Sunday Confessionals

I'm not really a church person. Although baptized as a Catholic....I consider myself more spiritual than religious. Regardless of seeking forgiveness or not...I thought some confessions would be a fun Sunday blogging topic! Mostly humorous with a few shameless snuck in!

1.  I freaking LOVE the Kardashians! I mean, they are one crazy family and I seriously love Kourtney! She is my favorite. She can be so dry and non-emotional that its funny! And poor Bruce. I mean that guy has to put up with soo much CRAP! He seriously has the patience/tolerance of a saint sometimes most of the time! And their new show, Khloe and Lamar...airs TONIGHT (speaking of Sundays)




2. I HATE putting Laundry away. I really don't mind washing and folding it, but I hate putting it away. And you know the funniest thing is that it is always way less work than I think it's going to be.  Usually there is at least one full basket of (once folded) laundry in my bedroom that drives me nuts! And "putting away clothes" is on no less that 2 To Do lists a week! Which leads to my next confession...

3. I'm obsessed with calendars and to do lists! Well, really anything where I can write important stuff down and think I'm organized! I have 3 calendars going right now (not including the one on my computer, which I sometimes put stuff in). I is my Annual Calendar, of which I write all important stuff like doctors appointments, addresses, class schedules and make up other stuff like, plans for next week etc. I have one for work (which I only use April through October). I keep track of events, employees requests for days off and the such. And then my new, cool weekly planner from Lobotome. I fill it out on Sundays for the week and keep it on my counter and fill things in as they come up. I also keep To Do lists on it. I kind of love it...a LOT! I bought the MomME pack and got a meal planner, honey do, shopping list (which I used to its full potential the other day and LOVED) and a babysitting pad! (Here's the ironic end to my obsession, rarely do I actually complete the stuff on my TO DO list on the day I write them down...I just transfer them from day to day, I should work on that, right?)


4.  I like the think I do everything I can to be good to our environment. I used recycled or partially recycled products as much as possible. I used green cleaning products (am even a distributor for Shaklee). I own a bazillion reusable shopping bags and recycle cans, bottles, cardboard and paper. I even used cloth diapers (use them still with Lola) Here's the confession part... I never remember my reusable bags to go to the grocery store with; When the bottle trash is full, sometimes I just throw the bottle away (most of the time they live on my counter until my husband cleans it out and puts it in his hiding place...he keeps all the money he makes off my wine bottles....) Sometimes, without realizing it, I let the water run when I brush my teeth. And lastly (hiding face), even though I take the time to sort things I can donate to Goodwill...I never, never actually remember to put them in my car and drop them off so sometimes..ashamingly, I just throw them away! GAH!


I think I've cleansed my soul enough today.....please, share with me your confessions so we can all be sinners together!!


~ Cerina

First Feeding - not so much

Here are some pics from Little Lady's first feeding. To say she wasn't quite ready is an understatement... Her mouth was clamped shut everytime I tried to give her some yummy organic brown rice cereal! But she did love the spoon!

This is the 3rd and final try for today! Again, the spoon is a definite hit!!

Time for bath and bed for the little one! Good Night!

Little Lady Loves

You guessed it! This post is all about my little lady! (excuse the not so great pic...I really wanted to show off the beanie I made her, all my better pics are on the ipod) She just turned 5 months old on the 5th! And with 5 months comes all kinds of fun new things! She had her check-up yesterday and she is a happy, healthy, well-growing little baby!  We got the go ahead to start solids with her! I've been anxiously awaiting starting solids for a number of reasons, good and bad: 

BAD: It makes me sad to realize how fast our little babies grow up! 

GOOD: However, I love making baby food and feeding my little ones and knowing that they are getting the healthiest foods I can give them!

BAD: It adds another dimension of meal time routines...feeding the toddler AND feeding the baby. Not really bad, but definitely more work.

GOOD: I love the cute little baby spoons and storage options 

BAD: I have to buy a new food processor (which I was planning to do for other reason, but mainly making baby food)

GOOD: Although I love nursing, I look forward to doing it less (especially since she is aggressive and tries to rip my skin off each feeding)

GOOD: She's a hungry girl and she is going to LOVE eating real food! I can tell!

This little girl loves getting her picture taken and I swear her favorite place in the whole world is the changing table! Either she likes to be naked and she loves the attention and cooing from mommy, or both I guess 

And those chubby little legs...I just love them! (and so does she!) It's funny how different babies can be, even your own! My son was not nearly as active a baby as she is. He was more the sit back and observe type...she wants to be a part and grab everything! I adored my sons babyhood, but I absolutely LOVE little ladies babyness!

My friend's mom made her this adorable hat! She is an amazing knitter and for each of my babes, she made one of these cute hats and an amazing sweater! I've also been busy knitting and crocheting for the lady! See first picture. Its a great free pattern found here at The Dainty Daisy! She has amazing stuff for sale in her etsy shop and although my mom finally taught me to crochet (I'm a knitter originally and found that crocheting was super hard until she broke it down) but credit Dainty Daisy for making me fall into a passionate love affair with crocheting!

