Last one :)!

This is my last cake for the year :) I'm taking the next 6 months off so we can get ready for the baby without cake stress. I'm not very good at saying no when I get calls, so maybe I'll sneak one more in, (other than Spencer and Mara's :))but I'm going to try to just enjoy time with the boys before it gets even crazier around here.

Todays Cake

Sledding

Saturday we went sledding. The kids LOVED it. We found a great hill, but decided that until the kids are big enough to climb back up the hill by themselves we are going to the smallest hills we can find from now on. Here are a few videos we took with our new camera. They aren't the most exciting so don't feel bad if you don't watch them lol, but Parker has a great wipe out at the end of one of them.

Christmas

So this post is mostly just pictures. We had a great Christmas. We we're going to spend Christmas morning at home with just us, but we decided at the last minute to spend the night at Mom and Dads Christmas Eve and stay for a few days. Kelly and Lechelle were there too so it was fun. We missed Kris and Ginna and Max though :( But it was fun to talk to them on the webcam. To see all our pics go to facebook, but here are some.





Santa stopped by for a visit on Christmas eve and gave the boys some new jammies that Grandma made for them. Parker insisted it wasn't really santa, but Grandpa dressed up, but KC knew it was really him :)

Parker and KC and Joseph and Mary. They were really cute. Do you think KC will be mad one day that we made him be the girl?


The week before Christmas Grandma came over to decorate cookies. The kids had a lot of fun. KC just liked to squeeze the frosting bag, half the time he wasn't even looking at his cookie lol. Parker was very careful decorating his, it was really cute. Here he is showing off his work, some with a little help from Grandma ;)

Update

Not to much has been going on here, but I thought I'd better do a quick update since its been a few weeks. I got the last cake done, sorry no pic, the photographer at the wedding is going to send one to me so when I get that I'll post it. After that we went to Delta for Thanksgiving. I love going down there for holidays, although its a much different experience now that I have to take my own kids and don't just get to be the kid. But it's still fun. The day after thanksgiving we went to St. George with Mom and Dad. It was such a fun weekend.
The kids got spoiled rotten, I got a good start on my Christmas shopping, we all got to get a way for a few days and enjoy being away from all the busyess at home. While my schedule has slowed down till the end of the month when the cakes start again, Aaron has been really really busy with work and the end of the school semester so it feels like we never have any time. I love Christmas, but I'm looking forward to the end of all the holiday stuff so we can have a few days to breathe.
The baby is getting bigger and more squirmy, its getting harder to sleep now without being kicked and feeling the little guy turning somersaults in my belly. Its fun, but at the same time kinda irritating when I just want to go to sleep. Parker got to feel the baby move the other day through my belly and he was a little worried about what was going on. He kept asking me what was wrong with my tummy that it was pushing on his hand like that. It'll be funny to see what he thinks when you can actually see it moving around a bunch. We had another ultrasound, the official one for the dr. this time, and it's still very much a boy. I'm getting exited for another cute boy now, and even more excited that there is a good possibility that this could be the last one :) Although every pregnant woman says this is the last time while she pregnant doesn't she? We aren't ready to say 100% that we're done after this, but I know it will be a long time if we do have anymore. And as much as I like babies, I don't love the baby years. The long nights and constant demands are so hard and I'm a little nervous about starting all over again. I keep thinking about how hard those few months after the baby is born are and I'm dreading going through it all. I'm hoping this next time will be better since Aaron is healthy this time and I'm a little more prepared knowing that there is a high probability that I'll get postpartum depression again and I can try to do things to help it before it even starts. But anyways, I am excited to hold the little guy and see what he looks like.
Other news is that KC is almost completely potty trained now!!! It's been slow going since my last post about it, he went through a lot of cycles of wanting to do it, and then not caring at all, so we didn't really work on it too much. But last week he got really interested again and was telling me he had to go a lot, and not just for poo poo this time. I don't know what it is with my kids, but they hate poopy diapers and first thing they learned with the potty training is pooping on the potty. I am so thankful for that! But now KC no longer wanted wet diapers either and was getting excited about the potty. So I decided to just start putting him in his underwear to see how he did and he's been great!! We even went out for 4 hours tonight and he was in underwear the whole time! He even went on the potty for me while we were out without freaking out about the big toilet. He's getting better at holding it longer so we aren't going into the bathroom every 5 mins, and it's so cute when he comes to me and says "Mommy, help me go potty?"
I'm still putting diapers on him at night, I might try in a few days, or weeks, to let him wear his underwear through the night and see how he does, we'll see. I'm so proud of him and so excited to have a few months of no diapers!!!! I can't believe I've been so lucky to have boys that potty trained so easily and at only 2.5!! I know that's very unusual and it's been more them than anything I've done that's for sure.
Tonight we took the kids shopping and let them get each other Christmas presents. It was so fun!! At first Parker was whining because he wanted to get a toy for him, but after a few minutes he stopped and starting looking for things Kc would like. He wanted all the big things of course, so I helped him look at the price tags and see what number we were looking for, we only let him spend 5$, so he could pick something that we be okay. I tried to help make suggestions, but in the end he found something perfect for KC and all by himself. It was so fun to see him learn to think about what KC really likes and not just himself. When we were done I gave him his money and he put the present up on the counter and gave the girl the money all by himself. He was so proud, I loved it. It's so wonderful to have kids at Christmas, there's nothing better.
So that's about it here! Sorry this was a bit longer than I anticipated. I'm getting excited for Kelly and Lechelle to get here is a few weeks for Christmas and for all the time off that Aaron has coming up.
Oh and one last note, I talked to the husband of the girl I did the big stressful cake for and he said the nicest things about the cake. They all loved it and thought it was fabulous :) It's rare that I hear anything from someone after I do their cake so its always fun to get a good review. I love knowing that they loved their wedding cake, because after all, how many of those do you really get? It's so fun to be able to be a part of such an important day for so many different people.

