Shelly Is....

....praying that I'm making a cake and not a cake wreck!

Remind me next time I declare I'm going to make a cake that I could buy one for half the money and 1/100th of the time!!!

17 Days Left of Less Than *One*-ness

Today I finally did *it.*

I took down the pack n play that's been in our bedroom since we moved in!

I remember attaching the bassinet and changing table.

I remember assembling it and folding tiny onesies and miniature pairs of socks.

I remember stocking the wipes and the newborn size diapers.

I remember gazing it at and feeling like it was mocking me as it seemed Ezra would never arrive!

I remember FINALLY bringing him home days past his due date and how little and handsome he looked sleeping inside of it.

I remember watching him sleep and checking to see if he was still breathing and running to his side every time he squeaked for the first few months of his life.

The truth is, he moved out of the pack and play months ago! 

He's been in his own big boy room for a while and I kept up the pack and play just in case....

Well, he obviously hasn't needed it for months so I stowed it away.

I remember putting it away after Maeve outgrew its use and sobbing. 

This time was easier and harder. 

There were no tears but my heart felt a little broken.

And then I went downstairs and he smiled at me and it was all ok.

I read this and wept today for all changes we've faced of late.

Good changes are not always easy changes!

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one caught up in the bitter and the sweetness of it all!

Mmmmm Cakey!

We're celebrating Maeve's birthday this weekend so I found myself online doing "research" into birthday cakes!

I found this awesome design and am going to try to replicate it:

Happily for me, I was perusing this ah-mazing website and happend upon

*the most delicious cupcake/frosting recipe of all time*

Seriously.

I have tested many a cupcake in my day and this was my favorite!

The chocolate is dreamy!

The frosting is divine!

Take a look here and make some for yourself! 

You won't be sorry!!

In other news, it's a good thing I only made 1/3 of a batch because it would be a big problem for me if I made 30! Gah!

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Apart from my cake-y endeavors I did a ton of errands today and picked up everything we need for Maeve's party (since she was happily busy with Granny!).

And, my husband and I have spent the last two hours organizing the pantry and the basement.

I *heart* organizing! I would re-organize every day if I had the time!

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That's it for now! Happy Wednesday and go make yourself some cupcakes!!

A Tuesday Tale Por Vous

We had an absolutely fabulous day!

It was *beautiful* outside and we had a super fun lunch/morning playdate with some of our favorites!!

I am so lacking in the hospitality department (I blame it on a)everything about my type A/introverted personality) and my friend Brie is always so gracious and generous. 

Love her!

Today would have been Maeve's first day of preschool but 

a) she's not potty trained 

(read: epic fail on both my and her end =)

b) I couldn't bear to part with her! I've already sent Amelie off to school---I need more time at home with my not-so-little girl! 

I've really been enjoying my mornings with Maeve. Ezra takes an awesome morning nap and we can play or talk or veg. She will start after the half-year break in February and she will love it--I'm sure!

I was so excited this afternoon because it was all glowy and beautiful outside so I grabbed my camera and my baby and sat him down and *click* dead battery!

2 hours and 1 charged battery later we got a few *ok* shots. 

I'd really love to improve my photography skills. If Miz Boo lived closer to me I'd be at one of her workshops in a heartbeat!

My goal is to take a digital photography class in the next year. I think I might have a few friends I could convince to come with......=) 

So that's it. The babies are crazy and bedtime approacheth!

Tuesday is Glee and special snack night with my husband.

Favorite!

Even though I'm still not speaking with Glee over their "religion" episode last week.

Barf.

I know it's a liberal show and I shouldn't expect anything positive about Christianity but the first half really bothered me. They tied it up all PC like but it'd be nice to expect more than just *PC* when it comes to my beliefs. 

Luckily I don't have to be politically correct on my blog! I can totally say, "I love Jesus and am so thankful for Him and for God's plan to save me through Him."

So I just did. =)

Happy Tuesday!

Celebration Nation

It was lovely to celebrate Columbus Day by having my big-girl home for the day!

I told her the only thing on the agenda was to hug because I've been missing her so much! =)

It was absolutely gorgeous out! 

Between two trips to two different parks the girls were completely obsessed with building block towers today.

This is how most of the day went:

 *****************************************************

*build build build busy building busily

*CRASH

*wail, scream, moan---MY TOOOOOOWEEEERRRRRR!!!

*sign, rebuild, build build build busy quiet building

*CRASH

*wail scream moan TOWERRRRRRR!!! GAHHHHH!!!! WAHHHHHHH!!!!

