Tantrum Time

The infamous terrible two's have not been so terrible thus far.... but in all fairness, it's only been a month. That being said, we definitely have had a few tantrums. And even though they're frustrating in the moment, I still want to remember them. It's a part of toddlerhood. And I want to remember the whole reality of my kids' childhoods -- not just the smiley parts.

So... I took some pictures of Nathan a few weeks ago, mid-tantrum.

It was post-nap (they usually are, when they happen) and he was in one of those moods where nothing would make him happy. Wanted his milk, didn't want his milk. Wanted to read, didn't want to read. Wanted to sit with daddy, wanted to get down. You know how that goes. So I figured if I couldn't make him happy (and I wasn't about to spend hours pandering to his tears, give me a break), I would at least take some pictures. Plus, it distracted me from my own shortening fuse. It might or might not have infuriated him more, but... what's done is done.

Someday these pictures will be funny. Actually, today just might be that day.

First Trip to the Zoo!

We took Nathan to the zoo for the first time today! I actually hadn't been to a zoo myself in many years (I think only once in my adult life, honestly) and Mark loves (loves loves) zoos, so we were all pretty excited about it. Nathan hasn't seen many animals in real life, besides a horse or cow here and there, and my mom's neighbor goat. So we were curious how he would react when he realized that all animals aren't the same size as Bowden and Simon. :)

We were also excited because we were meeting our friends Steven and Betsy at the zoo. Steven and Mark and I were friends in high school (yes, we were band geeks together, I admit it), and our families have recently reconnected through blogworld, via Facebook. It was great fun since we hadn't seen them in many years. They have a son, Isaac, who's very close to Nathan's age, and they have a daughter due four days after Beanie. So as you can imagine we were a hot (HOT! it's August in NC and we're very pregnant!) mess of toddler and belly walking through the zoo!!

We saw lots of animals! Nathan was very quick to point out the daddy and baby of every species. Even though sometimes it was a mommy and baby, or just animals of different sizes, he seemed to think they all came in daddy-baby pairs.

He liked the giraffes, the ostrich, the elephants, the antelope/impala (some kind of bok anyway), the monkeys, the chimps, and the rhinos. Oh, the rhinos. Maybe because he had his rhino t-shirt on, Nathan just had rhinos on the brain. We weren't even that close to them, but he kind of couldn't get enough. One rhino pooped -- several times -- while we were watching, and this made a big impression on Nathan. He pointed it out as it was happening, and then mentioned it several more times throughout the afternoon, and then it was the first thing he mentioned when we asked him on the way home if he remembered which animals he saw. [Sigh.]

Betsy got this great picture of Nathan enjoying a lion cub statue. He and Isaac really liked climbing all around this thing. I think Mark was holding out for the real lions, but they were napping and we only got a quick glimpse of one. Mark's not much of a conspiracy theorist, but it does seem that every time he gets excited to see a lion, they are no-shows. He's starting to question it a little. Dear God, it's me, Erin. Can you help my sweet hubby out with a lion sighting next time? I think he deserves it, don't you? Something for your consideration. You know, when you get a minute. Kthx.

The boys also liked the gorillas. I think they were half-fascinated, and half-nervous. The latter half occurring when a big one (the daddy gorilla, according to Nathan) sauntered pretty close to the viewing window. Before he got scared, though, Nathan did enjoy beating his chest and talking to them. His little voice is to sweet to be anything close to a legitimate roar, though, don't you think?


We spent almost all our time with the big animals in the Africa section of the park, but before closing we did ride the tram over to the North America section, where we saw a sleeping polar bears, some sea lions that were definitely not polar bears (ahem... Betsy), and a bald eagle making a feast out of rat entrails (update: watch Mark's video here). I won't bore you with the details, I will just say it was gross. And the guys could not have been more fascinated (including Nathan and Isaac, who watched while snacking from their strollers). If you want to see pictures of that or anything else from our day at the zoo, click on our family, below.

by mgoetts

Toddler and the OB's Potty

One of the joys of being pregnant is getting to go to the doctor all the time. Even if you don't have any problems, or need any extra follow-up visits, you'll go to the OB's office approximately one kerblillion times during the course of a pregnancy.

