a nap, within 20 minutes of each other. That, my friends, has not happened around here in FAR too long. for a little while there they were on exact opposite napping schedules. One would wake up just when the other needed to go down on repeat all day, giving me very little time or energy to do the things I dislike most in life, such as clean our home. But as much as I dislike cleaning, I dislike a dirty home even worse, so in a few minutes I am going to pull on my rubber gloves and dive into the sink full of dirty dishes and tidy up the toys for the first out of 1 zillion times today.

But real quick I just wanted to make a note. Christian and I are nearly done with the most in depth budget we have ever made in our married carrier and I'm just so excited about it! we are tackling our loans with a new ferocity and our savings plan is looking better than ever. we have about 15 pages worth of goals, numbers and really a lot of math, on a clip board we've now hung in the kitchen so we don't forget about it. We didn't have time to really implement it for January, but February is right around the corner and we are like... 2 worksheets away from being ready for it ! So there is one family resolution that is on its way to fruition for this new year.

Yesterday I realized that the boys have birthdays close enough to each other that I could easily combine the two, and throw a big 'ol party for turning 1 and 2 this year! I'll just pick a weekend right in the middle of their birthdays and invite whoever will come to our house for some cake and good times! I tried for a color themed party last year (and mostly succeeded) for Cecil, but I'm not sure what I want to throw together this time, especially if its for both of them. but I suppose that is what Pinterest is good for. Last weekend we went to a 1st birthday party for a little girl, who's dad Christian works with and I was so in love with all the pink and ruffles everywhere. I really really love all the boy stuff we have in our house and when Cecil plays with his cars, trains and his Legos my heart just about melts, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not waiting for a girl so I can unload all the pink and frills I've been denied as I shop through the children's section of every store. Until then though, I've been dreaming up Adventure time themes with play swords for party favors, or decorating big cardboard boxes into race cars, and things like that.

So I guess I should add that I've failed in January to potty train Cecil. Somewhere between the holidays and now I lost my motivation and I've even put his potty chair away for now. What I have done, to make the 2 in diapers world easier, is up size Henry from a size 3 diaper to a size 4 diaper. now at least they are in the same size and we don't have to hunt for what diaper is whose anymore. so there is a plus.

I know this post was kind of everywhere but I guess that's just where my mind is this late morning. 

I'd better get to those dishes before anybody wakes up.

Resolutions

It's a new year but I can barely believe that its been a year since last January in Texas. Sure we've done a million things as a family and so on paper it makes sense, but holy goodness, where did the time go?

Last year I didn't make any resolutions. I think I was just trying to get through the year most of the time actually. I was ready to give birth, ready to move, then ready to settle down. But NOW, I am settled. I'm not feeling rushed towards any one thing and life is a lot more calm. At least as calm as 2 babies and 1 mom inside a house for most of the day can be.

So when 2014 hit, I said to myself, this is the year of productivity for me. and I mean that in kind of a selfish way. I spend the majority of the days trying to be the best I can be for the boys in my life, the little ones and the big one, but a lot of the time it really stressed me out, and sometimes I felt like I was losing myself. I have a lot of things I would like to start doing for myself that are really just for me, and this is the year where I find the balance and the time to start working on those things

So I've made these goals for myself

Make 10 event Cakes this year (if I have no events, just make the cakes anyway)

Stop yelling so much (more about finding my balance)

start sewing those projects I never could find time for

and so this year, I'm going to hold myself to these promises. I know they might seem simple, but that's because they are. And simple or not, I can tell that this year is going to be a good one.

update

I've been meaning to update for an entire month it seems, but with the Holidays at hand time was just rushing past me. I made a real effort to not let myself become so busy that I wouldn't be able to appreciate the holidays, and really it was very nice year. We stayed home which was nice. It's always sad not to have the people we love to celebrate with us, but there is also something special about having just the 4 of us together.

I made an early Resolution a few months ago to become less attached to the electronics in my life and I feel like it's had a positive impact on me. I had originally only planned to do it for a month or so but I think I might just stay Facebook free. For now at least.

