My Good For Today January 28, 2010

It has not been a super great day.  Everyone has these once in awhile.  It is bound to happen.  Just one thing after another.  But then one little thing put a smile on my face and warmth in my heart.

When I apologized to Mason for not being in a great mood, she said, “It’s ok.  I still love you.”

That statement speaks volumes to me about the unconditional love children can show.  If she can still love me when I’m in a bad mood, can’t I suck it up and play with my kids without sulking about all the wrongs of my day?  Can’t I put it behind me and show them how much I love them by doing puzzles or drawing pictures with them?  Definitely something for me to remember today.

How can I stay in a bad mood with these two characters around?

Snuggling January 26, 2010

Tonight I look forward to snuggling.  My husband may or may not be involved.  It depends on whether he is willing to share me with my new bright pink purchase.  That’s right.  I got a Snuggie!  I broke down…  sort of…  Due to my Staples Rewards card, I got a big check in the mail to use at my local Staples store.  After browsing and browsing through technology options, organization options, and even the Crayola options, I decided to spend some of my hard-earned cash on a Snuggie for me and my sister-in-law.  (Yes, I did earn it through spending money at Staples for the above options throughout 2009, and yes, it was hard to spend the money.)  

When I pulled it out of the box at home, I was elated.  It is very soft, and I have a feeling that it will get softer over time and through several washes.  (Let’s just hope it doesn’t fall apart during those several washes too!)  Since our master bedroom is in a finished attic, and we don’t have much insulation, our room gets quite cold during the winter.  We have a space heater, but it’s not the same as being truly warm.  And I do have a blanket, but after the kids go to bed, I’m often on the computer, reading, paying bills, eating dessert, and/or drinking a beer.  I cannot do any of those activities with a blanket over my arms.  That’s where the Snuggie comes in.  It’s going to be great.  I cannot wait to use it tonight – to snuggle up warm and cozy while I watch last night’s episode of The Bachelor last week’s Thursday night line-up.  I hope Jeremy is up for snuggling with a bright pink blob of warmth!

Thankful January 18, 2010

I know I have written about what I am thankful for many times before.  But this morning, as I looked at pictures and news reports from Haiti, I couldn’t help but be teary-eyed.  The devastation, the loss of life – not only human life, but of the lives of those that survived who will have to rebuild their lives from the ground up.  The stories of those still waiting to hear from loved ones, still hoping for a miracle.  And then there are the hopeful stories – those of survivors being pulled out of crumbled buildings and of the orphaned children whose adoption paperwork is buried in rubble, but who are getting a fast ticket to their new homes and families with the help of government officials.  It’s gut-wrenching and heartwarming all at the same time.

As I sit in my little office at work, I look forward to going home and hugging my kids and my husband.  I am thankful for them.  I am thankful for what we have, for our lives.  So many have lost that now.  I know firsthand that things can be ripped out from under you in an instant, and that makes it all more necessary to do all we can to help those in need right now.  I know that I will spend the evening trying to figure out how I can help those in Haiti – whether it is sending clothes and blankets or money or both.  It’s amazing already to see the outpouring of support.  I am in awe of those who have dropped their own lives to go down there and help.   They are truly amazing souls, and I am thankful for them as well.

I don’t have much else to say on this…  I just know that in times like these, we are all forced to reevaluate what is important in life.  Sadly, so many of us (me included) do this exercise for a month or maybe two and then get right back into the routine of our own little sheltered lives, rarely thinking twice about what we have and how lucky we are to have it.  I hope I can do it differently this time.  I hope that I can find the true good in every day of my own little life and figure out how to spread that to the larger world.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes January 7, 2010

Happy 2010!  The start of a new year and a new decade!  The reality is setting in that the 90’s were a long time ago.   I keep thinking it was just a few years ago, but now that we’re officially an entire decade past the 90’s, I think I need to rethink it all.  Where did the time go?  In the 90’s I was in high school and then into college.  In the 00’s, I was heading out into the real word after college, getting married and having a couple kids.  Now heading into the teens, what will define this decade for me?  Jeremy and I (and many of our friends) will be turning the big 4-0.  That’s a big milestone.  My kids will enter public school and daycare costs will be a thing of the past (hopefully!)  I will be free of diapers and strollers.  Those are the obvious changes.  They are the predictable ones.  But what about the unpredictable changes?  We’re heading into the unknown.  It’s exciting and scary all at the same time.