And one of the joys of having a toddler is taking him to the doctor with you all the time. I have to be fair and say that my OB's office does a great job at handling kids; they have a lot of toys in the waiting area, they never act annoyed at the incessant what's that? coming from Nathan, and they even have kiddie books in the exam rooms. All that aside, having my precious little beast with me for checkups is always an adventure.

Two weeks ago, Nathan opened the bathroom door and ran out into the hallway while I was peeing into the cup. (He can't do traditional doorknobs yet, but someone has apparently helped perfect his skills at opening lever-styled doorknobs. I'm looking at you, Dad.) Good thing pregnant women have already been robbed of all modesty or I might have been more stressed at the number of people who got to see me pee in a cup. Before chasing down my kid for me.

So today, in the hopes of distracting him from his escape route, I gave him a cup to play with so I could fill my specimen cup without incident. He asked for some water, and since we're working on drinking from big-boy cups (without lids), I gave it to him. And he promptly dumped it into my pants. Yes, while they were around my knees. While I was peeing into a cup.

I'm not sure if this is his way of voting against Beanie, or against public potties (or any potties!), or just against Mommy's dry pants. Maybe someday I'll ask him.

And maybe next week I'll remember to pee in the cup at home and bring it with me, like I'm supposed to, and we can avoid any and all trips to the OB's bathroom.

Beach Trip Highlights

Some highlights from this week's toddler-filled trip to the beach:

Nathan, who loves matchbox cars but is rarely allowed to play with them at home (because they never fail to produce tantrums when playtime is over), fell in love with this Mack truck from the Disney Cars movie (a favorite of Jeff's kids). He barely let go of it all week.
We took the boys to play mini-golf (a Myrtle Beach staple) for the first time, for all of them. My official recommendation on mini-golf with toddlers? Don't do it. Wait until your kids are five for this activity. On a cool day (or better yet, at night). While they were into it for about one or two holes, after that they just lost interest. And it was so hot that they combined disinterest with crankiness. And then added in a dose of I-want-to-throw-my-ball-into-the-pond. Also, they cheat. Toddlers cannot be convinced to hit the ball with their sticks instead of their hands, it turns out. Or to hit their own balls. Or even just to hit the balls at all, instead of throwing them. Mini-golf FAIL. It was funny (afterward) though.
One of my family's favorite places to eat in North Myrtle is the Duffy Street Seafood Shack -- kind of a hole in the wall, but the food is good and not too expensive by Myrtle Beach standards. Especially if you get there before six -- then you can load up on awesome peel & eat shrimp for 30c each - YUM! And Nathan loved it too, of course -- shrimp man that he is. Recently he wants to dip his food in whatever sauce we have on hand, so he ate cocktail sauce for the first time as well. And pregnant woman that I am (ok, I do it even when I'm not pregnant), I had to get some fried pickles to go along with our meal. They give you whole pickle spears at this place! Anyway there is just something about some simple seafood after a day at the beach that goes over really well around here! (We might or might not have eaten at two different locations of Duffy Street two nights in a row.)

I played video games. Crazy, huh? Normally I don't like video games at all, and I have even been known to make fun of people who love them. But we had Guitar Hero at the beach, and it was actually really fun. I was not very good, for the record (the picture below was surely taken before Jeff and Justin made me look really dumb at video game guitar). But it was fun.

All our husbands were rock stars in their own right, getting up early with kids, feeding kids, entertaining kids. And all the moms might have even gotten some actual rest (I know I did) on vacation. Is there a better sight than all the men in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner? (This is normal in my house, but I don't expect other people to be like Mark. But I have to give credit where it's due -- Justin and Jeff were awesomely helpful all week.)

We had a great view from our balcony! And yes, Nathan is wearing exactly as little as you think he is. ;-) We had to let him "go free" for a little while due to the sand rash in his diaper area.

