Baking with Mommy

Or what I also like to call, Giving into Cravings!

One of my favorite bloggers, Erin {who is also pregnant}, published a post entitled "Honestly". It was just a little post about things that she's doing right now, how her pregnancy is going, how her son is doing, and some things about her we, as readers, may not know. I LOVED it because seeing how we are only about 6 weeks apart from each other, I'm going through the same things and cravings! Most people reading would read through and think, "Wow, I didn't know she doesn't like praying aloud." or "I unjoined a gym this year too." Not me, nope, this is what I took away from the post...

3. I know I shouldn’t have, but I made a huge cake last night and ate a piece.

Read -- HUGE CAKE!

What's wrong with me? I guess it's called pregnancy {and almost 31 weeks at that!}, but I caved! It was a rainy day so I couldn't go outside with C, Daniel was over in Athens for the UGA game, so it was just us girls and the kitchen! Plus, C had been eyeing the sprinkles for a few days, so I "gave in" and told her we'd make the cake so she could use them! :)

So anyway, we made probably the most delicious cake I've ever baked, and had a great time frosting it and pouring on the sprinkles! C had more fun eating the sprinkles, but she enjoyed putting a few on there as well!

Hmmm...Shee Shee {or what we like to call Sprinkles around our house}! 

Thankfully my Mom was able to capture a few pics of C and I, since I'm usually behind the camera!

She of course had to stir it herself and lick the bowl...I know, I know, please no comments.

The BEST part to any cake!

I just LOVE chubby fingers!...and how she picks one, tiny sprinkle up at a time!

And ever so gently places it just so on the cake...or picks them off!

*We used Pillsbury Confetti Cake, followed the directions as on the box, and used WHITE icing with sprinkles. White icing is my go to, as opposed to vanilla. It's lighter in my opinion. :)

Our First Official "Blowout"

Our wonderful family friend and hair stylist, Brad, offered to do Caroline's first "official" haircut so that I could take lots and lots of pictures of this momentous occasion. We've had a few trims by Mommy after the bath, but nothing major. I was too scared to touch the front in fear of making my child look as though she'd been the one to cut her own hair, not me!

I couldn't have been more impressed by her behavior! She wasn't feeling well, so I had no clue how it was going to go, plus I didn't know how the whole sitting in the chair situation would go either. To my utter amazement, she was a perfect angel! She sat in my Mom's lap, and let Brad do his thing...and now she has the most adorable bang and layers ever! I haven't quite figured out how we're going to keep this new 'do up, but there's time for that I guess!

"Say Cheese!" This is our Pre-Hair Cut shot

Bye Bye! -- Of course George had to make the trip with us!

Her first consultation!

What's he doing to me? 

Don't leave me!

Ok, Ok, we had to pull out the trusty iPhone b/c she got a little antsy in the end! :)

So pretty!

D's Girl!

I know I said pictures of Caroline's first official haircut would be the next post, but Blogger is taking forever loading the pics, so I thought I'd squeeze a little one in for the time being...

I have to share the MOST adorable thing that Caroline is doing these days. She has started calling Daniel "D". Not Dada, Da, or Daddy, but D. Our only guess is that she's heard my call him that, I'm hoping that she's not lazy and trying to shorten an already one syllable word, but either way it is A-Dor-Able!

All day long I hear, "D?" "D?". She just ran into my room (we took an early nap today due to our exhaustion from playgroup), exclaiming, "Oh No! Where D?" To which I said, Daddy is at work, he'll be home later...followed by another "Oh No!" and running to look out the window in hopes that her D would miraculously appear in our driveway!

When she cries, she cries for D, when she wakes up, she asks for D...some Moms would hate that she doesn't call out for them, but me, I think its wonderful! I hope she never stops being a Daddy's Girl!!...and I know Daniel would agree! :)

Beach Bum

Caroline, like Daniel and I, is a beach bum! She made that evident last week during the Snow Storm {that hopefully will be no more} 2011. While a little snow is fun, being snowed in for 5 days, while also being sick, with an almost 2 year old is no fun at all!...hence my lack of posts {there's always an excuse these days, isn't there?}. I got sick last week in the middle of Snowmaggeden -- we're talking coughing up a lung, straining muscles in my back sick and then I passed it to Caroline. Daniel says we are two of the germiest people he knows b/c we tend to just pass viruses back and forth to one another. Just wait till we had another germ machine in the mix!

Luckily during Day 4, I was able to get out to my Doctor's appt. I figured with it being at the hospital, the roads would be in excellent shape, which they were. C had to go with me, which was quite interesting...she didn't like Dr. Weinstein putting the doppler on my tummy to listen to Molly, but then then that's why I brought the iPhone! Handy Manny stole her attention away from us so I was actually able to talk to him without constant interruptions. I have been having quite a few Braxton Hicks lately, usually 1-2/day. I don't remember them coming this early with her, and while I know they are perfectly normal, I wanted to let him know. I'm also having constant back pain and the lower tummy pressure is beginning. She's definitely head down. Again, I know this can change, but C was doing flips until the week before she was born. All's good though, he wanted to check to make sure the BH's haven't pushed me into progressing prematurely, which they haven't, I just have to watch and make sure they don't start coming consistently.

