Yay! Time for another baby!!!

I suppose now that I've managed to make it past the half way mark in my pregnancy, it's time to blog about it.  I've been a nervous nut, afraid to be too excited, but secretly praying I'd somehow get over the half way mark time time around.  Well, as of two weeks ago, I made it!  I'm on week 22 and LOVING LIFE.  The little one in my uterus is kicking like crazy, and I think it's because she has to know how nervous I am that she won't make it.  YES...I said SHE.  We found out at 16 weeks and then confirmed last week that we're having another girl!  How cute is this ultrasound pic?

Or this one?

Yes, that's a smile.  My little angel is obviously happy to be in there...and she lets me know...ALL DAY LONG. 

I was afraid my girls wouldn't be too excited about a girl, but it turns out, they are!  We went to Babies R Us and they were like maniacs!  They were throwing close into the cart faster than I could pull them out and we left with $200 worth of baby stuff.  In only a few short months we'll be welcoming our little angel into our home.  I can't wait!

Steph



I think I'm probably going to be okay...

Well, hopefully at least.  I'm starting to feel more human again.  I'm less depressed, but still cry anytime I think about the baby.  I try not to because the kids aren't used to seeing me cry, but sometimes I do still break down.  Last week I had another blood test to see if my hCG levels finally went back down to normal so we could start trying again and was slightly disappointed to hear they were back to normal.  I shouldn't have been, obviously, common sense tells me to be happy they've finally returned to normal, but I couldn't help it.  In my head, I think I just felt like that was the last part of the baby, finally leaving.  I have nothing left of the baby. 

Everyone tries to tell me that I should be happy for what I've got, two amazing daughters, and just accept that God may not have wanted me to have more than 2 children.  I try my hardest to ignore those comments.  If I wanted to have ten children, I would!  I adore my little girls, they're the best thing that ever happened to me, but now I have a hole in my heart, and it won't be healed until I have another baby. 

I had two people congratulate me last week.  While I feel like I have a handle on this loss, the congratulations still kill me.  I instantly tear up and try to smile and say thank you.  I can't even get the words out.  I know I'll see the same sad faces that I always do when someone finds out I lost the baby.  I can't bear to see those faces.  The fact is, chances are, they DON'T know what I'm going thru.  Chances are, I have now put them in an awkward spot and all they can think of is how to run far away from our awkward conversation. 

This loss has shown me an entirely new side to some people though.  People who have had similar losses have come out of the wood work.  So many people have dealt with this, it's unbelieveable!  It really has helped to talk to other people about it.  I really feel like if they can make it thru and even live to have more children, then there is some how hope for me.  I've found an amazing facebook group too of other women going thru a similar process.  They're my sounding board for days when I want to strangle someone, scream in frustration, or just cry.  I'm grateful for them in ways I can't even express in words. 

I guess the moral of my story is, I'm making it thru.  One day at a time.  And at some point, hopefully sooner, rather than later, I'll have my baby.  This one just wasn't meant to be.  The next one will be though, hopefully. 

Steph

Having a Rough Time...

It's been a hard few weeks in our house.  The excitement over the new baby turned into sadness on March 11th.  After being in extreme pain and having lots of miscarriage symptoms, my husband drove me to the hospital and after 4 LONG hours there, I realized one of my worst fears.  I miscarried the baby.  Never in my wildest dreams did it ever occur to me that I could lose my baby.  I've spent my entire life trying to PREVENT pregnancy, and the one time I was over the top excited about having a baby, I lose him/her.  It just does seem fair.  The first week after, I stayed home, cried a lot, and got mad at everyone.  I couldn't understand why no one else understood how much pain I was in.  Everyone was nice to me, but no one knew what to say.  Lots of people said I have two children I should be thankful for, which of course I am!  BUT, that doesn't mean I'm not mourning the loss of my third child.  No one seems to understand that piece. 

