I just finished up on Matt's birthday cake (aka "truth cake") and I have to say I am, for the most part, pretty proud of it. Considering this is only the second layer cake I've ever made (the first didn't turn out too great), it didn't turn out half bad. Watching too much Food Network and Stumbling across various baking blogs, I decided to take pictures of the process and post about it.

I decided to be ambitious and try a chocolate and vanilla swirl cake with chocolate pudding filling and vanilla frosting. Here, the cake is ready to be constructed.Here's a close-up of the cake itself. I love the pattern it made!Mmm...a layer of chocolate fudge pudding.Put together. Now it's time for frosting!Frosting in progress. I'm never good at this part....and a little in the chef. Maybe this is why I'm not good at frosting?Viola! We have our finished product. I know it's not perfect, but I would like to think that it reflects it's creator - no, not blindingly white and packed with fat - imperfect, yet full of good intentions. :)

What would I do differently next time? Buy a cake. And if I ever had a cake store (yes, a cake store), my motto would be "Eh, it's edible..." Needless to say, I think I'll stick to my mommy career. I hope Matt likes it, at least.

[Edit] I had to wait for Matt to get home to show a slice.He loved it! :)

Stats & THE DUCK

Just a quick (maybe?) update. Robby had a health screening appointment at WIC, yesterday. They said he's 16lbs., 10oz., and 27in. long and looks great! My checks changed, also - no more milk and cheese for us, but Robby does get baby cereal and juice added to his formula. Kind of bummed about that, but oh well. It wasn't going to last forever! It was just a huge help. They also told me that he can pretty much eat whatever we're eating, just as long as it's mashable, can't give him an allergy, etc. We also got the go ahead to start him on the 2nd foods. I'm not too thrilled about the thought of pureed meats, but he's got to try them. I'm debating whether it's worth taking him in to the doctor for a checkup, considering the WIC people (as undependable as they might be) checked him out and my car very well might completely roll over and die on the way there. There's nothing wrong with him. Just another wellness check. Thoughts?

[Edit] Thanks for reminding me, Sara - he's scheduled for his six month shots next Wednesday.

Also, my step mom requested that I share a picture of "THE DUCK". We call him "THE DUCK" because this is the toy that Robby always yells at. We still don't know why, but now he's started yelling at his Panda that Matt gave him. Weird kid. The only toy he's perfectly quiet with is his photo album, which is filled with all "his people" - aka all his family members. He'll lay there for a long time just flipping through the pages and staring at everyone's face. It's so cute. So, without furter ado, I present...THE DUCK:

Happy Birthday Matt!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTY!!!

Robby and I are so thankful that you were born today! We love you!

I Just Have to Say One Thing...

I AM SO TIRED OF WINTER!!!
I feel better, now. :)

We Love Nana!!

♥ We love Nana very, very much! ♥

Robby's Nana (aka Cher) is always a huge help to us. She's always bringing over diapers, formula, clothes, or food. Yesterday evening, I had to go to a WIC appointment and needed Cher to watch Robby for me (unfortunately I later found out that I needed to bring him and was forced to reschedule *grumble*), but Matt came home early, so we didn't need her. She still came over anyways to visit and to bring us a huge box of diapers and a huge box of wipes. I love her for this! She also brought over two bags full of clothes for Robby. What a HUGE help! So, in short, I have the best mama ever, Robby has the best nana ever, and we will (hopefully) never run out of formula or diapers ever again. :) Thank you Cher!

Skypin'

I remember the days when Matt and I used to video and voice chat through Yahoo Messenger and I remember it being miserable. Not only because we were miles apart, but the quality and delay were horrible! It wasn't even worth trying. After trying Skype for the first time last night, I can definitely see the technology's improvement over the past seven years.

Our family in Colorado (Matt's parents) finally decided to make an a few upgrades and bought new computers, DSL, and a webcam, so we decided to try Skype, a free internet video calling program. We were amazed at the quality of both the video and the audio! It was a wonderful treat to be able to see and hear each other and will definitely help bridge the gap between us and cut back on cellphone minutes and long-distance calls. An added bonus is that they can see Robby, which we plan on doing tonight since he was already in bed when we got everything set up last night. We're all really looking forward to it! It was super easy to use and definitely worth it!

Busy, Busy, Bee!

Sorry for the lack of posts, lately. As usual, life is crazy, and it might be getting even more crazy. I'm really wondering if I'm biting off more than I can chew. I'm now running three blogs, attending a Fundamentals of Faith Sunday school class that provides plenty of homework, I'm starting Biggest Loser in a couple of weeks and helping with the competition itself, I'm thinking of helping out more at church with their music program, I'm trying to catch up on my long list of books I want to read...not to mention raising a six month old and running a household! Oh, and I'm trying to squeeze my bible time, eating, sleeping, and maybe even a shower or two somewhere in between! Whew! I'm just trying to go with the flow and let God guide me where He sees fit. But I have to admit, this does make life more exciting and fulfilling and sometimes fun - I feel as if I'm actually being...productive! *gasp!*

On the flip-side, things are getting a little uncertain with Matt's work, as the company has been sold to a Japanese company based on the east coast. We don't know what this will mean for us, so we're trying to walk by faith, not by sight. Also, the ever-present car issues are rearing their ugly heads once more. Nothing new, right? We're still managing to get from here to there, God willing. I have a horrid feeling that our nice tax refund is going to go *poof!* into car repairs like past years, but I'm thankful that God has provided the means to do so. He is faithful and He does provide. That's the only way we've made it this far.

