Let them eat CAKE!

This past Sunday a few friends of mine and I got together and had the best party ever, a cake party!!
The idea got thrown out there a few days prior when someone mentioned having cake for breakfast. Over 60+ replies later to her status, the cake party idea was born. We ended up having 5 people there and the cakes were sooo yummy!! We had a Black Russian cake, a Butter Brickle cake, Coconut Layer cake, Strawberry layer cake and I made a Lemonade Layer cake.
After we started to come out of our sugar coma, we have decided that it is now going to be a once a month thing, with a different dessert every month. Pies, cookies, ice creams, candies, trifles, etc. You get the point! I can't wait to see what we do next month. It was so much fun to just sit around and talk with everyone. We were there over 3 hours and didn't even realize it, oops!
Here is my recipe that I used and will be making a lot more I can tell, I loved it! When Ethan got a piece later on he said it was lemonicious!

Lemonade Layer Cake



Cake:
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
3 tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups fat-free buttermilk (I couldn't find FF so I used regular and it was fine)
Cooking spray

Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.

Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, place 2 tablespoons butter and the next 4 ingredients (2 tablespoons butter through cream cheese) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour.

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.

So tired...

I am not even sure if I am going to publish this post, I think I just need to write it all out...to get it off my chest.
I was talking with a really great friend lately, telling her about some of the stuff I have been going through, etc and getting her feedback. I love her cause she will tell me the TRUTH! She won't bullshit with me, which I love about her. If she is mad at me, has a problem, or feels the need to call me out about something, she will! I need more of her in my life I have decided!!
Anyways...
The past year and a half has been crazy, and after talking to her, seems like most of it was all caused by things I did, and not necessarily on purpose, but regardless.
I had a really crappy time in middle school and high school. I know it was mostly because I was super shy and quiet which translated to snobby and unwilling to talk to people. I had a great group of people in my cosmetology class that I bonded with in 11th & 12th grade that really helped. But even then, some of them I never really fit in with. I am not saying this in a pity post, just telling some past.
So after I had Ethan I met a few girls on a board and became friends with them. Then the group split, I was in the middle, Swiss you could say. I hated that and felt I needed to "play both sides", so I would say one thing to one group, yet a completely different thing to the other group, trying to make everyone happy and fit in with everyone.
For as long as I can remember I have wanted to fit in, no matter what, and it never worked. Yet here I was, with a bunch of friends, saying and doing whatever I needed to to fit in. Was I lying? At that time, I honestly didn't think it was lying, I was just "bending the truth" right? Yeah, not so much. As my friend so nicely put it, lying is lying, no matter your intention behind it. Wow, she is right.
As time went on, things really changed and I felt like I needed to do more to fit it, I didn't want to lose my friends, and I was going to do whatever I needed to to fit in. There started the problem. I lost a lot of friends, and it was all my fault. I know there is nothing I can do about it, I was the one who messed it up, and now I have to deal with that. The only thing I can do is say I am sorry and that I am trying to just be ME now, which I know some people may not like, but man will it be a lot easier on me. Do I email everyone I know I hurt, angered, pissed off and tell them I am sorry? Heck at this point I have lost count. I'm sure there are people that aren't too thrilled with me, but will they actually tell me? I hope so, I really do hate who I *was*.
I have been doing an awesome bible study the last few weeks and it is really opening up my eyes. I know that I need to be happy with myself and the life I have right now and I really am working on that. My poor husband has had to deal with me being constantly worried about what other people are thinking about me, if people are looking, etc. I was at a point where I could only have fun and be myself around people if I had a few drinks to loosen up. That provided it's own set of problems, who knows what I would say when I was drinking?
Now I am rambling. The whole point of this post is that I have been a really crappy friend and person to be around the last few years and for that I am truly sorry. If I hurt you, I am sorry. If I lied to you, I am sorry. If I was fake around you, I am sorry. I am sorry for everything I have done. I know these are just words, but they are truly coming from my heart.
I hope this post doesn't upset anyone with me, but I feel like I needed to post this.
My goal this year is learn to be me, and believe me, that is truly a learning process for me. I have a long way to go...

Easter is springing up in our house!

Ethan decided today that we needed to start decorating for Easter. We got our tub out of the storage area and started pulling stuff out. I pulled out the boys two new Easter baskets that I bought for them last year:
Then once I started pulling everything else out, I noticed this basket, once I bought about 4-5 yrs ago at Target when they put all the Easter stuff on 90% off...I think I paid about $2 maybe for it. It is a perfect match to the boys...looks like Avery has an Easter basket already! Guess I was always meant to have a little girl huh? :)

Ethan=speechless mommy

So, Ethan may/may not have broken one of our Wii-motes from fooling around. I told him if it was broken, we were taking some of his money in his fun spending account to replace it. He looked at me and with a little *attitude* told me
"It was NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! That money is being saved so I can buy you something pretty...don't you want pretty & nice things mommy? So thats why I get to keep my money...cause otherwise you get nothing and then you will be sad and you don't want to be sad do you mommy?

::insert eye roll from mommy off to the side::

What do you say to that?

