Cake for an Accountant

A couple weeks ago I got an e-mail from a bloggy-friend asking if I was way too pregnant to do a cake for her dad's accounting firm. She wanted to surprise them with a tax-themed cake to celebrate the close of their tax season.

She sent me this picture and said, "Am I crazy? Can this be made into a cake?"


My first thought was, 'You might be a little bit crazy, but I'm up for it.' I like craziness - when it comes to cakes. Not when it comes to people. I'm a little tired of inconsiderate, crazy people. But that's a different post.

So after a little time in front of the computer staring at this picture, I decided gumpaste was the best way to go. I got to work making 'sheets of paper' and the desk calendar.

I soon realized that there was no way I could make that much 'paper,' because it would have been way too heavy and impossible to transport. So I had to settle for a much shorter stack.

I regret not making the top of the cake a tan color, like the top of a desk. Maybe if I weren't pregnant, that thought would have come to me before putting all the gumpaste in place. Oh well.

Camille came and picked the cake up yesterday and brought me a 'thank you' gift. Totally, totally unexpected and completely unnecessary of her, but very much appreciated. It was a baby gift for the new little one - some very cute onesies, jumpers and pants. Thanks again, Camille, and it was so nice to meet you!

Belly Shots, Finally!

Yeah, we almost waited too late. Waiting until your 9th month is kind of pushing it (no pun intended). The belly isn't quite as cute when it's humongous and your belly button looks like it could unravel at any moment, letting everything out.

What if that's how we had babies? Seems fairly logical. I mean, it sounds gross and unusual, but if that were the norm, think about what we'd say if someone said, "Hey, what if when you had a baby, instead of your belly button opening up it had to go down and come out your *you know what.*" I think we'd have quite a reaction to that.

I almost kept that thought to myself, and I'm sorry if you think I should've. I decided to share, though, because this whole blog started out as just an extension of my journal. I feel like I used to just write about whatever was on my mind, but over time I have begun to edit myself too much. So, there you go. Unedited.

Anyway....

Even though it was a little late, we still got together with Greg and got some nice shots of Bennett and the Belly. I just really wanted to make sure that I had a photo of him with this little one before he enters the world.

Greg is still working on some of the shots, but here are a few I can go ahead and show you:

I love, love, love them. I'll post some more when he gets them to me.

For now, go check out his other stuff at http://www.gregmcleodphotography.com/. I'm so proud of him. :)

High Hopes for 2011

So my mind is completely filled to the brim again. What's new?

For the last... hmm... three years (?) my mom and cousin have been saying that this year is going to be a great year. Well, no, this year is going to be the great year. Okay, that didn't happen either. Maybe it'll be this year. I know it's at least been since '07, because I remember that '07 was going to be 'heaven.' And '08 was going to be 'great.' '09 was going to be 'divine.' I don't know about Sandi, but it hasn't exactly worked out that way for my mom - or any of our family.

I think I can honestly say that in 2010 'we're on the mend' and 2011 will be.... think of something creative..... nope. Can't. 2011 is going to be good.

"Bye Hooth!"

I don't have much time tonight. I actually just woke up in Bennett's bed and had to remove myself from his room. I had good intentions of leaving his room after just a few minutes of lying down with him.... but apparently I was tired. Because an hour and a half later, here I am. And I'm still tired. And I need to write a blog post about this whole bedtime transition thing we're going through. It's been a nightmare.

But for now, let's talk about hoothes. That's two syllables, in case you didn't know. Well, let's just let Bennett show you how it's pronounced.

We went to our niece's birthday party this past weekend and Bennett got to experience hoothes for the first time. We also got to eat cake. I'm not sure which he talked about more for the next few days.

And then we came home and played with the leaf blower:

Libby Lou's Nemo Cake

We call Elizabeth Libby Lou quite often. I think Cici's mom is the one that started it, and it kind of stuck. Anyway, she turned 2 the last week in March, and Greg and Cici had a little get-together for her next door.

I had called them mid-March and offered to make a cake for her birthday. Any chance to make a cake and be creative - I love it. So they said they'd like for me to do her cake. I called Mama and told her, and we talked about how it'd be fun to do something girly (since we're used to doing Bennett's 'boy' stuff). Mama was thinking pink and purple and frilly things.

