Gender Reveal

This may be more of a venting post than most of you are used to from me, and maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, but I feel like this needs to be said. I apologize in advance if anyone takes offense to this, but quite frankly, I have been offended more then once when it comes to this subject in the past 5 years... This is in no way directed towards one person in particular, so please don't feel as if I'm attacking you...

When we decided we wanted to have children, Jacob and I never pictured our lives with one gendered child over the other. Once we got pregnant with Aiden, we planned on keeping the gender to ourselves. We, of course, found out since we like to plan things ahead of time to be prepared (baby's room, clothing, etc). We were expecting family and friends to be supportive of our decision to keep this information to ourselves, but received the exact opposite. People were offended we wouldn't tell them for some reason, as if it was a direct jab towards them. In an effort to alleviate this issue, we decided to tell everyone at the baby shower that we were having a boy. Even then, we got mixed reactions - wasn't that what everyone wanted? To be in the know? Apparently not; because "so and so found out before I did", or "I was hoping you'd have a girl!" That last statement brought us to our next pregnancy...

For our 2nd pregnancy, much like the current one, we decided to find out what we were having to prepare clothes, room, etc. If Ava had turned out to be a boy, we would've gotten all of Aiden's old clothes out of the basement and washed them so we would've been ready. We instead had to go out and buy certain clothes fit for a girl. I also made a quilt for Ava (and subsequently for Aiden) so again, needed to know ahead of time. Around this time, it became evident that some people in our lives were favoring girls over boys. So because of that, we wanted to keep it as a surprise. Aiden doesn't deserve to be treated differently because he has a sister. And on the same token, it's not fair for Ava to be treated differently then Aiden, whether it be through attention, or gifts, etc. Once Ava was born, we felt a strong change in some people's interactions with her compared to how they were with Aiden as a baby. Now this isn't to say that these people don't love Aiden, but there was a visible difference.

When we decided to find out if #3 was a boy or a girl, we kept it to ourselves. Over the past 2 years, there have been situations in which Ava has been openly favored over Aiden, solely, it seems, because Ava is a girl. It's extremely unfortunate that we are unable to share this exciting news with family and friends, but feel we'll receive comments praising or criticizing the gender. As if that's something we control. Recently, upon learning that we had just found out what we were having, someone said, "oh, I so hope it's another girl!!". Regardless of what it is, how does that change anything? In the event that this one is a girl, are Ava and the new baby going to get matching clothes? I would hope not, considering my sister and I had to do that, and while I can't speak for her, I hated it... What is going to happen to Aiden in this case? Is he going to get pushed to the way side, because of "the girls"? On the other hand, if this one is a boy, what does that mean for him? He's not going to be loved as much as Ava? I know it may seem extreme to think like that, but that is sadly how I feel. What does someone expect to accomplish by saying that? Knowing that we're keeping it a secret, they should respect that. I'm constantly being trapped by people who think they can just get me to accidentally reveal the gender.

I don't understand this obsession people have over not knowing. If we don't want to tell, then oh well,   we won't. We aren't trying to be mean but keeping it a secret, it's our own personal decision. This is our child, and regardless of if its a girl or a boy, we're going to love them exactly the same as our other two children. This is the last baby we're going to have and we want to savor every last moment of this pregnancy and everything that goes along with it, including holding on to this secret. Am I knocking those who decide to share their excitement and reveal their news to family and friends? Absolutely not. I respect them for that. I just wish people would do the same for us. Keeping this to ourselves is in no way meant to be out of spite towards anyone.

To those of you who have stuck around to read this entire post, thank you for letting me get this out. I apologize it is seems as though I was rambling, this was almost 5 years of frustration.

Cupcake Flower Toppers

I got so many compliments of the cupcake toppers I made for Ava's party, (some people didn't even know they were edible!) I decided to show you how I made them...

I originally found the idea from Bakerella (the inventor of the cake pop) and decided to try them out. She used a candy melt for the center of the flower, but I didn't want the flower to be bigger than the cupcake so instead decided to use these jumbo candy sprinkles from JoAnn's. They seemed to make the flowers a little more to scale with the size of the cupcake. Instead of printing the flowers onto paper as she suggested, I drew one petal and traced it onto 24 circles (traced from one of the sprinkles). Stupid, I know, since it took a lot longer, but I wanted them to look homemade in a way, not store bought. Once all the flowers were drawn on, I taped them to a cookie sheet and taped a piece of wax paper over top.

 

 I then used Wilton candy melts, which is what I also use for my cake pops, and poured it into a ziploc bag (I ran out of icing bags), then snipped off a very small corner to outline the petals in white.

After that set, I then used purple candy melts (in a new bag of course) and filled in the petals. Voila! Done! I think they were a hit! (and still good almost a week later by the way....) If you're also interested, I used this buttercream recipe from Cookies & Cups and used icing gel to change the colors of the frosting.

It definitely takes some practice, I had some weird looking flowers once I was done. But as long as you go slow enough, you'll get the hang of it!

The finished product!

Happy 2nd Birthday Ava!

Yesterday our Little Miss turned 2! Cliche, but seems like time has flown by...

I made a cake for her, had some presents, and she was VERY excited to sing "Happy Birthday" to herself! Although when you'd tell her Happy Birthday, she'd say "Happy birthday Momma!" (Or Bubba or Daddy, etc.) Such a goof.

Even though today was pretty low key, this past Saturday, we had a little party for the Birthday girl. Mostly family and a few friends came to celebrate with us, and she had a great time.

