cake pops!!

okay so i found a cute fun idea on the world wide web and decided to make them for a coworker's recent birthday. they are called "cake pops" - like a lollipop, but with cake instead of candy. FUN right? well, here is a peek into my first (of many many to come) experience with these!

i used a chocolate cake mix, and chocolate icing. you basically crumble up the cake once its cooled, and mix in the can of icing. this is how mine looked...

then i scooped the mixture with my cookie scoop and rolled it into balls and lined them up on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

after that, i melted the chocolate, dipped the end of a lollipop stick into the chocolate and stuck one into each of the balls of cake mix.



once all the cake pops had sticks i put the tray into the freezer so they could firm up so they wouldn't fall off the sticks when i dipped them in the candy melts.

after about 30 minutes in the freezer, it was time to dip and decorate.


after dipping and decorating i lined them all up in a styrofoam wreath to dry.

this was the end result.

YUM!

i anticipate having a lot more experiences with these little bites of heaven, and i learned a lot of things doing this for the first time.

talking back

here is an absolutely adorable video of jimmie telling us he is full! he also likes to use this gesture as he approaches the Christmas tree, looking at us with a knowing smile...

go baby, go!!

look at our little man go! he's gotten so big and is just soaking everything in like a sponge!

here is a video of him trying to crawl.... he's gotten much faster, but still isn't *actually* crawling. don't turn your back for a second, because you'll turn around to find him across the room - eating the diapers!


here he is one of the first few times he got himself from laying down to sitting up on his own. he's MUCH more efficient at this these days!

a tribute to my mama :)

one of my fondest memories growing up was when mama would make our birthday cakes. happily , she would mix all different colors of icing and bake our favorite character cake in a classy Wilton cake pan -- then decorate it with said icing. the best part, though (even better than the cake itself!) was at the end. she would take all the leftover icing, mix it together, and spread it between two Graham cracker crusts. DELISH!! one of my favorite treats ever.

today I made a birthday cake for my mother in law and I had a ton of icing leftover. while I was cleaning it all up, I peeked in the cabinet and was delighted to find a box of Graham crackers!!!



thanks, mama -- your the best!!

fall fun

jim and i had to run several Christmas shopping errands today. it was beautiful outside and when we got home, the girls had all of the leaves in the front yard in a big pile, with baby Jimmie right in the middle of
it. jim grabbed the camera - and here are some of the results...













I can't believe he's already almost 8 months old!!! what a joy it is to watch my husband raising his first boy... and let me tell you, this boy LOVES his daddy! :)

blogging 101

so I suppose the art of blogging is completely lost on me. I created this blog almost 1 year ago and have a total of I think 3 posts? sorry guys -- I'll try harder! so I downloaded this blogpress app for my iPhone. maybe it will help me - time will tell :)

hang time

saturday morning, april 25, 2009 -- i woke up at 520am after a typical restless night of getting up to feed jimmie twice. he should be good to go until about 630... the exact time we need to be at the airport for our flight to chicago via kansas city on southwest airlines. i was surpisingly chipper despite the grave lack of sleep i had suffered the previous week. i suppose i was so enthusiastic only becasue we were going to spend the week with my parents. i always look forward to spending time with family.

neil, a friend from church who graciously agreed to give us our zombie hour ride to the airport, arrived at 610 - just as i was getting last minute things into the diaper bag. as anticipated - this was the very moment that murphy's law kicked in for the day. jimmie decides he's starving, and can't wait another moment for his bottle. as i prepare the bottle and commence the feeding i scrutinize the clock, thinking "okay he can eat an ounce before we need to be in the car, then another ounce in the car on the way -- then another ounce in line for security and he'll be set for at least 3 hours."

yeah right.

jim and neil load the car, and i put jimmie in his carseat. he has eaten an ounce. he falls asleep and is sound and snug until we unload him to go through security. shoes off, carseat unfurled, contents of the diaper bag sprawled into different bins, baby in one hand -- jim carried the bins and i juggle the carseat and we try to put ourselves back together. whew. now, off to our gate. oh look! a sonic right across from our gate - and 30 minutes before we board. jim gets in line and i stifle more baby hunger with another ounce of said bottle. of course he falls asleep again. jim and i eat our breakfast and enjoy some people watching until its time to board. jim grabs the trash and i grab the carseat and diaper bag. off we go to kansas city.

jimmie did great. the plane wasn't full so we were able to bring his carseat on instead of gate checking it like anticipated. all the passengers and flight attendants oogled over him, and he slept the entire way.

he earned his wings, since this was his first flight. upon landing in kansas city we discover that we have to exit the boarding area and go through security again at the gate for our connecting flight. seriously? isn't there some sort of exception to this rule for parents traveling with an infant? *sigh* we head to a restaurant to wait out our 45 min. layover in silence. as we are chatting about how to juggle another trek through security without shoes, i start digging in the diaper bag for jimmie's bottle so i can clean it out and get it ready for his next feeding - which i anticipate happening as we are boarding our next flight since he only took 2 ounces and is not on his schedule at all.

me: honey, do you have the bottle?

jim: no, i thought you had it.

me: it's not in here - did you see it on the table at sonic in okc?

jim: no, i thought you had it.

me: well i don't. here let me empty the whole diaper bag, maybe i'm just missing it.

*proceed to empty contents of diaper bag onto table*

me: well crap! where is it?? i was feeding him at sonic, then we got up to get on the plane. i could have sworn i put the cap on and stuck it in the diaper bag.

jim: its okay, hes not even hungry.

me: well, not now - but he will be in about 30 minutes -- while we are in the air on the way to chicago. what should we do?? i don't want to be the mom on the plane with the screaming infant! what did i DO with that bottle??!

jim: just use the other one.

me: its in the suitcase, on the plane. *sob*

that was a fun conversation :). of course, airport stores do not carry bottles. and our spare was in the suitcase. i'm such a failure. how could i leave my son's bottle in oklahoma city? and *of course* this is my son... the one who wouldn't latch on to my boob to save his life, so nursing isn't an option either. i was a basket case. jim just kept saying it would be fine. i just kept thinking yeah, you won't be the one trying to console the screaming infant while a few hundred angry eyes stare at you and squirm uncomfortably!

well, about 30 minutes into our flight i had staved off screams of anger pretty well. we asked the flight attendant for a cup of water, and eyeballed 2 ounces. luckily i had some syringes that we use to give jimmie his medicine with. jim used one to stir the formula and as i held jimmie we fed him mcgyver style from a medicine syringe. its parenting people, you do what you gotta do.

we survived. and look what was waiting for us in chicago: a happy, well-fed baby boy :)