experiments with cake pops + more

(snuggled with grandpa. She always curls up like a little bug when you hold her.)

So waaaaaay back, there was a baby shower for Sadie. I really really wanted to try and make hello kitty cake pops. Saw them on Bakerella's website and figured that they werent that hard. My siblings and mom formed the heads and I coated and decorated their faces. For a first attempt, they were pretty good.

There they all are in their cakey goodness.

And because I am a little warped, we did a photo of a mutilated one. She was a dud as the crack was making her fall apart.

She was only a few weeks old. She had her kind of unhappy face on her. Man, her hair has grown since she was born.

Yes, many curls on this one. Shes got little waves and cowlicks. I love them. She was pretty tired from being passed around from person to person. She did so well that day.

for mom

"I like your cooking pictures, I like the craft pictures but I love your Sadie pictures" she told me today on skype. Yes, we are lacking in Sadie pictures lately. Here are some more crappy iphone pictures of "the day in the life of Sadie".

We started the day off right with some breakfast. Shes doing this thing where she puts her hands on or around the bottle while eating.

Then we played. Playing was lots of fun, she was really captivated by piglet. She hardly notices the rattle bracelet on her wrist except if it gets in the way of her eating her fists.

I liked this one because I love her eyes.

Then I baked doughnut muffins. Aria suggested them to me, especially cause I own a mini muffin tin (which she wants). It is so handy for mini cupcakes and things. These guys turned out wonderfully. Almost like timbits with cinnamon sugar on them. Yum.

Then the little girl woke up from her nap and we played more on the floor.

She blurs a lot because the camera sucks and she bobbles around on her tummy.

We read a book. She loved kicking the books pages more than the reading. She did sit still for the entire thing and goodnight moon.

(This sucking thumb thing is a recent development. It doesn't last long, she likes having a fist in her mouth instead of her lowly thumbs.)

Then she had a little meltdown. There was much crying and wailing and then quiet sobs before she fell asleep. I tired the poor thing out. We have been very busy lately. Yesterday we were out all afternoon at Granville Island (her in the snuggly). Poor dear.

I have a few things to do:

-get usb card reader for the better camera
-take pictures of her with the better camera
-get pictures printed
-do more mixed media stuff

That is all for now. I shall be off doing dishes and then sketching tonight. I am thinking about cute new cards to make.

drizzly day

It has been drizzling all day. I love it. I've so missed this weather. I know that once fall hits, I will be whining about it raining all the time, but this weather is a nice break from the incessant hotness.

I had S all packed up in the snuggly ready to go before I noticed it was sprinkling. Not to worry though, as I was wearing Tony's grey hoodie and so it zipped up around her oh so nicely. She wore a little pink toque and away we went to get eggs.

It has been a nice morning. Went to the store, made bacon breakfast for Tony. I am proud of myself for not eating bacon and eggs and instead having rice crispies and a banana.

Once S was down for her afternoon nap (which is so wonderful cause its for 3 ish hours), I was able to bake my favourite kind of muffins. Banana Chocolate Chip. There were too many dead bananas in my freezer and it was time.

These are the mini ones that I did. They are ultra moist. I could eat them every day.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins:

1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup margarine
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
3 bananas
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Beat sugar and margarine together, then add eggs, sour cream and bananas.
Mix them all up.
Then mix up dry ingredients and add to the wet ones just until they are incorperated.
Add the chocolate chips.

Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

chalkboard paint!

I had been dying to use chalkboard paint lately. Before Sadie was born, I bought some and started to try it out. I used a can of it (would have preferred the paint kind, but they only had it in a can). Tony helped me tackle this project as I didn't want to inhale the fumes (even while outside). We actually used it on my ikea lack coffee table. It was just sitting there not being used really. 

This is the top of my table. This paint was so easy. I did 2 coats of paint, letting each coat dry for a day before doing the next. Then once its dry, you rub chalk all over it and then its ready to go.

It will be perfect for little girls to draw on or make crafts and whatever. I like to doodle on it. Oh what fun it would be to do a wall or door with it.

determined to roll

She was sans clothes yesterday and we chilled under wet receiving blankets to cool down. It felt nice, especially in the evening. She had her hands tucked underneth the blanket, and thought that was the funniest thing.

