Today, we drove down to my sister-in-law’s for our nephew’s first birthday party. We got to spend a few hours with them before the rest of the guests arrived, which was nice since we haven’t seen them in almost two months!
From the moment we walked in, Brendan was all over the cupcakes. He wanted a cupcake sooooo badly. Every single time he was in the dining room, he was asking about a cupcake. By some miracle, he managed to wait until the party was in full force, everyone had eaten, and the gifts had been opened. But then, as soon as someone mentioned it was time for cupcakes? The kid bee-lined into the dining room.
The birthday boy, Logan!
When presented with the smash cake, like a lot of kids, Logan didn’t really “get” it. He did experiment by putting his fingers in it a bit, but then he actually got a little bit fussy because I don’t think he liked the feeling of the frosting caked on his fingers. Silly boy; it’s CAKE!
He did eventually take a pretty decent chunk off the side of the cake and Melissa cut it up for him to eat. He did seem to enjoy it.
Meanwhile, Brendan was FINALLY getting his hands onto the cupcake that he had been wanting all afternoon. He was damn sure he wanted Elmo, too. There wasn’t any hesitation in his choice.
Love.
As soon as he was done devouring Elmo, he said, “I want Oscar!” He didn’t get another one right away, but later on, before we left, Melissa let him have an Oscar. After he had a few bites of Oscar, he said, “Now Big Bird!” Hilarious. The line was drawn there, though. But we let him keep a Big Bird AND a Cookie Monster to save for tomorrow. :)
Overall, a successful first birthday for Logan. And the cupcakes were a huge hit with big brother Brendan!
Today was the polar opposite of yesterday. Today, I had no problem sleeping in until 9:30 a.m., as it was completely gloomy and rainy outside. Still, I had a bunch of things on the agenda that needed to get done, so it wasn’t exactly a lazy day. It sure did feel nice to sleep in, though!
My sister-in-law, Melissa, asked me to make a birthday cake for Logan’s first birthday, as I did for Brendan’s first (and second) birthdays. She told me that the theme for the party was going to be Sesame Street, and left it up to me from there.
A few weeks back, when I did Google searches to look for inspiration for cakes, I came across some really cute character cupcakes. Since I knew I was going to be doing a huge cake for Poppy’s birthday just one week before, I figured cupcakes would be a nice change of pace. I was right–these seemed like very little work compared to the fire truck cake. The most tedious part was actually coloring all of the icing–so many colors! After that, they actually came together pretty quickly.
Although I found pictures of a TON of different characters in cupcake form, I decided to stick with four of them–Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and Oscar the Grouch. Also, to make sure all things are “fair” among brothers, I had to make Logan a smash cake like I did for Brendan. I decided to keep it pretty simple and pipe the Sesame Street sign on top, to tie everything together with the cupcakes.
A closer look at the cupcakes:
All of the characters’ eyes are made with mini marshmallows that I cut in half with kitchen scissors. I piped the little pupils on with black buttercream. The mouths for Elmo, Cookie Monster and Oscar are all made out of half an Oreo cookie. I piped Elmo’s fur with a star tip, and his nose is an orange miniature gumball. Cookie Monster’s fur is piped with tip #233, used for hair, fur, grass, etc.
Big Bird’s feathers are done with a leaf tip. I made the pieces for his beak using yellow candy melts. I drew the shape on a piece of paper, then traced it using the melted candy. I let them dry, then used two of them for each Big Bird (one for the top part of the beak, one for the bottom). I piped on Big Bird’s eyelids using a light blue buttercream. Like Cookie Monster, Oscar’s fur is also done with the #233 tip. One of the things that makes Oscar look like Oscar is the eyebrows, so I drew those on using brown buttercream.
And a closer look at the cake.
These were fun to make. I loved Sesame Street as a kid!
Today was so, so beautiful… from beginning to end. I loved every second of today.
Since yesterday was my last day of work and I don’t start my new job until Monday, I have myself a lovely little 4-day weekend here. This morning, Michael woke me up to tell me he was leaving for work a bit before 8:00. After he left, I tried to get back to sleep, but was disturbed by the BRIGHTEST SUNLIGHT EVER shining through our bedroom window. It was shining at just the right angle to render our blinds ineffective. I snuggled with Tess and watched TV for a while to see if I would drift off to sleep again, but alas… I just could not wait to get up and enjoy the day.