It was a great trip! Here are all of us together at the beach. Anyone who makes a comment about how insanely pregnant I look should be reminded that telling a pregnant woman she is huge is no less taboo than telling any woman she is huge. So... feel free to tell me how great I look, but remember that words like glow and cute and sporty and all belly are most welcome, even if they're bold-faced lies and I had to fish out there in blogworld to get them.

Left to right: Jeff, Matthew, James, Crystal, Luke, LeAnn, Lucas, Justin, Nathan, Mark and (Beanie and) me.

To see more pictures from our trip, click on my cutie family, below.

by mgoetts

Fun in the Sand and Surf

We've done a lot of stuff here at the beach, but it seems our favorite is still just... the beach. Nice to sit outside in the sun and breeze and watch our children having fun. Nice to splash around in the water to cool off. Nice to just be outside and enjoy it.

One of the boys' favorite things to do this week has been hole digging. That's seriously the first thing they do every time we get out on the sand -- start digging a hole. Then at least one of them will climb in and insist that we bury him up to his neck in the sand. Note: apparently this game is not just for kids.

James and Jeff buried in the sand, while baby Luke "helps" dig.

(I was actually a fan of this hole-digging, because once the kids -and Jeff- dug themselves out of their hole for the day, I could use it to put my belly in... a rare opportunity for me to relax on my tummy!)

Beanie in the hole!

Even Nathan would help dig (crazy but true, the boy will touch sand! --just don't call it dirt), and haul it away in one of the many dump trucks we've had on hand. Which is a lot. You take five little boys to the beach, you take a plethora of dump trucks.

I mentioned earlier in the week that Nathan even enjoyed the ocean itself -- he's spent part of each day sitting in the surf giggling as the waves lap up around his legs. What I didn't know at the time was what a nasty sand chafing this would give him... in his boy parts. Let me just say it was really bad, and Mark and I felt really bad for letting it happen. I guess the swim diaper, with the swimsuit (including its mesh lining) was the perfect trap for sand to get all up in there and just rub him raw -- quite literally raw, in some patches. So the past two days we've skipped the swimsuit/diaper combo, and just slathered him down with vaseline and put gym shorts on over that. Sure, more sand gets in there that way... but it can also rinse out. And the vaseline seems to be protecting his skin from chafing in the process. I think we will never go to the beach without vaseline again!

At one point we did have all five boys out running around in the surf together. (Well, baby Luke was crawling until someone plucked him up -- I'm telling you that kid would crawl right into the ocean if no one stopped him; he has no fear.) It took pretty much all of the adult manpower we had on hand (except me, I mean, someone had to take a picture) to stay within an arm's reach of the boys, so close to the ocean. They were having so much fun, though -- they would run and squeal and giggle as the waves chased them towards the beach, then turn around and race back the other way as the waves retreated.

And Mark and I have had our own adult fun outside at the beach, too (no, not like that).

Mark has been building sand castles (yes, even when no children are around, so he can't use them as an excuse -- he was doing it just for his own fun), and I have been borrowing Matthew's boogie board to catch some waves. It's good because it's shorter than an adult board, so my belly doesn't get in the way. (Plus, who wouldn't want to rock a boogie board with Disney Cars characters all over it?) But I did get some funny looks (not the least of which came from my own husband) -- apparently people aren't used to seeing an eight-month pregnant lady riding waves in. Even in Myrtle Beach. But Beanie really liked it! She's not used to being suspended belly-down, I guess, and she kicked like crazy the whole time. She kicks a lot whenever I swim, but especially on the waves! The beach... what's not to love? (Besides that whole chafing thing, I mean.)

The Serious One

We're past the halfway mark of our beach trip with Mark's Clemson roomies and their kids. Today is our last with all three families -- Jeff's family heads back to Greenville tomorrow, Justin's family heads back to Millers Creek on Sunday, and we're headed towards Huntersville (en route to Raleigh) on Monday.

Our trip has been exactly as chaotic as we predicted, and 99% happier than I had worried about. I cannot believe how well-adjusted these five little boys are. Loud? Yes. Full of energy? Yes. Whiny and argumentative? NO. I feel like at least one of them should be acting like a pain, but.... nope. Besides a few reminders to share toys, and a few tears when beachtime is over, they've really all been delightful.

