No Nap

There are some days that I miss Allison's nap window and she gets overly tired and she becomes a handful to get down for a nap. Today was one of those days. It took me over an hour to get her to go down for a nap. Normally she grabs my hand and makes me go upstairs to let her go to sleep. She didn't do that today, but I took her upstairs anyways.
I think we've made some bad mistakes with Allison's sleeping habits. Since she was born someone else always wanted to hold her and let her fall asleep while being held, and to this day she still does not fall asleep on her own. I will try to put her in her crib to fall asleep but she refuses to fall asleep without human touch. This is a hinderance and I need to get her used to falling asleep on her own. Another mistake (which is my fault) is that she still sleeps in our room at 19 months old. We've got a room to put her in, but I'm hesitant to put her in there right now. WWhen we first thought about putting her in her own room and getting her used to sleeping by herself she got a bad rash from medicine, so we didn't. Then she got sick with another ear infection so that kept us from doing it again. Then she got tubes put in her ears and that kept us from moving her last week. This week we went on a mini vacation and that has prevented us from putting her in her own room this week. So maybe next week?? But there's the issue that she will cry for hours and so someone else will get her from the room which will keep her from learning to fall asleep on her own. Decisions, decisions...
I've almost eaten my alloted 2000 calories for the day in chocolate. Today is one of those days. I've got some flowers and a bird to make for my cake class final tomorrow as well as a cake and cookies (for Jason's home teaching families). Once the cake is finished I will post pictures!

Made It

We made it to Alton, Illinois! We left an hour behind when we wanted to leave but we were fine. It takes 4 hours to get here, and with the child it took us 5 hours. Then we went all around in Edwardsville, Illinois to see friends before we came to my parents house. So poor Allison was exhausted and very cranky with us. She slept for about 45 minutes in the car and she is still asleep at the moment. Hopefully she'll sleep for a little bit longer. Aparently my whole family is coming over tonight for a bbq my parents are having which is not going to be ok. Jason and I really wanted Allison to spend as much time as possible with her grandfather, but we have tomorrow. I'll tell you what, investing in a portable dvd player that hooks to the headrest of the car was the best thing we could have gotten. It was perfect and kept Allison entertained. Tomorrow will be an early rise and we're going to the St. Louis Zoo! I'm making a cake for my dad tonight and decorating it tomorrow! More pictures will be coming, just wait.

We're off to see my parents

Tomorrow we are heading to Alton, Illinois to visit my family. The last time I saw my father was almost 8 months ago and that was far too long ago. To date my dad has only seen his only granddaughter three times since she's been born. I hope she still remembers his face and isn't scared when we see him tomorrow. Which I think she will. We have noticed that Allison has this innate sense of family. Jason says she gets that from me. The last time we saw my dad Allison took right to him and it was like she knew that he was her grandfather.
We also get to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and my cousins 20 month old twins. I am the only person to live away from my family. I do miss not living within a 30 minute radius of anyone in my family, but I wouldn't change anything.
I've also realized that packing for just the weekend is a horrible task. IF it was just Jason and I then we'd only need one bag, that's it. But with Allison we have a suitcase, a bag with some toys and blankets, a diaper bag, the pack n play, a stroller, and snacks. We also bought a new portable dvd player that hooks to the headreat for her to watch a movie for the trip. We're pretty much packed, I just have to remember everything. And I also have to not forget anything on the way back, especially Marley! Here's to a nice trip and a good weekend!

To do list

It seems as though I always have a long to do list for the day. Yet I also feel that I do not do much at all. We are going to visit my parents for the weekend and we need to bring a lot of stuff with us. With a 19 month old I have to always bring more then I really should, just to be safe. So my list includes tolietries, clothes, cups, and food for us and the child. then there's toys (since my parents have no toys) play pen for her to sleep in, portable dvd player to keep the child occupied on the 5 hour trip, and our laptop (for my husbands enoyment).
Now we are hoping that the child will sleep atleast half of the way there. But I doubt that, the last time we went to visit was 8 months ago and she will not sleep that much. So that's what the dvd player is for.
Then my parents want me to make a cake for them. Which is fine, if I have time, which I should. And we're going to the zoo, shopping, and visiting with family in the two days we're there. well, not even two days!! But we will be down there for almost a week in September. She'll be two by then and my parents will probably throw her her own little birthday party.
But I still have to wash clothes and keep up with house cleaning and pack. Tomorrow we are going to take the child to see Disney's Earth. She loves anything with animals in it and she will sit through a two hour movie as long as there are animals that she loves. Well, it's time to check on clothes. Whoppii!

Bad Sleep Habits

Ok so what's the deal? For quite a while now I have been unable to get to sleep until about 2am. What is wrong with me?? I actually fell asleep around 11pm tonight, but got woken up by my daughter about an hour ago. And here I am as wide awake as ever! Dear me, I used to be able to get to bed by midnight every night. Not happening any longer. I'm thinking that maybe it's the child that has done this to me. I have been holding her a bit close and she still does sleep in my room at 19 months. I just need to clean out my in-laws computer room and get her settled in there. I just feel the room isn't baby or girly enough for her. Right now it's the junk room with a computer in it and there is no where to put the junk. What to do?? Well, I am going to desperately try to get some sleep.

Family Tree Cake

One of the first cakes that I made was this Family Tree cake. I made an even bigger cake when our family came to visit and I was able to fit all of our families faces on that cake.

