Happy Fake, Almost, and Real Birthday to me.

I didn't do much this year, except feed us a bunch of desserts for several nights in a row. Truly, we ate desserts for almost an entire week, which is something we don't normally do, so it's a good thing I'm still nursing the baby.
For my Fake birthday dessert I made Tres Leche Cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream! Delicious!

For my Almost birthday dessert I made Chocolate Lava Cupcakes, served with vanilla ice cream. Made a note to bake them on a lower heat because they were too done. Oh well.

For my Real birthday dessert I made a fantastic chocolate cake that Kevin brought home the week before. I made chocolate cream cheese frosting and served it with vanilla ice cream (as you can plainly see). It was so yummy!

A couple weeks before my birthday, Kevin decided it was time to look for a new dining room table. Two of our kids couldn't sit "at" the table for meals so we did need a bigger one. We went without the kids during the day, before Kevin had to go in for work. We found one really solid table that would extend out to what we need right now, but we still wouldn't have room for guests. Not like we entertain all that much but you never know. So we found a little bit smaller (cheaper) table and bought two of them. Happy Early Birthday to me! Kevin picked the tables up on the 24th and we set them up right away (with a pause so we could eat dinner). They are very nice. Our house smells like the varnish, and they wobble a bit on the uneven floor, but it is nice to have us all able to sit together.

On my real birthday, we had ice cream and pancakes for breakfast - even though we ate sort of late because we slept in a bit. We skipped lunch and went to an earlier dinner at Outback Steakhouse. (Our neighbor gave us a gift card for snow blowing her driveway.) The food Kevin and I got was really salty. It was nice to eat out and not have to make my own dinner. We went shopping for some things on my wish list but ended up not getting anything, which is fine because I figure the tables will be enough. After cake at home, I took my three oldest girls, and the baby, to the Relief Society Broadcast at the Church. They were having a dessert social (tea party theme) before so we socialized a bit. I wasn't offended when all three of the older girls sat with someone else. It was a nice day, all day long!

Success!

It was a little more nerve racking than I thought it would be. I just thought it would happen and didn't really think about it. We got Ben the incubator for his birthday and started incubating the eggs our chickens were laying. He's done a good job watching them but it takes 21 days so we marked the calendar. We started getting excited but then nothing happened. We anticipated the first egg to hatch on the 23rd but the day went and nothing happened. So we waited. Yesterday morning, Kevin brought it to our attention that one of the eggs was cracked. We were all very excited. As we watched it, we noticed that the membrane was dry and thought maybe it was having trouble. Kevin cut the membrane very carefully and then we watched and waited. We decided (after a little research on the internet) that maybe it wasn't humid enough. So we added water, and even put a damp paper towel on the egg to see if it would help. When we went to bed that night we were all a little worried about the chick. We talked to the kids about it, and tried to let them know that if it didn't make it, that was okay. They all prayed for the chick as they went to bed. This morning, Emily and Marissa were able to watch the little chick hatch out of the egg. What a wonderful thing that must have been. We spent the next hour setting things up and finding a good place for the chick to hang out. We were hoping for more than one but we'll be happy with our one! It hasn't taken long for it to become a little fluffier but I'm sure by the end of the day it will be perfectly fluffy!

 

Perfection

Benjamin has wanted to make a pie since Pi Day (3/14).

Yesterday we made one.

I let him do as much of it on his own as I could.

I cut the slits on top, but he made the cherry decoration.

Unfortunately, it wasn't done before they had to go to bed.

 

After lunch some of us had some pie.

It was delicious.

Way to go Ben!



Sleepiness takes over

Camdilyn is a little picky when it comes to sleeping. Not anything crazy, but just a bit. She has been sitting at the table with us, during meals, and I feed her a bit of food. I got busy with other things and when I came back, she was asleep. Sweet little girl. Just know that all my kids have fallen asleep in this same chair when they were little. I did tilt the chair back after I took these so that she could be  more comfortable.

 

At the beginning of the month (3/1) she actually fell asleep in her play center. (We actually call it "the farm activity center", but that probably doesn't mean much to you.) It was exciting to me because, like I stated earlier, she's a bit picky about sleeping. She usually won't fall asleep on me, unless I'm nursing her. She likes to sleep in her bed, and will fall asleep in her car seat while we are driving around. To have her fall asleep somewhere else was quite a moment. Yes, I probably have a picture of each of my kids sleeping here, as well.

 

I guess some traditions are just that great... or their Mom is a little silly.

First Taste of Baby Food

Today was the first time I fed Camdilyn baby food - pears. She wasn't too sure about them but she loved the idea of the spoon and putting it in her mouth. She wasn't in the high chair because Harmonie still uses it - we'll be needing to rearrange things a bit - but she just seemed ready to eat. I think it was a good first try.

I will admit that I fed her bits of pancakes back in February, on Harmonie's birthday. It was really early (age wise) for me to give food to my baby but she seemed hungry and fussy as she watched us eat, so I shared. She really enjoyed them and has eaten them since then.

Camdilyn is ready to sit up

She has her 6 month pictures coming up so we have been practicing so that she will be ready to sit up on her own. She did surprisingly well so I think she'll be ready. She was so excited and happy to be sitting on her own. We all got a laugh watching her so maybe we were making her laugh as we laughed at her laughing.

What a big girl!

What fun times!

We got out some toys that we don't play with very often and had a great time. I loved building the double marble track. Harmonie had fun dropping the marbles and watching them collect at the bottom. Kemiah made her own track, too.

 

 

Plastic tinker toys are pretty fun, too, and the kids have a great time making so many different things. Domonique calls this her painter, and she rolls the "paint" on everything.

Harmonie liked playing with the little people Kemiah made. Kemiah called them "new borns" because they were smaller than the people they usually make.

I can't remember what Kemiah called this one but she just had to have me take a picture. What a creative little kid she is.

Classic foam blocks... they have made so many different buildings and they are probably all different.

Xiomara's baptism

I decided she needed her own post for this special event. She helped plan the program and it turned out perfectly. When I asked her about the talks, she chose a young man and a young woman, both of whom she is very fond of. I had her call them both, and they agreed to participate. There were a couple other things going on right after Church so we had a smallish group in the Relief Society room. For the opening song, she chose A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, verses 1-3 and 7. I couldn't finish singing the last verse, so it was a good thing I wasn't saying the opening prayer. The talks were perfect, to the point, and focused. It was awesome to watch the baptism, and to see her walk out of the water. Gaffa performed the baptism, and her Dad confirmed her and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was very nice.

Grammy and Gaffa visit

My parents came out for a short visit to be here for Xiomara's baptism and Ben's ordination to the Aaronic Priesthood. They arrived Thursday for dinner and left Monday morning. We were all happy to have them visit us.

Enjoying some reading time.

Domonique asked for a new little one.

Gaffa pulled Xiomara's loose tooth.

Harmonie is just cute.

Ben ready for his first Stake Young Men's activity.

Xiomara before her baptism.

More reading.

Gaffa telling stories of his own creation.

Saying good bye!