Five little boys play inside.

It's been a little weird for Mark and me to see how Nathan acts in a group dynamic like this... a rare opportunity for us to see Nathan with other kids, when we're present enough on the sidelines to observe, but not so present he really knows or cares we're around (and thus mostly ignores us in favor of his friends).

And get this: Nathan is the mellowest of the bunch. That's right, my son the chatterbox know-it-all who argued last month with the ladies at church about the difference in Moses and Jesus, is actually incredibly laid-back. Who knew???

Five little boys play in the sand.

Although it seems like he talks nonstop at home with the two of us, and always seems busy busy busy, it turns out he's actually not that loud or that busy, compared to other kids his age... well, these kids, anyway (and apparently they're normal). He's far more complaisant in a crowd than I would have predicted. Mark and I had been thinking that he has more of my personality (hello chatterbox) but after seeing him with all these other boys... I don't know, he seems an awfully lot like Mark.

Five little boys eat lunch. (Why is Jeff doing all the work in these pics?)

Nathan is also the most stuck in his routine out of all the kids here. Not sure if that's him or just that Mark and I have created that environment for him, but the boy is a creature of habit. And is less willing to be flexible about that habit than the others. I find myself alternating between feeling grateful that he's in a routine that provides a lot of sleep, and jealous that I can't flex the routine a little more when needed (we do have wiggle room, but no more than an hour or so off of any activity, I would say). C'est la vie. What I call inflexible, others might call predictable... I'll just be happy with how he is; unpredictable would be so much worse. :)

Because Jeff's boys have each other, they haven't gravitated towards Lucas and Nathan as much as Lucas and Nathan have gravitated towards each other. You can tell these are two boys who are currently the only child... and you can tell how much they would each like an everyday playmate.

This picture of the two of them makes me smile. I bet Nathan is thinking: seriously mom can I take these glasses off now? I have a dump truck to fill up with sand. And I have six grownups to talk to about the dump truck I am filling up with sand. And I bet Lucas is thinking: yay! Another picture! Cheese! Can I have some more goldfish? Let's go play, Nathan!

And as LeAnn (wife of Justin, mommy of Lucas) pointed out, the shot kind of captures their personalities -- the serious one and the silly one. Which I guess is true, as much as it surprises me. For all the grins and giggles and chatters we get out of Nathan, I think he really might be "the serious one."

Which, including some surprisingly impossibly loud and excitable days, is a lot like his Daddy.

Myrtle Beach in a Nutshell

Have you been to Myrtle Beach? It's a hard place to describe to people who haven't actually experienced it. It's a beach town, but could not be less of a resort town. I think this restaurant pretty much captures the mood of the place.

A somewhat trashy southerner, trying to be a little bit classy and exotic, and failing.

With a drive-thru.

(And yes, that's a church in the background.)

Beach = Fun

Just a quick post from the beach!

So far we have spent most of our time outside enjoying the sand and surf.

At every visit to the beach, it takes Nathan a little while to get used to the sand on his toes and fingers, and used to the crashing waves. But this time he seems to be really enjoying the whole thing; he's far less timid than he was even just a few months ago. He doesn't mind getting a little dirty, and he likes sitting in the wet sand and seeing which waves will reach him to tickle his toes.

He has even been swimming with Mark in the ocean a couple of times. He likes "jumping" over the waves in Mark's arms. He says all the predictable things: ooooh it's a big one! I see it! It's a white one! That was fun! Was it fun? There's another one!
(And yes, so far things have been chaotic but very happy with all five boys!)

Clemson Roomie Beach Trip

This post will be going up as our little family is loaded up and driving towards North Myrtle Beach. Mark and two of his Clemson roommates (Justin and Jeff) have wanted to do a multi-family beach trip for several years now, and it's finally happening.

So three couples, and all our kids, will be spending a beachy week together! I am halfway really excited. And halfway slightly terrified. Because when I say "all our kids," that means five toddlers. Let me say it again so it really sinks in: FIVE TODDLERS. Oh yeah... and they're all boys.

Matthew is 3.
James, Lucas and Nathan are all 2.
And Baby Luke is almost 1. (Already toddling.)

