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Friday, October 19, 2012

Picky Eater

Lately RC has turned into a picky eater. Well it's really more so he just doesn't want what we offer him even though it's one of his favorites. It seems lately we will give him his food and he will just look at it and start crying. Generally ends up with him throwing his food as well. We have even tried offering up for him to pick and he still won't eat it.

Suggestions what to do? Should we just keep giving him food and if he doesn't eat it tough, he just has to wait until next meal or snack time? He still is pretty skinny for his age and low on the weight scale so he really can't afford not to eat.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Wordless Wednesday



One of RC's worst days

This week has already been crazy. First I couldn't sleep until 4 am on Monday morning getting only a couple hours sleep. Then that night, I was extremely tired and thought I'd get a full nights sleep. Boy was I wrong.

RC decided that night he would get sick and not just sick like, oh my teeth hurt, or ouch my ear hurts. No he decided it would be the first time he would puke. Lucky for me, it was my poor hubby that got puked on. After his first huge puke attack, we brought him in to lay down with us. This is a treat for him as he never gets to sleep with us. The lights were off, we were ready to go to sleep and we hear that sound. You know the one. The one announcing more puke!

My hubby got it again, but this time, not just. He ran RC into our bathroom. He didn't think to put him in the shower first so instead RC puked on the floor, then got in the shower for more. When he was finished it was so cute. 

He looked up with a pitiful, relieved face and signed "all done."

He made it through the rest of the night with no other issues. We tried a little bit to drink in the morning on the way to drop the big boys off at school. Just as we pull up...poor RC does it again. I had to strip RC down in the front of the drop off line and spend 10+ minutes cleaning his car seat enough to put him back in.

Poor RC kept signing for milk and something to eat. I felt so bad knowing if he put anything else down, it'd come back up. 

A trip to the doctor was in order. I wanted to make sure he didn't have anything else wrong with him and see if he needed something to calm his tummy. Verdict...ANOTHER ear infection (this makes I think 7 this year) and medicine to calm his tummy.

Oh and by the way, if you want the doctor to come faster when you are waiting for him, just have your 18 month old scream for 15 minutes while he is in with another patient and he'll put you ahead!

Yesterday was such a tough day as a mom to watch my son sign for food and milk and not be able to give it to him. He was so miserable and sad. 

Today he seems much much better. There has been no incident since yesterday morning so we are testing things a little more. Hopefully it all stays down!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Hitting, bitting, scratching, pinching....

are just the few things RC keeps doing in the nursery at church. When I got called back today for what I thought was a diaper change was really because he had done something to 3 kids. Church service had only begun 20 minutes or so prior. We had a long time to get through today with it being a bit longer service today.

I was asked if I was hanging around so one of the girls could talk to me today. She wanted to talk about RC and what we do to discipline him, etc. since he keeps hurting other kids.

I just don't know what to do. The advice I have been given so far has been that we need to smack his hands when we to him "no hit." Our thoughts are we are sending mixed signals about no hitting when we are hitting him! 

Another piece of advice was having something designated for only spanking. This reminds me of a cousin that was disciplined with a wooden cooking spoon. I remember a day that my Aunt got out a wooden spoon to cook with and my cousin starting crying because he thought he was in trouble. Needless to say, I don't believe in that either.

RC gets told no, he is starting to get timeouts, but lets be honest in the nursery at church, a timeout is almost impossible right now. There is really no place to set a designated spot. At least not that I can think of and not without removing him from the room which will make him think he gets to leave (which is usually what he wants!).

We really can't figure out why he is acting out. He typically doesn't do this outside church when we are with his other friends. Sure he will hit occasionally when a toy is taken from him. He is learning how to appropriately respond in those situations without hitting. He has hit without a reason outside church, but not consistently and maybe only a couple of times.

