Daddy withdrawal

Today was Daddy's third day back to work after being off since last Wednesday. Daddy's little girl had the time of her life while Daddy was home...it was like a 5-day play fest. Apparently Raina is having a tough time re-adjusting to her life of Va-Va during the day and Daddy at night. She's making it clear that going back to the way things used to be is completely unacceptable. Over the past 2 days, she has developed a new cry...that only comes out when Daddy is around. She's also turned the tables as far as when she decides to act up. It used to be that she'd be a terror during the day with me and then sweet as an angel as soon as Daddy entered the picture (thus making me look like a total fool!). Well, it's the opposite now...Daddy gets quite the show when he comes home while I'm left standing there asking "Where did this come from?!?"

Tonight's dinner was especially dramatic. After crying for a really long time, we finally got her to sit at the table but only if we moved her chair right by Daddy. She then proceeded to eat her dinner with her head on Daddy's shoulder, throwing a fit any time he dared pull away, even if only to reach for his drink.

What funny creatures these 2-year-olds are. She's lucky she's cute ;)



(sorry for the bad quality of this vid...not enough light...)

Halloween, Birthday, Christmas, and melancholy vampires...

I figured out that the main reason I've been putting off this blog post is because of a feeling that I was expected to be super thorough...and when I start to feel that way about anything in life, it becomes an all-or-nothing situation...with nothing winning more times than all. I've heard that's a common flaw in perfectionists. Anyways, I've counted to 10 and practiced some deep breathing and decided that life as I know it will not end if I just summarize the past month of going-ons. Rather than all-or nothing, I'm going to go with the something-is better-than-nothing approach instead :)

So. Halloween. As you may or may not know, I put my sewing talents (ha!) to the test and made Raina's costume this year: Foofa. What? You don't know who Foofa is? Then you obviously don't have kids...or smoke pot. This is Foofa, probably the least annoying of all the characters on Nick Jr.'s show "Yo Gabba Gabba:"

I used long pink pants and a long-sleeved pink shirt that Raina already had as the under part of the costume and then made the poofy body suit, white flower petal neck piece, and then glued a big flower to a hat she already owned. Wouldn't it just go freakin' figure that she refused to wear the whole costume?!? She wanted NOTHING to do with the flower petal neck piece. This is what our Foofa looked like:


Notice the less-than-happy expressions. Yah, she had a rough time with the whole Halloween experience. We spent it at Gramma's house in Erie. Whereas our neighborhood here in Pittsburgh doesn't get many kids, Gramma gets hundreds. She'd get super excited when the kids would come to the door, but the minute they left, it was nothing but tears and screams of "More again!" Needless to say, there was a lot of off and on crying, which eventually turned into just crying. Thank goodness for small towns and fire trucks on display right down the street, which cheered her up right away :)


Halloween weekend was also the weekend we celebrated her second birthday, also in Erie with Chris' side of the family. I spent the majority of the weekend baking and decorating Raina's cake. I did a 3-tier topsy-turvy style cake, Yo Gabba Gabba themed of course. I wasn't overly thrilled with the outcome 'cause it came out looking like exactly what it was: A canvas piece to practice many techniques, not all of which should ever be used at one time on one cake. I wish I had pics of it after I took the ribbons off...it looked a little calmer after I did that, but oh well. These pics show the gist of it...


As for the party, we had an excellent turnout of Chris' family...many generations represented. Raina did well, all things considered. She's such a shy and cautious little girl when it comes to social situations, especially ones that involve people interacting with her, but given some time to warm up to everyone, she did pretty well. We had been singing Happy Birthday to her for a couple weeks before her birthday, and she loved singing along...but when everyone started to sing for her at the party, you'd think she'd never heard the song before! (but several times while opening presents, she asked everyone to sing it again :)

After singing and cake came opening presents...

All in all, a great birthday with great company. Who could ask for more?!?

On to other things...

Turkey Day...Looks like we're spending way too much and getting an Amish turkey this year. Chris has this thing this time around of wanting a turkey that "tastes like turkey." Um, okay. Whatever. It all tastes the same to me. So long as he cooks it, I don't care! We're still not sure what kind of company we're having, but I hope it's at least someone. It's always more fun when you have people to share the food with...and pawn the leftovers off to!