Wedding Cakes

I've been asked to make two wedding cakes for weddings this year. I have been experimenting with these two cakes. the first wedding is in May and my other wedding is in september. Hopefully the brides and grooms love what I create for them. One of the cakes have edible calla lillies on the top, as to the specifications of the bride. These are works in progress!

Trip to the Brookefield Zoo

This was taken on the first visit to the zoo. We thought she would love riding the carousel with daddy. So daddy and baby rode on the carousel together. Allison did not like the ride. Everytime she came around grandpa and I would say hi and she started to get scared because she couldn't see us. So by the end of the ride she was not sitting down on her zebra, she was in daddy's arms. So as of now, she will not be riding on a carousel for awhile.

The second visit to the zoo we went with Jason's little sister and little brother. This time I got into a mama and baby kangaroo picture with Allison. But I was too short to reach the mama hole so we held allison in that hole. aparently the funny thing was that Allison didn't know what I was doing so she kept on yelling "mama, mama, hey mama" Jason thought it was quite funny that she was trying to get my attention and I did not know it.

Allisons most favorite place at the zoo was the childrens petting zoo. She could not get enough of those goats. She also loved to look at the other animals in the Children's Zoo that she could not run around with. We've gone to the zoo twice so far and have already paid for the family zoo pass. The last time we went she cried when we were leaving the petting zoo. She was not ready to leave yet, so we let her play for a while longer.

Well, after we saw the monkey house grandpa and Allison got their picture taken together.

Trip to the Zoo

This was Allison's first visit to the zoo and she absolutely loved it. The first thing she saw was this, and the first thing she told the cat was "no, no, bite" while shaking her finger at it. Then she kept on telling the animal "hi cat". And from then on she was telling all the animals we saw to "no bite". The funny thing is that no one bites her, not even the cat or dog in the house. So we do not know where she got the "no bite" from.

Adventures of Marley

A few weeks ago while Jason, Allie, and I were out shopping we stopped at Deep Discounts. Well, we always seem to forget that we can't take Allison anywhere without getting her something. While we were there, she wanted a little bunny book that came with a little bunny stuffed animal. We were fine with getting that for her. But being Allison she decided to walk down the childrens book isle and found the Marley and Me childrens book that came with a little marley stuffed animal (dog). She then decided that she must have that instead of the inexpensive one she first picked. I decided to tell her "no" and put the box back. Well, needless to say she defied me and grabbed the box and ran down every isle in that store calling for daddy. "If momma says no ask dada (is what she was thinking)". Sure enough she found dada with her arms wrapped around this Marley and Me box. Dada decided to let her have that instead since we were getting her something big, and besides it did come with a pretty nifty book. When we went to pay for our items she screamed and reached for her Marley. Once we got into the car dada took Little Marley out and gave it to her. She grabbbed Marley from him, gave Marley a huge hug, and with a big smile told dada, "thank you, thank you, thank you". That was all dada needed from her.

Since she's gotten Marley she does not go anywhere without him. We started to call him Marley since she got him, so when we ask where Marley is she will go and get him. This must be her ultimate favorite thing on the planet. When she picks him up she always has the biggest grin on her face and hugs him. She carries him around the house hugging him all the time. She even feeds him and gives him water. It has gotten to the point that sometimes she will not take a bath without him. Tantrums are thrown when he is not in her arms sometimes.
One thing she does with Marley that I find hilariuos is that apparently Marley is bad sometimes so she puts him in his box (the box he came in) and closes the lid. When I try to take him out she runs over, grabs him from me, and forcefully puts him back into the box. After awhile she will go back for him and take him out, like he's had his punishment.
We have all come to love Marley. He is very much apart of this family now, and he does everything with her. I do not know what we would do if she were to ever lose him. So we always know where he is at all times, no matter what. Because if she forgets where he is and starts to look for him we have to find him. There will always be Marley Tales in our family to share.

My favorite cake

There were many cakes to choose from but this cake as of now is one of my favorite cakes that I have made. This is the cake I made for my daughter on her first birthday. The funny thing was that she would not touch the cake. She hated getting dirty at that age so we had to feed it to her without her getting dirty.

Cakes Galore

I have been taking cake decorating classes that I love. I will be making my first wedding cake this May and my second wedding cake in September. Hopefully this will be the start of a little business for me that I would love. I want to make cakes that make people happy. Cakes that you can not buy in any regular bakery. This cake I made for my neice and nephew's birthday visit. However this is not my first cake.

The day after

This week has been a very eventful week. My daughter Allison (19 months old) had her first surgery on Friday. Granted the surgery was a simple procedure, but for those of you who are mothers, you understand what I went through. She got PE tubes put into her ears. I was pretty scared when they told me that she needed to be put to sleep in order to do the procedure but it would only take 10 minutes in the operating room. And boy were they right! My husband had gotten himself some tea while we were in the waiting room and his tea had not cooled down before she was finished with her surgery. The worst part of all of it was her coming out of the annesthesia. But she was back to her normal self after she had a long nap!
Allison has such a unique personality. She has the biggest heart especially when it comes to animals. She loves to chase the dog and cat around the house and she will sit through an entire movie as long as it has animals in it. I have so many stories to tell about my daughter and you will hear them all, but I am still in my pajamas and it is 11am! I have a movie date with my husband at 1pm. Farewell all!