Believe it or not, this will be the first time that all five boys have been together (the older four spent the day at Santa's Land last spring, but Nathan was still kind of a baby (not mobile) and Baby Luke was still in the womb. So this will definitely be a higher rung on the chaos ladder, for sure.

We're very excited to see them all playing together, now that they're actually old enough to do that. Nathan is beside himself with joy about seeing the other kids (and THE BEACH, of course).

I even got a new swimsuit for the occasion. I have to be honest
and admit that the one I got last year (not being a maternity suit) hasn't been accommodating my belly very well. The result is that the fabric gets pulled too far down in front and, well... let's just say I needed something to contain the gals a little better. ;-) So I settled on this tankini -- also not technically a maternity suit, but it drapes well and covers my whole belly without being skin-tight... plus it was a lot cheaper than a real maternity swimsuit. A lot. That's obviously not me in the picture (hello) and I didn't even get that blue plaid pattern (though I so would have if they'd had it --I settled on something dotted in brown and orange instead), but I promise she's wearing it better than I do. I will try to steer clear of the camera this week to spare you that pain, but no promises.

Anyway, North Myrtle, here we come! Let's hope the noise is actually happy noise all week, shall we?

"Do I Have To?"

We have officially moved up a level from the don't want to phase of early summer. Don't worry, we still hear a lot of that (usually it comes out no want to -- is it weird that Nathan's speech and pronunciation seem to regress as he gets more comfortable with new words, or is it normal to just get lazy and less articulate as time passes?), but in the last week pretty much anything we ask (or tell) Nathan to do is met with an immediate do I have to?

Well, Nathan... technically, no. You don't HAVE to. But we're asking you to, so please do it. Now. Because Mommy said so.

Everything from directing him to eat a few more bites of dinner, to cleaning up his toys, to putting his shoes on, to getting a clean diaper, to please come on down the stairs now is met with do I have to? He even questions things he normally LIKES to do, like brushing his teeth or going outside or wearing his shark PJs.

Good thing it's usually easy to convince him he actually wants to do these things, and he's a pretty agreeable kid.

Still... I sense tantrums in the forecast. Help and suggestions are welcome, for when this takes a turn for the worse... as I'm sure it will.

Happy Noise

You know why our blog needed a new identity, but you might be wondering how we arrived at this one. What is happy noise, anyway?

"Happy noise" was an oft-used term (usually by my mom) from my childhood. When we kids would get really rowdy and rambunctious and wreak havoc on the house and start wearing thin on our parents' sanity, they would look at each other and give a verbal reminder: happy noise. It was their way of embracing the chaos instead of trying to reign it in. As long as we were happy, they were content with just about any amount of noise that came with it. Which was a lot. We were not quiet children. (Nor are we quiet adults.) And my parents' term for that has been on my mind a lot recently, especially since I left my job and focused all my energy at home.

Basically, happy noise is what happens when you have a house full of creatures who are enjoying life. Peace and serenity? Not so much. We are joyful and emotional, and often that means noisy and chaotic. Though occasionally the racket can be stressful, there is no better sight or sound to me than my family being content and happy -- smiles, giggles, running feet, and wagging tails.

So at the end of the day, I will be intentional about embracing the happy noise.

Yep, Another Makeover

So... those of you reading on our blog's homepage (as opposed to through a feed burner) will notice that there has been quite a makeover here in the last twelve hours. And by twelve I mean two.

The impetus for the change was someone copyrighting our old blog name, and Blogger wanting me to change the title in my header. This month. I don't know how they're going to change all the zillions of people who also used that blog name, but... whatevs. Change is good. Especially since the website domain is just Mark's gmail ID anyway, and none of you will have any trouble finding me with the new look and name.

But still, this feels like a new home, in a way. What do you think? I still will do some more tweaking (not tonight though!), so let me know if things are hard to read, or not coming across correctly for you.

Or, you know... if these colors make you want to claw your eyes out. We can't have any of that.

Otherwise, welcome to our "new old" bloggity home!