Henry is 6 months old in 6 days. I cannot believe that! He's almost crawling now, and really he gets around pretty quick just wiggling and rolling toward the things he wants. I can't get enough of that boy with his wide eyes and big toothless grins. And he makes the cutest noises! Aside from his grunts and snores(which I also adore) he squeaks and coos and it kills me every time.

Cecil is old enough for nursery at church now and it's so fun to see him interact with kids who are his age. He recently (overnight it seems) developed a realization of possession and he runs around the house all day taking his trucks and hot wheels from Henry. It's not the cutest thing, but I'm sure he'll figure out sharing soon. He's an incredible climber and we always seem to find him up on the kitchen table. He loves anything with wheels, and will pretend that just about anything is a train if he can push it along the floor and say "tooo toooooo" 

I'm so ready for Cecil to be potty trained. We've tried a few "naked days" but there has been more pee pee on the floor than in the potty just yet. I think it can be done soon, I just need to clear my plate a little bit so I can dedicate an entire week (at least) to being in full training mode. 

"I'm trying to be brave cause when I'm brave other people feel brave but I feel like my heart is caving in"

I don't necessarily even like the song that those lyrics are from, but that line comes at the end and repeats itself several times and every time it just hits me right in the heart.

I believe that everyone has struggles in their lives that are hidden from the rest of the world. When I can remember that, I have so much love for the people I would otherwise find hard to love. We are all fighting the same battle, just in different ways. I hope that someday we all come out victors but in the meantime, while we're trying to be brave so other people can feel brave, lets all try to help each other out in whatever ways we know how. and know that some people are better at being brave than others, but that doesn't mean that their hearts don't cave in sometimes too.

I had my doubts, but Halloween actually happened this year in the Mears home!

We knew what we wanted to dress the boys up as, but we didn't like the costume selection at any of the Halloween stores. We both agreed that I could sew up better costumes pretty easily. But then there was the matter of actually finding time to do it.

 time AND motivation.

Since I've had my sewing machine (about 4 months) I have bought fabric for 2 projects and barely finished the cutting process before leaving them to the wayside out of a mix of excuses and anxiety about ruining them. I mentioned this to my dad a month or so and he made the absolutely logical point that if I never even try to make it then its the same as if I had ruined it. except I never even tried so I couldn't learn from it.

So as Halloween drew ever closer I got a mixture of sadness at the idea that the boys wouldn't have any fun with the Halloween festivities, and a terrible knot in my gut wondering if I could even pull it off. luckily the first feeling was the strongest, and I made it down to the fabric store with just a few days to spare. I literally spent 3 days (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday right up until go time) hunched over my sewing table. 

there was some definite trial and error. quite a few phone calls to my mother, many google searches for tutorial inspiration, and many moments of overwhelming frustration. But, when we finally took that stroll outside and around the neighborhood, I was so proud of my handiwork! 

I made a few mistakes that I didn't have time to fix, but I'm probably the only one who would notice them. I had Christian look over Cecil's blue shirt to try to find my mistake. it took him a minute to find it, and even then the first thing out of his mouth was "nobody is ever going to notice that". thank goodness for husbands with encouraging positivity.

this was the begining of my trial run. I used one of Christians old PT shirts that he nevers wears anymore. it was actually the perfect color and so I kept telling myself that it might actually be usable. It definitely didnt work. it gave me the confidence I needed though to take on the rest of  the task. one simple pattern revision and the second attempt fit just perfect. when I sent this pictire to Christian he thought my pin container was a tail. I can see it now.

here is the blue shirt. I had used Cecils beatles shirt for a pattern. in the background is the completed second attempt at Henrys costume, this time made from fleece.

And here they are! Finn and Jake from adventure time! Cecils hat was the hardest thing to figure out and even though I was pretty unhappy with it and had no time to try again, when he had it on with the rest of the costume it looked just fine.

What time is it?...

ADVENTURE TIME

Home

Here we are in San Diego and I feel like I can finally breathe. 