Then there's my husband.  This miscarriage scared him.  Big time.  I honestly believe he thought I was going to die.  I'm not a complainer.  When I called him at work on a Friday afternoon and told him that I needed him to come home immediately to take me to the hospital, he knew it was something big.  And it was...I had lost our baby.  He was worried about me and I was worried about the baby.  I fell into depression.  I couldn't eat, I cried constantly, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't function.  At all.  I stayed home for a week.  I tried to go out, but both times I left the house I ran into someone that congradulated me on my pregnancy.  Both times I had breakdowns.  Once at the girls' cheerleading gym, and once at the gas station.  That fixed it.  I stayed home the rest of the week.  My husband was afraid to have another baby because he was afraid this would happen again.  So am I!  But that doesn't keep me from wanting to have another one.  There is a hole in my heart that was left by the miscarriage.  The only thing that can possibly repair it is another baby.  It won't replace the one that I lost, but it will help ease my pain.  He just doesn't get that. 

He's starting to though.  Or at least he's pretending like he's starting to get it.  While he isn't jumping up and down at the thought of trying for another baby, he's going along with it. He saw me in the maternity ward at the hospital getting my Rhogam shot and knew it would break my heart to never be there again for a GOOD reason.  He knows me.  I NEED this baby.

The good news is, things are looking up.  I'm half way thru my second week back at work and I've only cried at work twice.  Luckily both times were in the bathroom so no one witnessed it.  I'm finally able to talk about it now too.  That has to be a good thing too, right? 

I've turned into a fertillity fanatic though.  I know myself.  When things go bad, I obsess over the part of it that I can control, and in this case, that's my fertility.  I'm charting, temping, using ovulation predictor kits, etc.  Pretty much whatever I can control this time, I will.  I want to know EXACTLY when I'm fertile so I can get pregnant again.  I switched OB's, and this new one is AMAZING!  She said that as soon as my body's ready to conceive again, it'll let me know by ovulating.  No worries about conceiving too early (which the other doctor wanted to wait...3 FREAKING MONTHS!) so I'm tracking and patiently waiting for the notification that my body is in fact, ready to conceive again. 

Fingers crossed it works this time!

Steph

Finally, my 2nd Ultrasound Appointment has Arrived!!!

It has been a grueling two weeks!  I've been so nervous to find out what's going on with little Baby Rea, that I've been stressing over it constantly.  I've turned into what I never imagined I'd become, a crazy pregnant woman.  Last Friday they were FINALLY able to get all of my blood work completed.  I have unusually small veins, which lead to 5 visits to different labs in hopes of finding one person that could get blood out of me.  After 4 labs had stuck me 15 times, I finally found a miracle woman named Kelly that stuck me once and got all of the blood she needed.  It was beautiful.  Unfortunately, my blood tests weren't 100% fantastic.  I have low progesterone, which can lead to miscarriages!  The LPN at the doctor's office told me not to worry, because my hCG levels were high, and prescribed a progesterone supplement.  I've been taking it religiously with hopes that my little bean can stay in my uterus until the 40 weeks is up. 

Then, last night, I started spotting!  Anyone that has been pregnant knows, spotting is scary.  It's unexpected, and while the doctor's office said I should be fine and to just be on pelvic rest for a little while, I'm panicked!  The good news is, today is my 2nd ultrasound appointment anyway, so they'll be able to confirm everything is still going well with the bambino. 

Praying for good news at 11:30 today!!!  Here's my pregnancy update:


How Far Along: 9 Weeks


Total Weight Loss/Gain: None yet, I'll know when I have my next appointment.

Maternity Clothes: I finally got my Bella Band and new maternity shirts in!  They're fantastic!  They don't look like maternity clothes, so they're perfect for wearing now because they don't fit as tight around my stomach and hide the fact that I'm constantly bloated now!  The Bella Band is a lifesaver!  You know how sometimes you're so bloated that you want to unbutton your jeans?  That's where the Bella Band comes in!  It hides the button and smoothes everything out so no one will know, and it helps hold your jeans up!  I think I should have ordered 10 of them.  One in every color!