She's Officially Bored with this Pregnancy

We got to see Beanie today! We had a 3-D ultrasound done, not because there was any medical indication for it, but just because we (Daddy especially) wanted to check her out in there and we had enough in our healthcare savings to pay for an extra appointment. Just as suspected, she is growing quite normally, seems perfectly healthy, and everything is on track. Praise the Lord. :)

She's a little blurry because she was all cuddly with the placenta so we had to look through that (ew) to see her.

She is about 4 1/2 pounds right now, which sounded awfully big to me at first, but the ultrasound tech said (and Dr. Marmie concurs) that's just fine for now... and she's on track to be about the same size as Nathan was at full-term (he was eight pounds even).

Mark and I actually think she looks a bit like Nathan did at birth (that is to say, not like either of us!), but she does have chubbier cheeks than he did, that's for sure!

Things are actually going so well in there that she is apparently a bit bored with the whole gestation thing. Here's a ten-second video of her giving us a big yawn (or something... it looks like a yawn so that's what I'm calling it) to let us know exactly what she thought of my pre-appointment venti mocha with caffeine. I imagine it's something like this: I'm so OVER your uterus, mom.

Eight weeks to go! (And stay put, little girl, we're not quite ready yet!)

For more pictures of Beanie at 32 weeks, click here to go to the Webshots album.

A Tale of Two Rings

I am happy and I am sad.

I am happy because my sister Ashley, whom I adore, accepted a ring from her beau John last night, and in doing so, she made a promise to become his wife. (They are in St. Croix this week to vacation and visit my brother Brad, so getting engaged there means the island has now climbed up one more rung on the ladder of our family's important memories and significance.) I haven't seen her ring, but I do know that it's a diamond taken from one of my grandmother's rings, inherited this summer, which John had put into a custom setting just for Ashley. And that he was very excited about how it turned out, and that Ashley (not so much a jewelry person) indeed loves it.

I am sad because less than twelve hours after hearing Ashley's engagement news, I lost my own wedding and engagement rings. Mine was also a family diamond (that same grandmother's mother, my great-grandmother whom we called Oma), which Mark had reset into a new ring for me. Shortly after the wedding, we had the two rings bonded together as one piece.

So I am crying both happy tears and upset tears. I know my ring is really just metal and rock, and that compared to other things in life (my kid, my home, my pups, my hubby), isn't particularly valuable. I know that the promise of the ring is what matters, and I am trying very hard to keep that perspective. But the reality is that that band of metal and rock really meant something to me. Not only because it's four generations old, but because my husband put it on my finger on our wedding day, and it's a symbol of our vow, and of our love, and I just really liked it.

But that vow doesn't go away when the ring is gone, just like Ashley's promise to be John's wife doesn't carry any extra significance because he happened to gift her with a ring for the occasion. Still, the bottom line is that the thought of engagement rings today brings tears of a mixture of joy and pain.

For now, I will focus on the joy, and say this: Welcome to the family, John! It took Nathan approximately four minutes to start calling your picture Uncle John instead of just John. I think that means you're in!

[Update: I had no sooner hit "publish post" than Mark wandered downstairs with my ring in hand! He had just finished his turn with the metal detector -- borrowed from Hayes, whose abundance of helpfulness for our family this week apparently knows no end -- and found it in the grass near the entrance to our neighborhood where I stopped on my walk this morning to re-sunscreen. And now my tears are 100% joyful.]

About That Giant Rainbow Cupcake...

So I am finally getting around to posting more details about Nathan's birthday cake. Based on the Facebook comments, comments here, and bunches of emails... y'all want more specifics on exactly how I did it.

I'm hoping this is because you all want to make one yourselves, not because you are eyeing me suspiciously and need me to prove that *I* actually made this cake. I promise I did. As proof you can note the burned edges. Everything I bake has burned edges; I'm not so much a baker. We call that cajun style so that I don't feel bad about myself.

Anyway.

First, I should say that I got the idea from Rachel, who is the food editor here. Because she doesn't know me very well (meaning... only online), and therefore doesn't know I'm not a great baker or decorator (did you see last year's cake? case in point), she totally pumped me up and made me feel like I could make my giant cupcake into a rainbowy sprinkly fresh-baked pan of goodness.