So, please excuse the lull in posts. Robby's doing great, as far as I can tell. I promise that any big announcements are always posted here, so you're not missing out on anything. He gets his shots again, soon, which I never look forward to (I don't know who does, really). Other than that, he's just growing like crazy and getting more and more fun as the days progress. What a blessing!

My love and prayers to all.

Attention! Attention!

Yet another shameless plug ahead...

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Baby Crackers

Today, Robby tried some rice baby crackers. Oh boy did he love those! He downed two crackers (even though he ended up wearing some of it) and was very serious about it.





Rice Crackers

Six Months Old

I have to admit that at first I didn't care for Robby's photo this time around. I tried for two days to get a smile, but no such like from Mr. Somber here, evidently. Looking closer at the one I finally "settled" on, I thought this is Robby right now - non-stop, wild-haired, and is usually found rolling around the living room, screaming at that duck! So, with that in mind, this picture is perfect. I got so caught up in the pressure to take cute photos of Robby that I forgot about the true reason why I do a monthly photo of him - to show his progress in growth and personality for memory's sake. And if he happened to have a wild 'do, with no smile, trapped in his Bumbo to get him to sit still, with duck in hand for his six month photo, then so be it - that'll be the way I will remember him at six months.

So, here's six month Robby. Not quite crawling, but incredibly eager to learn and practice. He can sit up unassisted for a couple seconds at a time. No teeth, yet, but they still bug the heck out of him from time to time. He loves everything that's given to him food-wise and is about ready to move on to the Gerber 2nd Foods. My favorite thing about six month Robby is his playfulness and the way his little face lights up when Daddy comes home to rough-house with him. We are still so very thankful for this little guy!

Oh, and he's wearing his "Tugging on Grandma's Heart" onesie that his Grandma Kathy gave him. Just for all his grandmas! :)

Be Careful Little Eyes What You See...

Matt directed me to this site (Kids-In-Mind) and I highly recommend it for parents who are trying to filter what movies their kids watch. Obviously, Robby is too young to care, but I've found that it's a great resource to filter what we watch, too!

When you visit the site, you'll see a list of currently-in-theater movies. If you click on a movie title, you'll be taken to a page devoted to that movie's contents, broken down into the movie's premise, sex and nudity content, violence and gore content, and profanity content. Under each category, there's a detailed description of each occurrence in the movie. For example, the movie "Hotel for Dogs" got a rating of 4/10 for profanity, for "7 scatological terms (6 mild), name-calling (idiot, mangy), 5 religious exclamations". It'll also list the uses or references to drugs or alcohol, discussion topics, and the message, or moral, of the story. What a great tool! I highly recommend this site to all parents and for stumble-fearing Christians like myself.

Want a Christian adult version? This site is a great resource as well!

Who Are You Again?

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted something other than videos, photos, and shameless plugs. Life seems to be going a million miles an hour and it's hard keeping up, sometimes.

Which brings me to my question - how do married couples do this parenting thing without falling apart? I know most end up getting divorced, which is COMPLETELY out of the question and incredibly sad, but how to do you find time for each other? There's work, changing diapers, cooking dinner, making bottles, church, etc...life in general, but then I stop and look at Matt and he's become more of a co-worker or team mate rather than my husband. Don't get me wrong - our marriage is still sound and stable, but we're just too tired and fried at the end of the day for us time and it's starting to get wearing.

Last night, we attempted to change that. After Robby went to bed, dinner was put away, and tomorrow's lunch was made, we scooted the ottoman over to the couch, gathered up some pillows, popped some popcorn, ran over to the vending machine and got a couple sodas, and sat together with our feet up and watched TV. A simple action, but it made all the difference! Not to sound like a mushy dork, but it was like seeing my husband for the first time in months!

So, once again, I'm reminded that it's the little things in life that need to be appreciated. The hour spent cuddling and laughing with my husband was the best medicine for two tired parents. We love our son dearly, but it amazes me how something so small can be so exhausting! I really hope we can create a trend of setting aside time for just us. We have the bad habit of doing our own thing when Robby goes down, but we really just need to push that aside and make time to spend together, if not to just regroup!

I'm really hoping for some more "TV time" with my honey, tonight. :)

Cheap Entertainment

After a long day of listening to Robby cry and fuss all day, he did this. I about died laughing. It made the whole day worth it.

Cheap Entertainment

Duck Problems

Robby has this duck toy that he's had since he was born. He's always liked it, as far as we know, but lately he's started a new trend of screaming and yelling at it - not necessarily out of anger or fussiness, but just yelling at it. This is the only toy he does this to! I don't know if he just really likes it or what.

I finally decided to take a video of it and you can hear it going on a bit. I had to put him in his room because I just couldn't take the yelling anymore while trying to eat my breakfast. As I write this, he's about an hour into this one-sided argument of sorts.

Duck Problems


P.S. Please excuse the pile of dirty laundry. Laundry day was missed.

New Blog

Please check out my new blog! It's dedicated to my photography:

http://jsmarshallphotography.blogspot.com/

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