Stretch Marks: No new ones, only the crappy ones from my last two pregnancies.

Sleep: I've been sleeping like a baby!  Other than the horrific nightmares I'm having about miscarriage!

Best Moments of the Week: When the lab tech looked at me and said "we've found a good vein!"  I almost hugged her!
Belly Button: Still in, and chances are it will remain that way since it did with both of my other pregnancies.

Craving: Caffeine! I fell off the wagon and have decided that one Diet Dr. Pepper a day isn't going to hurt anything.  I even asked the doctor's office and they said it's FINE!

What I Am Looking Forward to: My ultrasound.  I just want some type of confirmation that everything is okay so I can stop feeling like a lunatic!
 
Okay, that's all for now!  I'll take a picture of the ultrasound photo and post it later!
 
Steph (aka the Pregnant Lunatic)

We're having another BABY!!!

If you'd have told me a year ago that I'd be announcing my pregnancy to the world in February/March, I'd have thought you were crazy.  Mackenzie is 10 and Maddie is 7 and I genuinely thought that God meant for us to be a family of four forever.  We are so excited and although we hope the same thing all parents do, for a healthy, happy, baby, I can't help but hope for a son!  I love my daughters and if given another daughter, I would be just as happy as I was when I found out I was having my first two girls, but a son...a girl can dream, right?

I feel like maybe this pregnancy was meant to be.  With Mackenzie, I was 17 when I found out I was pregnant.  I had to hide it from everyone, including my parents until I was so far along and showing that I had to tell everyone.  I didn't get the typical "congrats" from friends and family because an unwed, teenage, mother isn't something people get excited about.  With Madison, I was 20, and although I was living on my own and raising Mackenzie on my own, I still couldn't get as excited about the pregnancy because I was still unwed and young.  My now husband, Doug, had been there since the day 1 and I knew he'd continue to be an amazing father, but our lack of engagement didn't exactly thrill people.  Was it too much to think that we would want to wait for marriage until we were 100% sure we were perfect for each other?  Apparently so, if you asked pretty much everyone around us at the time. 

Fast forward to now.  We're obviously married, and raising the best kids in the world.  Mackenzie is HILARIOUS.  I swear some day she's going to be a comedian.  Everywhere we go she's cracking jokes and is always the center of attention.  Madison is a star.  She excels at everything she attempts!  She's an amazing cheerleader/tumbler and at age 6, already had her backhandspring!  For those that have done backhandsprings, that's not a simple feat.  Not for Maddie, she wanted it and after a few weeks of coaching by the ever talented Coach David at Pride Cheerleading Gym, she got it!  Now she's 7 and working on her roundoff series with two backhandsprings! 

We have a very busy life, so obviously another baby wasn't in the plans.  BUT, we also have two of the best children to help us with the new baby.  I get to redo all of the things I wish I could have done differently with Mackenzie & Madison!  I get to be EXCITED about my pregnancy because now that we're married and older, everyone else is excited about our pregnancy!  I get to plan ahead!  Anyone that knows me, knows I'm a planner.  I plan our yearly Disney vacations at least 6 months out!  This doesn't mean I book the trip 6 months out.  This means I can tell you which park we're going to and what we're eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner 180 days prior to our trip.  I even have a binder that I take with us that has daily schedules and tips for things that we must stop and do at each park.  Needless to say, I'm excited to plan ahead for the baby.  I've already started buying diapers!  One thing I wish I'd known back when I had the girls was to buy diapers NOW so I didn't have to buy them the first year.  There are SO many expenses to get used to, it only makes sense to stock up on something that will never go bad, and can always be returned to Wal-mart if you bought too many of the wrong size. 

I guess I've rambled on long enough, so I'll just wrap it up by answering the questions that I saw on another blog with a pregnant mother.  I thought it would be fun to do this every week so I have a pregnancy diary to look back on later. 

How Far Along:  8 Weeks

Total Weight Loss/Gain:  None yet, I'll know when I have my next appointment.

