Cupcakes

Big C and I decided to do something different and make ice cream cone cupcakes tonight. I found a low sugar cake mix and low sugar icing at the store, and made the batter with Egg Beaters and applesauce instead of eggs and oil. We decorated them and then pigged out!

The final product!

Cassidy LOVES ice cream cone cupcakes!

Road Trip!

Little C and I made a road trip to see family in North Carolina today! She did so good and didn't fuss at all the whole day. I can't believe how easy she is... we spent 4.75 hours in the car today!! We are SO BLESSED!

Here's a picture of our visit...

Little C and Aunt Jean

I'm Going To Miss My Womb-Mate

1 day and a wake-up until Little C starts school. The mere thought of it makes Mommy sad.

How can she be almost 8 weeks old already?!? The time has gone by so fast... and while I'm definitely ready to get back to work, I'm also feeling sad that our "weekdays of fun" are ending. Little C has been my mini-me the past 8 weeks - we've gone all kinds of places and done some really cool things together. Her temperament makes it easy to get her out... she's super laid-back and rarely fusses, which makes her portable and FUN!

Here are just a few of the things we've been able to do the past 8 weeks:

1. Buried her cord stump at Mama and Papa's old house
2. Watched Big C's Gymboree classes
3. Visited Pop and Lydia at their house
4. Had individual lunch dates with each of her Grandmothers
5. Visited my favorite three local shopping malls
6. Celebrated Father's Day with Daddy and Papa
7. Checked out the deals at my favorite stores
8. Had her picture taken
9. Received the "a-ok" from her doctor (twice)
10. Attended my cousin's wedding
11. Watched 4th of July fireworks
12. Enjoyed Vacation Bible School
13. Met the new pastor at our church
14. Visited Mama and Papa's church
15. Had lunch with my friends

For our last day together, I decided we would spend the day visiting family in North Carolina. I'm really going to miss my womb-mate... we've been going everywhere together since last September!

I'm expecting to be sad Friday morning, but this has to be done. I have a ton of work to do to get the office set up for my return to work. Last night I started getting her school things together to prepare for the big day. Breathe, Mommy. We can do this.

My GORGEOUS Womb-Mate

Vacation Bible School

This past week was so hectic! Our church had Vacation Bible School, so we were out late every night. Cassidy had a ball learning about Jesus with her friends! This year's theme was "Jesus is our Hero", and the kids learned about different Bible heroes each night.

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Although Cassidy did a great job participating in all the activities, I didn't get many pictures. Why? She tends to want to stay with us, so we had to stay out of sight. Mommy and Daddy hid in the Sanctuary every night with Campbell and listened to the kids sing. This was truly wonderful, but if I have to hear the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo song one more time, I will seriously lose it. It's an annoying song with a peppy, catchy tune. Now that I've heard it 40-something times, it runs through my head all day and night. This is entirely unacceptable. I must find something less annoying to occupy my brain cells until I go back to work, pronto!!

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Anyway, here are the few pictures I was able to get...

I snuck this one when she wasn't looking!

Eating dinner in the fellowship hall

Campbell ponders the effect of her politically-correct organic cotton clothing.

Cassidy got to hold the Jesus sign for the group photo!!

Pork, Pine, and Peanut Festival

We went to the Pork, Pine, and Peanut Festival in Surry today and had so much fun! We've never been before, so we didn't know what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised - there were tons of vendors, great food, and lots of kid-friendly activities. The only drawback was the heat... we were roasting!

Cassidy had a great time climbing, bouncing, and sliding on the inflatables. She also enjoyed touching the animals at the petting zoo, and had a beautiful purple butterfly painted on her arm. She filled a clear plastic bear with colored sand, and got her hair spray-painted pink and purple. After last Sunday's face painting incident, let's hope the color comes out of her hair tonight!!!

Cassidy got to pet a tiny pony!

Cassidy getting her arm painted

Spraying the hair pink and purple

Cassidy was happy with her new look!

Close-up of the front

Close-up of the back

Uh Oh... Somebody Got Paybacks...

