Bella Video

We were at the park this morning with some friends and I took this short video of Bella walking. I was trying to get her to show off for the camera but I only got one kiss and an Uh-oh out of her.

She's talking!

Bella has mastered clapping and is on to speaking now. We have 3 words consistently. Mama (or mamama), Uh-oh and All Done. Would someone tell her to stop? Seriously, when did she go from baby to toddler? Oh and she's walking almost exclusively. Crawling is still faster in some cases. She walked across the family room the other day. It won't be long now before she's chasing after her brothers!

The end is near

I just moved Logan's harness straps to the top hole. It still gives him plenty of room to grow and his seat is good until next August so I have another year plus some but it's sad that he old enough and tall enough that I'll have no choice but to move him to a booster seat. He already sits in one in Daddy's car and he sits there well but I know it's just not as safe. Think I can have the truck/car retrofitted with 5pt harnesses for everyone? LOL

Want to Win?

One of my favorite bargain hunting blogs, DealSeekingMom, has just launched forums where you can find tips and deals. She's giving away a bunch of stuff this week and right now you can enter to win a gift certificate for one pair of CROCS up to $50. So go check out her post HERE and sign up to win! And don't forget to check out her deals this week while you're there!

*Snap!*

Just like that Bella has (almost) mastered four things today!

First was clapping. For some reason she never has really clapped. A couple of times she did something that resembled it but today she discovered what it really is. We were listening to the Clapping Song (Barney) in the car and I guess Ian was clapping in the back. When I went to get out of the car with her she started clapping. I kept encouraging her and she kept it up. She gets a huge proud smile on her face too.

She's decided to get much braver with walking. Dh said she walked across the room to him tonight. I noticed if she falls she gets right back up again instead of just crawling the rest of the way. She blew kisses tonight which I've been trying to teach her and she started waving bye-bye. That was yet another *milestone* if that's what you want to call it than she hadn't started doing. I was shocked! All of them happened today. It's like a lightbulb went off in her head and everything just clicked. Yay Bella!!

Wordless Wednesday

Kmart Double Days

I went over to Kmart last night to see what kind of deals I could get. Yesterday morning I started out by clipping all my coupons that I'll use (I don't bother with stuff we don't buy) and I then sorted and wrote down all the coupons and prices off so I could scan my list while I walked the store. I had planned to go straight there afterwards but then decided I'd wait until dh got home so I could go by myself. Very good decision as it took me awhile! I don't think I could have done it with whiny, complaining children.

I ended up with $105 worth of stuff for $64 (including tax). Not too shabby. That included 5 packs of diapers too! Our Kmart really sucks when it comes to product stock as well as price and I have no idea how they stay in business. In the end I bought 5 jumbo packs of diapers, toothpaste, Scope, Boston contact solution, Smart Rinse, floss, dental picks, Ziplocs, natural bathroom cleaner, Pringles, Kelloggs cereal, rootbeer(no coupon), sour cream, mustard and shaving foam. I tried not to buy anything that I wouldn't already buy/use.

I just found another $1.50/Pampers coupon (doubles to $3 off) so I may go back one more time this week plus they were really low on stock on wipes so hopefully they'll get some more in and I can use those coupons. I'm already pretty well stocked on wipes but it's not like they won't get used!

If you have a Kmart near check to see if they are doing double (or triple) coupon days this week! You may find some deals!

Walking

I forgot to write about it but Bella has been taking steps for a few weeks now. The max she's gotten before falling is about 5 steps but she's trying! Crawling is still faster in her opinion!

Unthink

Ian wanted some KFC for lunch today so since we were already out and about we stopped in. They now have Grilled Chicken so I decided to try it. Since it was just 11am (opening) it was hot and fresh and really very good. I came home and checked out the stats on it compared to my favorite crispy chicken and here's what I got.

Crispy_____ vs______ Grilled (had to add underscores or it wouldn't work right)
Cal- 490 (*11pt)______ 180(*4pt)
Fat- 31_______________ 4

*WW points

And if you like Original chicken here are the stats for that- Cal 370, Fat 21

That's a huge difference! I know it's not quite the same as the crispy, crunchy, yummy breadiness that Extra Crispy chicken has but it's much better for me (and you!). Next time I'll skip that pesky biscuit though. It's so yummy but so bad for me too. So next time you stop in at KFC give it a try. And if you want to try it for FREE head over there on April 27th. Everyone gets a free piece to try (manager's choice on which piece you get).