Knowing for a certainty that we would move within a year really took a toll on me. Try as I might to settle in and make Texas feel like home, I always had a looming end date in my mind. I spent basically an entire year feeling unsettled, but its only taken 2 and a half weeks here for me to feel like I'm home.

 You could argue that its the fact that I'm living in California again, and that family is close, or even that I'm not pregnant anymore. and maybe all of those are true as well. but I find myself walking through the halls and thinking to myself, "This is our home. The neighbors next door are going to be our neighbors for the next several YEARS"

Four Years might not sound so long to someone else, but right now it sounds to me like Cecil and Henry will be 4 and 5 years old. and to me, that sounds like plenty of life will be lived here.

I'm wanting to make a new start, because I feel like suddenly I've been given a clean slate and I can be a better person if I want to. So I'm making some changes in my life. I'm cutting out the bulk of my distractions in an effort to be a more productive and happy person. I would like to keep up with this blog more regularly because this is one of the very few electronic features in my life that could actually enrich my family to an extent. I think it's good to have your family history written down somewhere, and this is a form of journal-ing really.

so here is to fresh starts and new beginnings.

ask and you shall recieve

my anniversary present this year was a sewing machine! 

I was, and am still so excited about it! its not the most fancy machine, but its perfect for me to learn on. I grew up around my mother sewing and two of my sisters picked it up too, so usually I just had to find one of them if I ever needed something sewn up. However, that has not continued to be true now that I live many many hours and states apart from my family. For some reason though, I would still hold on to things that needed to be fixed. I had collected a nice little pile of projects that I had no way to actually tackle. I tried a few of them by hand, but really, how much can you really do by hand? Not much when you've got a baby and many other more important things vying for your care and attention. This machine is really what I needed!

 My (immensely small) prior knowledge helped me to get in the swing of things and I've sewn a few things already. mostly just cloth wipes for Cecil, and mostly because I'm still learning how to make my seams as straight as possible, but I have been able to sew Christian's patches on for his boyscout uniform (by the way, he's Scout Master over here) and if I get really brave maybe I can sew some jumpers for Cecil and baby Henry 

DISCLAIMER: Henry is not his official name yet, but its what I call him cause Christian isn't giving me any suggestions

2 years

Its been two years already?! I mean, I guess we've lived enough life in that time for it to make sense. we've moved a couple times, had a baby, joined the navy, bought 2 cars (I wrecked one), we're gearing up for another lil guy, and a few months after that another move! (to who knows where). and since our life is so dang crazy I just am glad that I have someone I love to do the crazy dance with.

I love you baby.

Fluff

And here it is in all its glory
 my Cloth diaper stash
 hahaha

 this is all the diapers I own, including the one on Cecil's bum. right now it consists of 17 pocket diapers, which I spent about $190 on  together, 12 osocozy brand Prefolds that I spent about $35 on, four waterproof covers, which were about $40 all together, two fitted diapers from an Etsy work at home mom which were $15 each, and I ordered four fitted "hybrid" diapers that I'm waiting on to be made and sent to my house, which I spent $70. I'm especially excited about these they're from a work at home mom who makes really cute custom diapers and sells from her facebook page, and I caught her while she was having a sale. there is also a neon green swim diaper I bought from kawaii for I think $6.

 I'm pretty much set with diapers for Cecil with this system. all of these diapers are One Size diapers and he has a lot of room to grow in them still so I have high hopes that these will last him until he potty trains in the next year or so. I'm starting on Baby boy #2's diaper collection now. so far I have 5 newborn diapers I got used for $5 a pop, and I just bought 10 more THX brand new newborn "All In Ones" for about $6 each and they should be coming in a few weeks. I'm only planning on buying maybe 2 dozen infant sized prefolds and maybe 5 newborn covers for them and then I'll be good for the teeny tiny newborn stage. I will need to bulk up my one size collection once they are both able to wear them but I'll tackle that when it comes =) 

okay so let me do the math really quick. 

I have so far spent 

$371 on Cecil's Diapers.