And of course I need to make a shout out to one of my best girlfriends. She designs these super, badass shirts for babies and toddlers. Check out her stuff at My Badd Baby. She has a super edgy and fun style and she wanted her son to not look so puppies and teddy bears, if you know what I mean. Not finding anything, she created her own! The shirts are so cute and the fabric is SOO soft and awesome! Of course I had to put a big bad bow on her head...it just completed the outfit!

There is so much I look forward to in the next few months: sitting up all by herself, crawling, uncontrollable giggles, girlie toys, playing on the beach.....but have no desire to rush it all by! I don't know if there will be another baby so this is may be my last opportunity to relish in all these firsts! I've decided that I can no longer leave my camera home...it must come with me everywhere and be used at least once a day!

Too much TV??

We've all read the articles. TV before the age of 2 is a no-no (or at least suggested to be kept at a minimum). Supposedly it makes their brain work differently...or something like that. Here are some articles about the negative impacts of TV:


ScienceDaily - Toddlers & TV


MSNBC - TV may hurt Toddlers' attention spans


And of course BabyCenter in all their wiseness - TV Watching guidelines


Okay enough with all the negativity right! I mean after all, I watched plenty of TV growing up and I'm a normal behaving person! On the other hand, I talk too fast and my brain processes way too much information at certain times (usually after a glass or two of wine). Are those negative behaviors or signs of a shortened attention span? Probably. Is it because of TV...I doubt it.


Back to the reason for this post. I used to be secretly proud that my son (now 3) was never really interested in watching TV. He would much rather play with his trucks and toys than watch anymore Mickey Mouse or Handy Manny (I have a secret latin crush on Manny by the way).


I was able to turn the TV off shortly after 8 am and could watch whatever I wanted without it being dedicated to Disney or Nickelodeon. Now, let me clarify, I do not judge a mom for using TV as a babysitter! Whatever works! I had plenty of times when I wish I could just entertain him with a movie or cartoon so I could get something done.


And then....about 2 months ago...little man got sick. For about two weeks he battled a nasty cold and earache. It was heartbreaking to see him so tired and hear him tell me he was tired and cold. He watched a lot of movies. Well a lot of one movie really, Nemo. I love Nemo. It's an adorable and visually pretty movie! And we watched it...over and over and over. And continued to watch it, over and over and over for another couple of weeks past the illness. And then, fortunately, he changed gears. A different movie. The "Birdie Movie" as calls it, UP to us mere mortals. Another absolutely adorable movie that I really enjoy. Yet, after about 14 days, 3x a day, anything can get redundant. Then it became the "elephant movie" (Horton hears a Who). And most recently, it's the "dinosaur movie" (Land before Time episodes) This is the one the makes my brain bleed! The songs and the voices of those little dinosaurs....aaaggghhh! So yesterday I worked really hard to move him on to....BAMBI!! And I succeeded!

As soon as the movie is over....he lets me know he wants to watch it again. Sometimes he just lays on the couch and watches it, sometimes he plays with it on in the background (we can't turn it off). My questions is....what is this doing to his brain! Should I be concerned? Will he ever want to just play without the TV again! (We've tried cutting it off...I mean it's too the point where I have to go to my room to watch my shows if we are trying to get him calmed down before bed) He throws a fit! I know, I know. I shouldn't give in...but with a 5 month old...I prefer to keep the fits to a minimum.


So what do you think! Any advice on cutting the TV down? Or teaching him that he has to share the TV with mommy and daddy! How much TV does your kid watch in a day?

My first 3D Cake for my favorite little man!

I've been busy thats for sure! I have a number of things to catch up on my blog but don't want to overwhelm myself or any potential readers by putting them all in one post! So this post is going to focus on my amazing little boy and his big numer 3 birthday!

A few months ago, I asked little man what he wanted for his birthday and he said "Cake". Of course he did, he is my son after all. So as a follow up, I asked what kind of cake and his answer was equally obvious.."Fire truck Cake", being that he is also my husbands' son! So of course, if I'm going to make a fire truck cake, I'm going to make it a 3D cake, cause it's cooler that way!



I started searching through some of favorite baking blogs and websites and found some great examples of 3D cakes! I so admire the skills some people have in cake & cupcake decorating! I hope to be half as good someday! Practice, practice, practice!

I also bought a book I found on clearance at Barnes & Noble called Planet Cake. It teaches you all about doing carved and 3D cakes. I loved it and it made it look so simple! Their biggest trick, which really isn't a trick I'm gathering from the other baking sites, is to cover the cake in ganache as opposed to buttercream. All I can say is WOW!! I have so much more confidence working with the ganache because its so easy to work with! It hardens up but is easily molded and repaired! I haven't quite got the knack of getting a smooth buttercream finish yet (but have some ideas from some youtube videos) so this was a godsend! Once you don't have to worry about your base so much, you can spend more time focusing on the fondant!





It certainly wasn't the most amazing piece of work but for the birthday party and my little man...it was a hit! And, I was very proud to show it off (being the perfectionist I am about this kind of stuff, that says a lot!)