At church, he does something at least once EVERY single service...so every Sunday and Wednesday! I just don't know what to do. If we are gotten out of service to discipline him, that really does no good since the whole incident is over and going in almost 5 minutes later is pointless. He has forgotten what he did and wouldn't understand mommy or daddy come in to discipline him. Especially if that disciplining is hitting him on the hands to tell him no hit. He would just think mommy and daddy are coming to hit him!

I feel he may just be too active for the age of the room. The nursery is 6 months - 2 years. At two they move to the 2 - 4 year old room. RC is just go go go, but at the same time, isn't there developmentally to sit still and listen to a short Bible lesson that the 2 - 4 year olds get. Plus he still sticks most things in hist mouth!

What would you do? How do you discipline or did discipline when your child was around 18 months? What would you suggest?

I am about to just keep RC with me during service (which would be a pain since he likes to go go go) but I feel that would be giving into him if he just doesn't want to be in the nursery. I just don't want RC to be that kid parents don't want their kid around. One parent already asked the staff to keep RC away from their kid because RC has pinched and bitten him.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

My birthday celebration

After the whole mad hatter cake fiasco, I was able to start enjoying my own birthday. This year I turned, THIRTY-ONE! After going to the bakery and finally having the cake deal come to a close, Travis, RC and I went to the park! RC loves the park, especially all the parts of the park that are meant for all the much much older kids!

Later we went to Red Robin to get my birthday burger. Then it was time for our double date! This was the FIRST date in almost 18.5 months that we had been out WITHOUT RC! Thanks to one of my friends, Stacey, for watching him so we could go out.

So what did we do? Bowling! It was a great night. I had scored a Groupon for four to bowl two games and share a pizza. Surprisingly the pizza was actually pretty good AND Jennifer and I BOTH beat our husbands in the first game! OH YEAH!

I won't mention that Travis then came back and whooped us all by scoring over 200 in the second game!

Me and the Hubby!
After bowling we went out for desserts at an Italian place. As much as I take pictures and document things...I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of our desserts (which were amazing) and all four of us! Silly me!

It turned out to be a great birthday!

The Most Frustrating Cake EVER

Last week I was sent a Facebook message from the niece of a friend. She wanted a special cake for her daughters 15th birthday. I was asked to do this cake with only a little under a week to plan it, bake it and decorate. I looked at the cake and told her it could be difficult but I would give it a try.

Here is what she wanted.

This would be my first mad hatter cake. I decided to not wait until a few nights before to start this cake as the first run through, so for a dinner with some friends from church I baked a prototype! With this prototype, I had a few issues but all in all it came out decent. For time, I didn't do fondant work, just buttercream. Which I like more anyway!



I think the main issue with my prototype was that I needed just a bit more height on the top cake so that the proportions looked right.

After making the prototype and talking with my hubby about why I think the cake didn't come out right, he decided to let me go on a shopping spree for my birthday and buy what I needed. So taking what the tutorial I had been following was saying, I went and bought new pans.


Happy birthday to me!

So the day came around to make the new cake. I got started and baked my heart out. 


Friday came around which was the day to construct it and decorate it. It was probably the worst day of my life. Because things weren't going my way, no more pictures were taken until....



THE CAKE FELL OVER AND WAS DESTROYED!


This cake was by far the most frustrating cake ever. It's like from the time I started constructing it, it was telling me I wasn't supposed to be making this cake. You can see from the final picture that it looks nothing like the first picture. I had to forgo the fondant because it just wasn't working. I tried going just buttercream with my own design which was working until it fell.

The proportions were just all wrong. The tutorial I was using showed be a good one to following...it was not. The worst advice it gave was using cake pans that were an inch apart and using three different sizes per layer. That is the main reason this cake just collapsed on me.

I'm not even sure how many times I cried trying to get this cake to work out. I felt so bad for the lady that ordered it. Travis and I even drove out to a bakery to see if they had any cakes at all that we could buy and give to them so the girl would have a cake for her birthday. They didn't. I finally had to make the call to say the cake fell over and was destroyed. She was bummed, but decided to just go find a cake from one of the supermarkets.

This cake definitely was not the way to start off my own birthday either.