I “recorded” my day with a series of cell phone pics. Those of you who follow me on Twitter have probably already seen most of these!
First, I ate breakfast, browsed the web, and then relaxed on the couch and watched some morning television. I opened the blinds for Tessa so that she could look out and enjoy lying in the sunshine. My view:
(Notice my Christmas pajama pants? Awesome.)
After a while, I got up and baked a cake and a batch of cupcakes for Logan’s birthday party, which is Saturday. I won’t decorate until tomorrow, but I figured I’d get a head start by getting the baking done today. While I did that and a lot of other things around the house, Tess continued to enjoy the sunshine:
She was in her version of heaven, I think. (Notice the doggy nose marks all over the window. A good Windexing is in order. Sheesh.)
After everything was baked and some of my “chores” were done, I threw on some workout pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. I broke out my iPod and a pair of SUNGLASSES (yessss!) and asked Tessa if she wanted to go for a walk. “Walk” is a magic word in Tessa’s world. She totally understands what it means, and when you say it, she will jump all over you like you just told her she won the lottery.
We set out for our walk and I was even more pleased with the weather than I thought I would be. It was 60 degrees and perfectly sunny and I loved it so much. I kept closing my eyes and just breathing in the fresh air, feeling the sun on my face and the (relatively) warm breeze. Ahhhh. Days like this are just what I need after what has felt like a substantially long winter. Still, I was reminded that winter is not quite over:
There was still plenty of snow to be seen on our walk. And I know this day is just a spring tease, but I DON’T CARE.
We took our extra long walking route, as I really didn’t want to go back inside. Like, ever. It felt so good to be out and getting some outdoor exercise. Although she is a complete trooper and will keep walking as long as we do, I could tell little Tess was getting pretty tired after a while. It’s a long walk for her little legs!
She stuck it out, though, and we finished our route. When we got home, Tess collapsed into the sunny grass and rolled over for belly rubs.
Unfortunately for her, it was then that I realized just how dirty her belly had gotten from our walk, so it was straight into the bathtub for her. But I did grab one last photo, of Tessa and her mama enjoying the sunshine:
After a bath for Tess and a shower for me, we both were ready to relax for a little while.
Someone was super tired.
In the late afternoon, my sister-in-law, Cristina, came over and we played Super Mario Brothers Wii until Michael got home from work. From there, we walked to a restaurant close to our house to treat her for dinner, since she’s home from college on spring break.
I loved today.
I worked my last day at my job today.
Even though it was my choice, and I’m excited about where I’m going, I still couldn’t help but feel somewhat sad. I worked at this company for 3.5 years, and I have so many great memories of it. It was time to move on, but still… there is much that I will miss.
I worked with some really great people. That’s always the hardest part–leaving the people who you are accustomed to seeing and talking to on a daily basis. Even though you vow to stay in touch, even though you do stay in touch–it is never the same as it was.
I feel extremely lucky to have left on such good terms. My boss and coworkers responded to my leaving by being supportive. They understand that it’s a valuable opportunity for me, and can put their happiness for me ahead of their disappointment. I so appreciate that. Last week, my closest coworkers (the ones I work with every day) took me out to lunch, and gave me gifts–one for me, and one for my unborn baby. :) Today, I was thrown a cake reception by a larger group of coworkers, and everyone gathered to tell me I would be missed.
As I was wrapping things up this afternoon, one woman came up to me and handed me a gift bag, saying “It’s just something for your baby.” I said, “You really didn’t have to do this! Thank you so much!” and she said, “Oh, it’s nothing!” I opened it up when I got home tonight, and inside were three little baby toys that attach to the car seat or stroller. They are so adorable… hardly “nothing.” It was so thoughtful.
After all of the kind words people have said to me over the last week, I feel humbled. It’s nice to know that I was liked and appreciated.
I feel like a part of me is in denial! Even though I packed up all of my things, transferred all of my files, and said my goodbyes, I still don’t really believe that I’m never going to walk into work there again. As I walked to my building this morning, I tried to take it all in. It’s my last time here. This is the last time I’m going to walk into this place in the morning. Still… it’s not real yet. I guess it’ll take a while to sink in.