The premise is simple: just buy gel food colorings, divide your batter into several different colors, layer, and bake.

The reason it looks neat is because of the gel food colorings, not because of anything special I did.
You can find the gels in the bakery aisle, or in the cake-decorating aisle in the craft section of stores like Target or Wal-Mart or whatever. The kind I got said icing food coloring, but I used it in the batter since I am a rebel like that. Plus it's all I could find. (Note: buy the no-taste-red gel, not the red-red.)

Here's exactly what I did:

1.) Since I had read online that a thicker batter would be easier to prevent the colors running together, I made a white cake mix and "combined" it with the wet ingredients from my grandmother's sour-cream cake recipe instead of following the directions on the box. This means I added 2 eggs, a cup and a half of sour cream, 1/3 cup of milk (I used skim), and 1/4 cup of vegetable oil.

2.) After I mixed up the batter, I chose five colors and divided the batter into bowls. At the time, I was very concerned about making each bowl equal, but then I realized that doesn't really matter, since it's all going back into the same pan. (For normal-sized cupcakes, if you want them to all look alike, you'd need to be more concerned about having equal amounts of each color.)

3.) I put on an apron (those colors get on everything!), then used a toothpick to add a bit of gel to each bowl, then dyed the batter separate color with my cake mixer. Honestly that was the most annoying part of the process -- washing off the mixer after each color. But I was worried it wouldn't blend as well if I mixed it by hand.

4.) I layered half of each color into the cupcake mold's bottom, then the other half into the cupcake mold's top, reversing the color order for when I put the two halves together later. Again -- in hindsight that didn't matter at all. I was also very concerned about spreading each layer evenly into the mold, all the way to the edges. But since the cake changes shape when you bake it (duh, Erin), I could have just dumped them all in there on top of each other for a similar tie-dye effect (just don't stir it, of course).

5.) I baked for about 40 minutes, at 350. Clearly a little too long (note the brown outside). I was following the instructions on the mix box for a bundt pan, but should have gone just shy of that.

6.) When it cooled, I "glued" the two halves together with icing, then iced the top and sprinkled it. I used icing in a can, instead of a tub. It tasted just as good (to me), and it made the cupcake so much prettier than other ways I have iced them in the past. Though clearly I am still not the best at cake decorating, as you can see. :)
7.) Then Mark did the dishes. I think. Wait, maybe I did them. Nah, that doesn't sound like me. Let's assume it was him. :)
8.) Then we ate it. And it turns out Nathan didn't care what it looked like. But Mark and I were pleased with how pretty it was, so that counts for something. Right? ...Right? For more recipes and other people's culinary brilliance, you can head over and visit Rachel herself; it's Mouthwatering Monday!

IronMarmie Update: Tattoo Edition

My mom got a tattoo in honor of her Ironman completion. I have three things to say:

1.) How is my coined term IronMarmie not included? Come on, now, that's my stroke of genius for 2009.

2.) Does she mind that I'm posting pictures of her tattoo on the internet? Doubtful (see # 3 below), but I'm sure she'll let me know.

3.) How is it possible that I knew nothing of this, until I found out on Facebook? I don't know whether to be more shocked that mom got a tattoo, or that I FOUND OUT ABOUT IT ON FACEBOOK.

It's a strange planet we live on, y'all.

A Shoeless Road Trip and Some Storms

I had an extremely long day yesterday. I think I got a little carried away with the idea of all the free time I have now to schedule my days however I want... and I scheduled a bit too much -- and early morning wakeup, a road trip, evening plans at church (back in Raleigh), and all of this without ever going back home for a break.

5am - wake up to take my friend Jenny to the airport. If you know Nathan, you know he doesn't handle it well when he wakes up on anyone's terms but his own. If he gets me up at 5:30, he doesn't seem to mind, but somehow the reverse isn't true. (I need to talk to that kid about double standards.) But miraculously he seemed in ok spirits yesterday, so before he started crying I went ahead and played the airport-Lucas-Grandpa cards all at once. That's right, I just laid it all out there. Probably shouldn't have shown my whole hand at once, in hindsight. (Someone needs to talk to me about maintaining a poker face.)

