Update Overload
I update the blog with everything that has happened this month that I was a slacker at. So you will have to click 'older posts' to view everything.
This weekend we acquired a few more things needed for Damian. At the beginning I had this long list of things that I wanted to get and slowly as time went on and I looked at the list I decided that we did not need this or we did not need that. And I was able to narrow the list down to about a quarter of what it started with - I am very proud of myself. The final 'big' items were a crib set and a rocker. I loved the rockers that we had for Cyndi and they worked so well. Last year a friend of mine was having a baby and I donated all the big baby stuff that we had to her. So we have slowly been collecting things again. The nice thing is that after having one kid, we now know the things that we 'need,' the things that we can live without and the things that were a waste of money.
The final 'big' items:
Rocker
Crib set.
We fell in love with one at Babies 'R' Us. It was an ocean theme with boats and whales and it was just so cute. But when you look at the price - around $160 - it just did not seem like a necessity. So we priced out getting the bumper, crib sheet and a comforter separately and then we 'shopped' around for the cheapest set that we could find and in the end it was cheaper to get this set than anything else.
Pictures of Damian's side of the bedroom to come!
Cyndi loves to dance. The other day while I was making breakfast I put some music on and Daddy and Cyndi started to dance. I had to catch in on camera - I was just way to cute.
PS She did get a little upset when she went into the wall, but there were no tears or anything like that. She got checked out by Dr Daddy and then went back on playing shortly after that. She is a trooper and does not cry very easily most of the time.
Cyndi LOVES learning. My Aunt gave us a cool website that is kid friendly and helps them learn their alphabet and reading. Cyndi absolutely loves the website and every day she asks if she can play her 'game' or do her ABCD's. She has picked up so much from playing on that website. This is her at Ouma's house one afternoon. She wanted to play her 'game' and so she got comfortable - baby, pillow, relaxing in the perfect way. I tried to get a picture of her looking at the computer but every time I took a picture the flash would get her attention and she would turn at the last minute and be blurring. So this is the best that there is.
I have had this material for about a year now and I had plans on making Cyndi a dress. Well I never got round to making the dress and then I found a dress pattern that I liked better than the one I was originally going to make. So plans changed. This week I sat down and made the dress for her. It worked out well after we dealt with some sizing issues. The original dress did not have sleeve - just straps. So I had to alter the dress a little so that we could have some cute sleeves and not some funny ruffles. I thought it turned out fabulous. Cyndi absolutely loves it. I had to make the matching jacket because it was so cute, I had some left over material and I wanted to give it a shot so I knew what to do and what it looks like.
Once the dress and jacket were completed it was on to accessories. Hairclip, necklace, bangle and Cyndi wanted a bag - I ran out of time on that one. But after she got everything else, she completely forgot about a bag. Lets hope she does not remember.
She noticed her nails
I love her face in this one - so cute!
Showing off the skirt of the dress
Top of the dress with her necklace on
Matching necklace
Matching bangle - Notice Cyndi's pink nails. She loves to have her nails painted.
Last week a new Momma Duck and her ducklings joined our little pond. I watch for them every day. She has 6 little ducklings and one of them is bright yellow. I think that he is just the cutest little thing, but I worry that he has a target on his back since he does not blend in as well as the others. I think Momma Duck realises this as well because she is always making sure that she has him close by.
This is from our balcony - spot the odd one out. There are 6 ducklings and Momma Duck in that picture.
The ducklings are after a piece of bread. Notice the white duck in the background, well that is what the little yellow one will look like when he grows up. I don't know if you can tell in these pictures, but the yellow duck has white tail feathers.
This is how Daddy and Cyndi wait for breakfast in the morning - snickering at Mom!
This is how we cut up paper in the Ames house - in comfort!
Ben hired someone to make this bouquet for me on our anniversary. That someone happened to be me. He wanted fire and ice roses and dutch irises since those where the flowers we had at our wedding. Well Wilton does not teach us how to make dutch iris flowers and everywhere online only showed the iris cutters and not how to do them. So Ben choose calla lilies instead because you start with a heart and then fold it into the lily. I made the purple so it would resemble our wedding. I think that it came out wonderful. The only problem that we had was I made the cupcakes without eggs and the roses where to heavy for the cupcake so they would fall off. That is why there are two different bouquets. Ben tried to save it after I had completed the bouquet and some had fallen off. *Note to self - next time use eggs.*
Ben's rearrangement of the bouquet
The bouquet that I made
Ben made me dinner for our anniversary. He made steak, potatoes and salad. Even if he made Ramen, I would have enjoyed it because I did not have to cook it. But the dinner was delicious. Since we don't have a table he took two of our shelves that are the same height and put them together. Then he took our bed sheet and some of my material and covered the shelves. It was very creative and I loved it. We had a candle lit dinner. He cut letters in the potatoes before he fried them and then I got to decipher the code - it was fun.