 ***************************************************

It was a rollercoaster of emotion and frenetic energy.

But we survived....mostly because those five minutes in between each crash were pure happy-girls-playing-heaven!

And that was our day! Mr. Wonderful got home early and we had a very relaxing and peaceful-ish afternoon.

Hope you all had a happy "europeans discovering the americas day"!

Grover Spice

Poem From The Weary

Roses are red

Violets are blue

The kids are in bed

Hallelujah! Amen!*

*disclaimer: I love said children soooo stinkin' much but I also really love my husband and talking to him without many little voices and many little hands and many little needs to be met. =)

 

Wordless Saturday

Five For Friday!

1. Today was the kind of day where you think you're going to accomplish a lot but actually accomplish nothing. =) Oh well, I still have the whole weekend ahead to clean and play catch up!

2. I went to the mall today, with my lovely friend, for the first time in aggggess. My little family used to go every Friday night without fail....but that was back in the "we-live-in-a-tiny-apartment" days and we needed to GET OUT. Nowadays we don't need to get out as much so we don't =)

3. Ezra spent a good portion of the day giving Maeve rides on the Dora-mobile. TOO cute!

4. I took Maeve on the porch for a photo shoot today. She was kind of cooperative...she's a fast mover and a lot of them came out blurry. Here's my favorite shot of the day:

5. The kids were WILD tonight--something about Fridays!!! Everyone was tired and crazy. We went out for pizza and let's just say--it was a little scary! We headed to the park afterward and they burned off the crazies and came home normal. All in all--a good night =)

Yesterday was my lucky day...

I finally found Maeve's birthday present, a train table, on Craigslist--the exact one I've been looking to buy for less than 1/3 the new price (including some extra Thomas trains) and located only a few miles away! Yay!

I hope she loves it!

I also kind of gave up potty training yesterday--Maeve was being very resistant and it was stressing me out....which I figured was stressing her out. So we packed up and took a break.

When we came home we tried again and actually had a measure of success so I think I'm just going to try a less intense route with her and see how it goes.

Definitely not as easy as it was to train Amelie but I'm sure we'll get there before she's 5. =)

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I have a lot on my mind.

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Sometimes I think it would be easier to take my little family and start a new life somewhere else. 

I know. 

That's kind of crazy. 

But sometimes dealing with new stress seems like an *adventure* whereas dealing with old stresses is such an *unwanted chore.*

************************************* 

That's all. It's Thursday and I fully intend to enjoy it in spite of the things on my mind.

Substitute *Maeve Weber* For *Maria*

*For Realz*

I get diapers for free from the Drugstores so....

do I really need to potty train Maeve?

Whine.

Cry.

Moan.

Pity Party.

Happy Tuesday Night =)

It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Fall

So of course I've been looking for Christmas outfits! =)

It has been decided:

Potty Training Day 1. Then & *Now*

Different girls

Same look of confusion and achievement

Also, same mother...only older. 

Much older.

Day 1 of Maeve's Potty Training Boot Camp went fine.

She had no accidents.

Covered all the numbers.

Shed many tears.

Threw many diva-hysteric fits.

I threw some too.

We did it though and hope to do it again tomorrow. =)

Play Room!

Before: Boring.

Also full of baby accessories!

 

After: Less Boring. Sunshiny Even.

Still full of baby accessories. =)

D-Day. Potty Training Day 1.

Wish us luck. 

We're gonna need it.

Crisis Of Epic Proportions

It all started when we rearranged the living room this week and took down the changing table--because really, Ezra has turned it into a wrestling-match-of-death table and it was impossible to use safely with him.

So I put the little changing pad up in the attic and closed the door and felt a little sad...nostalgic even...for all the baby butts that I have changed there.

(I refuse to take the pack and play down from my bedroom though! Gah!)

And then he started doing this:

Walking all around the house pushing Maeve's little Dora-mobile. He can stop it and turn it around and walk around it and pushes it everywhere. 

Soon he'll be walking. 

He's so big. 

*SOB*

And then there's this one:

She'll be 3 in a few weeks.

(17 days)

It's k*i*l*l*i*n*g me.

I was ok with Amelie turning three because she's my big girl and I had baby Maeve...but now with Maeve turning three she's not at baby at all anymore. 

You can still kind of pretend that a 2yr is a baby..but 3? 

Not so much. 

She got her preschool acceptance letter this week.

*SOB*

I'm not sure I can send her...mostly because I haven't potty trained her yet...but also because I'm not sure my heart can take it! 

