me time

When you become a mom there seems to be this imaginary 'thing' that tells you to feel guilty when you are not with your kids, whether that is leaving them at daycare while you are at work, leaving them with grandparents while you go out for an evening, or even watching TV while they are still awake (I know...OMG how dare you, right?)  Eventually you begin to realize that even though "Mommy Guilt" is probably going to be a permanent emotion that rears its ugly head daily, finding ways to get your "me time" should not be one of the things that causes it.

Now, I absolutely LOVE spending time with my kids and I love taking them places with me and getting to experience new things through their little eyes (Cayden was 2 before I left him overnight and that was only because I had no choice), I have also learned that spending time alone or just time out without my kids helps to make me a better mom.  Everyone needs a little bit of time to re-charge and have fun without having to carry an extra diaper in their purse.  Last week I got a chance to sleep all night without having to listen for someone yelling at me that they need to go pee, I got to go out for dinner without having anyone throwing food all over the floor after having already smashed it all over the table, I got go shopping without worrying about little hands tipping over a mannequin or massive display and I got to catch up with friends I haven't seen in a very long time.  It was a fantastic week (despite the fact that I was away for work) and, the best part?  The excited squeals of my beautiful, smiling babies when I came home. 

So following my great week alone, I got to have an even greater week with my family.  And, of course, we went to the zoo!




Cayden and I had a coffee date with some friends while Harper napped.

The bears are our favorite!

You can't go to the zoo without using the giant lion water fountain.

too fast

Last week was Cayden's first day of school (...tear...) and for the most part it went relatively smooth.  I managed to choke back all my feelings and the tears that went along with them as I walked my baby (MY BABY) up to the school and into his classroom for his very first day as a big kid.  His teachers are very kind, intelligent and obviously know what they are doing because he has left each day happy, excited and yes, definitely more grown up than when we left him there only a few hours earlier.  He even made sure to tell me (more than once I might add) that he is a big kid. 

When you have your first baby (and with every baby thereafter) people tell you over and over again how quickly time flies when your children are young.  Even though you hear what they are saying you can't fully understand it until you are actually a parent, holding your new baby in your arms, telling them that you will do everything you can to make sure that they are always safe, happy and healthy, and hoping with all of your being that all those people are WRONG.  Well, they are not wrong and time does fly by so incredibly fast that on their first day of school you feel like it was just yesterday that you were holding them in your arms and wishing that time could just stand still for a little while. 

So, to my baby boy, my first born, please try not to grow up too fast.  I love watching you grow and learn new things and become the amazing man I know that you are meant to be but I am still your mom and I will still hold on as tight as I can to every moment, every hug, every "I love you" for as long as I can.  And, as we reach other milestones in your life and you continue to grow up I will not be able to choke back any of my feelings or the tears that go along with them.

 

 

party planning obsession

Knowing that weekend in June was coming where I would have lots to do for G&G's 50th anniversary and Harper's 1st birthday to prepare for my life became completely consumed with crafting project, baking, party planning and preparing (view post on my life consumed).  In fact, I started creating my decorations for each party about 6 weeks ahead of time.  I know that I promised lots of pictures (in this post) and never really delivered but I am now going to fulfill that promise.

1st
 baking: Growing up my mom was always the mom who would stay up until the wee hours of the morning baking and frosting homemade cookies for my brother and I to take to school because she hated the thought of us bringing store-bought goodies.  At times it was slightly embarrassing and as a kid in school with lots of much, much more wealthy kids all I wanted was to bring store-bought cookies or cupcakes.  Now as a mom myself, store-bought cookies, cupcakes or cakes just will not do and will never make an appearance at any of my kids' parties.  Starting with Cayden's 1st birthday when I painstakingly frosted his monkey cake with a tiny little star-shaped decorating tip and now starting to include minor holidays and no special occasion at all.  Here are my best creations:





Cayden's 1st birthday - awesome monkey cake (with my own buttercream frosting)

Baby shower cake for Becky's alphabet themed party (made from scratch cake with my buttercream frosting and covered with my own white fondant and Brenda's homemade chocolate letters)

 

Cayden's 2nd birthday - race car theme complete with my own little race car driver and a yummy Lightning McQueen cake (made from scratch yellow cake with my own buttercream frosting and red fondant).

Cayden's 3rd birthday - dinosaur theme everything (cake with my own buttercream frosting)!

St. Patrick's Day (made from scratch yellow spice cake with my own buttercream frosting)

 

Celebrating spring...just because I wanted to try a new recipe (made from scratch white cake with fresh strawberries baked in and my own cream cheese frosting topped with chocolate shavings and a whole fresh strawberry) 

G&G's anniversary cupcake tower.  I made all of the cupcakes (made from scratch red velvet with my own cream cheese frosting and gold sprinkles and made from my special recipe chocolate with my own brown sugar cream cheese frosting and gold sprinkles) and I made all of the signs as well as the topper for the stand.