$85 on my newborn collection 

so a grand total of 

$456

and that's including 14 diapers that I haven't even put into my rotation yet. I feel pretty set now, and with a few more purchases I will be done. like forever. haha. if these diapers last through all of our kids we will have saved ridiculous amounts of money. 

I was really lucky to have been given enough diapers as gifts, so that I never had to buy disposables until AFTER we moved to Texas, but I quickly saw how expensive they get and how quickly you go through those HUGE packs. Since I've started buying and transitioning into Cloth Diapers our paper diaper consumption has gradually slowed to almost a complete stop. we have disposables and use them only as a convenience if we are going to be somewhere that is maybe less cloth diaper friendly. for instance last month Christian took Cecil on a Father sons camp out so we bought a pack of disposable diapers, and we still have most of that box left to use in the future. 

I really need a sewing machine. before Cecil was born I bought WAY too many Circo receiving blankets, and never really used most of them. So, I sorted through ones I wanted to keep and the rest I cut into rectangles so I can use them as cloth wipes! I was so excited about how smart I was to think of it. I didn't have to go to the fabric store, and they all have pretty cute prints on them! but I haven't been able to use them because I can't sew the edges up. I'm getting desperate now because our disposable wipe supply is dwindling down and I really don't want to spend any more money on them if I don't have to. I'm contemplating just doing it be hand.

26 weeks and 6 days pregnant

I haven't wanted to Jinx it (and I still don't) but I am on the cusp of my third trimester and am glad to say that this pregnancy has proven to be so so mild. virtually no morning sickness, I have a considerable amount of energy still and last but not least I am NOT swelling up like a balloon this time! there has been very slight swelling but nothing at all like last year. my feet still fit into all my shoes and I'm not gaining weight like crazy due to water retention. its been wonderful.

We have about three months to go and I hope everything continues to go smoothly. they're keeping an eye on my placenta which is growing toward my cervix instead of away from it (i think that's the issue). they told me to watch out for some warning signs (including bleeding) but none of them have occurred and we're getting another ultrasound soon to check things out. I have already decided on another Cesarean Section and when my doctor was talking to me about the concerns with the placenta growth she did mention that although it could cause problems with a vaginal birth it is non issue when it comes to a C-section delivery. Phew.

people at church are finally starting to notice on their own that I'm pregnant ha ha. a few weeks ago when I would mention my pregnancy to anyone they always were surprised, which i found amusing.

92 days and counting!

Mini Van people

So since I last updated. I wrecked our car, we bought a mini van, AND probably my favorite thing (surprisingly) we got a washing machine!!

Now you might think a washing machine is probably the least exciting thing on earth next to dusting and probably doing dishes. I felt the same way previously, but after months and months of having to walk down and up four flights of stairs THREE TIMES just to complete a single load I am ecstatic to have the luxury of doing laundry in my apartment. We have been experimenting with cloth diapering and have decided that we really like it. Its cost effective (in the long run) and the diapers are stinking cute. We havent had any issues with leaks any more than we ever have had with paper diapers and its nice to not throw away my money with disposables. We only have eight diapers right now, which means I still use paper diapers probably two thirds of the time. I'm waiting on another bunch of diapers that will double my stash and then i think if i do diaper laundry once a day I can probably mostly eliminate the paper diapers untill i get even more diapers. The washing machine has been a huge sigh of relief concerning these cloth diapers though. Before, I was washing those bad boys by hand. Yeah, it was do able, but it was so not ideal and I've discovered I just really hate washing things by hand. Wringing things out to dry? The worst thing in the world. Especially things that are meant to soak up tons of liquid. Seriously the spin cycle was the best invention ever.

