31 weeks & my birthday

How far along? 31 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 26 lbs

Maternity clothes? The options are dwindling. I prefer to wear leggings and NZ's t shirts at home, and oversized sweaters when I have to get dressed to go out. 

Stretch marks? Amazingly, still clear. I even made NZ double check the other day. 

Sleep: terrible. Awful. No good. I've got a massive head cold and the baby pushing on my ribs, so it makes me feel short of breath most of the day. I remember being sick at this point while pregnant with Sal as well. 31 weeks must be the magic get sick week. 

Best moment this week: Having yet another "normal" prenatal check up. Every time we go, I am worried we will be told something is wrong. The girl seems to be growing just fine, and measures a moderate size. Because of my uterine reconstruction, one of my biggest worries has been that my uterine septum will grow back, causing restricted growth. As the weeks progress, I am more and more thankful for finding Dr. Hubert, who back in 2010--listened, took interest, and diagnosed and fixed what I believe to be the cause of my previous losses. I truly believe that without his expertise, we wouldn't have Sal, let alone be expecting another. 

Miss Anything? Being able to breathe easily.

Movement: Yes. I have a foot lodged under my ribs a few times a day. 

Food cravings: ice, citrus, mashed potatoes and McDonald's (yes, McDonald's) greasy hashbrown patties.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing 

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs: None.

Symptoms: aching hips, back and difficulty getting a deep breath.

Belly Button in or out? Flush.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody?: Happy and nervous. Nervous because I am pulling the trigger and buying her crib and dresser drawers this week. I want to get her room set up so Sal sees that someone new will be living with us rather than --BAM! Here's your sister. 

Looking forward to: getting over my headcold, and setting up her nursery.

Today is my 36th birthday. I actually had to do the math to confirm this. I thought I was 37. A year younger? I'll take it! Since I am exhausted and sick, my friends kept it real simple, planning a walk in "local fashion" to get my favorite cheap Muslim noodles for lunch. I wore my best Chinese maternity pajamas with fashionable shoes adorned in rhinestones. I felt ridiculous, but comfortable. I even dressed Sal in split pants (with a diaper, of course). 

He was not amused.

We brought the noodles back to my house and enjoyed cake to follow. The plan was a Christmas movie, but knowing I was in need of a nap, the girls left me for an afternoon snooze instead. I'm so thankful for my friends here. We are all from a different neck of the woods, with different pasts, but I've found such support in each and every one of them, that their friendship could be considered the best gift of all.

Parrrrrrty's heeyah

 

I've been sitting on the computer this evening, editing pictures from yesterday, and I can not believe our son just turned one.
 

I am ONE.

We had a couple other birthday celebrants join us for a small lunchtime party on Saturday. NZ had a birthday last Wednesday, our friend Pere had a birthday on Thursday, and Anna shares Sal's January 13th birthdate, so we had them over to join us for spaghetti arribata, sushi, cookies and cake in celebration of all their years of life.

Cookies from sweet creations by Stephanie

 

Sal & Neil (newest baby on the block)

            
            Sal ate cake, opened gifts and played with his new toys before a nice long nap.



yes,  that's most definitely a boog hanging from the nose.
(He's had a cold all week and finally gifted it to me today)

Dad had to help with the blowing out of the candle.
Sal was obviously mesmerized by the mamarazi.

 

As the day turned to night, we met up with more friends from our apartment complex to light off fireworks to celebrate Sal turning ONE!
  

This one's for you, kid.

Smash it, baby!

So, I gave in..

Our kid got to smash a cake on his first birthday.

Anyone who follows me on Pinterest could have probably guessed that, since I have been pinning photo op ideas for the sweet moment when my baby attacks his cake and gets his first taste of sugar. And makes a mess. Which I have to clean up. (Explain to me why this is such a good idea, again? Oh yes--the pictures.) 

Baking cakes used to be one of my favorite things to do-you know, when I had an oven and all.

Nowadays, notsomuch.

In fact, I have more baking failures in our little countertop toaster oven than I have successes. Can we say charred edges and runny batter banana breads?

Add to that the difficulty of finding good cake mix (yes, I'm a from-the-box kinda girl) without spending over $7 USD , and you've got incentive to make your cake a success on the first go round. Otherwise, cake baking will put you in the poor house.

Thankfully, one of my former gymnastics teammates (we're talking 20 years) contacted me recently and asked if I lived near Suzhou. I was super excited that she was heading out to a city just one hour from here, and couldn't wait to reconnect with her. I requested she bring a of of. Funfetti cakemix from the US. Nothing else. Just funfetti.

We love funfetti.

She and I never connected due to visa issues, but one day, a box arrived via China Post.

Inside, not one, but TWO boxes of funfetti.

(Thank you Rosie!)

So, this whole cake making thing has now turned into an International effort. She's not the only one who sent me items necessary for a successful smash cake....My sister (surprise surprise), sent me nonpareils and a "1" candle to make Sal's first birthday cake a memorable one look good in pictures.

So, without much further explanation....

Here it is...


Sal's first cake experience.

 

                                          

 

 

 

Three Years Old

Today is May 18th.

Even the tiniest of footprints leave a mark on this world.
Denise 05-18-09

I'm wishing that we had a sassy pants 3 year old to celebrate today.

Wishing that the culmination of agonizing over which party dress to put her in, and the deets of a family birthday party were all coming together...and definitely, most definitely, charging our camera battery so we could capture her nailing the pinata with a whiffle bat.