Labor Day BBQ with friends (made from scratch yellow cake - three layers colored and then cut in half to make double layers - and my own buttercream frosting)

 2nd
party decorations: Harper's birthday party brought with it a whole new obsession with respect to theme.  I do have to say that Cayden's 2nd and 3rd birthdays also carried a pretty heavy theme and I stuck to it well (as you can probably tell by his race car driver costume with his Lightning McQueen cake) but I definitely took it to a new level with the ladybug theme for Miss Davis.

 

Ladybug invitations complete with movable wings

 

Ladybug cake (made from scratch white cake with my buttercream frosting and covered in white fondant - same for ladybug minus the fondant)

 

There were 4 flower pots each with three photos and one more flower. The pots had ladybugs all around them with ribbon around the top and green grass inside.



 

The birthday banner complete with a glittery lady bug in the middle.



Harper's ribbon wreath (thanks to my Gma for all the help finishing it)




The red and black themed food table complete with a cheese and a chocolate fondue.

Harper's favorite candy in the appropriately themed black, red and white colors for the guests to fill their goody boxes with. 

Goody boxes!

Juice for the kiddos appropriately labeled

 3rd
the giant numbers: thanks to my mom's great idea for my graduation and 18th birthday and my Gpa's fine craftsmanship the giant numbers have made an appearance at more than a few family functions including, and most importantly for me, my kids' first birthdays.

 

Now that Cayden's birthday is coming up in October and I only have about 6 weeks until it's party time and Halloween again I have already started thinking about what I am going to do and create for his party.  He decided on a theme so Mama is off and running...stay tuned! 

 



cayden's big day

 

 

This week my little man had a VERY big week.  Tuesday was his very first day at preschool.  From the moment he woke up he was so excited to put on his new school outfit (Thanks Gramma Shell).  I am not gonna lie, Mommy was more than a little nervous about dropping Harper off at daycare all by herself and leaving Cayden at school.  Apparently my concerns were completely unnecessary.  Harper was fine going in all by herself and Cayden was not at all concerned telling her good-bye.  Next up...school drop-off for the very first time. 

 

Monkey had a great time playing with all the toys at the school so when we got there on Tuesday, after hanging his coat and "pack-pack" on his coat hook (and by his I mean the hook with his name on it...OMG too cute), he ran into the classroom and immediately wanted to start playing.  Unfortunately, playtime is scheduled for later and he needed to sit down at one of the tables first.  When Mommy, Daddy and his teacher told him he couldn't play motorcycles we started to see the beginnings of a MAJOR meltdown.  Lucky for all of us, the meltdown was stopped dead in it's tracks when Mommy convinced him we should go and find the bathroom before it was time to start.  When we got back to the classroom he was all about the playdough and getting to sit with the other kids. 



 

All ready for our big day (and of course, all decked out in our Under Armour).

 

We had a little bed-head this morning but hey...we got clothes on and teeth brushed without a fight so I'd say it was a good morning!

 

My monkey man looks so big carrying his "pack-pack" all by himself.

 

As if starting school wasn't a big enough deal for this week, swimming lessons also started the very same night.  Thankfully he napped during the afternoon so that he was wide awake and super excited to go to swimming.  It had to have been a good day because after swimming he told me "Mommy, that was fantastic!"  And to make his day even better, Gramma Shell gave him money to go and buy a toy at Target after swimming. 

All set for swimming.

busy weekend

Labor Day weekend was full of good and bad at our house.  The bad started on Saturday morning when, 15 minutes after waking up I was counting down the minutes until nap time.  Thankfully, Mommy got to have a nice, relaxing night out with a friend (this was part of the good) that ended with a late night stop at Walmart for milk.  I just have to throw this in...Walmart alone, at 10:30 on a Saturday night is a more than a little creepy (bad).  Sunday started off much better and included a pretty smooth shopping trip to Target (good) until we pulled up to the birthday party we were going to.  Cayden had neglected to tell me that he had to pee before we left Target and waited until I was parking the car at the party.  He wouldn't put his toys down long enough to push his button and unbuckle until he had to go so bad that when he finally did unbuckle he peed all over the floor of the backseat (bad).  Harper seems to have caught the cold that I have been fighting for the last few weeks making her crabby (bad), super cuddly (good) and not able to sleep well at all (bad).  Mommy getting Monday off of work for the holiday (good) was just what we all needed before a very busy week and included a great evening with friends (very good)!   

YUMMY!