So, yesterday we saw something new. I was drawing in my sketch book and one minute shes on her back, the next minute I see her kicking like mad on her side. Shes trying very hard to roll over. Her left arm got in the way, and she was quite angry about that. She needed to be cuddled afterward to feel better.

The weather app that I have says it should be cooler after tomorrow and I am going to pray for rain.

we are hot today

Hot, tired and drooly it seems. Its a hot day again. We are going to be camped out in the living room infront of the big box fan. Shes sleepy still, and hot. I couldnt believe how much drool this one had. This was the norm when my sister was a baby, but not this one. My sister would soak through her clothes with the amount of drool on her. (she probably hates me for posting this).

mmm that was dinner and breakfast for today. I love my green beans. These ones came from my dads garden. They were awesome with just butter, salt and pepper. Been working on more things lately. Trying out my washi tapes. Oh they are so much fun. This is one of my thank you cards that I did.

Maybe a trip to safeway to get ice cream things is in order. I just dread leaving the house though. I hate it when its too hot. I am more a spring or fall person. I dont mind the rain. I really miss rainy days. Those days are most fun, those are days when I can make crafty things and bake or use the oven. Now I dont feel like doing anything.
I am a slug.

4 simple goals (before 2011)

So Elsie (from a beautiful mess) got me thinking about what kind of goals I could make for myself this year. Nothing terribly difficult, but goals that will make me happier that I can try and achieve daily.

My goals are:

1. Eat Healthier

I was a fiend for fillets of fish and coke. They are my mcdonalds weakness. ohh terrible fluffy bun and delicious deep fried fish square. I am so salivating right now thinking about it. Any fast food in general seems to trigger my heartburn, so I am just saying no to fast food.

2. Read more books, less tv

I either dont try or just dont put in the effort to read more. I used to devour books. I would read one a day sometimes, so I really want to get back to that.

3. Devotionals

I am the ultimate slacker when it comes to reading the bible. I've tried many times to buckle down and get it all read. Its HARD. So the next time I head to chilliwack, I am off to my favourite christian book store to find a devotional book to help me with this. Shouldn't take too long, I love to visit chilliwack.

4. Learn to knit or crochet

Its something that I think I might be good at. I don't know if I'll have the patience for it, but its worth a shot. I believe I have a sister in law who does crochetting. I also have a friend that knits. We shall see which will win.

Recent Developments

So the bathroom is almost fixed. We went to chilliwack to visit the folks while that was supposed to happen, but instead there was a note for us when we got back and a big old hole in my bathroom ceiling. It said the plumbers were coming this week. So they came wednesday, and Sadie and I headed to the park to play. It took like 4 hours, so we ended up doing sushi as well.

 So its almost done, just need to have the ceiling sanded and painted and then I get to have a shower again. YAY!

So other things...well, Sadie has been smiling more and more and she is quite the talker. When we were visiting the folks, Aria was playing and bouncing Sadie in her arms. She almost laughed. There were many shrieks.

Yesterday she laughed. It was kinda creepy at first only because she did it while sound asleep. It was a full out giggle and laugh. Later she laughed while awake, but it wasn't the same as the sleeping one.

Shes been doing things all week long it seems. Laughing, finding her hands and the newest thing was almost rolling over.

 She stares at her hands (more like fists). She kept moving her hand closer until she poked herself in the eye.

Its about 8 o clock and we were talking and playing and she was desperately trying to go on her side or roll. Grief child! I haven't thought of baby proofing the house yet...

Bedtime is near, she is doing her whiney cry.

Classy

So yesterday was another fun day in the world of heartburn. I looked forward to my dr appointment in the afternoon. She holds the ability to cure this or at least see if it's something more.

Sooo I was feeling rather horrible and it got so bad that it sent me running to the can to throw up. Now it just so happens that our landlord came to give us an update on our bathroom and to see it.

Tony answers the door and meanwhile I in my haste did not shut the bathroom door fully. Haaaaaaaarrrrrrffffff! While talking to the landlord at the front door, there I was like right next door piling out all the tums I ate as well as anything left in my stomach (and then some). Yes I am quite the classy lady. Poor Tony and mr m had to listen to that. Oh well I couldn't help it.

The rest of the day I tried to sleep away the pain. The doctor thinks I have an inflamed gallbladder. She gave me meds that should prevent heartburn. Yay! Oh sweet relief! Testing them out this morning. Testing is to be done for this gallbladder, ultrasound and blood work. I will be having a date with the vampires in the lab again soon. .