Well, I talked to Cici a little bit later and she said they were thinking Nemo since Elizabeth really enjoys that movie. Hmmm.... not exactly girly. Not totally boyish either, but blues and oranges instead of pinks and purples.

Of course I had no problem with that, but I was determined to make it as girly as I could. So I got online and found a few cakes that gave me good ideas. One in particular was really great and to me, pretty girly. I did a lot of copying this time. My mind is about gone. Remember this and this? Yeah. I'm done with thinking until May. So I got busy pretty much re-creating this one cake I found online. It does make me feel better that this woman admits to copying a couple other cakes she found online too.

So without further ado, here is the final product:


Greg got some nice shots of the birthday party (and some better shots of the cake), but I don't have any of them yet. Maybe I'll update this later on with some of the pictures.

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

I have been so slack lately with these blog posts, and the ones I have managed to get up in the last couple of months have been very picture deprived. So, here is a big, long update in picture form. Enjoy!

Enjoying a cup of water with his bear friend.

This is the crew. Greg and Cici recently moved in next door to us, so Bennett gets to spend lots of time with Malia and Elizabeth. And of course, Stewie is always nearby.

Bennett with Pop and Gigi back in March.


They snapped a nice shot of the three of us. Might be one the last of these!


I was out of town for a few days at the end of March/beginning of April, so Pop and Gigi came to help out with Bennett. They were able to attend the Mexican Fiesta at Montessori.


Ms. Lupe (Pee-pay, according to Bennett) helping Bennett with his turn at the pinata.

After the pinata, they came inside to chow down on homemade Mexican cuisine.

The same week, they had an Easter egg hunt that I had to miss. Josh was able to go, but unfortunately got there right as they had finished the hunt. He did hang out a little while and got some pictures of Bennett on the playground.

Apparently he wanted to join another class's Eater egg hunt.

And was ready for his nap?

The other night we had an impromptu dance party in our driveway. Well, not exactly a dance party, but we had a good time. Josh and Greg had been brewing that day, and Greg had set up his sound system so they could enjoy some tunes while they brewed. Me and Cici and the kids went to eat pizza and when we got back, we all hung out in the driveway and enjoyed the music and each other's company.

I like this picture of Bennett's first cousin, Elizabeth. Isn't she pretty? She has some injuries too - I heard she tried to do a somersault down (or was it up?) some brick steps earlier that day. She and Bennett stay scratched up.

And of course, Big Mama.

Check out that belly! Only 4 more weeks!

The Easter Bunny was a little late this year. He got there Easter Sunday morning, but he did not make it to Bennett's room before he woke up. So the coffee table had to do this year. No biggie.

He brought Bennett a "Too Tall" chocolate bunny. It was a basketball bunny, and Bennett wasted no time eating the basketball right off the front of him. Then the rest of the morning we got to hear, "Ha bee-bee ball?" (Where's the basketball?)

We headed to McDonough for lunch with Josh's family. Lynn hid some eggs for Bennett to hunt. Bennett found this egg on the bench, but on the other end of the bench he found the best egg ever.

A football! Of course it had to go in his basket.

Then he and Gigi went through the eggs and got all the goodies out.

That evening, we returned home and hosted Easter dinner with my family. My cousin Sandi and her family came over and we really enjoyed visiting with them.

Once all the festivities were over, Bennett and I relaxed on the couch and watched the video I took of him hunting Easter eggs earlier in the day.

The next morning I woke up with a nasty bug that landed me in the hospital. Every ounce of fluid that was in my body was out by lunch time. I continued to drink water because I was so thirsty, but I couldn't keep it down.

Mama came over to watch Bennett for us while we were at the hospital. She asked how I was and said, "You could be in early labor." I said, "No, I'm not having contractions; it's nothing like that." She said, "I didn't think I was either when I had you. I didn't know what was wrong with me; but I was in labor."

Turns out, I was so dehydrated that I was having contractions. The nurse said, "Your uterus is very irritable. See those spikes on that screen? Those are contractions."

So they hooked me up to an IV and pumped me full of fluids to hopefully stop the contractions. I responded well to the fluids, so they sent me home after a few hours.

I have felt a little tired and puny today, and my stomach still seems a bit irritable, but I have kept everything down, so I think we're good.