Maternity Clothes:  I don't need any yet, but I just ordered a Bella Band and 4 new shirts!

Stretch Marks:  No new ones, only the crappy ones from my last two pregnancies.

Sleep:  What sleep?  I'm up all night peeing!

Best Moments of the Week:  My morning sickness appears to have worn off, I'm now able to eat again!

Belly Button:  Still in, and chances are it will remain that way since it did with both of my other pregnancies.

Craving:  Caffeine!  I just want a dang Diet Dr. Pepper!!!

What I Am Looking Forward to:  My ultrasound next Thursday!  I went last Thursday and they thought that perhaps I wasn't as far along as I calculated based on my LMP, so I have to go back in next Thursday to hopefully see a lot more progress.

That's it for now!  Sorry this was such a long post, but I can't help it, I'm SO EXCITED!!!

Steph

P.S.  Here's a cute picture of my girls taken right before a cheer competition in December.

In Memory of Cohen

If you haven't read the Cohen's story, you should.  My thoughts and prayers are with his family. 

Wordless Wednesday - Maddie's New Cheer Uniform

Back to Normal...or at least semi-normal

I'm back to normal, or at least semi-normal.  Dad's still in ICU.  Apparently the 2 days they anticipated him being in ICU were the best possible time-frame.  This is day 15, but things are finally looking better.  It was touch and go for a while, and although he's been through a lot, I think he's probably only a few days from being moved into a step-down unit and then finally into a regular hospital room.  He's just hoping and praying that he'll be able to drink liquid at some point.  He's gone 16 days without anything to eat or drink!  How dreadful!

Last Friday, my baby graduated Kindergarten!  Where has the time gone?  It seems like only yesterday she was learning to stand, talk, walk, and lately...tumble!  I couldn't be more proud of her.  She's growing up into a beautiful, intelligent, little girl, and makes me happier every day.  Some pictures:

(Maddie & her Kindergarten teacher)

Of course I've been baking as well.  I made my very first wedding cake a few weeks ago for my sister.  It didn't turn out as wonderfully as I'd pictured it in my head, but it was nice.  I've made a few baby shower cakes, over 100 cupcakes, and a retirement cake.  I did finally figure out how to write on cakes.  If you've never tried, it's not easy!  I've practiced and practiced and while it's not perfect, it's better than the first several attempts in prior months.  Here's a picture:

The best part about all of my cake making?  The leftover icing!  The kids LOVE it!!!

Hope you're having a great month!  Happy June!!!  Steph

Waiting, Hoping, Praying...

The title of my post pretty much sums it up.  It's a day of waiting, hoping, and praying.  My dad went into surgery shortly before noon today, and now 5 and a half hours later, we're still waiting for him to come out.  They're anticipating another 2-3 hours, but so far, it sounds promising.  We need this surgery to work.  I need my dad to be cancer free, and live many more years.  It's not a matter of want, it's what we need. 

So please keep us in your prayers.  It's going to be a long road to recovery for him.  The surgeon told us that he's going to spend the next few days in ICU, and then another week in the hospital recovering.  The next few months will be hard on him, as he won't be able to eat anything, and will have to rely on a feeding tube.  But at least he'll be alive, and that's all we can hope for right now. 

Hope all is well in your world!

Steph

Cookies, Cakes, Desserts, and Parties!

I've been noticibly absent for a few weeks, and I'm sorry!  May is quite possibly the busiest month of the year for me for many reasons. 

1 - Like a crazy person, I agreed to plan and organize a field day for Madison's school this year.  In case your children don't have field day, it's a fun-filled day of water games, inflatable bounce houses and slides, relay races, etc.  It's a huge undertaking, and I'm not sure if I'll succeed, but I'm going to give it my best. 

2 - My dad's chemo and radiation are finally done, and it's time for him to have surgery.  He's a nervous wreck, and we're all biting our nails hoping things go well.  There's only a 40% chance that the surgery will work, so prayers would be appreciated!!! 

