Getting big!

My boys are getting so big and strong!

A couple of regular Betty Crockers

....or whoever it is who bakes.  I am just about the worst baker in the world so making cookies, cupcakes, etc has not come up yet in things I do with my kids. Somehow, they ended up getting really interested into baking shows on Youtube.  They love watching a program called Nerdy Nummies.  The girl on it is pretty and they have expressed they thought that, as well.  But, what really draws them in is the character cakes she makes.  Their faves are the Captain America Cake and the Angry Birds cupcakes.  The Captain America cake is a three layer red, white and blue cake that when you cut into it, it looks like the American flag and is covered in perfect fondant icing.   So, when they begged me to make one of the cakes on the show - we went with the Angry Bird cupcakes.  I let them each pick out one color to do and of course, Ben picked black and Sam picked red (their favorite colors).

On Youtube it takes her 10 minutes to put them all together......it took us 2 hours.  The boys loved it and they were very proud of themselves for creating them!

Here they all putting on the many little pieces that make up the angry birds features

We iced the cupcakes, then dipped them in sprinkles, then put marshmallows, laffy taffy, licorice, jelly beans and chocolate chips for their eyes, beaks, and other body parts.  Sam lasted about half way through and then I finished decorating his red ones.  But, Ben put on each and every piece of candy to make his birds.  I was proud of them both because it took a lot of concentration and time for three year olds!

Here is the finished product:

Sam getting ready to eat his cupcake:

Ben getting ready to eat his cupcake:

By the looks on their faces, they are excited to eat a bunch of red dye 40 and black icing that stained my hands (Ben's poop has been bright green every since).

Yep, that's some strong icing!  (Ben was majorly sucking so, no, you can't usually see his ribcage)

Next up.....Captain America cake!  NOT!  I will call my cousin, Mallory, for that :)

Self portraits by Sam

Sam has acquired a few new bad habits.  The worst one is not wanting to sleep.  Since the boys have moved from their cribs to big boy beds, 2 months ago, they only take naps 50% of the time and go to bed on average about an hour later each night....a lot of times not until 9 or 9:30pm.  Also, Sam insists that I lay down with him until he is alseep, which might take an hour.  So, my "me" time at night doesn't start until then.  It's been a rough 9 weeks with him. 

Another of his wonderful habits is getting my phone and taking pictures.  Most of the time I find a series of pictures he took of Ben's underwear (Yes, Ben is finally potty trained - Still a no-go for Sam though), a favorite toy, or me making an ugly face (gross, do I really look like that?!).  Last week I sat down and erased 350 pictures off my phone he had taken without me knowing.

I ran across these pictures he took of himself.  He must have had the camera turned around or the flip feature on.  They were pretty cute.  Sam has dealt me such a fit lately but when I look at these pictures I am reminded how much I love him.  He wouldn't be Sam without all this mischief!

Scooby and Sledding

Ben's new favorite books are short Scooby Doo books.  They must have been written before parents realized junk food was bad for kids because they are all about eating cheeseburgers, pizza, ice cream and any other junk food Scooby and Shaggy can get their hands on.  One of their favorite foods to eat in the books is green olive pizza.  Ben has been wanting to try it forever and I made it for him today.  He loved it- he ate 4 pieces!  Now, I just need to read them more books about characters who eat their veggies.

It snowed about 13 inches yesterday.  The boys went out yesterday and today and had some fun in the snow. It was hard though because the snow went up to their buns and they could barely walk in it.  Here they are sliding down G and G Bleything's deck stairs:

I'm such a good wife and mom

My mom takes such care to iron my dad's clothes for work, hang them up and have them ready to go.  You would think I would have gotten some of that desire to make sure my husband has nice clothes for work.  Matt came out and thanked me for hanging up his pants.  I guess I was in a hurry...

When I was the boys age I was obsessed with little orphan Annie.  I even had an Annie dress that I wore every day!  My parents saved it for me to give to my little girl someday.  Well, if I never have a little girl, one of my kids will wear it dammit!  Luckily, I have one with no shame in his game:

Blast from the past

Well, I don't know if you could call it a blast but while Matt was cleaning out our desk he found lots of files and folders that brought me down memory lane.  Half the desk was filled with color coated folders of every avenue you could think of to have a baby.  Plus, labeled and organized file folders of medical records, research, and inspirational quotes and stories - all dealing with one common theme- BABY!  Plus, even more folders of tens of thousands of dollars of medical bills to try to achieve our dream.  Man, that was not a happy time.  Reading through all those papers, I realized the desperation we were going through.  We grasped at any and every straw that was thrown our way.  All I can think of is thank God, thank God, Thank.you.God. that this is over with. 

But, hey, it was all worth it and I don't regret anything because it all led to our boys (oh, and a little person called Aunt Jamie played a big part too :).  Are we lucky or what?  


Our lives went from this:

To this:

So what did we do with all that paperwork?  Did we keep it as a token of all we've been through to get where we are now?  Hell no!  We threw it out!  Who wants to be reminded of that?  That is the past and this is now:

I love this pic...

so I just had to share!