Cereal & Saucers!

It was a BIG weekend for Isabella! We brought out Jacob's old exer-saucer/activity center. It entertains Isabella and Jacob. Yeah, Jacob plays with it more now than he did when he was a baby. He likes to hear and dance to the music on the saucer. Isabella likes to look at the spinning wheels that have pictures and different noises. And she also likes to watch her brother play with the center. But that's not all...Isabella has had her first cereal. On Sunday, I decided to give it a try. However, I don't think she's quite ready yet. Most of the cereal ended up out of her mouth instead of in. But that's okay, we'll try it again in a few weeks. At least, she didn't seem to mind it.

And finally, Jacob went to his last football game. During the regular high school football season, Jacob had gone to a few games to see my niece and nephew, and I had not. Well, I went with him for the first time and he has a routine! Despite taking snacks for him, the first thing he wanted was a hot dog! As soon as we sat down he said, I want hot dog! Now I know why, that hot dog came with a bag of chips and a soda, things he rarely gets at home. He chowed down. He also had a bowl of strawberries, some crackers, and some funnel cake! I've not seen Jacob eat like that in a looong time. He even had some food before we left for the game! I was in shock. But it was fun to see him chant with everyone and yell touchdown! He's somewhat into football now since he loves to throw a football around and tackle. Love to hear him yell tackle!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a happy and pleasant Thanksgiving day! And a restful and fun weekend! Our Thanksgiving day was rather normal. We did the usual, dinner at mom's house. We had the usual turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, green bean casserole, and rolls. And it was delicious! Seriously, I don't remember a dinner that was sooo tasty and flavorful. My momma did a good job. Time for leftovers! And we had tons of pumpkin everything for dessert, but I saved room for a little of my cinnamon bun cake that I made. It was good too. Now we're looking forward to a fun weekend filled with Christmas decor, football games, and parties.

Isabella's 4 Months!

We've had Isabella's 4 month appointment and she is now weighing in at 17 pounds (96%) and is 25.75 inches (91%) tall! She had 3 shots and one oral vax. So far, she's doing much better than last time. She took the shots and screamed, but took her binky, relaxed, and napped for a bit. She also had a tiny, little spot of eczema on her cheek, but other than that the Doc said she was perfect! Such great news! He also said we can start feeding her cereal. I had tried at 4 months with Jacob, but he didn't do too well. Maybe she'll be different. So, we're off to start cereal!

As we go into Isabella's 4th month, she is now rolling from her stomach to back, and is desperately trying to go from back to tummy. She's wearing size 6 month clothing, and is still eating 5 bottles at 6 ounces each. This may be upped soon. She is growing like crazy! She's been reaching for toys now for quite a few weeks. I love it. When she sits in her bouncy chair she loves to spin the little blue bird. So cute! I think we're going to bring out Jacob's old activity center soon! She's also doing this grunting thing. It makes her cough everytime she does it, but she keeps doing it. It's sooo funny. I'm like, what's that noise?! Oh, it's Bella!

And the BIG news...she's sleeping in her crib! It's now been a week! It was a rough week. I'm not sure if it was her not being used to her crib or a 4 month sleep regression, but she was waking up almost every night. Poor Jacob, she woke him up on a few occasions, but he's my little trooper and it didn't bother him at all. Usually, Jacob goes to sleep first at 8pm then Isabella goes down about 30 minutes to an hour later. They both wake up at around 7am when Isabella starts chatting and squealing in her crib. Again...poor Jacob. So far so good. But I've lost sleep. I wake periodically throughout the night and check the monitor, and if I need to, I'll check on them in their room. I can't believe their sharing a room. We're now trying to get back on track as far as a schedule, but it hasn't been too bad at all. Phew!

Long Week

It's been one of those weeks. Isabella is going to be 4 months soon and apparently has entered into a sleep regression phase. This means momma has not slept well and has been working long 24 hour periods. Boo. But we'll get back on track. And if that wasn't enough, I lost my "job." I say "job" because I haven't really worked in about 6 months. I knew it was inevitable, but if I knew a year ago what I know now...I would have waited on some BIG things. For example, while I desperately need a vacation, we are in NO WAY capable of affording a vacation, especially the vacation we're taking. On a whim, when I HAD a "job" and we didn't have a fourth family member just yet, I agreed to go on a vacation next year. Now, that vacation has turned into more of a stress than something I look forward to. Since I have NO expendable income whatsoever, I think of all the things we need and can buy with the money we'd be using for the trip. But it's too late, we've already placed a deposit, and throwing that money away would hurt...a lot. Despite all of this, I know the kids Jacob is going to L-O-V-E it! More on that later.

While I'm a little down at the moment, I still try to think of the positive. Like my babies. They drive me nuts, but the moment they smile, laugh, or giggle they melt my gloom away. And as Thanksgiving gets closer, I think of the things I'm thankful for like a roof over our head, food on the table, health, and love. I can only hope that things get better, but deep down, I know things will only get worse before they get better. Here's to more positive thinking...the glass is half full...the glass is half full...the glass is half full...