Christmas...I am getting super excited about Christmas!!! It's been a long time since I've been hit with the Christmas spirit...I think 3 years now, maybe? Chris doesn't like hearing this, but I hate not having my own money to buy gifts with. Chris will tell me that "his" money IS "my" money, but I know it's not. He works hard for that money. I feel like such a leech to just take it and spend it. This year, however, things are different. Craigstlist is coming through for me!!! There is actually CASH in my wallet, cash for me to spend on gifts for my family. That means SOOOO much to me, to actually be able to participate the way everyone else will, to actually get to go to the stores and pick something personal out, etc. I'm so excited that I've had the urge to put up Christmas decorations, something I've NEVER done before Thanksgiving. As final proof of my newfound spirit, check out my homemade Christmas wrapping paper this year (I've already wrapped 3 gifts :)))) I decided to go for presents that could also double as decorations...


Now for some random stuff...

I've decided that, despite my love for Edward Cullen, I will not be seeing New Moon. The books are great (in that they are a great escape, not necessarily literary works of art), but sorry, the movies suck ass. Well, at least Twilight did. And yah, Robert does make for nice eye candy, but the Edward in my head is just soooo much better. Someone explain to me, too, why there's no such thing as a happy vampire in love? Would it hurt them so much to smile more? Anyone watch Vampire Diaries and know what I'm talking about?!? Yah, brooding is sexy but only to a certain degree. That's my rant on that.

I'm getting super fat, but I'm pleased to announce that I'm embracing it. I'll admit that I still get a little shocked when I catch a glimpse of my ass in reflection form, but I very calmly remind myself that, come May, that ass will be in bootcamp, and then I feel better and go about my way to the fridge. As for Phoebe-to-be, she's doing a lot of kicking, the peak of which is between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Usually I'm not sleeping then anyways, so it's not an issue...though I have had a couple nights where the kicking has gone on longer and I haven't been able to sleep through it. Nothing painful yet, like when I was pregnant with Raina...but I remind myself that I still have several more months to go! I had to go to the lab today for the glucose tolerance test and blood draw, but so long as I pass that, I think I might be done with the tests. I think. It's amazing how much you forget in 2-1/2 years. I can't even tell you how far along I am right now. Somewhere in the 6th month, maybe? Beats me.

As for Raina, she's 2. "No way" seems to be her most-used phrase as of late. Tantrums are many. However, I'm thoroughly enjoying being able to hold a "conversation" with her. It's amazing the words she's picking up and the stories she can tell. She loves to sing; however, to go along with her cautious nature, she's also very self-conscious and mostly whispers the songs to herself. I already put up one vid of her singing...here's another:

One thing I'll be doing differently when Phoebe comes around is forcing people to take more pics of me with my little girls. While looking through all our pics the other night, Chris made a comment about how there are so few of me with Raina. It's sad. On that note, I took a couple last night of the two of us. I'll end on that :)

I know, I know

I'm so behind. I owe the family birthday AND Halloween pics/vids/stories. Honestly, when my evenings come, when Raina is snug as a bug in her bed, all I want to do is, well, NOTHING. Okay, not totally true: Eat and then nothing. And then eat some more. (Good lord, I can't wait until bootcamp in the spring!)

Anyways, once again I'm going to try to promise to catch up with everything this weekend. Until then, this vid will have to hold everyone over...a little Twinkle Twinkle, ABCs, and Happy Birthday. :)

Raina 101

• Favorite artists/songs (or "Raina kongs," as she calls them): Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull, Taylor Swift, Jason Mraz, Mylie Cyrus, Five Chinese Brothers (that one is from Chris' collection). The others are not from my collection...just what's played on the radio in the car!

• What she'll say if you ask her where she went today: "The zoo." Runner up: "Mall."

• Favorite food: "Mall pizza."

• Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Dance.

• Favorite thing to do with Va-Va: Play "bowl and water," a.k.a. wash dishes.

• Favorite TV show: Yo Gabba Gabba.

• Favorite movie: Wall-E.

• Favorite toy: Trains.