3 - I've been a baking fool!  I've made cupcakes, cakes, cookies, marshmallow pops, chocolate covered oreos, you name it, I've made it!  My friend Amy let me help make desserts for her son's 3rd birthday party.  Everything turned out so cute!  I can't take credit for everything, she and I both did the work, but it was a blast! 

4 - It's my birthday month/Mother's day month!  We're going to Chicago next weekend to celebrate my birthday with my mom and dad, and I'm hoping to get some retail therapy!

5 - My favorite sister is getting married!  I got to host a bridal shower at a local winery, and a bachelorette party!  I love hosting parties!!!  I wish I could be at the wedding, but since she went out of the country, I wasn't able to go.  Oh well...I can't wait to see pictures.  I'm sure she'll look beautiful!!!

That's all I've got for now!  The rest of the month is going to be filled with cookie orders, cake orders, and more baking.  YEA!!!

Hope all is well!  Love ya!  Steph

I'm SO thankful!!!

It's been a while since I posted, because I've been BUSY!  I'm so thankful for my wonderful children, they are always cracking me up.  I had to take a picture of a drawing Maddie made for me, because I was having the worst day, and it brightened my day in ways you can't even imagine.  Poor dad!  As much as he may try, she's still a mommy's girl.  Lucky for him, Mackenzie is definitely a daddy's girl. 

Last Saturday was my sister's bridal shower, and I got to bake cookies!  I didn't have my camera, so I had to use my iPhone to take the pictures, so don't pay attention to the poor quality of any photos I'll be including on this post. 

How cute are these?  My girls and I were oohing and ahhing over how well they turned out!  The pictures really do not do them justice.  They weren't perfect, but it was good experience, and I'll be making more this weekend. 

Otherwise we've just been busy getting back into the swing of things.  Between cake classes, work picking up (thank goodness it's hailing), organizing an event for PTO, and getting started with my new Treasurer duties at cheer, I'm a busy girl. 

I hope all is well!!!

Steph

Random Sunday Ramblings...

I've been in a bit of a funk lately.  I can't quite put my finger on exaclty what it is that's been bothering me (truthfully, everything appears to be bothering me) and that aggravates me.  I want to know what my problem is, so I can fix it.  Some ideas:

I am almost 27 and I am not where I imagined I would be when I got this close to the big 3-0.  Ten years ago I was wrapping up my junior year of high school with high hopes of how awesome college life would be.  Well guess what?  I didn't go to college.  I got pregnant.  College was put on hold so I could scramble to provide for the most amazing child ever.  It was hard.  I spent almost the entire first two years of Mackenzie's life living with my parents, DYING to move out.  I did, and things just got harder.  Who would have thought that it was near impossible to come up with money for a mortgage, utilities, AND daycare?  The state of IL was no help, apparently you have to be making minimum wage to qualify for any type of support.  Lucky me, but then again, that's my luck.  Looking back, I'm glad I had to tough it out.  It made me appreciate every penny a lot more.  I've never had anything handed to me, and I'm glad.  I don't take anything for granted. 

Yes...I think that is part of what's aggravating me.  If you'd have asked me what I'd be doing in 2010, I'd have thought I'd be a lot better off than I am now.  I'm in a rut at work.  What was once a job I loved, is now one I dread.  I take that back, that's not entirely true.  Nine months ago we had a major layoff and I ended up in a HORRIBLE department.  I went from working independently and being appreciated to being micromanaged and treated like a slacker.  That's what I hate.  It's not the job, it's the way you're treated in the department.  Work is DEFINITELY a source of aggravation for me lately.

My husband is also driving me nuts.  He and I have completely different views on life.  I feel like I really try to go above and beyond to keep our marriage together for our children, and I'm starting to wonder if that's the right decision.   We fight constantly, and feel more like brother and sister than husband and wife.  Every time I tell him that I think we need to consider breaking up our marriage, things change for a few weeks and I feel guilty, as if everything is my fault.  How dare I even remotely consider taking my children's father away from them?  I was a child with divorced parents, and I know how hard it is on kids.  I would NEVER want to do that to my girls.  So I stick it out, and become bitter toward him.  Even when he doesn't deserve it. 