The hair drama continues.

As of yesterday, I had done the best damage-control I could to my insanely uneven and ridiculously short bob. Matt announced yesterday morning that he needed a haircut, too... but then declined my generous offer to cut it for him. I guess he was afraid I'd cut it too short to get even with him.

Well, guess what? He went to get a hair cut today, and the hair guy cut it way too short on the sides and back. HA! HA! HA!

He called to tell me, and said it was really short. REALLY short, like VMI-short. And he's right - I can clearly see his scalp. How unfortunate - now we BOTH look weird.

Note to self... tell husband he may want to consider trusting his wife instead of a stranger next time. HA!

Matt's new 'do

Note to Self: My Husband's Name Is Not Paul

Another note to self: Our last name is not Mitchell.

I have been growing my hair out since last fall in preparation for Poopy's wedding. Right before she asked me to be a bridesmaid, I'd had it cut pretty short with lots of chunky layers. It looked cute, but the layering was not so cute as it grew. Now that the flurry of wedding and baby activity has died down, I decided I should get a trim. All I needed was an inch or two off the bottom to start evening out the layers - nothing drastic or difficult. I cut Cassidy's hair straight across the back all the time, and Matt has cut my hair straight across once before. So I decided to save the $35 plus tip it would cost at the salon and have him do it.

He started on the left side of my head, moved around the back, and then ended on my right. I didn't watch what he was doing, and waited to take a peek after he made the final snip. I took one look in the mirror and... Oh-Mah-Gah... DISASTER!! The hair on my left side was just above my shoulder, which was considerably shorter than I was expecting. The hair on my right side was even with my lips. I did the best damage-control job I could, but I'm definitely going to have to get someone to fix it. He has to go out with me in public, so this really only hurts him.

This morning as we were discussing what to do today, Matt said he needed to get his hair cut. I volunteered and he declined my offer. I wonder why? Guess he knows paybacks are never pretty!!

My new 'do!

Whatever Happened To Little C's Cord Stump?

I'm glad you asked! I decided it was okay for people to think I was crazy, and I made plans for Campbell and I to bury the cord stump at my family's old house today. I had the perfect place already picked out - the edge of the lake under the rip-rap at the same spot where we had our family portrait taken last summer. If we left it anywhere else in the yard, I was afraid it would be displaced when the developer starts digging foundation and/or landscaping for the new houses that will replace our old one.

Campbell did great - she slept through the whole thing. Hopefully when she's older, the story of today's adventure will be meaningful to her!

The chosen spot!

The cord stump was buried under the big (and heavy!) rock to the left of Little C

A wider view for context of exactly where the stump was buried

Could Little C Be Any Cuter?!?

I'll give you a hint... the correct answer is NO!!!

Mommy's Oops

I found the coolest thing at Michael's the other day - face paint markers! Cassidy LOVES to have her face painted, and asks me to paint her every few weeks. I hadn't bothered to buy paints because I'm artistically challenged and prefer not to publicize it. I figured drawing a picture on her face with markers would be far easier than trying to paint, so I bought one of every color and we tried them out tonight.

The thing about markers is that it's VERY easy to get carried away. By they time we were done I had drawn a purple flower, pink sun, pair of red boots, a big yellow letter A, girl with brown hair, a red dot, and two green crosses - all on her face. I'd also drawn red incisions with stitches on her arms and a huge smiley face covering her entire belly in black. The final touch was to add "I Love Daddy" in red on her shoulder.

Imagine my horror when I put her in the tub and it didn't come off. You read it right - IT DIDN'T COME OFF. After ditching the baby soap and breaking out the big guns (Dial), I finally got most of it off... but at this point it looks like Big C is going to school tomorrow with 2 green crosses and a pink sun on her face, and the remnants of a black smiley face on her belly. How am I going to explain this?!?

This is what she looked like when our masterpiece was about halfway complete...

And this was the final product (face only)...