• Favorite words/phrases as of late: "Raina come." "Raina try, too." "Raina help." "Too" in general, meaning "also." "Kitty mess in kitchen." (Thanks, Chloe) Generally followed by "Va-Va wash it." (*sigh*)
  

• Favorite tune sung by Va-Va and Daddy: Happy Birthday (always to her friend Mikayla and sometimes herself).

• People she calls when playing pretend phone: First Mom-mom, second Gramma, third Daddy.

• Her newest blush-worthy "obsessions": Demanding "powder on butt." And anything having to do with "boobies"...counting boobies, pointing at boobies, touching boobies. I've been mentally preparing my apology to the first stranger to become victim of this fascination with boobies.

• Most adult thing she does: Demand privacy when she's pooping.

• Favorite article of clothing: Her "pretty tights." She always wants to "Show Daddy!" after I get her dressed in the morning.

• Something I wish she'd learn to do: Lick her fingers after eating Cheetos. That's the best part, but she insists that "Va-Va wash it." Yes, I give her Cheetos. What of it?
  

• What she thinks is in Va-Va's belly: "A boy."
  

Newest pics:

Hangin' out with Daddy, learning about football.

Hangin' out in front of Daddy's work, waiting for Daddy to come out.

Newest vids:

Picking Daddy up from work...

We've started training her...

Fun at the farm...

More fun at the farm...

Pics for the fam

It's been a while, and so much has gone on around here. I'm knee-deep in cake batter while I try to practice my mad-hatter cake skills before Raina's b-day, so I don't have the time to do a proper blog. Here are a few pics to hopefully hold the grandparents over until I can put up an insane amount of vids :)

Here's Raina trying her hand at pumpkin painting. We did this on a day where we were stuck inside because of the weather. VERY rarely do we not go out SOMEWHERE in the morning. The painting time started off very well...she was very excited...but about 20 minutes into it, there was nothing but screaming and tears. Severe cabin fever must be hereditary.



We went to a farm one weekend...one that had a tractor ride and petting zoo and pumpking patch and all sorts of other neato stuff. The petting zoo was BY FAR her favorite attraction there. She got up close and personal with goats, a pig, a rabbit, ducks, and chickens. We brought home 2 pumpkins (which I'm still in the process of "decorating") and a batch of apple cider that made both mom and dad a little, um, yucky in the tummy. Raina, too, for that matter! But it was good :)








Here she is at her friend, Mikayla's, 1-year b-day party. Since that day, she has become quite enamored with the Happy Birthday song and insists that we sing it all the time (with Mikayla's name!).


That's all for now.

It's official: Bye-bye, baby. Hello, toddler.

So I decided Thursday that I was going to perform an experiment on my baby. Operation Big-Girl Bed was to take place during Friday's nap. Now, by big-girl bed, I mean taking her crib mattress and putting it on the floor. Nothing too fancy. Don't bother asking me why I decided to do this. I have no clue. It's not even like I've really been concerned about where baby #2 is going to sleep. Sure, I've given it some thought, but I haven't felt rushed to kick Raina out of her crib. To tell you the truth, I was just curious as to how she would handle the experience.

I started her Friday by talking up the big-girl bed and getting her help with setting up her mattress on the floor. She was quite excited with the whole process. While we went out shopping that morning, we made quite a big deal about all the pillows and blankets and anything else bed-related that we saw at the store, just getting her even more stoked for her afternoon nap. By the time nap time rolled around, she was READY, informing me herself after lunch that it was time to sleep. I took a few videos of the moments leading up to and after her nap.........

Here she is showing me how she was going to sleep. Not quite the traditional position, but oh well! She ended up staying in this position for her entire 2-plus-hour nap.


And here she is right after waking up...

Anyways, SUCCESS! I never dreamed that the experiment would go so well...that she would STAY in her bed for over 2 hours and sleep. I think I was more excited than she was. It was mere minutes after her waking up before I was on craigslist looking for a toddler bed. By 9:30 that evening, I was pulling the van up to the house with a Little Tikes car bed in the back :) Chris was in charge of baby duty that evening while I was out, and he told me when I got home that Raina got very upset and cried when she was put in her crib and not the big-girl bed for the night. I could not wait for her to get up in the morning so we could put it together.