We might be delaying until January....

*Dramatic Sigh*

Also

*SOB*

Last but not least there's this one:

All she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth....

I'm going to go curl up in the fetal position now and dream about the time when they were all teeny tiny.

On second thought, maybe I'll just make extra sure to cherish every moment tonight, tomorrow, this week and beyond.
My little (big) blessings!!

Lucky Little Eleven

I can't believe I forgot to write a

*Happy 11 Months Ezra!!*

blog.

Eleven.

Seriously?

I was just holding a tiny perfect handsome guy in my arms 5 minutes ago! Eesh!

Well, he's still perfect and handsome--just not so tiny anymore!!

Ezra is becoming so independent! He loves to cruise around the furniture, stand up in the middle of the room (then smile and sit back down =), "walk" behind his little push car and play with cars as well.

He has refused to eat anything off of a spoon for the last two months so he's feeding himself everything!

Some of his favorites are 

spaghetti and meatballs (without sauce) and grapes cut into 1/16ths. =)

He is still THE happiest baby ever. He never fusses or grumps. 

He's a little ray of sunshine! 

You'll only ever hear him whimper if he's ready for nap or over-hungry. 

He's happy in the car and in the stroller (thank goodness!).

He sleeps 2 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon. He goes to bed at 7 and wakes up at quarter to 7 or 7:30 (and usually once around 4).

The only less than precious thing he does is wrestle like a crazy man whenever I try to dress or change him! Ack! He has Herculean strength!

Oh well. He'd be boring if he was totally perfect =)

WE LOVE YOU EZRA BOY!!!!

So much.

So thankful!!!

I've Gotta Pocketful Of Sunshine And It's All Mine!

What a busy day! This is the first time I've sat down. Phew!

We worked on a ton of house projects today!

I finished the curtains, the pillows and the art work for the new and improved toy/family room.

It was a big project....mostly because I went and started cutting my $40 of curtain fabric...in the wrong spot...and had to totally revamp my plans and buy MORE fabric to finish my project. Gah. Thankfully, Joanns was having an awesome sale with awesome coupons and I got nearly 8 yards of the new fabric for $5. 

Awesome!!!! =)

My sewing machine gave me a royally hard time too. 

But I persevered and have a wonderfully happy room now!

Seriously, I'm a really big perfectionist (I know....*ew*) and this room always just sucked the life out of me because I hated it! 

So boring. So blah. 

It was the black hole of my house and now it's like the warm creamy center or somethin'. =)

YAY!

Anyways, during my cleaning escapades today I was sorting out magazines and came across what Parents thinks would be an awesome costume for a father and daughter:

Dislike. 

Can you imagine your husband dressing up as a 3 yr old princess? 

Um...me neither. Weird.

Moving on...I was taking old pictures out of picture frames and came across this hidden gem:

Look at *peacefully sleeping 3 week old* Baby Maeve and her chubby cheeks!!!!

I sobbed.

Amelie is 3 in this picture (the age Maeve will be in two weeks...ahem).

Sob.

Boo.

The time!!! It is fleeting!

I miss those chubby little Maevey cheeks!! 

There isn't any chub left on that kiddo anymore! =)

Anyways....that's it.

It was a good day spent scrubbing and cleaning and sorting and enjoying my precious little family.

Happy Saturday night!

Adventures In Home Improvement

I grew up in the land of home improvement.

My parents bought a 100 year old farm house when I was 5 and spent my entire childhood gutting and rebuilding every single room.

I think that's part of why I love changing my house so much! 

I grew up with constant house changes!

I've been dying to paint the toy room/dining room. I've never been happy with the color--but when you move into a house where EVERY ROOM needed major attention and you're in your 9th month of pregnancy you let some things slide...for a while...=)

I wanted a golden color and found this picture online that I absolutely fell in love with:

So we went to the store and bought the paint in that picture only to find out it doesn't look like that color at all.

It looked a heck of a lot more like this:

I like bright yellows but that wasn't what I was going for.

I was majorly bummed....I had another paint sample in my purse that I picked up at the store that I realized was really 

*the perfect one.*

So, my husband dutifully and lovingly trudged back off to Lowe's to have them remix the original paint into the new paint color!

Online they say the color I picked is this:

It looks NOTHING like that. 

Valspar--you need to work on your paint representations! Ack!

The new color is a toned down version of the top picture...

a lovely golden 

(with warm brown undertones) hue. 

I love it! 

So stinkin' happy!

Tomorrow I sew my curtains, arrange my pictures and post pictures! =)