Again, I’m happy about the choice I’ve made and the change I’ve invited into my life, but it’s still weird to leave a place you like. Maybe it’s extra hard because I never hated working there. For the most part, I really loved it. I had bad days, but who doesn’t? My choice to leave stemmed from the lack of opportunity for growth and advancement. If my company could’ve offered that to me, I probably would’ve stayed there for a really long time.
But it is done. It is over. It is time to move forward, onto better things and greener pastures and all that.
Still, I pause to reflect on the past 3.5 years–on the people who have touched my life, on the things I have seen and done. I think about how all of us will move on. For me, it’s with a new company. For them, it’s with a new person to replace me. Weird. It is really weird to think about someone else doing my job. Especially since I made so many changes to the way the company did things; it feels like a lot of those things are my projects. But now they are someone else’s.
*sigh*
Out with the old; in with the new.
I am ready for the future. But I will never forget the past.
So, we’re expecting a baby.
In other words, this is the real reason I’ve sucked at blogging (and sucked at life) for the last two months. At least it’s a good excuse, right?
I’ve been tired. Really, really, really tired. But I’ve noticed an improvement the past few weeks, and things are looking up from here. I think I’m coming out of the first trimester funk and entering into the “magic” that is supposed to be second trimester.
I’m sitting here now, trying to figure out how the hell to condense the last eight weeks into a coherent post. And well, I don’t think I can! Even though much of what I’ve been up to has been boring as hell, there still seems to be much to talk about. I guess we can start with what are probably the frequently asked questions. These are the ones I’m getting from people in real life, and the answers:
How far along are you? When did you find out? I am 12 weeks pregnant. We found out on January 12, when I was a little over 4 weeks pregnant.
12 weeks already?? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?? We told parents and siblings pretty much right away (more about that later!). For everyone else, we decided we wanted to wait until we were further along, when the risk of miscarriage was minimized. It’s not that we didn’t want to tell people, it’s just that we didn’t want to un-tell. We ended up spilling the beans to a few close friends along the way, but it was kind of on a “need to know” basis. We didn’t even tell our grandparents until now! It was a hard secret to keep, but I still think it was the right decision for us.
How are you feeling? I’m feeling really good these days. I have been really lucky, as I had virtually no morning sickness. I had a few weeks around 7-9 weeks when I felt like total garbage, but I soon discovered that it was my prenatal vitamins, not pregnancy, that were making me ill. As soon as I switched to taking them right before bed (instead of with breakfast), I felt like a new woman.
Was this planned? Yes, it was. Very much so. This baby has been wanted for a while.
Are you going to find out the sex? Nope! We like the idea of keeping it as a surprise for delivery day. Everyone is going to have endure the suspense until September.
Do you have names picked out? We’re about 99% sure we do. But guess what? We’re not sharing that before the birth, either. I know, I know. We are evil. Believe me, we’re already getting grief from family and friends about our level of secrecy, but oh well! :) Everyone will survive, I assure you.
Have you had any cravings? Mustard. Traditional yellow mustard. I’m in love with it right now.
Are you showing? Not really. I’ve just started to notice some slight changes in my abdomen, but it’s not visible to anyone else yet. I’m not wearing maternity clothes yet, though my pants are starting to feel tight in the afternoons (after I eat lunch). Hello, bloat! I’m just waiting for the day when I wake up and can no longer button my pants. It’s coming, I can feel it.
I think that probably covers the basics. Let me know if I’m forgetting anything. :) I want to point out now that I have no intention of turning this into a “baby blog,” so I hope that those of you who don’t give a crap about babies will still visit me! With that said, I’ve never placed this blog in any sort of category at all; I’ve always just posted about what’s going on with me, my thoughts, what I’m cooking, what I’m working on, etc. So it’s only natural that I’ll be posting about the pregnancy/baby on a pretty regular basis. Especially in the next week or two, since I’m sort of making up for lost time! Please bear with me as I work out a balance between the “old me” and the “current me.”
Thank you for all of the congrats messages on my announcement post! It is really overwhelming to receive messages from so many well-wishers. It is nice to know that there are people out there, aside from our family and friends, who care.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
