Mother's Day

This year was my "first" mother's day.  Though I was a foster mom last year, it feels different this year having had a baby of my own.  I understand the bond that exists between a mother and her baby and know I would go to great lengths to protect, love, and nurture my little one.
As I think about my mom this mother's day, I cannot begin to express how much love and devotion I feel for her.  She is an amazing example to me of devotion, sacrifice, hard work, steadfastness, happiness, and love.  She taught me so much throughout my life and made sure that I had opportunities to develop talents and succeed.  She didn't have much in the way of possessions growing up and didn't get to experience the opportunities that so many people take for granted, but she made sure her children had an opportunity to be exposed to a variety of experiences.  Mom made sure to get us into music lessons, especially piano, and encouraged us to practice and share it with others.  My brother, sister, and I all play the piano and we each play a separate instrument.  Eric and Cyndi both play wood wind instruments so when it came my turn to choose and instrument, my mom asked me if I wanted to play the flute or the clarinet like my siblings.  I remember clearly telling my mom that I wanted to play the violin while we were at a Granite Youth Symphony concert for my brother.  A few weeks later mom and dad told me they were going to take me to look at violins but it wasn't likely that I would get one that day.  About an hour later, we walked out of Summerhaye's music with my first violin in tow.
My mom also made it a point to make sure we went on some sort of vacation each year.  Most times it wasn't anything fancy, just camping in our trailer at Bear Lake or a camp ground up one of the local canyons.  Some of my most favorite memories resulted from family vacations.
Mom has also been the foundation in my life.  Any time trouble or sadness arose in my life, mom was there to hug me and offer words of wisdom.  She has never let me down because she always seems to have the right answers.  I hope I can be the kind of mom my mom is to my little boy.  I hope he will look to me for wisdom, comfort, and love.  I hope his life will be as enjoyable as mine has been, all thanks to a loving mother.

This year I decided to write my mom a poem.

A Little Girl’s Dream

A little girl’s dream is to be a mother one day,

She puts on mom’s shoes, her dresses, and makeup in play.

She imitates mommy as she cradles her doll,

Singing a lullaby, “the cradle will fall.”

Her doll she will chastise when she has been naughty,

But praises her quickly for using the potty.

She reads her a story, her most favorite one,

And tells her she loves her more than anyone.

My mother is loving, faithful and strong,

Charitable, spiritual, with a heart full with song.

She showed me what it was like to be a great mother,

An example of love shown by no other.

She is my strength, my beacon of light,

I still seek for her wisdom, her compassion, and might.

Now I am a mom with a baby of my own,

A good example I want to be, like the mother I’ve known.

I will love him, protect him, and teach him what’s right.

I’ll kiss him, and cuddle, and rock him at night.

I’ll teach him patience, kindness, and love,

To kneel down at night and pray to Father above.

To be like my mom was my little girl dream.

I learned from her, copied her, no better mother I will ever deem.

I want you to know how much I love you.

I appreciate all that you were and are willing to do.

You mean so much to me and my little clan,

 And will follow your legacy the best that I can.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

 

Ashton made me some beautiful artwork.  I received an imprint of his little hands and an adorable picture of him (Thanks Cyndi for helping Ashton.)  He also got me a card which made me tear up.

This picture was used to make both grandmas a work of art.  Ashton imprinted his feet into clay and gave them a picture.  The funny thing was my sister got the same kit I did to make me the hand impressions.  My niece Sydney knew all about it and was great at keeping it a secret.

Ashton is so lucky to have a wonderful grandma (my mom) who wants to babysit.  She and grandpa watch him 4 days a week while his mommy and daddy are at work.  We love grandma a lot!

For Mother's day, Alan gave me a beautiful card and a cake decorating kit that I really wanted.  He knows how much fun I've been having with cake decorating and wanted to get me something I'd enjoy.  He is a wonderful husband and father and I am so lucky to have him in my life.

Putting the cake together

Last night was my last class for my Wilton 2 cake decorating class.  I learned how to do the basket weave technique and how to do a rope border and got to use the flowers I made on the cake.  The bird and the birdhouse were made a few weeks ago and were very fragile.  Both of the birds I made broke on the way to class so I was only able to use half a bird in the middle of the flowers on top of the cake.  All in all I am very happy with this cake, the only thing I would do differently is fewer leaves just below the flowers around the house.  My next class will be dealing with fondant and I am so excited about it.
For Mother's day, Alan bought me a 101 piece cake decorating kit.  I know it isn't mother's day yet, but he couldn't wait to get it and give it to me.  I am absolutely thrilled and can't wait to use it.  Cake decorating has been a blast and I can't wait to post more pictures.