Raining in the bathroom part 3 (the final part?)

Sooooo as we all might have guessed, it started raining on me in the bathroom again. This morning I hear the guy upstairs in the tub and then low and behold *drip drip drip*. I called the landlord again and let him know that the water is just finding new places to drip from. Now we have a plumber coming friday morning/afternoon to rip open our ceiling to see what is going on. YAY!

Finally its getting fixed. Now we gotta get out while this all goes down. The last thing we want is to expose Sadie to any terrible mold that is going on up there (cause there has to be some up there by now). I think we are headed to Chilliwack for a few days.

Tony is almost done school, just 2 more days or so. I am so glad its over. He will have a few weeks off before his FINAL semester in september. Oh its been so long. He is looking forward to getting out of school for a bit and not dealing with the student loan people.

(lets play a game, how many things can you spot on my living room floor?)

I thought of something that I dont think I've shared here before. I have a quirky way of taking out the trash. You know how most people haul their full bags of stinky garbage to the curb, or to a dumpster? Well, not us, not really. I detest taking out the garbage. I gag every time. Tony used heave our garbage down the hall, lug it down the stairs, and then all the way to the dumpster. This didnt last long. He hates it as well. 

Well, one day I didnt want to take it to the dumpster, so instead, I put it on the patio. I realized that from our second floor patio, the dumpster is not too far away. As long as its not terribly heavy stuff, my plan would work. I take our bags of trash and carefully drop them down below on the ground. Tony (my partner in crime) will then throw them in the dumpster. This makes for less hauling of stuff and its kinda fun. I love hearing the bags sometimes explode when they hit the ground. None of the bags ever tear enough to spill garbage everywhere and its way faster than anything else. I swear the first time we did it, I had an audience of neighbours peeking. I think they are used to it now. If they were smart or close to their dumpsters, they might consider it too. 

Hurrah for throwing garbage from a second story apartment!

Huzzzah it's hives

I startled myself this morning something fierce. I woke up, felt awesome. Got a good amount if sleep thanks to the little one. Decided to head to Safeway for some groceries (the fridge had been bare for a few days).

Sadie and I headed out and on the way I realized I felt kinda prickly on my side. Thought nothing of it until I was in the parking lot and looked down in my purse. I happened to see a glimpse of my arm and WHOA! When did I catch the plague?!? Must have looked a little weird to the 4 other people in the parking lot who saw me peeking at my tummy, and down my shirt. Sunglasses on it wasn't so bad but when they were off, my pale skin showed off my rash quite nicely.

Pharmacy was closed until 10 so I didn't stick around. Bought only a few things to tide Tony over with (waffles, berries,eggs). He loves breakfast things.

This day is like the worst possible day for this to happen. I am headed to the clinic again to discuss allergic reactions and my antibiotics. I should really be home helping Tony with his last report. This will make for an interesting night. I promised I would stay up as long as it takes to help him. Oh bother!

Only 2 more days until this semester is over. The last one for school starts in september! Ahhh the end is in sight! Victory is near!

ahhh good day so far

Brewed a big batch of homemade iced tea. I much prefer this to the store bought stuff. I control the sugar in it and the lemon. I love it lemony. I then helped a much stressed Tony with some report. 

Bought sushi to help the stressed Tony relax. He loved it and was very happy. Almost dropped beef teryiaki roll on Sadie's head. whoops.

Did the laundry with a helper of sorts. She entertains while I fold. 

And then we had a sleep. Very uneventful day really, but a nice one.

Oh and do see inception if you get the chance, its very interesting and I really loved it.

raining in the bathroom part deux

Awesome.

Simply awesome.

After the landlord found out the issue, muded the ceiling and said he would come back and fix it Monday.

Obviously the ceiling is not raining on its own.

Our lovely upstairs neighbour splashes around in his tub and this spills through the crack between the wall and the tub liner. when I say "splashes" I mean it. I've heard the guy, and it reminds me of when I was little and would push off the end of the tub to slide to the other end. Its like he keeps a whale in his bathroom.

Logic would say "hey, lets fix the liner first", but no, we dont listen to logic here.

*sigh*

At least it doesnt drip on the floor.

Its been a downer type day, but the upside is the fact that Tony and I get to go out for a date tonight. YAY! Inception here I come.

its a disaster zone!