This morning I wanted to take Bennett to the park to feed the ducks. We didn't do that because the park is apparently undergoing some major renovations. The lake is almost completely drained, and they had the playground blocked off. So, we turned around and just went up to the plaza at the end of our street.

Bennett got to watch the train go by, which is just as good to him as feeding the ducks (if not better).

And he enjoyed talking to this city worker. He's very interested in what everyone is doing, and he is not at all shy. Anyone that walks by, he greets. Over and over and over.

So that's kind of what's been going on around here. Hope all of you are happy and well!

My Dear Darlin's Digits

I posted this status update on Facebook last week...

'It's never good when your dad comes through your door in a blood stained shirt, holding your child, and says, "It's not as bad as it looks..."'

...and then I never gave an explanation. I hate it when people make some vague statement like that and keep you guessing at what might be going on with them.

So, let me explain.

Last Saturday Daddy took Bennett to Ace Hardware with him. It seemed to be taking a while and I started to become slightly concerned. Not really concerned, but their Ace Hardware runs are typically quick trips and this one was going on an hour.

It wasn't long after I began noticing the length of their trip that they came walking in the back door and Daddy uttered that phrase up there. He was holding Bennett, who was eating a Tootsie Roll Pop. My first thought was, 'why is he eating a tootsie roll pop?' That's just not something we normally give him, especially when he hasn't eaten lunch yet. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if that sort of thing went on while in the care of his Poppa, but Poppa would have at least hidden the evidence before bringing him back to me, I assume. :)

Immediately after noticing him eating the Tootsie Roll Pop, I noticed the hand holding the sucker was covered in dried blood, as was the stick of the sucker. And so was Poppa's white shirt, Bennett's jacket, and even his shoes had a big ol' drop of blood on them. I think the last thing I noticed was the band aid on each fore finger that were both at capacity and almost leaking blood. One finger had two on it, and it had soaked through both of them. He had several other cuts on both hands, but only the two fingers needed bandages, apparently.

All of this is entering my mind at the same time and I'm wondering what in the world happened???

I never had to ask, though, because Daddy was already explaining. And I'm going to tell this next part without stopping to say, 'and why was he allowed to have that?' or 'and where were you?' or 'and why was he walking around in a hardware store instead of in your arms or in a buggy?' because Daddy feels bad enough, and we all make mistakes. Let's just hope we all learn from them and don't repeat them.

You know those little blown glass things they have the infomercials for that you fill with water and stick in a plant and it slowly waters your plant as oxygen is released from the soil? Well, Bennett managed to get one of those in each hand. Daddy called for him and as he turned, he stumbled. With those glass globes in his hands. He fell to the floor, and both globes shattered in his hands. You probably don't need a whole lot of details, but apparently there was quite a mess at the local Ace Hardware that day.

I trusted Daddy when he said, 'It's not as bad as it looks.' But after Bennett's nap we changed his bandages. We didn't do it before because he was already calmed down and we didn't want to stir things up. When we took the band aid off one finger, it was cut, but not too badly. It did bleed some, but we were able to stick another band aid on there and move on.
When we got to the other finger, the one that had two band aids on it, oh man. Bennett screamed bloody murder as I tried to gently pull the band aids off. As soon as they were off blood started dripping everywhere. We got him over the sink and tried to rinse it. Ouch. Poor baby. And I was starting to lose it, because from what I could tell, it was tissue that I was seeing through the large (large for that tiny finger) amounts of blood. It wasn't a cut going down into his finger, it was a big gouge out of the top of his finger. It looked like his entire knuckle was gone.
We were finally able to get a bandage on there well enough to at least stop the bleeding, but not without getting blood all over another set of clothes.
What an ordeal. I got emotional. I was going to be out of town for the next few days, so I was already anxious about leaving my boy. Add on top of that pregnancy hormones going crazy and the stress of seeing your baby in so much pain. I was a bit of a basket case last Saturday. I had to excuse myself from my niece, Elizabeth's, birthday party a couple of times.
But he's all good now, for the most part. If he could keep from bumping it into a million things each day, the scab might be able to fully form and make him another knuckle. But, you know little boys. I think we've got another good week and a half of hearing, "Oww... boo boo!"