My baby boy is getting big

Today Ashton reached an important milestone:  he rolled over from tummy to back!  I thought he had officially done it before (like a month ago) but it was from back to tummy on my bed.  He hadn't done it again since.  Ashton does not really like to lay on his tummy.  I have tried and tried with him but he proceeds to scream and cry.  I let him cry for a little while, but he doesn't stop until he is picked up or turned over on to his back.  Alan and I bought Ashton a special mat for tummy time.  This morning I laid him on it, he didn't like being on his tummy, so he rolled over on to his back.  I cheered so loud for him and told him he was such a big boy!  He beamed from ear to ear and giggled.  Ashton is trying new things like new toys, seeing new things, and trying new food.  Yesterday I fed Ashton some green beans.  You should have seen the faces he made.  I fed him green beans before and he LOVED them, but not yesterday.  Then I decided to mash up a banana and feed him that.  He really seemed to like eating a fresh banana.  I have also fed him sweet potatoes, peas, squash, peaches, and apple sauce.  He likes most of them depending on the brand.   I love my little guy.  He is a mellow, happy baby who loves to play and interact with others.  He is truly the sunshine in my life!

I need to find my inner chef

I was just thinking I should try to cook more at home.   I find Alan and I eat out a lot which can be expensive as well as unhealthy.  My problem is time and work schedule.  Alan works days and I work evenings so there are only 3 days a week that we are home together in the evening for me to cook dinner.  Alan really isn't into cooking so fast food or microwavable dinners are what he tends to lean to.  I typically go for a can of soup in the cupboard and buy dinner in the cafeteria at work.  Right now my list of prepare ahead dinners is extremely limited.  However, I did make a recipe from Rachael Ray that made enough to feed a small army.  It was a cheeseburger mac and cheese that was to die for http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/cheeseburger-mac-and-cheese/.  I portioned what we were going to eat for dinner then portioned out the rest in Ziploc containers, labeled them, and put them in the freezer.  Already I am sure that this dinner was cheaper and healthier than going out to dinner.  I am challenging myself to make a bunch of meals on the weekend (or days off) to freeze and have later.  I am also going to challenge myself to track how much money it has saved us.  The first task is trying to find tried and true recipes that will freeze that Alan will actually eat (he is a picky eater.)  Somehow I need to sneak veggies into the meal so he will eat them.  He and I are also going to allow ourselves to only eat out once a week on a date night. So, in preparation for the challenge, this week I will be collecting recipes.  If anyone has any great recipes they'd like to share, I would appreciate your submissions.

Cake decorating, my latest craft fetish

So I must admit, I am kind of a fickle craft junkie.  I love to do crafts of all kinds, but after a while I get bored and move on to a new craft.  I have tried knitting, crocheting (not my favorite things to do), scrap booking, card making, sewing, toll painting, jewelry making, and a few I am sure I have forgotten about.  My latest "craft adventure" is cake decorating.  My niece Sydney and I started taking Wilton cake decorating classes about 2 months ago at the Robert's craft in South Jordan.  Sydney and I love the cake decorating shows on TLC like Cake Boss and the Ultimate Cake Off.  It amazes me how people can make these enormous and beautiful cakes.  So, Syd and I decided that we should give it a try.  We are finishing up the second Wilton course on Tuesday which has been all about making flowers with royal icing.  It was kind of difficult at first to get the techniques down for each flower (especially the rose,) but after last Tuesday, I think I have it down now.  I sat down at my kitchen table for a couple of hours on Wednesday and made about 80 flowers.  I love making pansies and daffodils and I think my roses are starting to look pretty good.  Daisies are incredibly easy to make as are primroses (the pink flowers in my pictures.)  It has been so much fun making cakes and decorating them.  I still need to practice some of my other techniques, but I am making progress.
Other flowers we learned to make included violets, apple blossoms, chrysanthemums, as well as violet leaves.  I don't have pictures of those yet but will be able to post those later.
I have found cake decorating pretty relaxing, especially making flowers.  I am amazed that I can actually make frosting look like something alive and growing like a flower.  I find myself studying real flowers so I can make my sugary little petals look more life like.

This is the first cake I made in my Wilton class.  We learned how to do drop stars, write on a cake, and do zigzags.  Not bad for a very first cake, but a far cry from where I want to be.

For my second cake, we learned how to do drop flowers, shell borders, and how to make creepy clowns.  I think this cake turned out pretty well.