Fast-forward to this morning...

I told her right after she got up that there was a present downstairs for her. It was in pieces in the dining room and hard to tell what it was, but when I told her it was a big-girl bed that looked like a car, she was all "Upstairs! Go, go!" She wouldn't even eat her breakfast...I had to bring it upstairs to her room and force her to nibble on it while she watched me put her bed together. Her squeals of excitement woke daddy up (who was supposed to sleep in), and with his help, we got the car bed set up and the crib taken down. Was she excited? You tell me...

While Daddy took her out to Starbucks and to a friend's house to play, I did a little more baby proofing and re-arranging. Bye-bye, crib!




I'm thrilled to pieces over the whole experience. It's always neat to see her get so excited about things. Daddy, on the other hand, could probably use some counseling. Like with the passing of the bottle and waking paci, he expressed some resistance to the change. It's hard seeing your little girl grow up...but very fulfilling, too :)

My Level 1 cakes

Well, as you may or may not know, I've been taking cake decorating classes at Jo-Ann's. This month was Level 1...four classes, two hours each. I was able to attend the first three classes, having to miss tonight's last class because of the stupid G20 making my husband work longer than usual. Grrrrrr.

Anyways, I've had requests for pics, so here they are. Remember that I'm a beginner!!!

So this was decorated during the last 15-20 minutes of the second class. No joke on the time given to decorate! I think only 2 of us "finished" the darned thing, and I only finished 'cause I was determined to have something to show for the hours spent making all that different colored icing. Everyone had to do the same pattern, but obviously the writing and colors of the rainbow were different with each person.




This was decorated during the last 25-30 minutes of the third class. What is up with not giving us more time to decorate?!?!? This project could either be a cake or cupcakes. Most did cupcakes. As you can see, it was a serious rush job, but I am proud of one thing. The cake "pattern" we were working from showed only the two clowns on top. I added the third....





.....climbing up the back of the cake. He's a little squished from the drive home in the car, but you get the point. Creative, I thought ;)










This is the cake we were supposed to decorate in class tonight. White with pink pastel roses. Ummm, pretty but not really up my alley. I decided over the weekend that I was going to do the same thing (pretty much) but in black and white instead. The teacher did say we could be creative and change the, ummm, color of the roses. Ha! Oh well!





So I timed myself as I sat at the dining room table tonight, and I decorated this cake in 25 minutes. Unfortunately, tonight was the night we were really going to learn how to make roses, and I could have desperately benefited from the instruction. I hate to say that I kind of half-assed this, but I did. I just wasn't feeling it...probably due to not being able to make it to class :(





In the beginning, I was worried that a black cake (black icing as opposed to sleek black fondant) would look unappetizing, but I think it looks good enough to eat.










I'm looking forward to being able to take Level 2 in October...and then Level 3 in November and Level 4 after that. So anyways, if you'd like a free cake made by a beginner, give me a call. I want the practice...and how can you beat a free cake?!? :)

Speaking of cake, I'm off to eat mine now...

One more vid and pic

I took both of these tonight. We have a sick baby...lots of boogies...and a permanently implanted finger...


..but that doesn't stop her from playing pretend with Daddy and loving every second of it. :)

Vids for the fam

I plan on catching up with this blog thing later this weekend but thought it would be best to post all the Raina vids separately. So here goes....enjoy, grandparents!

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This is Raina playing her favorite game of "zshih zshu!" That's "Get you!" in adultese. This one also shows her love of kissing boo-boos. It's amazing how a kiss can make it allllll better. Also, that run she does towards the camera in the beginning...she does that a lot. It creeps me out...reminds me of a zombie :)

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For several weeks now, Raina has been able to count to 10. Maybe this is what all kids her age can do...beats me...she's my first, so I'm clueless!...but it never fails to impress me when she does it. I have to coax it out of her in this video, but she counts spontaneously ALL the time. For example, we went to the playground yesterday, and she had to count to 10 every time before she'd go down the slide.

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Nothing much happening in this one...just her cool hand motion for when she says "move" and then a glimpse into the daily struggle of understanding what the heck she's trying to say.