Redneck Water Slide

The weather was GORGEOUS today, so we tried to stay outside as much as possible. For the first time all summer, the temperature was perfect and the air was smoke-free! I had the most wonderful idea - instead of just filling up Cassidy's inflatable pool today, why not pull one of her slides in from the yard and make a mini-water slide?!? So we dressed the girls in their bathing suits and gave it a try.

It didn't work out quite the way I'd hoped, but Cassidy thought it was fun. She's getting a little too big for her toddler slides now, so she did more scooting than sliding. We had our own little redneck Water Country USA in the backyard!

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Big C and Little C ready for some water slide action!

High class water slide!!
Little C had as much fun as she could handle!

Cassidy's "Flair"

Cassidy has become addicted to Band-Aids with the cartoon characters on them. When we met Gramma Kathy for brunch last Sunday, she gave Cassidy a box of Hello Kitty Band-Aids which were obviously a HUGE hit.

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This past week, we let Cassidy choose two of the Band-Aids to wear on her arms. We noticed a few days ago that we couldn't find the box of Band-Aids, but knew it would turn up somewhere. Sure enough, yesterday afternoon Cassidy went up to her playroom to watch a movie and came downstairs looking like this (check out her legs). Now we know where that box of Band-Aids was!

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We got LOTS of comments on her "flair" at the mall today. This will pay off in 10 years when she displays a strong sense of self and individuality, right?!?

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Miss Jenny's Great Suggestion

At Gymboree last Thursday night, Miss Jenny (Cassidy's favorite Gymboree teacher) told us about the Kid Workshops at Home Depot. I vaguely remember seeing a Kids Workshop in progress a few years ago, but had totally forgotten about it until she mentioned it. This month's workshop was today, so we skipped art class to make a birdhouse instead. And guess who showed up while we were there?!? Miss Jenny, her husband, and their daughter Brooke!!

Cassidy had a great time making her birdhouse with Daddy. She even got a kid-size orange Home Depot apron and a Home Depot pin with a Birdhouse on it. And best of all?!? It was all FREE!!!!

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Cassidy and Daddy working hard on the birdhouse

Cassidy learning the art of construction

Cassidy and Daddy with Brooke and her Daddy in the background

All of us with the finished product!

Campbell's First Milestone

Little C met her first milestone last Sunday afternoon... her cord stump fell off! She took her first bath in the infant tub that very night, and I've attached a post-bath picture of her cuteness below.

Someone once told me that according to old Indian tradition, you should bury the cord stump in a meaningful place and the child will one day return to that place. This is bad news for Big C, because hers went into the trash and is most likely buried in the SPSA plant down the street. I was thinking it might be nice to do something more meaningful with Little C's stump, like secretly bury it in our old backyard before our house is torn down. When I told Matt about my plans, he looked at me like I was CRA-ZEE. I was actually being serious for once, but at least I have a window of time when I can still blame my bad ideas on hormones!!

Any thoughts on what we should do with Little C's stump? Should I make it into a necklace pendant? How about a tie tack for Matt?

Little C chillin' in her bathrobe

Through the eyes of Cassidy

One of the things I love most about having children is the opportunity to see the world through their eyes. Cassidy has the funniest interpretations of life sometimes, and it really puts things back into perspective for me.

Take for instance the other night... the incision from the surgery has been getting somewhat irritated, so the doctor asked me to be sure I let it get some fresh air each day. I was laying on the bed with Cassidy listening to Daddy read the bedtime story, when I realized it would be the perfect opporunity to let the incision have some fresh air. Cassidy noticed it, and said "Mommy, you have a red stripe?". So I explained my boo-boo in toddler terms, and told Cassidy this was how she and Baby Campbell got out of Mommy's belly.

I've always viewed the C-Section scar as a battle wound of sorts - a symbol of the long road to get the girls safely here, and a tangible reminder of how badly I wanted those babies.

So here I am attaching deep meaning and symbolism to my scar, but through Cassidy's eyes it's just a cool red stripe. Maybe if I'd had more kids, Cassidy would think I was a zebra!