Now I've got the baking bug again! I was looking at a dismal week of no baking until I volunteered to bake 5 dozen cupcakes for a fundraising bake sale to benefit our local animal shelter. I'm looking forward to that....I've already started my attempt at making some cute little puppy faces to top them with. I originally was going to make plain ole' (and amazingly delicious) chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting...but I think I'm going to expand it to include chocolate with peanut butter frosting, confetti cupcakes (plain white cupcakes with confetti baked in...no not REAL confetti...edible of course silly) with vanilla frosting and chocolate dipped strawberry cupcakes (the tops are dipped in ganache, I bet they'll be awesome!). And then of course, a good friend of mine has a birthday this week so I'm going to make her a cake. The design of which I'll share once she gets to see it!

Anyways....I've obviously filled my once bake-less week up and can't wait to get started!

Thursday I want to share my organization of our Finances as we get prepped up to start a Dave Ramsey-ish plan (thanks for the inspiration I found over on A Bowl Full of Lemons! Also results of the cutest crochet hat pattern ever! I'm so addicted I'm making one for every little baby girl I know...which is a lot. Thanks to The Dainty Daisy for sharing her pattern! See you then!

Toddler Tuesday - Potty Training

For about 6 months now, we have been working with the little man to get him to use the potty. We bought the cute, noisemaking training seat, (the noise is supposed to be his reward for using it....it makes me want to throw it out the window), and the even more cute little boy undies with his favorite characters on them, Cars, Toy Story and Thomas the Train. We've tried using treats, reminding him every half hour and letting him run around naked. He did a great job, at home only and usually only when he is naked. Then he got sick. He was sick for a couple of weeks and we just hadn't gotten back to it, until yesterday.

I know he's ready. He is all too aware of when he has to do #1 and #2, in fact he often tells us about it as it's going on...a sure sign. So we started working on it again. And this time I focused on wearing the undies and pants and teaching him how to take them off and more importantly, put them back on by himself. He did GREAT yesterday! No mishaps! Today...so far, only one. The other little nuance we have to work on, how to use the potty properly.

He does not use his cute little potty anymore, he wants to use the big one. Thats fine. However, his preference is to stand on the seat and squat over the toilet. Apparently he feels more secure that way. I'm not a fan of the little footprints left behind, as well as am nervous one of these days he's going to fall right in. He did already have an instance at Grammy's, where she did find him with one foot in the bowl...oops!

When asking for advice, many use a sticker chart. I'll have to put my creative side to work and make one. But more importantly, how do I get him to work on it while at daycare? I don't want to be a burden on my provider, she has enough to worry about. I also don't want to send him in undies thinking he'll do it on his own...cleaning that up would be no fun for the provider either (nor sanitary for the rest of the kiddos). So how do we make it a 7 day a week focus? Do we just go all in...or just wait until he does it all by himself (and keep working on it at home)?

There is just under one month until his 3rd birthday. What a birthday present that would be for Mommy!

March Madness

Here is my goal for the month of March! USE THIS BLOG! I want to use it for a number of things...but mainly to get all my interests and thoughts into one place! The hardest part, at the start anyways, is what to blog about. It is important to have a focus, I have too many. But I am confident I can combine it all right here (that's what the title says doesn't it...ALL in a day) and though not everyday will hold a topic that readers might be interested in, everyday will contain something that is relevant to me.

During my long drive to visit my friend and her new baby yesterday, I had lots of time to think about lots of things. The main topics were this blog and some craft ideas (which I will get to later). Here is what I came up with to keep my blog fresh and keep me writing. Each day of the week will have a different focus...all with super catchy tags. This is what I've got so far.

Mommy Mondays - basically, a whole post dedicated to me! Okay, not really. That would get boring to anyone but my mother. And even she might not bother reading it. It will be anything that I'm interested in (i.e. - new products, cool websites, clothes, etc.), things I've been working on (crafts), and anything else that keeps mommy(ies) sane. ( I was thinking of getting a wine review in here somewhere too! Who doesn't like to try new wines! )

Toddler Tuesdays - You may be able to guess this one. I have a toddler (well now he's called a preschooler I guess, but toddler goes better). Toddlers bring a whole set of questions to the plate almost on a daily basis. Add the adorability factor of things they do and say, and my toddler is sure to entertain.

Working for the Weekend Wednesdays - Making money, saving money, tales from the restaurant, networking tips and links (I LOVE networking). Anything that helps make more money! Although it doesn't make you happy, it certainly has its attributes.

Lola's Thursday - Umm, yeah. This name, not so cutesy...it was hard. Any suggestions?? Obviously it's about my little baby girl. Being terrible as I am at keeping at baby book, or track of anything she does for that matter....this will be a good start! Plus being the focus and model for many of my new knitting and crocheting projects...there will be lots o' pictures.

Fit for Friday - I'm on a weightloss journey. Who isn't these days. I'm also planning to run a half marathon this fall. Again, who isn't these days. Tips, tricks, personal successes....good stuff right?

Saturdays I am taking off. I'll be busy. I'm sure.

Sunday, Bloggy Sunday - I am having so much fun reading other blogs...that I want to find more and share them! I also love to learn...so I will take some time to learn more about this crazy blogosphere!

So that is my plan. What do you think?

Oh yeah, I'll start tomorrow....