I learned how to do roses, sweet peas, and leaves on my third cake.  It turned out good but I still needed some work on making roses.

I made this cake for a friend's baby shower.  You can see my technique is getting better, but I am definitely no Cake Boss.

I love the rosettes on this cake (the swirly things all over the cake).  They were easy to make and I think they look pretty cool.

I made this cake for a patient of mine.  She celebrated her birthday in the hospital so I thought I would cheer her up by practicing my cake decorating skills on a cake for her.  It was fun to do that for her.

My next cake will be my final project this next Tuesday.  We are learning how to do a basket weave and then will put all the flowers we made on top.  I am excited to post pics when I am done with the final project cake.  After that, we will be learning fondant and gum paste and will learn to make a wedding cake.

Learning cake decorating has been a blast and is something I would love to keep doing.  I remember my mom made some really cool cakes for my brother and sister and me when we were little.  It was always cool to have a home made cake that looked and tasted great.  I want to be able to do that for Ashton so he will have fond memories of his birthdays and how his mom took the time to make it extra special.

Motherhood

I know this is my second post for the day, but I can't help but talk about my beautiful boy Ashton.  Ashton is my miracle. He was born November 24th, 2009, 2 days before Thanksgiving.  My husband Alan and I had been trying to have a baby for a very long time.  We went through fertility treatments back in 2008 but did not have any success.  We gave up thinking we would ever have a biological child of our own and decided to focus on the foster to adopt process.  We got our first foster placement in March of 2009, 3 high energy children ages 5, 6, and 7.  Though we knew they were not adoptable, we decided to go ahead and invite them into our lives.  On March 31st of 2009, I found out I was pregnant with Ashton, just 2 weeks after those 3 darling little kids came to live with us. Nathan, Natel, and Nashel moved to Louisiana to live with family on Novemeber 1, 2009.  I miss them a lot and think of them daily.  I think I would be heart broken when they left had I not been pregnant.  They were fun and challenging and prepared me to be the mom I am to my little Ashton. 

Ashton is a happy baby and pretty content just hanging out doing whatever mom and dad are doing.  He loves to play with his toys, sing, talk, and splash in the tub.  He is experiencing new things every day like new baby foods, ice cream, going for walks, hearing new music, and going new places.  I find myself telling him about all sorts of things.  Having a baby has made me realize how much a person learns over their lifetime and just how much a baby learns in just a few months of life.  Babies come into this world  as a "blank slate" ready for the world to teach them and make and impression on them.  Fortunately for a baby their first contact is mom and dad, the two people who make the most difference in how this little one's life and personality will be shaped.  As a mom, it is my responsibility to teach by example and with love.  I want Ashton to not be afraid to try new things like I was.  I want him to be compassionate and love others.  I want to arm him with positivity and an amazing self esteem to fight off negativity.  I want him to have faith in others, but especially to have faith in God and Jesus Christ.  I want him to know that he can pray for help and that even when his parents aren't physically present, there is always someone there for him no matter the time or place. 

Being a mom is not just giving birth to a baby but an opportunity to continually reflect on who I am, what I will be, and how my life impacts my little boy and the person he will become.  I love him so much and will do my best to help him become and amazing man one day.

Naughty Nubby

This morning, while I was changing Ashton's diaper, my dog Mandy stole a chocolate cupcake off the kitchen counter and made a crummy mess all over the floor.  She must have eaten the cupcake paper because there was no sign of it anywhere.  Nubby (the nickname we gave her due to her nubby tail) has been quite naughty lately.  It seems to me she is feeling a little attention deprived since Ashton was born.  She tries to get our attention by stealing Ashton's toys and pacifiers, getting things off the kitchen counter, pawing at us, barking at things she wants that she can't reach, and a few other things.  Mandy was our only "child" and main focus for 6 years and now must compete with our 5 month old boy.  I make an effort to play with her every day, pet her, and give her treats, but I must admit she isn't my priority right now.  She is not a bad dog by any means, but a very sweet, lovable, playful Cocker Spaniel who is ready and willing to make friends with everyone and anyone who passes by.  She is so sweet to Ashton and gives him "drive-by" licks on top of his head and doesn't get angry when Ashton reaches up and pulls her fur.  She loves to snuggle and give big kisses, loves to play fetch, go for rides in the car, go to grandma and grandpa's house, but she especially loves to go for walks. Somehow I need to make sure I find more time for her, to take her on those walks.  As for the jumping up to steal things off the kitchen counter, I need to find a way to get her to stop.  I guess finding a dog trainer is in order.  No matter what, I love my Nubby puppy and enjoy having her in my life.