I'm also not sleeping. Today is Day 10 of 3 hours of sleep. Awesome, right? It started prior to me being sick with just restless leg, then I got sick and couldn't breath, then the meds Dr. W put me on made me jittery, and now it's just a mind game. I get anxious about night time wondering if I'll sleep, I start listing all I have to do to get C's room ready, as excited as I am to meet Miss Molly, I worry about our family that is about to change drastically, THEN the night I actually settle in, the power goes out! Yep, I'm talking transformer blew, burst of light, loud pop, etc! It was around 2am when this happened, and of course it woke C up. It wasn't restored until around 430 and by that time our house was C-O-L-D! Thankfully, by the Grace of God, she slept until 9, because I didn't go back to sleep until 6. I am praying and hoping that tonight's my night, otherwise this is going to be a looooong 10 weeks!

I did order C's new bed today, woo hoo! Since that is now crossed off the list, I hope I stop worrying about her room so much...at least for tonight anyways! :)

I have just a couple more pics to post from our time in the snow, as cute as they are, you can see in her face, she's not a fan of the snow!

Why are you torturing me??

 

     Do I have to come out there???                      {5 seconds later}

Being so brave and trying it again! 

I also have pictures of her first "real" haircut -- aka, Mommy not snipping a little here and there after the bath! Those are coming this week!

PS -- Despite what you think, no children were hurt taking pictures for this post! :)

snOMG!!

It's official, the city has shut down due to all the snow today, probably tomorrow, and we'll see about Wednesday. 

When Daniel and I went upstairs to read last night around 9:45, it had just begun to sleet. I got up to look outside at 10:15, and we probably had an half an inch if not more of snow covering EVERYTHING! You couldn't see the driveway, stairs, street, anything. I've never seen it come down so fast and stick so quickly. When we woke up, we had around 4 inches from what I could measure. Unfortunately there is already some ice under the snow which is not a good sign. It's sleeted pretty consistently all day as well, so we're definitely home-bound tomorrow as well.....at least Caroline and I are. Daniel likes to "brave" the elements sometimes, but as I keep saying, no one's buying cars in this weather!

I'm a bad Mommy and haven't gotten Caroline a waterproof jacket (but I saw one on sale at Target that I'll be picking up when I can get out), so while we bundled her up as best as possible, she still wasn't a fan. we were outside all of 5 minutes before she burst into tears, wanting to come back in. 

I got a few good pics {and a video too} before the meltdown began though!

The only tire marks on our street are from ATVs

Please don't put me down, please don't put me down!

Hmm...

Whoa!!!

And now the video that cracks me up!

Baby Parker Update!

So it's probably time I do an update on the newest Little Miss that will be gracing us with her presence in just a few short months! First off, as you can see from the picture above, her name is going to be Molly Grace! We never really made an official announcement, so I forget who I've told and who I haven't. Now, there's no question....everyone knows!

I am 27 weeks..gah!! How'd that happen so fast? I am now seeing the doctor every two weeks until I believe 36, and then it goes to every week. They have been watching my oxygen/red blood cell levels since early this fall. For some reason they were pretty high and I had to go see a specialist about it. They determined it wasn't harmful to either of us (PTL), and since seeing the specialist, all my levels have been completely normal!! Yay for answered prayers!

I'm feeling pretty good for the most part. I've started having a few Braxton Hicks every now and then in the evening, and of course there's my Sciatic nerve that is a constant pain in my butt (literally). All though is normal!

We have started on Caroline's new Big Girl room. I did a post on our ideas here, and now with the holidays behind us, we are in Big Girl room mode! The room is painted, we've bought the rug, and my sweet husband, Mom, and MIL painted a dresser that I had from college. I did the knobs, which I think turned out super cute, and yesterday we hung Caroline's name on the wall! I love checking things off the list. So since the fabric's been bought, the curtains can now be made {hint, hint Cappy ;)}, and we need to find a bed. I've been scouring Craigslist, local antique stores, and PBK. I have my eye on a few, it's really just pulling the trigger and making the decision as to which one. So after the curtains and bed go in, we'll be pretty close to done! We are moving some of her bigger toys from Christmas into the room and then I'll need some things to hang on the wall. I'm going pretty plain with her bedding....white eyelet. I think the Shabby Chic line at Target is super cute and SUPER affordable!

Here's a picture of the dresser:

In other news, Caroline has been under the weather. She's been running a pretty high fever (104 at one point), but thankfully, acting pretty normal. We took her in today for a re-check of strep and while that's negative, she does have tonsillitis. They are very swollen and gross. Hoping she gets some good rest and that the fever breaks soon. I hate when she's sick, although I do love the extra cuddle time. Talking to other moms though, I know its going around.

I also forget to mention in my resolutions post that among the other things I'm doing, I also decided to start the Mom's One Line a Day 5 year journal. 5 years seems like such a long time, but I figured I could write down one thing about my day or sum up my day in one line each night before bed. I've done it all 6 days so far, and am actually enjoying it! Here's to hoping I keep it up for the next 4 years and 359 days!

One, Not Everyone

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:9-10

This past week at church, Andy had one of the best sermons ever {of course}. I feel like I say that every week, but with it being the beginning of a new year, he sent us away with a sort of challenge. He asked us to do for one what we wish we could do for everyone....let God show us that one person, organization, group, etc that we don't just throw money and a little of our time at, but really become invested with and to let God help us see that helping one like we sometimes wish we could help everyone is better then just helping everyone a little. He then told us a heart-wrenching yet inspiring story of a lady named Jane.

I urge you to watch Andy's message this week, and this year ask God to help you find your Jane. As he said, "if we all did for one what we wish we could do for everyone, it might change the world. But certainly, it would change one person's world. It may even change your world."

One, Not Everyone