The cake that almost killed me

This cake was so much work!!! For starters I thought that I pretty much knew how to do it and so I didn't practice any of it before hand, opps. That would have saved a good 10hrs of work. I peeled the fondant off twice and redid it until I got the pleats to look the way I wanted. The flowers were a pain until I finally went and bought some gumpaste instead of trying to just add tylose powder to my fondant. And the stand that I ordered still hasn't come!! So I haven't to improvise a little to use the other stand that I have, which is the same, only smaller. So I have to set the cake on top of the rim instead of down inside it, it has a small lip around the edge. So the base isn't finished in the pic yet. I need to go get some ribbon tomorrow to glue around the edges to you can't see the boards.
So basically I'm exhausted. My ankles and feet look like they belong to Fred Flintstone, and my kitchen is covered in a layer of powdered sugar that may never come off. Here is the original picture that the bride sent me. I think I came pretty close. What do you think. If this is the picture of the cake you wanted would you be happy with the end result? Obviously this is staged much better than mine, Hopefully I can get some good pictures when I go deliver it tomorrow and have the base finished.

Yay for Craigslist

Our latest find on craigslist. $40. Sweet.

Deanna's Cake

My friend Deanna had a 50th Anniversary party today for her parents and asked me if I could make a cake for it. I love the ribbon that she chose and the way it all came together. It is so much fun to do cakes for friends and family, so much better than doing it for a stranger. So here it is :) I love it. I think it's one of my very favorites so far.

Amost half way!!

Wow I can't believe I am almost at 20 weeks! That happened fast. I love this part since I can finally feel the baby moving around a little and I'm finally starting to look pregnant and not just chubby. I used the timer on my camera to take this picture, and was surprised at how big I look already! I didn't think I was showing that much, although I've been in maternity clothes since about 10 weeks so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But unlike every other pregnancy I haven't gained much weight yet so that's been really nice.


So wondering what we decided about having the baby at home? We decided against it since we're a little farther away from the hospital than we'd like in case of an emergency, that and neither or us really want to have to do the clean up lol. But I found a place that's in between a home birth and a birthing center and we've decided to go there. I'm really excited. Check it out. www.bellanatal.com
We even found a doula that we are going to use and both really like her. So it will be different than the others that's for sure, but hopefully different in a good way. By the way, you should see the birthing tub there, it's huge!!! That pretty much sealed the deal for me.

Halloween

Sorry these pics are so late, but better late than never right?

Heres our Batman and Monkey all ready to do some trick or treating. See the cute trick or treat bags the Grandma Kathy made them?
The donut game, always a classic.

Aaron the pumpkin carver. We grew our own pumpkins this year which was really fun so we had a whole bunch to carve. I even made homemade pumpkin pie one day. I think I've been ruined my canned pumpkin though, I think it taste a lot better for pie than jack o latern pumpkin.Here's the boys before the ward trunk or treat, Kc wore the chicken costume for that.