Message in Potatoes number 1
Message in Potatoes number 2
And in the corner our little symbol of love to each other
Me at the 'dinner' table
Scrumptious dinner!
5 Years ago last Friday I married my dream man!
Ben had to work, so we celebrated it last night.
Love you Honey!
Yesterday while I was making and icing cupcakes, Cyndi helped. She played on the counter and got in the way - just like she is supposed to. She started to pretend that she had a cake on her tray and was 'eating' it with the pie server. She was so cute about it. She also tried to feed me a bit of the 'cake.'
We have this wonderful family of geese living in the pond. There is Daddy and Mommy goose and then 3 adorable little baby geese. They are so much fun to watch. But today we look outside and there are 2 other geese families in the pond. Our little geese family are not very happy about it. One of the families only has 3 little babies. So it was easy to get them mixed up at the beginning. Soon we were able to tell the two families apart. But the third family, I would not like to be the mom in that one. There is Mommy and Daddy and 15 babies. That is right, 15! How does she keep track of 15 kids? I have a hard time keeping track of my free spirited little Beauty sometimes. Now I can see why our little family of Geese are not very happy. Unlike the ducks, the families don't mix. They all stay in their own little area's and if a baby wonders to close to another family, the parents are very quick to call them back.
Notice the water has risen above the wooden barriers and onto the grass.
Ben and Cyndi vacuuming. Love it! I have the best family every.
This week there has been lots and lots of rain. The pond outside our apartment has flooded its banks. I don't think that it will get to the other apartments. The drain new our parking spot clogs up every time it rains. Usually it does not rain this much and the puddle it makes does not go very deep. But this time it has extended its way across the whole parking lot. Ben wanted to know how deep it was, so he reversed the car into the puddle and I took a picture. Notice our back tire. The water comes right up to the silver rim.
This is a shot of the parking lot from our parking spot. The is actually a dip in the road behind the silver car where the drain is. If you look close on the right you can see a little white 'spot' that is the bumper for our car. Notice the water is almost at the car.
And the rain continues to pour. It is supposed to stop tomorrow and start again on Monday for a couple of days, but we will see what the weather has in store for us.
I made Cyndi work for her cupcake today. She had to pose for a picture. Anyone ever try to have a kid hold still with something they just want to eat? More work than you might think.
I am trying to sell some goodies to make some extra money to put in savings for when Ben goes to school or when we get that wonderful bill from the doctor and hospital when Damian is born in 2 months. So today I made some mini cupcakes for my mom to take to work with her so that I might be able to get some business. Here's hoping!
I made two different kinds: Triple fudge chocolate and plain vanilla.
Triple fudge chocolate with cream cheese icing sprinkled with milk chocolate
Vanilla with chocolate fudge icing sprinkled with white chocolate
Then for fun, I made a cupcake bouquet. I never had all the fancy fills to make it look extra pretty, but I thought it turned out rather cute. I look forward to trying it again but this time using buttercream icing and making flowers on the cupcakes.
Yes, they taste just as good as they look - even better in my opinion.
Who needs toys when you can tie a bow around a piece of cardboard and have hours of fun?!
I really did do her hair that day. It was after nap-time so everything was a mess.
The way she would walk around with her new 'toy' reminded me a little of 'Plank.' Don't worry, she never spoke to it and her attention span for the 'toy' only lasted until bedtime.
My mom had a fun idea this year for Mother's Day. She suggested that we have a Mad Hatter's Tea Party. It was a fun afternoon with everyone. Ben was the Mad Hatter, Layne was the White Rabbit and Marius was the Cheshire Cat. Then for us girls, we made hats. Gran was the Queen of Hearts and her hat said 'Great Grand Mother,' Mom's had said 'Grand Mother,' my hat said 'Mother' and Cyndi's little crown said 'Future Mother,' she was also dressed in her Alice in Wonderland dress.
Waiting for food - Cyndi is all about the food. Where she puts it, I don't know!
Tea party treats
Four Generations
The family
Sexy Eyes... Gran got it wrong
Me and my Mom
Cyndi doing 'Sexy Eyes' - So adorable!
Saturday was a fun day. My mom surprised us with a crib and dresser from Ikea for Damian. This was a very wonderful and welcomed surprise. I knew that she wanted to help, but I never expected something like this. She is truly wonderful. As a family we all helped put it together. I would read the instructions and Ben would do the work. Cyndi would jump between helping Dad and handing him things that I give her. It was a fun afternoon.
Copy Cat Cyndi
She is a little handy'wo'man with the power drill
Love this picture. She is ready for anything.
The finished product!
Thanks Mom! You are the best. I really appricate all that you do for us.
Love you!
