First Day of School

I can't believe it! Elizabeth is in Kindergarten! She has been waiting patiently to go to the "big kid" school and now it's here. Randy and I both had the opportunity to drop her off on the first day. She was trying so hard to be a big girl. She even decided that getting a kiss goodbye from mommy and daddy was too embarrassing. Kindergarten here is a full day so she definitely is worn out when she gets home. Her teacher, Ms. Stoffle, seems to be pretty nice and Liz really enjoys her. I'm glad she loves school.

Celiac Disease

It's been a while since my last post. So many things have been going on that it's been hard to get the time to write. One of the most recent events that is having an impact is that I have Celiac disease. Among other things, it has been the cause for a lot of the issues I've been having for the past 5 years. What's sad is it took a certified nutritionist instead of a doctor to find it out. What does this all mean? Celiac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats. It basically means I have to go on a gluten free diet for the rest of my life. It has also been determined that I have a high intolerance to dairy products as well, so no milk, cheese, eggs, yogurt, etc for me. Being a baker, this makes things extremely difficult. Fortunately, since I like to cook and bake, it will be a little easier to adjust. I will just have to be a little creative with the ingredients I use.

It was also determined after some testing that my adrenal glands are fatigued and not working properly. This was also caused by celiac because I haven't been getting the nutrients I need for it to function properly. Good thing is that I can reverse the effects with diet and supplementation to heal the damage and get me back to feeling normal. I let you know how it goes.

Where's Abby?

There she is! She is little miss curious these days. Now that she is mobile, nothing gets in her way. She is already trying to cruise the furniture. Her balance is still a little off but she can stand as long as she is leaning on the couch or some other piece of furniture. She LOVES food! Right now she will down peaches, blueberries, squash, sweet potatoes, and her latest love, graham crackers. Did I mention she has a tooth! One finally broke through last week. Hopefully, another one will come through soon. Her vocabulary is starting to increase. She'll say "Ma" and "Da" and other things that don't make sense but still sound cute coming from her. I'm not sure how much she has grown. We're still waiting for her to get her wellness check. I'm hoping for that to be done by the end of the month.

Preschool Graduate

Elizabeth finished Preschool! I'm so proud of her. She really enjoyed attending The Grace Place this year. They provide such an awesome program that the kids love. Josh didn't want to leave his teachers. We found out that our little miss Elizabeth is quite the performer. The 4 year olds were singing a song and Elizabeth was really getting into it. Her voice was by far the loudest and she decided to spice it up with a little hula hooping. It was hilarious to watch.

She was so proud of herself! Both Josh and Elizabeth got "diplomas" for finishing the year.

Also, the teachers made scrapbooks for the kids filled with pictures of all the stuff they did throughout the year. I can't believe how much Elizabeth and Josh have grown this past year.

Great Wolf Lodge

This year we decided that Elizabeth's Birthday gift would be to take her to the Great Wolf Lodge. She LOVES waterparks! Going with her friend, Emily made it even better. We spent 3 days and two nights there. We had a blast, but she definitely wore us out! This was our first time there and it didn't disappoint. Right when you walk in the door you get a view of the kids play area. It is really neat. Unfortunately, because Elizabeth doesn't like water to be poured on her head, she didn't spead much time in that area.

When she wasn't going down the slides, her favorite place to be was the wave pool.

After all that playing around you can imagine how much food we ate. The kids loved it, but Randy and I definitely paid for it when we got home. Too much greasy food is not good on the system!

In the evenings, they have story time, which I thought was a good way to calm the kids down for the evening. While waiting for story time to start, she was enjoying playing in the front lobby.

However, the fund didn't end there. The girls got to have a slumber party! Needless to say, after all of the activities, it didn't take long before they passed out of exhaustion!

New Cake Blog

I've decided that I will have a seperate blog dedicated to all the things I do with cake. However, I will still post pictures here. The website is Forged in Cake

Busy

Things have been really crazy lately. I have a few cakes to do in the next couple of weeks. I'm really excited to be doing them. Also, Randy and I will be taking Elizabeth to the Great Wolf Lodge next week. I'm really looking forward to it. She LOVES waterparks and to top it off it is indoors. I can't wait!

Tangled

Elizabeth's Favorite movie right now is Tangled. She loves it! I decided it was the perfect theme for her 5th Birthday cake. My design kind of evolved over time, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. For the house I used a cake dummy and I used rice crispy treats for the tower. It was my first time using rice crispy treats making it a very sticky experience.

We Have a Crawler!

Watch out! Abby's on the move! It's time to dust off the baby gates cause Abby's on a mission. She wants to explore every inch of our house. So far she's made it to the kitchen. She's so excited about her new aquired skill. It's very useful when wanting to play with the toy that's not quite in her reach. It looks like my time will now be spent chasing her all over the house.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth

Five years ago today, Elizabeth was born. I remember it like it was yesterday. I have to admit, my labor and eventual c-section wasn't the most pleasant experience, but it was worth it. She has grown into such a little lady who enjoys life to the fullest. She's independant (and stubborn), kind, loving, and happy. Her favorite color is pink and she loves anything that has to do with princesses. Elizabeth enjoys baking and being in the kitchen. She loves school and is eager to learn. I'm so proud to be her mother.

Abby (5 Months)

So many things have been happening this past month. Abby has started eating solids (see post on baby food). She's become more mobile. She'll roll and is getting close to crawling.
She loves to explore everything around her and can easily entertain herself with anything.

Abby is such a happy baby. She's not much of a crier and I always find her smiling. I love it when she giggles and Liz and Josh do all they can to make her laugh.