President Obama

I'm sure I'm not alone being glued to the tv tonight to see what would happen with the elections. And I'm sure there are many of you that are disappointed in the outcome, but I have to say that I am excited.
I'm excited to be able to witness such a historic event and to know that with all that our country has been through we have come far enough to be able to look past race in such an important decision.
Sure there are things about Obama that I disagreed with, same with McCain, and it was a hard decision for me when I went to vote. But I'm glad that Obama won, and glad that I was able to vote for him today. And I'm looking forward with hope and anticipation to see where our country is headed. I'm sure there are a lot of hard times to come, but that would be the same no matter who won. Obama has a lot of expectations to live up to and I hope that he can do it. But no matter what some may say I think this was the right move, even with my limited knowledge of the political world. And I'm excited.

Freezer Recipes?

Cooking is one of my least favorite things to do on a daily basis. So we eat out a lot, and mostly just junk. So every once in a while I like to stock my freezer with frozen meals that are easy to reheat and serve. But I'm getting tired of lasagna and funeral potatoes. So I need your recipes!!
If you know any good ones that freeze easily let me know!! Thanks :)

Happy Halloween

Tonight is our annual family Halloween party. Stay tuned for pics of the costumes and fun.
Here's a preview of dessert

My sick boys

Last night as we had everyone tucked into bed and off to sleep KC started waking up crying. We couldn't figure out what was wrong, no fever, no 'owies' anywhere. Just uncontrollable crying. We got him back to sleep and about an hour later he was at it again. This time we took him in our room, so not to wake up Parker, and to give him some tylenol in case maybe he had something hurting him that we didn't know about. As Aaron was getting the tylenol KC threw up all over me, our bedroom floor, and part of our bed. On my side of course. He did this a few more times before we could get anything fast enough to help contain the mess.
Sweet Aaron helped me get KC's clothes off and mine and get us changed and KC bathed. Then while I cuddled KC on the couch Aaron cleaned up the whole mess, even put the dirty stuff in washing machine and cleaned it.
We got KC all settled and just as Aaron sat down on the couch by us we heard Parker start to cry. Aaron rushed in and got him just in time to make it to the bathroom where Parker was sick, really sick. That began our long night of sleeping on the couch, throw up bowls, and crying kids. KC was up about every hour being sick, and Parker about as often. At least we could put Parker back to bed eventually and know that he could get to his bowl if he needed to.
We had to stay up with KC all night to make sure he was okay and that there were no more messes around him. So we took shifts, but I don't think either of us really slept at all till this morning. When it was my turn to lay down in the bedroom I couldn't help but come running out whenever I heard the kids crying. So finally I sent Aaron to bed hoping he would have more luck at getting to sleep than I did.
So KC's finally sleeping soundly, Parkers up and eating a little without any problems yet. Aarons still in bed and I just got up a few minutes ago.
They hadn't been sick at all during the day yesterday, and still don't have any fevers or anything. The only thing we can think of is that maybe they got food poisoning from lunch yesterday. We ate out and they both had the same thing.
It's so sad to see them so miserable and not being able to do anything to help them other than sit there with them. I hope that we don't have to do this again for a while.

Well, there are no barbies in my near future. I have to admit I shed a few tears when we found out, and I'm glad I have 5 months to get used to the idea of having 3 little boys. So even though I'm a bit disappointed, I'm sure we'll love this next little boy just as much as we do the others, and in time I will be excited. At least I can reuse all those cute little clothes I had for the others that I loved so much.

---Big thanks to Evelyn for stopping by the cheer me up and remind me just how cute little boy stuff is :)---

One down...one to go

Here's the first one, now I just need to finish the other than deliver them tomorrow and I'm done for a few weeks :) This red one was a headache to do, but once it was all finished and assembled I like the way it turned out. The damask wasn't quite and sharp as I would have liked but overall I think it looks good. I was worried about the colors, but I really like them now. I'm excited to see how they have their reception center decorated.