Jeremy and I like change.  We crave it.  We often discuss what we could change next to keep things exciting.  Ideas have ranged from a move to a new job to a finished basement to more vacations…  Not all are realistic right now.  After mulling over everything ad nauseum, we usually end up with some basic changes that are realistic – meaning in budget and in time constraints.  It is often disappointing to give up on the bigger changes, but we know that things change daily and that our time will come when the bigger changes will be realistic.

Our latest change came to light thanks to our love of decorating (and re-decorating), our love to shop for home furnishings, and some generous Christmas gifts.  Our living room is quite chaotic now, but we’re hoping for our “reveal” to happen this weekend when we get everything back in place.  It’s a small change, but it has snowballed into some other small changes that, all together, mean that we will be able to sit back and enjoy everything as it is for a while before our “need” for change creeps up again.

Changes include:

1 – New bookcases in the living room

2 – New media stand to hold a new TV

(Numbers 1 and 2 required a change of TV location, so we’ll be curious if that itself requires more changes down the road.)

3 – New location for very comfortable chair, which will help define a more cozy atmosphere in the living room

4 – Old bookshelves have been moved to basement to create the Lake Family Craft Center

5 – Rearranged playspace in basement allows for more kid fun (while also allowing adults to get some Wii action in while kids play)

6 – Relocated utility table to help create a more defined laundry space

7 – Beautifully restored window sill in kitchen has created many smiles while washing dishes and making meals.  (Ok, so this has nothing to do with the living room makeover.  But I had to give my hubby props for finally getting around to fixing the eyesore of our kitchen.  I wish I had a before picture so I could show off the difference, but anyone who has been in our house and stood in our kitchen would have noticed the horrible window sill.  Now it is restored, repainted, and wonderfully useful.  Thanks hubby!)

This change has invigorated us.  It has given us a needed respite from the monotony of our daily lives.  It has gotten us off our butts in the evenings to build, assemble, move, rearrange, reorganize, and stand in awe over our hard work.  I love doing these kind of things with Jeremy.  It really helps put more reasons behind why we would love to be in business together someday doing all of those things for other people.  Maybe that’s a change that will come this decade.  ???  You never know!

Birthday Cakes Retrospect January 4, 2010

After Cooper’s birthday party last week, I realized I have done a variety of birthday cakes over the years for both Mason and Cooper.  Feeling as though this last one was the pinnacle, I thought I would do a retrospect of birthday cakes.

First, though, I will ask the age old question…  Why do we do this to ourselves?  As far as I know, there is no rule that says we must outdo ourselves every year with everything from presents to activities to cakes.  Why go all out?  Why put ourselves through the torture of wondering how we will outdo the year before?  As you will be able to tell from the cakes (or cupcakes) below, I have not necessarily followed that unwritten rule of outdoing myself each year.  But I do feel there is a little bit to live up to.

My celebration of one year of motherhood started out with a simple  nod to some fun girly colors.

It was my first attempt at icing bags rather than just using knife to spread it.

 For her second birthday, I took the fire trucks and rubber duck theme and ran with it.

Wilton Fire Truck Pan and different sized tips for my icing bags.

Help from Meema on these!

 Mason’s 3rd birthday came before Cooper’s 1st birthday.  We were still getting through our first year of having two kids.  The exhaustion gets to you after awhile.  Hence, I went with a basic colored cupcake for her third…  No need to outdo the fire truck from the year before here!

Again with the brightly colored cupcakes. Good thing Mason LOVES cupcakes!

Then came Cooper’s first birthday…  We just had family over, so the big grand “First Birthday – Must Go Big” need was not there.  (That will come with this second birthday!)  And there is the whole “second child syndrome” thing.  (Again, we corrected that with his second birthday.)  So for Number 1, just simple red velvet cupcakes.

Sprinkles!

 Are you seeing a theme yet?  Yeah, me neither.  Trying to keep it simple mostly.  Mason’s 4th birthday was no exception.  She did not have a big party.  I took cupcakes to school, but nothing grand there.  And then she really wanted a cookie cake, so that’s what she got. 