This was my house yesterday...laundry on the floor, baby on the floor (she was content playing) and vacuum on the floor. It didnt feel right to wear a blanket but I had goosebumps from that stupid fever.

Feeling better now. Haven't had a fever yet this morning. So it was what I thought, mastitis. Taking antibiotics for that. Its not terrible, I caught it early before it got bad. Breastfeeding way more just to ensure that this goes away. Hot showers would be nice but that cant happen yet.  Since the rain in the bathroom incident the ceiling is being repaired, and the mud that is on it needs to dry out. So hot washcloths will do.

In other news, we found that Sadie seems to be quite ticklish. Tony was tickling her ribs and she was making noise and grinning and then all of a sudden SQUEAL!! She was so excited that she shrieked in the cutest high pitched voice ever. I think it helped Tony feel better (been stressed out a lot with school lately).

Hotness

Yesterday I was feeling really off. I just wanted to sleep on the couch, all day long. Too bad tony had school. Sadie just wanted to play. I played in front of the fan with her until I realized something was not right. I was shivering. Now if you've ever been to my place you'd know that it is like a greenhouse with huge windows. It's never that cold. EVER.

To the thermometer I went. Low and behold it beeped that my temperature was high. Grrreat. I hate being sick. I was hoping it would all go away after I took some pills but it's back as of this morning. I know what it probably is and might try to make a real appointment with my doctor today. It's either that or the clinic.

Now it's time to try and sleep for a while, it's way too early.

rain in my bathroom

I never noticed until Tony showed me this:

 

I even had a shower today and didn't see it. This has happened once before and the landlord said it was fixed. Well, its "BAAAAACK". This time it hasn't gone through any cracks in the paint and just pooled under the paint instead. I am sure if I poked it I would have another shower. mmm ceiling shower.

Oh man, I am sure there's mold and other nasties living in my apartment now. At least once Tony is done school we can look for a bigger place sans ceiling drips.

ouch

The little one had her first set of shots today. I have been dreading this appointment for weeks now. It didnt help that I had a raging case of heartburn last night that kept me up thinking about it all. So waking up was unpleasant, I felt crappy, but Sadie was oblivious to what was to come and was smiling and being super cute.

It was wonderful that Tony came and carried her in the snuggly. Everyone was looking at the cute guy with the little baby strapped to his chest. I couldn't have done that alone and I wont do it alone with the next set of shots.

The first part of the appointment was good, shes very long for her age, the doctor had to measure her twice cause she was a bit surprised at her length. All and all, Sadie is normal average for everything else.

The next part was worst. I had to sit and not look while Tony held her little legs. Sadie is never keen on having her legs still, shes a kicker, ever since utero. I haven't heard her cry like that hardly ever, but according to Tony she held her breath and turned purple and then wailed and shrieked. That was only one shot, there were 2 more. Each time, she did the same thing, and she was almost inconsolable. Poor dear. It took a while to calm her after they were all done.

Now we are done, she is home and we napped for 2 hours before I woke up. She is still sleeping and I had to wake her up to eat. Going to check her temperature to see how shes doing. Poor little girl had a horrible day.

she can lift her big bobble head now

She's using her arms now instead of just her neck. Look at her go! Just happened today. 

Don't mind the mess...laundry needs to be put away but we've been too busy playing and working on her muscles.

Happy Birthday Tony

Its his birthday today. I've been cleaning up the house like crazy so that I feel better about the place. I am always happier in a clean house.

Also, I am a little crazy. Crazy enough to bake a cake in summer. Its not terribly hot out, but it makes it for an uncomfortable afternoon. I haven't baked in forever, probably since I was pregnant with shnooks. It feels sooooo good to do something creative in the kitchen. I used to try all kinds of new things and LOVED IT. Now my big thing is to find new toppings for a hot dog, or open a can of spaghetti sauce for pasta. woooooo! (oh the sarcasm). I haven't felt up to doing much in the kitchen, but I pushed myself to make something super special for Tony. Hes been feeling down lately. Hes worried about his health and stuff and having a birthday doesn't help that. We found him a doctor that is across the street from mine and he goes Monday to see whats going on.

So what is my super special thing? Well, its chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and probably something chocolate like for the icing. The boy loves his chocolate and had asked for chocolate cake. Never before have I tried making ganache, so not hard. Its easy peesy and very yummy. Thank goodness I hide the chocolate chips from him or I would be ganache-less.