Girl=shopping...right?

Since we are having a girl, the nursery is getting an overhaul. :) Here is what it currently looks like:

(look at how little Ethan was! This was right after Aiden was born)

Here is the new bedding we are going to order:


Since we have that green on the bottom of the chair rail currently, we are going to keep it and paint it pink above, and do something like this possibly, I have a few different paisley stencils already:
Here is the new car seat we grandma & papa are buying her:

And here is her first official outfit:

It's a GIRL!!

We found out last week that baby #3 will be our little Avery Lynn. We had both felt from the beginning of this pregnancy that it was a girl, but neither one of us wanted to say anything. :) When we went in for our sonogram, we brought both the boys with us and they were both enthralled with the baby up on the big screen. She did all her measurements first and every time she moved between the legs I was looking and I never saw a penis...then she asked if we wanted to know and what our guess was. We all said girl, and I mentioned that I never saw anything, and she said yep, it's a girl! I immediately started to cry. Poor Aiden was sitting in Seth's lap and was right next to my head and he turned on the sad lips and started to whimper a little bit. Once I smiled at him and told him I was all right he was all smiles again.
I think I am still in shock...I am so excited...yet I am scared. I have only ever dealt with boys...this is a whole new ball game for me...

Aiden's photoshoot

We got Aiden's headshot taken for his birthday and they refuse to let me just take the one picture, even though I tell them from the begining I am just there for my free 8x10, it will take a minute of their time, blah blah blah.
This girl got some really cute shots, and even though she was REALLY pushing the extra prints and picture club on me, I stayed strong and just got my free one...oh, and this full size Mr GQ picture of Aiden...soooo adorable!!
She also got a few cute sports pictures, which I promptly got off the website. They are small, but I can print them off as a 4x6, so I am going to print these for his new sports room

Aiden turns 2

**This post is way overdue!!**
Aiden turned 2 on Jan 17. He is so much fun right now! My mom and dad gave him the nickname Mr Destructo when he was little and boy does it describe him! He is truly a rough and tumble little boy in every aspect. He loves sports, any sport! Baseball, basketball, football, hockey....the minute he sees a ball he is screaming and running towards it to play. He loves his big brother "EE" and really looks up to him. I love to see them playing together at the park or in our gameroom. It melts my heart when I see them holding hands walking into school or into church.
Aiden,
You are such a sweet and caring boy, you love to give hugs and kisses and when you hear someone crying, even if you don't know them, you want to go give them a hug. You are an awesome little brother and I know when the baby comes you are going to be a wonderful big brother!!
I love you!
Mommy

Aiden about 2 minutes old

Aiden 1yr

Aiden 2yrs

Aiden says "fox"

Aiden was watching tv the other morning before his party and Seth mentioned to me that Aiden was saying something questionable. We tried to figure out what he meant but had no idea. Then last night we went to our friends house and Whitney mentioned that it was probably fox. So tonight I asked him to say fox, and yep, that was it! :)

Aiden surgery Update

We went to a new Dr yesterday, LOVED him! He had Aiden's ears tested (he has lost hearing in the ear that the tube fell out of but they think it will all come back with new tubes). They are replacing both since the other one is about to come out as well. He also agrees with removing the adenoids, but only after doing a bunch of testing that the other Dr never bothered with. I love the new place cause they are a whole pediatric medical center, they do 95% of the surgeries downstairs in the surgical center and use pedi anesthesiologists.
His surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday morning, we will know the exact time the night before, since they schedule the surgeries according to age, youngest go first since you can't eat or drink beforehand...
I am so happy that we are doing this before we go out of town for our cruise...it would not be fun to have a sick kiddo in the middle of the ocean!!

I will never understand his mind...

So tonight I let Ethan stay up to watch Biggest Loser with me tonight. Daddy had to work late so he was not happy...So we both got snuggled up in our snuggies and settled in. He kept asking me about WHY their tummies were so big, etc. I took that moment to tell him it was because they don't eat vegetables, fruit or meat (everything he has decided to NOT eat). He looked at me and said, I don't want to look like that mommy!! Maybe that will help change his eating habits??
Then at the end, we are watching each team weigh in, with Ethan clapping at the end of each weigh in with everyone else. Then Ethan stopped, looked up and me and asked my WHY the girls were showing us their bra's. I was about to explain to him that the boys and girls take off their shirts for the weigh in, but only girls wear bras (even though some of those boys could have used some as well!!) But before I could say that, he said "Never mind, I know why. It's because they have long nipples that will fart if they come out of the bra"
WHAT??!!
I have no idea where that idea came from, but it made me bite my lip and turn my head away so he wouldn't see me laughing!
I don't get the boy brain...

Ethan thru the years...

It is amazing to me how much he has grown and matured through out the years...I feel so blessed to be his mommy and I thank God on a daily basis that he allows me to stay at home and see his grow up. There have been times I thought about going to work full time, but then I think about all that I would miss and I know that it would kill me...
Thank you Ethan, for being such an *awesome* little boy, a wonderful big brother and I just know you are going to rock as an even BIGGER big brother in a few months...you are so special to me and I cannot imagine my life without you...
Love,
Mommy

5 years ago tonight...