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Very rarely does Va-Va make an appearance in a vid, but here I am. Whoopee. Chris blames Raina's love of being tickled (in the good way, not the Chinese torture way) on me. I love a good tickle :) This vid doesn't show it, but most times when you tickle Raina, she completely zonks out...eyes get all glassy, posture totally relaxes...until you stop, then she's pointing to where she wants tickled, grabbing your hand, and saying "more."

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And now for pics...

Here she is with all her friends and the backpack we have to carry around in order to make sure they go everywhere she goes.











Here she is at the train tracks. She loves trains. Lucky for us, we live within walking distance of the T.















Here she is riding the camel at the zoo...

















...and playing in the zoo's Kid's Kingdom.

















She found this huge leaf at the zoo and wouldn't let it go.

















I make this face, too, when I'm really enjoying my ice cream :)

I love you, craigslist!

So, I sold 7 old art books for $50 the other day on craigslist. Old as in had since college and never used...not old as in ancient and thus valuable.

The day before making this sale, I saw this long ad on craigslist...

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This is a large lot of baking and cake decorating supplies. Right now I am selling the enitre lot together. It includes:

New in Box:
***5 piece stainless steel mixing bowl set- was given to me and box is a little smashed but bowls are still in plastic wrap and appear fine
***The Friendly Lion shaped cake pan- paper instructions/ideas guide inside the pan is ripped, Wilton
***Christmas Tree Cookie Treat Pan- plastic wrapping is a little ripped off, Wilton
***Cooks and Chefs 10 Piece Gift SIlicone bakeware & Rack Set- these items were bought from the HSN and that's the box they come in. It includes 5 pans/molds and 4 chrome wire racks for the pans. The 10th piece, a spatula, is missing.
***Nonstick Cake-Sicle Pan- box has been opened but item never used
***Wilton Dessert Decorator- box opended but item never used
***Wilton Singles- Tree
***Wilton Singles- Candy Cane
***Wilton Singles- Snowflake
***Baker's Secret- Santa face Pan
***Wilton Bunny Pan
***Pampered Chef Bread tube- flower
***2 Baker's Secret- mini swirl pan, 1 has tags still attached and 1 does not
***2 Wilton Jack-o-Lantern (pumpkin) Singles
***1 pack of 50 Cars cupcake baking cups
***Wilton Cookie Stamp- bunny

Used- no box:
***3 small terra cotta look "flower pots"- these can be used to serve dips, etc... but originally came w/ a bueberry muffini mix kit.
***1 large of the same thing as above
***set of metal measuring spoons
***8 inch plastic layer holder for layer cakes, Wilton
***1 small round cake board
***1 cake slicer/leveler- cord looks twisted but pulls tight when in proper position
***Sugar Plum Decorating Kit by Wilton- older cake decorating kit w/one 12in pastry bag, 19 tips, 2 couplers, and 1 flower nail- all older but defintiely useable. this was givne to me so I can't say for sure that everything that should be in this kit is in fact there. I've listed what is included.
***Wilton Pumpkin/jack-o-lantern pan- thin so best used for cookie cakes
***Wilton Mini Pumpkin pan- makes 12 muffins, cupcakes, brownies, etc...
***Wilton Foaming mug cake pan
***2 mini heart cake pans
***candy mold- turtles- needs to be washed well
***candy mold- small hearts with arrows- also could use a good wash

Used- in box
*** Mini Bake and Fill kit by Betty Crocker- used once

New- no box
***4 Wilton Show- N-Serve cake boards 14in X 20 In
***10 Wilton cake circles boards for 8 or 9 inch round cakes
***Wilton flower cake pan- never used but no instruction sheet inside
***about 20 small blue plastic favor holders
***2 packs (8 each) jar toppers kit
***about 20 clear plastic bags for candy
***Candy mold- Blues Clues- have instruction sheet/paper backing but it came off so I didn't list it as "in box"

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All for only $45.

$45, people. OMG. In case you don't know, I'm taking cake decorating classes and my bakeware (what little exists of it) sucks big time.

Check out what I brought home today:


That's what I'm talkin' about!!!

It's perfectly natural to feel jealous :P