Happy Anniversary

3 years

Welcome to the 30's Ken!

So I've been waiting for a year and 4 months for Ken to join me in the thirties. Not that it really matters...but it's nice to have some company.

Normally I probably would not post a picture of this cake...but it was too funny. It kind of looks like a Dr. Seus cake or something. I should just say that was the look I was going for. I don't know what happened . I've made this cake before with no problems. Let's blame it on the pregnancy. After I noticed the cake was clearly going to have issues I did another pregnant thing and burned every finger on my right hand by picking up a hot cookie sheet. Like I said we'll call it pregnant brain. This all happened while in the middle of trying to make birthday dinner for Ken and his family and a few of our friends. After the burning of the fingers I was useless in the kitchen...had to keep them in ice water. At that point I just said forget the cake. I had Ken's sister Adri help me contain the damage and dump all the cake and frosting together. It tasted fantastic which is all that really matters right? And Ken couldn't care less about presentation...so Happy 30th Honey!

{I look a little sad huh? Still trying to figure out what went wrong!}

Random September Stuff

I found him on our bed this way...always trying to be like daddy.

With Grandma Grace.

Half of Ken's family was in between places in September/October...which was great for us because we had house guests! I love house guests! His sister Lydia and her daughter Jada were with us for a few weeks which was super fun for Julius because he loves his cousin Jada. Then his mom and sister Adri were with us for a couple weeks while waiting to close on a house. Very fun. Then my dad came to town at the tail end of their stay with us and was here for a week and a half...more fun!

The Broken Arm

Julius loves to stand on the kitchen chairs and play in the water from the kitchen sink. I let him do it when I can watch him. One night he pulled the chair to the sink and I told him no, it was bedtime. This made him mad of course. He starts throwing a huge fit while standing on the chair. I let him scream for a minute then took him off the chair...which enraged him. How dare I take him off the chair? Right? So he's just screaming and yelling on the floor. Then I turn around and see he has climbed back up on the chair and before I could reach him he stepped right off of it. It actually didn't look like that bad of a fall...he's definitely had way worse tumbles. Of course he was already upset and now even more upset...so I didn't notice at first that anything was wrong. He finally agreed to come sit by me on the sofa and calm down. About a half an hour later I noticed he wasn't using his right arm very much.

{Next time I notice he's not using a limb I would take him to get an x-ray right away...but never having broken anything in all my 31 years...I wasn't really sure if something was wrong and it was way way past his bedtime. And Ken being the positive, laid back, don't over react kind of guy he is, thought it was probably fine.}

So we put him to bed. He slept fine. But in the morning he still didn't want to use it...so off to the InstaCare we went since it was the weekend. Sure enough, he cracked the bone right above his right elbow. So they put it in a splint and sent us home for the weekend. They said to have his doctor look at it Monday and re-x-ray it to decide if the splint was good enough or if he needed a cast. When we did that the good doctor said a cast would definitely be more comfortable for him. And it was...as soon as it was on he was fine. Running, jumping and climbing things as usual. He got it off about 4 weeks later, at the end of the month. I can't believe he's only 2 and already broke a bone.

If you ask him about his arm he'll tell the whole story. In between lots of jibberish and pointing at the chair and the kitchen sink you can make out "arm" and "owie". He definitely remembers what happened.

This probably won't be the only broken bone for this kid!

The Cake

I thought I'd post the recipe for Julius' birthday cake...because is was sooooo good. Like I said, I got it from my sister's mother-in-law. Thank you! It was a hit. I think I'll make another one just because I want more.

Carrot Cake

1 1/8 Cup oil

1 1/2 Cups sugar

3 eggs

2 1/2 Cups grated carrots (be generous)

1 can crushed pineapple (drained well)

2 1/2 Cups flour

1 Tsp baking soda

1/2 Tsp salt

1 Tsp cinnamon

1 Cup pecans (optional)

1 Tsp vanilla

Combine oil and sugar. Mix in eggs, carrots, pineapple. In a bowl combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon. Add to wet mixture. Add vanilla and pecans. Bake at 350 degrees. Cool and frost with a cream cheese frosting. ( I just used a frosting recipe from Better Homes and Gardens...they are all about the same...cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar.)

*I don't know exactly how long to bake it. If you double the recipe you can put it in an 11x14 pan and it should take 45-50 minutes. I did a single recipe then baked it in two 9 inch round pans to make a layer cake. I can't remember how long it took to bake.