New Cast Day!

Logan had an appointment this morning to get his new short cast. I just kept him home from school on advice from his teacher. He would have only been there a short while and he wasn't missing anything. I realized as we were leaving that I had just barely enough gas and no time to stop. Of course. Robert told me to keep it under 60mph (not easy on the interstate!) and we made it there just fine thankfully. Logan was fine today. He went with the nurse easily to get x-rayed. The Dr came in and told him all they had left was hot pink casts and Logan wasn't having that! LOL

I forgot my camera today (I think I forgot my brain too) so all of these are from my phone.

Waiting to go get x-rayed again. Bella wasn't happy.


The sun was really bright! Here he's getting the old cast sawed off. He got to keep it.




Re-wrapping his arm in Gore Tex.


He picked a dark blue color for this cast. His arm is a bit bruised at the top now and the skin is peely but should be good in a week. He'll have this cast on for another 4 weeks.


After the Ortho visit we decided to head over to the zoo. What a gorgeous day! Everyone was starving so we stopped for lunch first at the Garden Grille just inside the zoo. Robert hated his veggie burger. I don't remember him complaining the last time he went so maybe they changed it. Everything else was okay. I wish I had remembered to bring my 20% off coupon though (one more thing I forgot)!

The Cloudy Leopard was actually out!


*Tamani* (the baby) was feeling rather mischevious today. She kept messing with (?) Mama. So cute though!!!


Here's my own baby. She liked sitting in the water.


She didn't like when someone ran past her and splashed her though.


Goofy boy


Happy to get all warmed up.


Brrrr. It wasn't cold at all outside but the water was really cool.


That was the end of our day. It was close to dinner time so we packed up and left after the water fun. Back to school tomorrow!

KMart Double Coupon Days!

I emailed Kmart customer service to verify and Florida stores will do double coupons April 18th- April 25th, 2009. I'm waiting to find out which stores are participating.

I took advantage of this a few months ago buying Pampers. I got $4 off each package! At that time it was double coupons up to $4 off ($2 coupons).

New 'Do

I couldn't get the colors to come out right in my photo program(took them in the bathroom mirror- no flash) so I changed them to B&W. I did get my hair colored though.

Lookie!!

It's cooommming!! I was driving past last week (on my way home from the cake supply store) and snapped these. Our new store opens May 6th!

XBox 360 cake

I don't think I did a great job. It looked differently in my head than how it came out and I definately will do things differently next time BUT the birthday guy loved it and so did all his friends and family. I got a lot of compliments on it and was told how much it really looked like an xbox plus everyone loved the taste so that's what counts, right?

The controller is made from rice krispie treats (see the pan in the back?). It's covered in buttercream (real) and fondant (which tasted pretty good btw). The knobs are rolos I cut in half and covered. The A, B, Y, X buttons are M&Ms upside down. I wrote the letters on them with edible food markers. The cake was yellow boxed cake (x 2), a box of pound cake and 1 package instant pudding powder (pound cake and pudding help make it more dense for carving) with buttercream frosting, pineapple preserves and fondant. I used silver luster dust to make the silver metallic details and edible markers for the writing. All the air holes were made from poking a food thermometer into the fondant. I won't go into my mistakes but I'm sure you can see them. LOL This is only my 2nd time working with fondant though so I won't beat myself up too much.

Spring Break Is No Fun

It's Spring Break here. I haven't blogged much so you must be wondering what we've been up to. Let me tell you. Nothing, nada, zip. I've had at least 2 kids sick all week long. Bella's been super cranky and has had no appetite until today (teething perhaps?). Ian got sick Tuesday night so I had to keep him home Wednesday of course. We missed our annual Easter Egg hunt/party with our playgroup as well. Partly because Logan wouldn't be able to play with his friends on the playground due to his cast but mostly because Ian was sick.

I finally got everyone out of the house today. No, not a fun trip. I volunteered to make my BIL's birthday cake for his party on Saturday so I had to go on a fondant run. The closest place that doesn't carry the yucky Wilton brand is a cake shop/supply store about 40min from me. Yes I could have made it but I was scared to. I read a lot of mixed reviews on the recipes. Bella was so cranky when we left that I came straight home afterwards and attempted to put her down for a nap. Yeah right. Ian took one though despite the fact he told me he wasn't tired. When he woke up I packed everyone up to go to Micheal's for more supplies. Once again Bella was Ms Crankypants. I gave up the idea of hitting Publix and came home yet again. Thankfully I was able to get out and go to Publix by myself once dh got home from work. And then I had to make a second run when I forgot key ingredients. Ugh.