Pictures will be on the cell phone as my cameras memory card died. It did a mitosis and split in two. The camera phone will have to do for now.

This has been the best cake so far. Its not lopsided and there are no crumbs in the icing. I am getting lots better at this thing.

I enjoyed my piece, and am only having one. That is my limit. The rest of the cake has been shared with the babysitters (Beth and my mother in law). They babysat while we went to a movie.

oh washi tape

how I love thee. 

So colourful, so easy, so pretty.

You make things beautiful, like my post cards:

I also did a birthday card and thank you card with different coloured tape. Oh I cant wait for my new ones to arrive. Blues with plaid and stripes.

Hot hot hot

It was one of those days where the temperature inside was the same as the outside. The only thing that kept us inside was the fact that the box fan blew air slightly cooler on you.

Today was a day where all we did was lay on the floor in front of the fans and sweat. Ugh.

Many tepid baths were had by the little one. She enjoyed then immensely.

Upside of this heat was the fact that we were not going to cook dinner. Tasty cold delicious sushi was had instead.

The other impractical treat was when tony came home from school with chocolate bars. Oh why on earth would a chocolate bar make any sense? Well, they were on sale. Of course. I bet the school just wanted to be rid of melty mess on days like this. They were good after a nice stay in the fridge.

I wish I could live in the fridge.

routine

I've been trying to get Sadie into a routine of sorts lately. So far its been good. I wake up hearing shuffling and then a squeak, and then more shuffling. I wake up seeing something like this.

All blankets are off, she is ready to play. Recently she has been very interested in the paper hearts on the wall above her bed. I think she is noticing a lot more than just black and white. She still will look at black and white photos on the walls, but she is liking colourful thinks like the "good night moon" and "the very hungry caterpillar" books.

She is very much a morning girl. We play hard for an hour or 2 before she gets all worn out.

She is all smiles in the early morning. It makes it so much easier for me to wake up knowing that we get to play. My work and school schedules were always about waking up late and working till late at night. Its been like that for a few years now, so I got to get into the waking up early thing. Baths before bedtime have also been added to our routine. She is quite the water girl. Loves kicking and doesn't care if I get water in her eyes.

Yesterday Tony babysat while I went out to superstore. It was so nice to get out by myself to do something for a couple hours. He did well despite being stressed out about school and student loans. I will be so glad when we dont have to deal with the student loan people. Doesnt matter if you are the nicest calmest person on the phone, the other person is always a jerk and can never explain anything . I asked them to explain something on the sheet we had and all I got was them reading the exact thing back to me. Only a few more months to go and then Tony will be done and working. Hes ready to work again and I hope he can work for the BC Cancer Agency place again. 

I do believe its freezie time as its already too hot out and its only 9 am.

Video time

This was dinner last night that Mikaela made. Chicken penne pasta and watermelon. So yummy. We had it for lunch today. Finally the video link appeared so this is a test to see if it works:

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!

We are still a sleepy bunch, but thats ok. The gloomy weather doesn't help the matter. Today is a grocery shopping day, maybe a picnic day and a day to not cook. Mikaela is going to cook for us tonight. So happy ^^

waiting

We are patiently awaiting the arrival of the family. They are here to borrow a camera and bring me my laundry that I forgot. Mikaela will be staying a few days to help me clean and take care of small one. I love it when they help cause I get to have a longer nap.

She was on her tummy this morning and shuffled herself around in a full circle by kicking her legs. She is liking being on her tummy more now. She used to bonk her head on the floor and scream.

She is awake now and so we shall play some more.

Success!

I have already somewhat rubbed my warped sense of humor on my child. We have been playing with these guys today and she's loving them. Moxy (The pink one) tickles her neck with its ears and Ice Bat is fun to look at. Tony thinks its cute and strange that I've done this.  Sadie and I have been playing lots more, and she smiles and makes cooing noises at me.

So far today I've been trying to think of something good for my blank canvas but nothing so far. I have an idea for a craft that I've been wanting to do since I was pregnant but I couldnt make it out to the craft store to get the supplies. I am hoping that I can do that this weekend.


I cant wait for the day when I can move into a bigger place. All I want to do is to be able to decorate or paint the walls and make Sadie's room pretty. I've been looking at this site: http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/home-tours

Its got awesome stuff on it.