Lucky for me, hail season is starting up and at my company, that equals busy season.  I'll be working non-stop and running the kids to cheer practice every night.  I won't have time for bitterness, I'll be too busy.  That's exactly what I need right now. 

But for now, I just keep on baking.  Today I made an incredible brownie/cookie masterpiece that tasted like a little slice of heaven!  It's from one of my favorite blogs, Bake at 350, and is heavenly!!!   After I got that in the oven, I took out the rest of my aggravation on a piece of hot pink fondant.  I had to get a cake board covered so I can get ready to make my class finale cake.  Pictures will be posted in another week!

Have a great Sunday!  I promise I'll be back to normal by tomorrow!!!
Steph

Cookies and Cakes!

I'm obsessed with baking.  Pretty much anything that can be homemade, I think I am capable of creating.  I think the problem is, that in my mind, I'm practically Martha Stewart.  Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that I'm more Stephanie than Martha.  I want the perfect product, but I don't have the time to create it.  When I do get started baking, watch out, it's an all day affair.  Since I can't bake every single day like I'd like to, I have found amazing blogs to help satisfy my baking need without having to bake daily.  Next weekend I'm hosting my sister's bridal shower at a local winery.  How cute are these cookies from Bake at 350?  I'll be making these next week to package and take to her shower as gifts for the attendees. 

Aren't they adorable?  If you haven't been to Bake at 350, you don't know what you're missing.  I'm a HUGE fan, in case you can't tell.

I'll make sure to post pictures, I can't wait!!!

Come on weekend! I'm READY!!!

It's definitely been "one of those days."  I'm ready to pull my hair out, scream, and possibly throw a tantrum.  Yes, I was ready for hail season (I work for a dent company) but now, I'm remembering why I'm always ready for it to be over too.  Haha!

Luckily, this is MY FRIDAY!  I'm off tomorrow (as I am most Fridays) and am excited about having a nice, peaceful, relaxing, Friday. 

Any big plans for the weekend?

Wordless Wednesday (except with a few words)

It's that time of year!  I'm SOOOO ready.  Bring on the hail!!!

March is out, April is IN!

Can you believe it's already April?  I'm shocked!  It seems like it wasn't that long ago that I was rushing around to get birthday parties planned, and now I'm already thru Easter!  This year is going by way too fast.  I didn't get as much baking done this weekend (only a batch of cupcakes) but I did get to spend some quality time with my wonderful girls.  Maddie was SO excited to have gotten an iPod shuffle from the Easter bunny, she was practically silent all day yesterday.  She had that thing glued to her ears the entire day.  Mackenzie got another book to add to her Diary of a Wimpy Kid collection, and she was just as excited as Maddie.  Oh, and I found the CUTEST little cheer shirts to put in their baskets!  They LOVE them and I'm pretty sure probably wore them to school today. 

I had planned on making another basket weave cake (it seems so Eastery, don't you think) but didn't have time.  So I'll just include pictures I took from the last time I made it. 

I'm back from my mini-blogging vacation!

I've been absent from blogging for a while, and I apologize!!!  I have been so busy with work, home, baking, and cheer that I haven't had much time for my beloved blog world.  I'm back though! 

A few updates on what I've been doing:

Cheer practices, a funeral, AND I bought an amazing book!

I've been baking like a crazy person!  I finished up Course 2 in my cake making class with a cute little basketweaved cake.  While I don't see myself basketweaving in the future, I'm happy to have learned.  Plus, that means I get to start my next class which is what I've been looking forward to!  FONDANT and GUM PASTE!  I'm excited!!!  The picture's kind of crappy...I had to use my phone.