The car accident was terribly terrifying. I had Cecil in the car with me and we were driving ourselves home on the freeway when traffic suddenly stopped. Because it had been raining that day my brakes failed and i drove right into the guy ahead of me. I was pushing all the way down on those brakes without so much as a peep from my tires. So we hit him, the air bag went off and my car spun out onto the shoulder of the highway facing the wrong direction. Cecil started screaming about 5 seconds after we stopped spinning. I jumped out of the car and took him out to make sure he was okay. I instantly started crying out of sheer bewilderment (one minute I was driving home with no problems in the world and the next I was in a wreck). So Cecil and I are just standing there on the highway in the rain next to our crushed car both with tears streaming down our faces. It was probably a sight to see. The guy I hit kept asking if we were okay and he had to remind me to get in the car and out of the rain. (I'm super embarassed now about how absolutely helpless I was) I called uncle Steve who helped me get my car towed and took me and Cecil home. Thank goodness he lives nearby. Christian was across town with no way to get to me unless he had called a Taxi. He was in the middle of class and wouldn't have been able to leave for hours. I didn't really know anybody else yet, so I honestly don't know what I would have done. Dad and Desi came about a week later and maybe 2 weeks after that we finally found a car that fit our want list and was in our budget. we dont at all fill up that mini van yet, but pretty soon its going to prove to be a smart move. We will be a family of four come July and who couldnt use a few spare seats for driving with friends? that is, until we really do fill up those seats with more babies! ha ha

music

 last night I was laying in bed really missing writing music. So I layed there playing in my head a list of possible solo names for myself. I'd post the list except it was a flop. even as I was making it I was getting frustrated at all the stupid things popping into my head. I wanted to do a playoff of my maiden name. "free" and "freedom" kept recurring in every single attempt and they all sounded either depressing or weirdly patriotic. So I give up. I'll just use my regular name. I don't need to get fancy.

We just got back from what feels like a whirlwind of traveling. it was a good visit but I wish I had more time. there were more people I wanted to see, and more things I wanted to do.

Babypie was blessed the first Sunday we were there. I loved loved loved his outfit. guess how many pictures I took of it. NONE. I'm pretty upset with myself about how bad I am about taking pictures when its important. I might have forgot about it because so many people were taking pictures I probably felt like it was covered. but I should have known better.

little man's tooth finally broke through his bottom gums! its so cute, and so painful when he bites on my finger now.

Christmas is really really close and we don't even have a tree yet. every day I tell Christian that if all he gets me as a Christmas present is a tree to decorate I will be happy. yet we still don't have one. its pretty discouraging. maybe today. i hope.

Nasty

I remember it so very clearly. I was sitting down eating my lunch with Cecil in his Bumbo on the table right in front of me. it was a very calm and peaceful afternoon. I never could have guessed what was going to happen next.

I lifted Cecil out of his Bumbo and noticed a puddle of bright yellow sitting in the bottom of it right where Cecil had been sitting. It took me a few seconds to register that it was indeed poop. I turned Cecil around to asses the damage  it was intense. it had come ALL the way up his back, and was even starting to run down his right leg.

I ran to the bathroom and peeled off his onesie. but because it had exploded so badly, taking the onesie off of him seemed to just make the mess bigger

I know this is a gross picture, but I just need you to know.

It was not cute.

It was hard to handle him for 2 reasons. 

1: he was slippery.

2: I was wearing a pair of white pants that I really didn't want to get ruined with yellow poop stains. 

eventually I managed to rinse the bulk of the mess off of him, while filling up his bath tub for a more thorough wash. when I set him into his tub, I even saw traces of poop had found their way onto his face near his nose and mouth. so so so so so so gross. grossness all around.

until finally this.

Clean at last! Clean at last! Thank God Almighty we are clean at last!

crazy weekend!

I had planned on posting a funny/disgusting little story about cecil on friday, but instead, I had a super crazy weekend that I am only just now recovering from I think.

 We moved out of my aunt and uncle's house early Friday and into a Roadway Inn RIGHT by base, and we will stay here until our apartment opens up in just a few days =) It was a lot of hustle and bustle for this lil momma.

I've been actually really enjoying it more than I thought I would! we have more space here and so Cecil has his own little corner of the room that stays mostly quiet and dark, I can put all my clothes into drawers again, and there's free WiFi and cable here! 

P.S. Stay tuned for the aforementioned baby Cecil story. it's a good one.