I was in labor at Denton Regional Medical Center...the following is Seth's version of Ethan's birth that he wrote up the day after Ethan was born. I still love to read this through his words...hope you enjoy

Here is the time table as best as I can remember it:

Monday	11:18am	I get a call at work from Jessica's Spa telling me that she has gone into labor. Jessica's friend, who is a massage therapist, was pushing on some points that are supposed to induce labor... Well, it works. - I drove straight home to get the additional items, not in Jessica's car.
	12:25pm	I get home and gather the car seat, Ipod, etc.. and the spa calls and tells me that her labor has progressed quicker than expected, so I call Jessica's mom who was near by to pick her up from the spa and drive her home. (Contractions were still 10minutes apart, just more intense)
	1:00pm	Jessica's mom gets to the spa and prepares Jessica for her road trip, which was still supposed to be home at this time since the contractions were closer but not close enough to go to the hospital. (I get some Subway for Lunch.)
	1:25pm	Jessica and her mom leave the hospital and Jessica's contractions are now 4-5 minutes apart, so we change plans and decide to meet at the Hospital. I call the doctors office to inform them and head up to the DRMC with items in the van.
	2:00pm	Jessica arrives and I escort her to the labor and delivery floor and they check us into room 3 and begin to hook up the monitors. Her contractions decide to fizzle during this process and end up at 10 minutes apart so she is ordered to walk around for an hour.
	3:00pm	Tired from walking, we return to the room and they hook her back up to the monitors. Her contractions are now back to about 5 minutes apart. At this point it is decided that instead of sending her home, they will just bump up our schedule since we were supposed to check in at 8pm that night for inducement. So an order is placed for some Cervidil.
	4:00pm	The Cervidil is applied and Jessica is determined to be at 1cm at that time. Cervidil softens the cervix, but also has a tendency to induce labor as well. After it is applied, we see Jessica's contractions get closer and longer and her friend from the spa shows up to coach her and massage her pressure points during this time.
	10:00pm	We all get our hopes up because Jessica's contractions are 7 minutes long and about 1 minute apart, so we ask the nurses if they can check her. They measure her at only 2cm and barely that. The pitocin is scheduled to begin at Midnight, so we help Jessica though these contractions and they also allow her to take a hot shower to help cope with the pain.
	12:00pm	Jessica is measured at 2.5 cm and the Pitocin is administered. You have to measure at 4 cm before they can administer the Epidural. With Pitocin, you barely get any rest between contractions and they come fast and hard. For the next 2 hours, Jessica goes through the worst exercise of an onslaught of contractions. Jessica's mom and myself help her though the contractions and her dad charts them, since our TOCO monitor (supposed to monitor contractions) wasn't working properly.
Tuesday	2:00am	Jessica is measured at 5 cm (Hallelujah chorus can be heard) so the epidural is ordered. The person who administers it, is on call (not on site) and arrives 45 minutes later with his cart of goodies. Jessica looks at him and says "I love you" before going into another contraction.
	3:00am	The epidural is finally hooked up and Jessica is measured at 8cm. We now help Jessica through a couple more contractions as the epidural kicks in and finally we decide that we can get some sleep.
	4:00am	Jessica finally falls asleep. I got the benefit of sleeping on a pull out cot that was equivalent to a napkin on top of monkey bars.
	6:30am	All the nurses come in to check vitals, tell us that our Doctor will be there at 7:30 to check for dilation and possibly break Jessica's water.
	7:45am	Dr Reeves, checks Jessica at a 9.5cm and breaks her water. We then get to wait for Jessica to reach 10cm which happens at 8:30am.
	8:30am	The nurse checks Jessica, and she is at 10cm, so they begin to have Jessica push little Ethan down. The next three hours are a physical and emotional trial that makes it hard to believe that people have kids anymore. I watched my wife push so hard that veins would pop out of her forehead and eyelids and she even popped some vessels in her eyes. I gained a huge amount of respect for her that day. I think every husband should be by his wife's side through this process. I now understand what it takes for a child to be born and I understand that a mother will do everything it takes for her child.
	11:25am	They only allow you 3 hours of pushing before they resort to forceps and at 5 minutes till that threshold in our case, little Ethan came into this world as Jessica's mother and I watched him take his first breath through our tears of joy. The nurses then placed him on Jessica's chest as I cut the umbilical cord. As Jessica welcomed him, you could see his eyes looking for his mothers voice that he has heard for the last 9-10 months.
Thursday	2:00pm	We finally check out of the hospital which was a shame since the food was so great. They ended up keeping us the extra day, so they could monitor Jessica's healing since she had a 3rd degree tear. (Most women only suffer a first degree, but Jessica is an overachiever) We packed up everything and drove home to begin our new life together as a family. We have learned so much these last couple of days and we will continue to learn as his and our lives progress. We want to thank all of our family, friends and God, as none of this would have been possible with out everyone's help, support and prayers. I will be putting together a video, so check back in a couple of weeks to see if I have it done. I will also be adding more pictures soon.