And last, but certainly not least, we were wrapping up cheer season!  The girls had their last competition of the '09-'10 season and did a fantastic job!  I was a proud mommy, as always.  Now we get a bit of a breather, no more running 4 days a week to mandatory cheer practices!  The next 4 weeks are easy, they have optional clinics and practice times, and then they have try-outs for next season.  Our hope is that they will FINALLY get their back hand springs so they can move up a level, keep your fingers crossed!

I guess that about sums it up!  What have you been up to? 

Maddie's First Breakup

Considering Maddie is only 6 and in Kindergarten, unless you knew her, you'd never imagine that she would be going thru a breakup, or even talking about a boy being her boyfriend.  That's because you haven't met Zachary.  He is, in my opinion, the male version of her.  They are SO darn cute together!  He was a savior when she first started Kindergarten.  She would cry every day I dropped her off, and heaven forbid she saw me walking around the school (I'm on the PTO Board, so I'm ALWAYS there).  When she cried, he would hold her hand and pat her on the back.  He is seriously, the sweetest little boy ever. 

Last week however, they broke up.  Let me walk you thru our week:

Monday:

Doug:  Steph, Maddie hasn't talked at all since she got home, will you see what's wrong?

Me:  Maddie, what's wrong, you seem sad?

Maddie:  Nothing (with pouty face)

Me:  Honey, what's wrong?

Maddie:  Zachary and I broke up.  He's not my boyfriend anymore, we're not even friends.

Me:  (with shocked look on my face)  WHY NOT?!?!?!

Maddie:  He kissed Katie on the playground. 

Me:  (Holding back the laughter) Kissing isn't good Maddie, did you tell him that he's not supposed to be kissing girls?

Maddie:  (Yelling) He's only allowed to kiss me!!!  He used to hold my hand and kiss my cheek, I told him he can't anymore.  He kissed her, like, 10 times!

I have a feeling her teen years are going to give me gray hair.  On the other hand, she informed me last night that they're good now.  He promised to never kiss Katie again.  I'm going to let my husband explain that kissing boys isn't something she needs to make a habit of.  Especially at 6!

Another Sleepy Monday!

There is just something about Daylight Savings Time that bugs me.  I don't mind "falling back" every fall, but something about the "spring forward" part annoys me!  It seems like it takes forever for me to catch back up.  I didn't go to bed until midnight, because I wasn't tired but at 4:30am this morning when my alarm was going off, I was CERTAINLY tired. It's going to take the entire week to adjust to the time change.  Ugh...

But enough complaining!  I had a wonderful weekend!  I baked cookies like a crazy person!  The first batch was okay, not exactly what I was hoping for...

See how the icing is running off the cookie?  That's NOT supposed to happen.  LOL!

And then there was my attempt at making an Easter shaped cookies...

Yeah, eggs are probably something that should be one color, maybe with a few dots?

The kids were VERY excited to show me how it's supposed to be done though.  I've said that I'm not good at writing on cookies and cakes, and they both had to make sure I saw that they can write letters (the M's on the cookies) and let me know that if I ever need help, they're available. 

The final batch of cookies turned out much better though.

Tonight is cake making...one of my best friends has a birthday tomorrow!

I hope you're having a FANTASTIC Monday!!!

Party Time!

Finally!  I have a party to plan!  I love planning parties!  Lately, I've seen so many amazing ideas, I couldn't wait to have a party to plan to use some of them!  My sister is getting married in May, and it's finally time to plan her bridal shower.  Lucky me, when I logged onto my blog this morning, I saw a giveaway, so obviously, I have to enter.  It's on one of my favorite party sites, Half Baked - The Cake Blog.  If you've never been to that site, make sure you check it out, it's amazing!  Several of my ideas for the shower will be coming from that site, and if I'm able to win her current giveaway, I'm certain I'll be using it toward the shower as well. 

Look at some of the cute stuff!!!

Aren't the cupcake kits AWESOME!  This website has everything you can imagine for party supplies.  I've already bookmarked it, I'm in LOVE!