Instead, I'm sitting here remembering the little girl that we had to say hello and goodbye to in the very same breath. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her in some way. Sure, time has mended my broken heart, but the scar is still there, and it's still not completely healed. I'm pretty sure it never will.

I'm okay with that. I like to think about her. I don't want to forget her, because as I've said over and over in this blog...she was very much wanted and loved.

This year has blessed us with a little brother for Denise.

It's bittersweet, it really is.

Sometimes I stare at him while he is sleeping, and wonder if she would have looked like him. I wonder if she would have acted like he does, or smile the way he does...and sure, it makes me a bit sad that I will never get to know, but at the same time, I feel like I see a part of her everytime I look at him.

And for that, I am ever so thankful.

Happy 3rd Birthday, baby girl..( if she were around I bet she'd say "Mama, I isn't your baby. I'z a big girl!" or something so stinkin cute I'd go grab the video camera and prod her to say it again)

Denise, your mama misses you. Every.Single. Day.

And with that, I'll leave you with a link to my song for her from the Band Perry.

Happy Mail: Sundae box

There are a few of my longtime friends that still love real-deal mail like me. I call it Happy Mail, and every so often, something super cool, and un-expected will show up on my doorstep from one of them. It goes back and forth between us, and I am pretty sure it will continue on for many years.

Two of my Happy Mail girls recently had birthdays within days of one another, so I threw together a Happy Birthday box for each of them to celebrate & share the day with those close to them, since I am miles away from both girls.

Check it..

Yup. Ice cream Sundae Boxes.

Toppings & waffle bowls to share. I printed out snack bag labels and filled each with an ice-cream friendly topping.

Just add ice cream.

Pretty easy & happy, right?

I know it'd put a smile on my face!

Happy 3rd Birthday, MRZ!

Over the past weekend, my sister and brother-in-law hosted a "camping themed" Birthday party for their oldest son.

It was too adorable not to share!

Her attention to detail is impeccable, and I really think she should be a professional party planner. She made really cute goodie bags with iron on camp themed icons ( which I forgot to get a photo of), filled with flashlights, glow sticks, stickers and S'mores trail mix made of golden grahams, marshmallows and chocolate chips.

Throughout the yard were camping signs, like you would find in the great outdoors. I helped out with these by using my silhouette cutting machine to cut out each of the icons, and she modge-podged them to her wooden stakes to create signs.

Special thanks to my sister, Stephanie for creating the cupcake tower and cupcakes which were all adorned with camping themed fondant pieces. There were campfires, camp signs, tents, axes and logs and fishing poles.

Here are a couple of photos from the day:

[S'more pops, Cupcakes & the Sweets Table]

[Camping sign to lead guests into the backyard, Tent Campground setup]

It was a wonderful party, on yet another beautiful Southern California day.

Funfetti Ice Cream Cake: It's your Birthday

This year, I went all out on our birthday tradition of making cakes for one another. Nick loves funfetti cake ( who doesn't?) and after 8 years of making funfetti cakes, I wanted to switch it up a little. I kept his old reliable, and made a 9 inch round of funfetti cake, but also used the 9 inch round cake pan to make a layer of ice cream.

To make an icecream layer for a cake, just line your pan with saran wrap and fill with semi-softened icecream ( I acheived this by nuking it for 20 second intervals). Transfer to the freezer over night. Once frozen, fill the bottom of your sink with hot water about 1 inch high. Submerge the bottom of your cake pan in the warm water. Flip the pan over and the icecream round should pop out. Peel Saran wrap off and you have your layer!

Place leveled cake on top of ice cream round. Trim any overhangs. (I didn't take a photo of this step, it's hard to hold a knife and camera simutaneously), I used semi-softened vanilla bean icecream to "frost" the top of the cake, instead of frosting because I had another wild hair to try something else new on this cake. One of my BFF's, Liz, over at A crafty bee, did a tutorial on using bubble wrap to make molded chocolate. After seeing what she did with her cheesecake, I was just waiting for Nick's birthday to come so I could try it on a cake! So, I salvaged some bubble wrap from a Christmas gift. Cut it to the height of the two layer cake. Melted semi-sweet chocolate ( I used the microwave but suggest a double broiler instead) , sprayed the wrap with PAM spray, then spread an even layer of chocolate over the bubble wrap. I let it set up for a minute before transferring. I wrapped each half of the cake with a strip of chocolate covered bubble wrap. It was a bit tricky manipulating the flexible wrap without smearing chocolate all over, but I somehow managed to get the placement right.

Then I transferred the cake back to the freezer for 15 minutes to let the chocolate set up. After 15 minutes, I took it out of the freezer, and pulled the bubble wrap off. Voila! Bubble Wrap molded ice cream cake, no frosting necessary!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUNSHINE! MAY YOUR 33rd YEAR BE THE BEST ONE YET!

All American Apple Pie

With my father-in-law's Birthday approaching, I asked him what he'd like for his Birthday dessert, and his answer was apple pie. I used Paula Deen's apple pie filling recipe filled with tart Granny Smith's. He loves sailing, so I opted to give this pie a nautical twist by simply rolling out the excess dough and using an cookie cutter to cut the anchor shape out. A quick egg wash and into the oven, and voila! A Sailoriffic pie for my one-and-only father-in-law.