My joy & happiness...

{DIY} Cake Pops!

Repost from my party blog, Bella Mia Soirees!

These things are addicting! And easy to make! I made them the other week as favors for Isabella's Baptism, and they went like hot cakes! A person would have one, and tell another person to try it, and everyone was asking how I made them. By the end of the night, we only had a handful left, until my niece took them all. They were seriously sooo good. I got phone calls days after asking about them, and would I make them for people. I used Bakerella's recipe, but with a few teeny-tiny changes. Here's a small tutorial on what I did, and used.

I used Devil's Food Cake boxed mix, a can of Cream Cheese frosting (It's not the same frosting in the pic...oops!), and Nestle White Baking Chocolate. Makes about 50 pops.

I baked the cake according to the box directions and let it cool completely. I then broke it into pieces and placed into a food processor where I blended the cake 'til I had small crumbs. I then dumped the crumbs into a big bowl. I had to repeat this step three times 'til I crumbled the whole cake.

With the crumbled cake in a big bowl, I then poured a little more than half the jar of cream cheese frosting in, and started to mix with my hands. I mixed 'til I could form a giant cake ball.

I got out my cookie sheet and an actual tablespoon, from my stack of measuring spoons, and started scooping out tablespoon-sized balls, rolling them in my hands, and placing them on a cookie sheet.

 

After my balls were made, I covered them in saran wrap and I let them chill, in the fridge, over night.

The next day I heated the white chocolate baking bar in my Little Dipper crock pot. I heated the bar according to the directions on the bar's wrapper.

I began by sticking the sticks into the balls. I would dip about 1/2 an inch of the stick into the white chocolate and then into the ball. And line them back up on the sheet. I let them set up a little before the next step.

To cover the balls, I would hold the end of the stick, to the side, and drizzle the white chocolate over the entire ball, and tap the excess off. Sorry no pic. Too consumed in making pops!

I would then pour the sprinkles on, stick them in foam, and place them in the fridge to set up. By the time I was done, I was able to pull the first batch out and start bagging the pops.

There you have 'em! Delish cake pops! I HIGHLY recommend the Devil's Food cake with Cream Cheese frosting. I found this to be the best flavor combination. I will definitely be making more of these suckers. Yum!

Two in a room!

Okay, not quite. I *think* the time has finally come to put Isabella in her crib. I'd known that it would be around the 3 month mark, but didn't really think she would be ready. However, she's outgrowing her bassinet, and she sleeps through the night. Her sleep schedule is almost the same as Jacob's, maybe off by an hour. But, you may be wondering why I said *think*? Well, I may not be ready. I love having the comfort of just being able to look over and see if my baby girl is okay. Although, we do have a video monitor that we'd be using to view the whole room, but nothing beats being able to look and reach over to see her. When I asked my hubby if he thinks she's ready, he asked if I was ready. Almost. I'm just waiting for her breathable bumper to get here, and then *MAYBE* I'll be ready. Maybe...

BIG things for my babies!

The last couple of weeks have been BIG for both Jacob and Isabella. Jacob has shown some readiness to potty train, and has actually used the potty a handful of times in the last 3 weeks. He's gone both #1 and #2. More #1 than #2. But it's still good. He actually points to his diaper and says "Go potty," and sometimes he says it and he's already gone. I know he's absolutely ready to do it, but Momma isn't. But I've got to do it. Eek! I'm thinking of chronicling the WHOLE thing. We'll see. And he talks sooo much now. And he loves to sing songs that he makes up! I'll ask him to sing a song for mom and he'll make up a song for me. I love it! And my Bella. On Halloween she rolled over! I was so proud, and so sad :0( My baby girl is getting big. It was in the middle of the afternoon, and I had put her in her crib and stepped out of the room for a quick sec, when I came back she was flipped. She spins too. LOL! And she's teething like mad now. She loves chomping on her little hand. Awww. My babies are getting big!

Jacob's throne!

 Getting ready...

 Going...

Going... 

 Almost there...

 Nah, I'd rather chomp on my hand!

Isabella's Baptism {The Ceremony}

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Isabella's Baptism. Isabella's God parent's were my brother and my niece, and the ceremony was at 3pm. Despite sharing the ceremony with about 10 other babies, it was short and sweet. Isabella had a bottle first thing, and basically had the bottle in her mouth the whole time. Jacob also did well. However, he kept saying Jesus and pointing at the huge cross at the front of the church. It would be fairly quiet and then you'd hear Jacob mumble something about Jesus. It was too cute. Anywho, Isabella's dress was from Baby Beau & Belle, and I fell in love with it the very first time I'd seen it. I knew I wanted something that she could pass on to her daughter, and that would stay in the family, like Jacob's daughter. An heirloom. That almost didn't happen when I went to place my order, and the dress was NO LONGER on the site! But, in the end, we got her dress and the matching bonnet. The dress was white with very light pink lace details, and it's sooo soft. People were touching it, and were amazed at how soft and smooth it felt. And she also had a similar bib Jacob had for his baptism, except with her details. It was a perfect day spent with close family and friends.