Want to know what I'm making that I'm driving all over town for? An Xbox 360 cake with controller. Ambitious I know! I think I can pull it off though- or at least I hope so! I baked the cakes tonight and they are chilling. I made the rice krispy treats and shaped my controller and it's chilling in the fridge. Tomorrow I'll make some buttercream, trim and fill my cakes with buttercream and pineapple preserves and freeze the cake for a bit before carving it. Then I just need to roll out my fondant, cover the cake and controller and decorate it. Send me some good cake decorating ~~vibes~~. I need them! This cake has to be ready to go by 2:30pm Saturday afternoon! Now I know why cakes cost so much thru a small bakery. It isn't cheap to make one and it's time consuming! I know my BIL will appreciate the effort though and hopefully everyone will enjoy it. I'll take pics and post them once I'm done.

As for Spring Break, it's basically over and there's nothing much I can do about it. We'll do something on Sunday I'm sure and then next week while dh is on vacation we'll do something too. Maybe we'll hit the zoo after Logan gets out of school one day. Or go over to Downtown Disney. Or maybe we'll just veg and wait for summer break. ;)

Birthday Party Time!

Finally. Today was the day. I was running around like a crazy person this morning. I had to decorate the cake and smash cake, run to the store to have the balloons blown up, go to Publix and get the drinks and ice and stop in Walgreens to pick up the photos for the favors since our printer didn't have the right ink last night. I got home and people were just getting here so I got started a wee bit late. I'm so glad I got all the baking done and the frosting made yesterday.

Everything went well though. Bella looked cute as a button in her birthday dress. We had a simple spread- make your own sandwiches and chips and dip. That's it. I bought 2 loaves of whole wheat bread and dh didn't think people would like it. I went ahead and grabbed a loaf of white at the store this morning. Guess what went first? Yep, the wheat. Now I have to run to Costco again to get more for our family! I made fresh onion and ranch dips too. Yum! I barely got any they went so fast. Note to self- buy more food for the next birthday party!



I got a ton of compliments on my desserts. I made a vanilla Giant Cupcake with fresh strawberry frosting for the general party goers and a mini one for Bella's smash cake. I also made Bakerella's cupcake pops in chocolate. Time consuming they were but so worth it! They came out so cute!

Giant cupcake- REAL strawberry frosting. The cupcake liner is actually some vellum paper.

See all the bits of strawberry in there? Yum!





Bella's appetite has been off the last two days. She barely ate anything yesterday and only had a banana today and a few tiny bites of other stuff. Needless to say she didn't do a lot of smashing or eating her smash cake. Oh well. We had pics from her actual birthday of her enjoying a cupcake. I made her cupcake smash cake from scratch. It's this recipe from Martha Stewart. The frosting is from that recipe as well. It was good! For her high chair decor I bought a simple chocolate brown towel to cover the usual navy blue cover and made her a pink tutu. She looks so tiny still in her chair.




This give you a better idea of just how big the *mini* giant cupcake is.


My niece enjoying a cupcake pop.


I love this photo of her. I think it will go up on our wall.


One of MY favorite gifts of the day. My dear sweet friend Julie knitted Bella some cupcakes!! How sweet are they?!




Bella seemed very taken with her Tinkerbell card. That's my girl! ;) I love Tink!


Pulling Minnie Mouse (not a gift) out of her new stroller/walker.


Of course you know babies, they'd much rather play with the wrapping paper and packaging than the actual toy!


Her balloons. Did you know Party City will blow them up for you for a nominal fee? It was cheaper than buying a helium tank myself!


The party favors. The pictures and holders were for each family to take home and the goodie bags for each kid. There were 3 *flavors* of photo holder although only 2 are pictured (chocolate is missing). Goodie bags had Hershey Kisses (pink from Valentines), a cupcake bookmark, cupcake birthday stickers and a Krazy Straw.


Her party was a huge success. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Bella missed her afternoon nap so she was exhausted tonight. I still can't believe it's been a year since she was born. Time seems to go by so quickly. Thank you to all my friends and family who came today. Love you all!!