 

Sadly Mrs. Fields does not do HSM cookie cakes.

Up until this year, we had done 4 birthdays for Mason and 1 for Cooper – 5 all together.  3 cupcake birthdays, 1 fire truck cake and a cookie cake not including cupcakes for all school parties. 

Following the trend of Mason’s 2nd birthday fire truck cake, I figured I would buy a Wilton football shaped cake pan to go along with Cooper’s football themed party.  Jeremy had different ideas.  The football would not do.  We had to do a football helmet.  I said that was fine as long as he was willing to help.  So on New Years Eve, as we waited for the arrival of 2010 and Jen and Scott, we started on the football helmet cake. 

It started out with two batches of Paula Deen’s pound cake.  Then some delicious chocolate butter cream.

The cut-off crusts from the top of each cake were easily the best part!

Jeremy then got his knife out and started sculpting away.

The scraps with chocolate frosting were a close second, though. Make this recipe - it is awesome!

Finally, after some icing trials, we got the end product.

Go Team CL!

Details, Details…

In my mind, this is the pinnacle of our cake timeline.  This one “takes the cake!”  (Pardon the pun!)  If we go along the trend line, though, next year, Cooper will just get cupcakes.  But, I think it’s time for Mason to get something big and beautiful and princess-y, so I’ll have to start figuring that one out.  Princess or castle? 

In the meantime, anyone want some cake?

Cooper Turns 2! January 3, 2010

It was only a year ago that we were celebrating Cooper turning 1.  And it was only 2 years ago that we were celebrating Cooper coming into this world and making our family complete.

It's A Boy!

The feeling that Jeremy and I felt when they announced that our little baby was a boy was pure joy.  We had hoped we would get one of each, but the mystery was unanswered up until about 9:30am on January 4, 2008.  With a scheduled C-section, I didn’t get to officially hold Cooper for another hour or so, but when I held him for the first time, I was in heaven.  Don’t get me wrong, I had felt the same with Mason when she was born.  It is just amazing that you have the same amount of love for another child.  I didn’t think my heart could get that big!

He'll always be my baby boy.

Cooper quickly had a personality all his own.  I think most parents that have more than one child wonder if the kids are more laid back or if it’s that the parents are more laid back the second or third time around.  Tough call.  Jeremy and I definitely didn’t feel like experts (far from it!), but we were not as over the top concerned as we were with Mason.  There were less midnight meltdowns, fewer frantic calls to grandparents for help, and much more adventure.  Heck, we had two now!  What had we done to ourselves?

Family of Four

But Cooper was just chill.  So relaxed, went with the flow.  He endured his big sister’s overbearing love.  He got through a trip to Disneyworld at 7 weeks old.  And sadly (on my part), he was brave enough to go to daycare at only 10 weeks old. 

Just chillin'

Througout the past 2 years, we have cooed, awed, and best of all, laughed so much in thanks to this little boy.

He is pretty darn cute on his own.

But the two of them together is adorable.

As we say in our family, Cooper is the silliest of all of us.  He is Super Duper Cooper.  He is Pooper Cooper (yes, we know this nickname will haunt him forever).  Cooper doesn’t care what anyone thinks.  He just wants to have fun.  He just wants to make others laugh. 

And boy have we laughed.

The kid is usually up for anything.  He eats a lot, loves to jump and rarely cries when he falls.  Like I said, he is just chill.

Bumps, bruises and scratches are an everyday thing for Cooper. He is often unphased.

As the two years have gone by, we’ve seen the little boy come out it in him. Despite his attachment to a pretty purple wand early in life, he has now become attached to footballs and drumsticks (and rough and tumble fights with his sister).  That doesn’t mean he’ll shy away from the occasional barrette, necklace or…

Tiara...

He is confident in himself.  He knows who Cooper is, and he’s not scared to show it!  That’s why I love him so much.  Such personality, such confidence, and such love.  He is our snuggle bug.  He’s a lover.  He’s my baby boy. 

Happy 2nd Birthday, Cooper. Keep marching on!

Love from your favorite Mommy!