Polls

So I got a little bored and added a few polls, check them out and let me know what you think. The 'home birth" poll is because I'm seriously considering it, it is a lot less expensive and I could have a water birth, but at the same time it seems really scary.
The toy poll because last week I got the kids some new toys and they have already forgotten them. I usually only get them at birthdays and such, but I gave in to the constant complaining of boredom and we went to the toy store.
We should find out in the next few weeks what baby number 3 will be :) so I'm wondering what your guesses are.
anyways, I'm off to work on my cakes, pics coming soon :)

Draculas Masquerade Ball

This last weekend we decided to get away and have some fun. We dropped the kids off at Mom and Dads (thank you!!) and headed to SLC for the night. We stayed at the Marriott by the University of Utah and went to Dracula's Masquerade Ball. Lots of people were dressed up, we should have, it would have been fun, maybe next time. The show was great and so was the food. The hotel was nice till we tried to sleep. The nice feathery bed was deceiving. When you first lay down it seemed so soft and cozy, but after about 10 mins in any position you started to get achy and had to move. So we both tossed and turned all night, but oh well. It was still fun, even if we didn't sleep much. The next morning on our way back to get the boys we drove by the new Draper temple. Its beautiful, kind of reminds me of Mt. Timpanogas temple, only smaller and without the big windows. The temple as cool, but you should see the houses up there! They look more like castles, it was incredible. I'm not sure why anyone needs a house that big, they were the biggest homes I've ever seen. And about half of them were for sale. It was crazy.
Then we went and got the boys, who are always so much cuter after being away from them for a little bit. They had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.

A quick baby shower cake I did tonight. I originally wanted to cover it all in fondant instead of buttercream, but I didn't have any made and didn't have time to worry about it so here you go. I had to paint the giraffe a little to adjust the colors after I iced the cake in such a bright pink, it didn't really match. Gotta love luster dust :) I wasn't really sure what to do with the top so I tried to make it look like the giraffe was sitting on a blanket. Overall I like how it turned out, but I'll like eating it even more tomorrow at the shower :)

This cute little guy is modeled after one I saw at Cake Camp. When I saw the ones there I so wished that I had taken the class, but I did take pictures was happy to find that it wasn't that hard to replicate. It's not as good as the original of course, but I think it's pretty cute. This guy gets to sit atop a baby shower cake I'm making this weekend.

Still here

Here is a peak at what I'll be doing next week with one of the wedding cakes I have sceduled. It looks a lot better in person, and when it's all done I'll try to get a better pic.

And here is my new toy!!!! A pasta roller attachment for my kitchen aid! I'm so excited, I've wanted one for a long time, it'll be great when doing cakes and I need to roll the fondant or gumpaste out thin and make sure it's all the same. :)

Over the next few months I have 5 cakes, all very different and unique so I'm excited for the new additions I'll have for my portfolio. Not much else is going on, just the same everyday stuff. We're looking forward to Halloween and the start of all the fun holidays, hopefully we survive them with everything else there is to do.

It's raining cake!

I don't know what's going on but so far today I've received 3 calls about wedding cakes! This month is starting to look crazy already with appointments and a cake at the end of the month. And next month I could have 3 weddings! And the best part is they are all for different dates when I am actually available. Good thing I'm feeling better or I might go crazy. I've even had a few requests for cakes next spring, too bad I'm having a baby right then. One girl wants one in June, hmmm, tempting, I wish I could tell now how I'd be feeling then and if I'll have a good patient baby or a cranky one needing lots of attention. But I'm so glad for all the calls, even if I end up only doing 1 or 2 of them it still helps a ton. Maybe I'll even make enough to buy my hubby a christmas present that he doesn't have to pay for!

And I got a haircut today! And what do you know, my stylist is getting married in a few months and is looking for a cake, funny huh. SO I gave her my card, hopefully she'll call and we can trade cake for haircuts. And she did an amazing job with my hair :) It feels so good to have it done and not so blah anymore. And the best part was I went while Parker was at preschool and KC stayed home and sleep the entire time!!! Don't worry, the neighbor was listening to him via baby monitor so he wasn't all alone. In fact, he's still sleeping! He went down at 1:00 and it's almost 5! What a nice afternoon this has turned out to be.

I love Fall

This is my very favorite time of year. I love the cool crisp air and the colors on the trees. I love being able to open all the windows during the day and get a nice cool breeze through the house. I love the pumpkins growing in my yard. I love wearing cozy sweaters and snuggling in a blanket.

Sunday we drove up Payson canyon and it was so beautiful, the colors of the leaves were amazing. My favorite was the peachy orange. I wish they could stay that way all year round.

I don't like that the sun is gone so early in the evening or that the kids come in the house after playing outside with red checks and noses. But at least I can put them in a warm bath and give them hot chocolate and who doesn't love that?