Monday, October 8, 2012

International Babywearing Week

Did you know there was a week set aside to celebrate babywearing? I didn't until this year! Babywearing has become and almost everyday thing with our 18.5 month old. RC is such a go go go type of boy that when I shop, especially if it's by myself, he has to go on my back or he will be trying to climb out of the cart, reach for things in the basket, etc. Needless to say I spend a lot of time telling him NO!

1 month old in Moby Wrap (not my favorite carrier, but it did the trick on his first plane trip!)
With wearing him, it is so much easier to get things accomplished. We can get in and out of the store in no time and he does enjoy riding on my back. We went through a time that I wore him from about 3 months old (that's when I got my first carrier I really liked!) to about 7 months or so old. He then could sit in the cart and I figured why not let him. Then he got to be more mobile, turning around in the cart and starting to cause problems. Up on my back he went!

The Beco Butterfly II we purchased after attending a babywearing class. You can see it still worked for letting him sleep!
It has been great. Besides getting shopping finished without RC grabbing at everything in the cart or on the shelves as we roll by, it has been a great bonding experience. For me, even more of a bonding experience than nursing was! I love getting hugs from RC when he's on my back or the little pats he'll give me.

If he is feeling sick or needs to be really close I can put him on my hip or front in the carrier and give him that comfort while still having my hands free if I need! I do try to only wear when we are out. At home, RC never gets carried like that unless he is feeling sick, needs me close and I have to get dinner made!

Hiking using our Beco Butterfly II.
I will be wearing my boy until he has outgrown his carrier. Whenever the day comes we have number 2...I will be wearing that one from day one!

My most favorite carrier has been our Beco Gemini! That is hands down my go to carrier.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Lay Me Down

Through my journey, music has been a huge part of it. There are so many songs that speak how I felt leading up to my baptism and and even songs that now help me through a day. I tend to not be able to express myself in words, but through song it can speak for me.

Here is another one of those songs!

"Lay Me Down" by Chris Tomlin

With this heart open wide
From the depths from the heights
I will bring a sacrifice
With these hands lifted high
Here my song here my cry
I will bring a sacrifice
I will bring a sacrifice
 
Come on, here we go!
 
I lay me down
I'm not my own
I belong to you alone
Lay me down
Lay me down
Oh, hand on my heart
This much is true
There's no life apart from you
Lay me down
Lay me down
Hey
 
Letting go of my pride
Giving up all my rights
Take this life and let it shine, shine, shine
Take this life and let it shine
 
I lay me down
I'm not my own
I belong to you alone
Lay me down
Lay me down, oh, oh, oh
Hand on my heart
This much is true
There's no life apart from you
Lay me down
Lay me down
Oh oh oh
Lay me down
Lay me down

It will be my joy to say
Your will
Your way
It will be my joy to say
Your will
Your way
It will be my joy to say
Your way
Your way, always
It will be my joy to say
Your will
Your way
It will be my joy to say
Your will
Your way
It will be my joy to say
Your will
Your way, always

I lay me down
I'm not my own
I belong to you alone
Lay me down
Lay me down, oh oh oh
Hand on my heart
This much is true
There's no life apart from you
Lay me down
Lay me down

I lay me down
I'm not my own
I belong to you alone
Lay me down
Lay me down, oh oh oh
Hand on my heart
This much is true
There's no life apart from you
Lay me down
Lay me down, oh oh oh
Lay me down
Lay me down
 

Car Conversations

Yesterday I picked up the boys from school. KJ started asking if I had some baby things he could use for spirit day today. We talked about a few things the boys could use like bibs & blankets. Then we here from the back....

"can I suck a nipple?"

KJ and I were both shocked with what Billy had just asked. Poor Billy sat in the back with an innocent expression not understanding what he had just asked. Thanks for British English he was only referring to the tip of a bottle and had no idea what the other nipple would be.

KJ explained it to him and I told him he should only refer to anything on the bottle as just a bottle as a whole.