Now that she's eating more, she's starting to fill out, however, she's still long and lean. She's due for a growth spurt soon so we'll see how that goes. Like Elizabeth, she adores her Daddy. When Randy comes home she just lights up. It's fun to watch them play together.

Baby Food Making Machine

This past month Abby has been slowly being introduced to solids. I'm so grateful because her appetite was getting to the point where I couldn't keep up with pumping. With her I've decided to make her baby food exclusively. I first tried making my own baby food with Josh, however, I really wasn't dedicated to it. Now, I'm a baby food making machine! With all of our kids, their first food has been sweet potatoes. Abby was no different. However, she did not like them! I thought every kid loved sweet potatoes. So, next was banana. Bananas are really easy since you don't have to cook them. Just mash and thin to the consistancy you want and there you go! She liked bananas and applesauce but I was still struggling for a vegatable that she would eat. So I decided to try butternut squash. SCORE! She LOVES it! I still haven't given up on sweet potatoes. I've been working with the consistancy/texture and have been mixing it with fruit to see if she would take it. She's slowly starting to take to it, but not nearly as much as the squash. Today I made peas. We'll see how that goes. It will definitely make her diapers more interesting.

For those of you who have never made baby food. It is really easy and you should give it a try. It's also a lot cheaper! Below are pictures of how I cook butternut squash. Just cut in half, scrape out the seeds, and put it face down in a dish with a little bit of water. Cook at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes (the skin will wrinkle and pucker). Scrape out the meat and but in a blender. Blend and add water to the consistance you want. DONE! I put it in ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen all you have to do is pop out the cubes and put in a freezer bag.

Cake Blog?

In the past year, some have suggested that I create another blog or site for all the cake decorating things I do. Should I? I've been experimenting with cake decorating for the past 5 years and really enjoy it. It's my creative outlet. I love learning new things and showing off my cakes but should I dedicate another blog to it? What do you think? I know not many people follow this blog but I would be interested to know your opinion.

New Job

Randy now has a permanent weekend job at Baylor Southwest! He'll be working a twelve hour shift on both Saturdays and Sundays. The best part of this position is that he'll qualify for full time benefits! I can't wait to look at their health plan because I'm really not liking the one offered at my work. I'm so excited!

Happy Birthday Josh

This month my little man turned three years old! I can't believe how fast he is growing up. Since his favorite movie at the moment is Toy Story, we decided to use it as the theme for his birthday. I had a fun time making the cake. It was a two tier cake. The first tier represented Woody and the second was Buz Lightyer (his favorite character). For the topper and the extra decor, I used toys.





Josh is very active these days. He loves to run, scream, and eat candy. He adores his big sister Elizabeth. They play together all the time even if it is dress up. What I admire about Josh is the love he shows for others. He may scream and throw tantrums but I'll also see him give Elizabeth a hug when she is upset or kiss Abby on the cheek when she is crying. He'll say "I love you" when you least expect it and try to make you laugh when you are down. I sure love my little man!

Tip of the Day

Check your student loans! Randy graduated from school in May and his grace period just recently ended for his student loans. I went to his account to look over all of the information and found out that there were two loans on his account that we never took out. So, there was an extra $10,000 worth of loans that shouldn't be there and we are currently paying on them! For those of you that know me, I'm sure you're not surprised that I almost spontaneously combusted when I saw this. Randy went to the financial aid office and verified that there was indeed a mistake on the account and that we should contact the loan company. The sad thing is they said that this happens all the time and it can take up to a year or more to correct.

Day at the Park

We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and take the kids to the park. It was a park we have never been to before but decided to try it out because of its unique castle like playground. The kids loved it and really enjoyed themselves. Unfortunately, I think everyone had the same idea because the park was packed with people.

Abby's Wellness Visit (4 Months)

Abby had her 4 month wellness visit today. I have to admit I was quite shocked by her stats. She is definitely a mix between Elizabeth and Josh. Her current height is 25 3/4" and weighs in at 11 lbs 12 oz. In terms of percentile she is 95% for height and 5% for weight. Our pediatrician wants us to bring her in for a weight check in two weeks just to see how things are going. She isn't too concerned about Abby's weight yet since Josh was the same way. We're slowly starting her on solids so hopefully that will help out.

At 4 months, Abby is very active. She can scoot across the floor on her back at lightning speed and will attack various items she comes across including dolls and sock monkeys. Yet, her personality is very calm, happy, and mellow. A lot of the time she'll just hang out on the floor playing with her feet. I'm amazed at how fast she is growing.

Season to be Sick

Every where I look people are sick and our family is no exception. We have been fortunate not to get the flu but we've been bombarded with an abundance of other illnesses ranging from bladder infections to allergy/sinus problems. Amazingly, the one person in our family that gets sick the least is the one around sick people the most. Randy works at hospitals and surgical centers and he's fine. Healthy as a horse! I guess the Texas weather doesn't help things. This winter we've experienced snow storms one day and then warm and sunny the next. I can't wait for this season to be over. I hate being sick!

New Year, New and Improved Blog

I have to admit, I've really let my blog gather dust the past year. I had exactly one post in 2010. That is sad considering all the wonderful things that happened. Randy graduated from college. We had a new addtion to our family, Abigail Rose. Elizabeth and Josh started preschool and love it. All these things going on and there's nothing to show for it on my blog. So, this year I'll be doing my best to at least have more than one post. Fortunately, I have several things happening soon. Stay tuned!

By the way, for those of you that have links to my blog, my blog address has changed. It is now www.sparkmart315.blogspot.com.