More than anything I love that the start of fall this year means that I am almost done with my first trimester of pregnancy and that soon I can't stop worrying so much over every ache and pain. And just maybe that means that soon there will be an end to feeling like I'm not going to be able to stay awake long enough for my kids to eat their lunch, or not being able to open the refrigerator without being overwhelmed by all the smells and so giving in again to eating toast just because it has no strong flavors and usually doesn't result in indigestion. Although oddly enough bagels do. Yesterday I was given a glimpse of what it was like to feel somewhat normal again, a tender mercy form the Lord I'm sure. While my boys were sick I felt better than I have in weeks, I got all the laundry done, my bathroom cleaned, and made enough potato soup to last for a month. And most importantly of all, while kids were throwing up and I was cleaning it up I didn't get nauseated by it one bit. Days like that are few and far between, but when they come they are so wonderful. I know that the sickness is a good sign that my body is doing what it is supposed to do right now, and for that I am grateful. And I am grateful that the Lords timing is so much better than my own so that I didn't feel like this over the beginning of summer when I had lots of cakes and things to do. And that now when I'm overheating I can open the window instead of having to turn on the air conditioning (which has not been very nice to our electric bill).

Anyway, I love the fall and most of all Halloween. I'm ready to get out all the decorations and make fun crafts with the kids. And I can't wait for the trick or treaters this year. This is the first year we're living in a regular neighborhood so I hope that means we'll get a lot. Parkers already trying to teach KC all about how they get to dress up and people will give them candy. Holidays are a million times better when you have your own little kids to watch enjoy them. Its a great excuse to have fun with them all over again.

Have a happy fall!!

College Bound, we hope

We'll it's official, the boys now each have their very own college savings plan. Hopefully they'll go to college one day, and even though we probably won't be able to save enough to pay for all of it, at least we'll be able to help a little bit. So we started up a 529 educational savings plan for each of them. One way that we are hoping to be able to contribute more to it is by asking their grandparents to donate to it at Christmas and birthdays instead of buying toys. They have enough stuff as it is, and this way it's helping build a better future for them instead of just cluttering up their room. (and contributions are tax deductible) So one day they may think we're pretty lame if they find out we told grandmas and grandpas not to buy lots of toys, but hopefully later they'll appreciate it when they don't have to worry so much about how to afford an education. If you want some info so you can open one for your kiddos go to this site to look at all the plans for each state or click on the picture for Utah's plan. One of the great things is that you can change the beneficiary anytime, as many times as you want, so if one kid doesn't use it you can give it to another or use it for yourself, or any other family member down the road.

The Joy of Motherhood

Today i was awoken at 5:00am by Parker, in my room, trying to hold back his vomit as he told me his tummy was hurting. I got him to RUN and he managed to make it to the bathroom. I got him a throw up bucket for his bed and a few towels and tucked him back in. An hour later he's back telling me that he still feels sick. Then an hour later he's hungry. We gave him some water and within minutes it was coming right back up. Then after asking Aaron not to feed him anything I went into their room to get KC some clean pants since those pull ups make for terrible overnight diapers and I found a nice puddle of vomit on KC's bed. Oh well, I guess you can't sign up to be a mother and only get to enjoy the hugs and kisses, you also get to clean up the puke and try to soothe upset tummies.

We thought that KC might have the chicken pox, but luckily the spots he was getting seem to be some other sort of rash. Turns out our neighbor friend that we tended last week has had roseola, and Parker's friend at school has had the flu. Looks like we get to enjoy a nice combination of the 2.

At least now the boys are down to my energy level and we can all lay on the couch together and relax. This is going to be a really great day.

Cake and crazy kids

Here's the cake I made this week, unfortunately my photography skills are not so hot so the pictures aren't very good, it doesn't help that they had the reception in the cultural hall with its beautiful walls for a backdrop and a nice plastic blue table cloth.

Aaron made apple crisp today. I just have to say that my mother in laws homemade apple pie filling is one of the best things in the whole world. mmm, I can't wait to eat some more...

Our trip to the zoo

Saturday we went to the zoo. Grandpa got to come with us and it was a lot of fun. It wore me out a little more than I thought it would and I've been feeling pretty lousy today, but it was worth it. The kids had a great time.
Sorry, I don't know why the last part is underlined and blue, blogger is being weird, and it won't let me move any of the pictures or add any text by them. urgh.

Max the giraffe pics are for you!! :)