Thank God he asked that question to me rather than going to school today and asking a teacher or another student!

The other funny thing is that at first, I totally thought Billy had asked about a "Soccer Depot." LOL I was not hearing "Can I suck a nipple?" I heard "Can I wear a Soccer Depot."

Hopefully they have fun at school today. I'll have to make them let me take a picture later to add. Both went to school with bibs around their necks and one had a hooded bath towel and the other RC's tag blanket with those plastic loops to make chains for toys!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

First Mad Hatter

The last couple of days I have been working on a "Mad Hatter" design. Also known as a topsy-turvy cake! I have an order for one this coming weekend so I figured I better practice! It definitely is an interesting cake design. So far it has taken A LOT of cake batter!

I read up on a tutorial on how to accomplish the cake. Unfortunately it wasn't so easy or rather it was just a bit more work for me. I didn't have the right cake pan sizes that were suggested, so I had to wing it & get creative with a knife! 

Bottom layer (Not too bad. Had mostly hard outsides to work with so it frosted up nicely.)

Top layer (looks horrible right now due to having to cut the cakes and not having a harder outside edge to work with)
 Let's just say, I need proper sizing for pans so that the cake will frost up easier! This is just a mess right now. I am hoping that it sitting in the fridge will make it easier to dirty ice then I can put it back in to harden for final icing!

I don't know how I managed it but somehow I salvaged it. This cake will definitely do better with fondant on it, but I wasn't going to tackle that today!

My top definitely needed to be a bit taller and the bottom a bit wider, but not too bad for the first attempt!

Quickly decorated so it wasn't so boring!
Top of the cake!

And the best part of making a cake!


ALL THE CAKE SCRAPS TO EAT!!!


Well besides the actual cake if you are the one getting to eat it!

All in all I think I would give myself around the 65% range on this cake. Of course I am also my hardest critique!

Tough guy or do the amber help?

Last Friday our 18 month old, RC, fell at the mall and broke his front two teeth. After it happened, he cried, but mostly because daddy was holding him. He wanted to go play regardless of the blood in his mouth. Just to be sure he didn't do too much damage, we took him to a pediatric dentist that squeezed us in at the end of the day. I'm sure we paid more for that!

The verdict is two fracture top front teeth that are estimated to cost around $500 to fix. Not as high as I was really expecting, but still high enough! By the way I think I cursed myself for not having looked into family dental care for us!

First trip to the dentist. Not how we were expecting to go but he did great and got to pick a sticker! He chose a cars one because it goes vroom as he said when he chose it!
We were told that for about 3 - 4 days he would need to eat pureed foods and nothing at all like ice cream or slurpees (not that he gets much of that kind of treats anyway). We haven't tried the cold things yet, but it was only about a day after that he was eating solid foods. He said forget the pureed stuff, give me the good stuff!

I am beginning to wonder if his Baltic amber necklace is the reason for the lack of pain he should have had. The dentist said the nerves were not hit, but they would be "bruised" for about 14 days and the first several days would be the toughest.

So super tough little boy or Baltic amber necklace?




Monday, October 1, 2012

50th Anniversary Cake

 Recently I was asked to do a 50th Anniversary cake for a friends parents. I was very happy to do so as it gave me an excuse to make a cake and decorate it! I love making and decorating cakes. It's something different from my normal routine and let's me be creative! So here is what I put together.

The cake was a 12" round vanilla cake (and super yummy if I might add. I love eating the cake scraps!)

The filling is a delicious chocolate mousse (courtesy of  the "Cake Boss." It was his father's favorite mousse!)

The entire amount of mousse went into the middle of the cake!
It was decided to go with the rose design with a 50 on top!
The 50 part was a bit of an experiment. I outlined the area for the 50 and then filled roses around it. Then I filled the 50 with gold cake sparkles.

My friend's family members seemed to all decided they should be married within weeks of one another. So while they were getting together to celebrate their parents 50th, Jill surprised her other family members with cupcakes to celebrate the other anniversaries that would soon be taking place!