 I made some cake pops (of course!), some cupcakes with decorative flower toppers, and a spring variation on the Oreo cake.

Helping me hang the birthday banner

Excited for the party to start!

Enjoy some pictures of the now 2 year old!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So exhausted when everyone left...

Dishwasher Issues

First off, I am well aware of the fact that I haven't posted anything in almost a month. I really don't have any excuse except for sheer laziness. I'm not gonna lie... I also haven't been doing any sewing projects or crafting of any kind, which will probably be the norm here for awhile until we find out what the new baby is (to make curtains, a quilt, etc). So you guys are just gonna have to deal with the kid-related posts for a bit until I get back into the swing of things.

However, in the past month, we've had a few things going on. Nothing major, just life as usual.

For one, our dishwasher has sort of been on the fritz for a few months, and we've been waiting for it to just die already. It was here in the house when we moved in, and was from 2000, so 13 years old. At the end of December, it started leaking out of the bottom of the door, so Jacob messed with the seal and all seemed ok. Then about a month ago, I ran it through a normal cycle, as I do at least once a day (sometimes twice), and it started leaking again. So I sat down on the floor in front of it and started to clean up the water/soap as it was coming out (since it only seemed to be for a few minutes during the beginning of the cycle). When I turned around, this is what I found....

They were waiting...

They brought chairs into the kitchen to watch me clean up the mess. Apparently it was pretty exciting.
And here's the conversation that followed:

Aiden: "Mom, what's wrong with the dishwasher?"
Me: "It's leaking water and soap Bubba, I think we need to buy a new one... ".
Ava: "Good job Mama!!" (as I wipe up the water)
Aiden: "Is Daddy gonna put the new one in?"
Me "No, we'll probably get it installed by Home Depot" (assuming at the time that we would buy it from there, we eventually did).
Aiden: "But I think Daddy can do it. And then me and Papa and Hayden (Jacob's sister's boyfriend) can all do it because we're all good worker men. And I even got my worker hat, Mom, because that'll protect my head in case something hits me."
Me: "That's a good idea Bud."
Aiden: "Maybe we can call a train conductor too because they know how to fix things too, Mom."

That last one confused me, but he had a good reason.....

To make a long story short, finally, the door broke all together and we couldn't even get it to close. So we broke down and bought a new one, but in the meantime, I've been hand-washing the dishes. I tried using paper plates, etc, but just couldn't do it. We were wasting way too many, these kids can eat! As an upside, Aiden LOVED helping me wash/rinse them. I mean, I wasn't about to tell him no... free child labor! And of course, wherever he goes, she goes as well.

Once we got the new one installed, he was quite disappointed that he couldn't help me wash them anymore. I'm thinking I might need to save a few dishes each night, considering he would ask me all day, "Is it time to wash dishes yet Mom?".

Gotta love kids.

Artists at Work

It's amazing how kids can be "re-introduced" to their toys. We like to keep their toys on rotation, partly because they have SO MANY that we can't store them all in one place, but also because it keeps them fresh. So we keep some in the play room, in the basement, in a closet, etc. Every once in awhile, we'll bring out a "new" toy and it's all they want to play with for the next few days. This is what happened yesterday...

My sister bought this easel for Aiden a few years ago and he never really got any use out of it since he wasn't too into art at the time, he was much more interested in cars. Since he's been in school, however, usually what he wants to do is color and draw. So, while bringing toys downstairs, Jacob spotted the easel and decided to bring it up. Little did we know how much Aiden (and Ava!) would love it! Here's a few shots at their very artistic afternoon...

 

Other than the fact that Ava is using the easel to lay on, or that she's throwing crayons at Aiden in the video... you've gotta love those giggles! Enjoy!

Name Change in Order?

Here's the newest project I mentioned in my last post on Monday:

Homemade Donuts

I'm sure you've all seen this recipe or some variation of it on Pintrest or other sites: Donuts (Doughnuts??) made out of Grands biscuits. Seems like the easiest way to make them at home, and we decided to try them out this past Sunday. Typically when we go grocery shopping on Sunday mornings (yes we all go as a family, I'll give you all a moment to let your gag reflexes calm down), both kids get to pick out their own donuts and eat them as Jacob and I unpack the groceries at home. This weekend however, we told Aiden we'd make our own donuts... he was VERY intrigued.

We took one tube of Grands biscuits (we used the honey butter flavor) which had 8 biscuits and heated up a semi-deep pan with vegetable oil. We don't have a candy thermometer, so I'm not sure of the exact temperature, but most recipes called for it to be about 350°. While the oil was heating up, we cut out the middle of the donuts with the large end of a icing tip, (any size/kind will work, but obviously the larger the better) but also used a mini Christmas tree cookie cutter on one for Aiden, but feel free to use what you have on hand.

Once we felt the oil was heated enough, we tested it with one of the donut holes, once it sizzled, we knew it was ready. We kept the donut holes on one side until it browned (probably 30 sec-1 minute depending on how hot your oil was), then flipped and let that side cook. Once they were out, we put them on a cooling rack over paper towel, then coated them in cinnamon/sugar almost immediately. The actual donuts took a little longer to cook, obviously, but again, it depends on the heat of your oil...

The final verdict? Jacob and the kids loved them, and wanted more. I thought they tasted a little too biscuit-like and didn't have enough of a donut flavor. I wonder it that could be solved with a different flavor of Grands, maybe something we'll have to try another time. They were a bit messy too, but I may just be weird.

They look pretty good!

Try to come back later in the week (probably Saturday) for details on a new project I'm working on too!