6:45am - after a traffic jam, a mild adventure on back roads with the GPS, a slightly-too-close-for-comfort terminal dropoff, and a tantrum when Nathan realized that we weren't stopping at the airport to watch the planes, I am headed west on I-40, just outside the triangle, when I realized I hadn't brought any shoes for Nathan. (He goes barefoot in the car for long trips, helps him curl up his legs to sleep better, and normally I just throw his shoes in my purse or the backseat.) That's right -- I took my kid on a road trip... barefoot. Not my best SAHM moment.

9am - arrival into Millers Creek (on the other side of the state) at the home of the Church family. Nathan had not slept a wink. Good thing he was barefoot so he could curl his legs up for napping well. [shakes head]

11:30am - after sorting through several huge bags of clothes and other hand-me-downs worn by both Nathan and Lucas over the last few years, it's fun to see the boys actually playing together (not just near each other) for the first time. They are exactly six months apart, which seemed huge when they were infants... but now it's becoming more and more obvious that they really are peers. It was fun to see them wrestle and run around in the sunshine and talk to each other (or at each other, I should say... it was mostly a bunch of saying each other's names in excited voices, and naming the toys). And now I'm even more excited for our beach trip next week with Lucas & family, and one other family with kids their age as well. It's also kind of sad that there won't be many more hand-me-downs, since they wear the same size now. Lucas is still a little bigger, but not by much. Before the era of hand-me-downs ended, though, LeAnn hooked us up with a pair of sneakers for Nathan so he didn't have to go the rest of the day barefoot. Because what else are friends for, if they can't clothe your children when you have a big FAIL MOMMY day? Nathan called them his "Lucas shoes" for the rest of the day, and he seemed very happy that his friend shared with him.

12:30pm - We arrived at my Grandpa's house for a visit with him and my dad, who was also in town. Nathan and dad went down to Grandpa's pasture and barn to ride the tractors (thanks again for those shoes!), and we learned once again that Nathan really likes them best when they're not on. I think the loud noise is too much for him. Then I ate two feet of Igloo hot dogs for lunch. Even though they are the best hot dogs on the planet (don't question me on this, people), it might have been a bit much. Especially with fries. And soda. And cookies. Beanie wasn't real happy with me, I'll just say that.

1:45pm - We left Grandpa's in plenty of time to get back to Raleigh for dinner and church stuff, but despite the fact that Nathan had been up since 5:30am and hadn't napped, he was still very wide awake. We saw lots of cows leaving town (go to Wilkes County, you'll understand) and instead of dozing off like I had hoped, I was just getting a chorus of it's a cow! it's another cow, I see it! that's a cow right there. ooooh, it's a big cow! from the backseat.

1:50pm - Never mind about the wide awake thing, Nathan sleeping soundly. Cows must have worn him out.

3pm - Of course I didn't remember to get gas while he was awake, so driving back across the state, I nervously watched the gauge fall lower and lower, until it was an inch below E and the gas light had been on for fifty miles. Then I stopped for refueling, which woke Nathan up, and even with milk and a snack from the gas station, he was not happy to get back in the car. Uh-oh.

4:30pm - We opted to go directly to church and get there half an hour early to play on the playground (Nathan, not me, of course) instead of trying to get back to the house before dinner. Again, thank God (and LeAnn and Lucas) for tennis shoes.

5pm - We met friends for dinner at church... and Nathan didn't eat any spaghetti. Which is kind of the weirdest thing ever. He loves spaghetti; I would actually consider it his favorite food. (It was an omen of the evening to come.) I got to have an adult conversation with Mark and some other friends while Nathan ran around with our buddy Hayes, who is eleven and is probably the closest thing Nathan has to a big brother. I know Hayes is probably exhausted today, but he was a rock star with Nathan and I was so grateful for the help keeping him distracted and happy last night!

8:30pm - I emerge from my weekly Russian class (a blog post for another day) frazzled by my exhaustion, frustrated by the cyrillic alphabet (and frankly feeling kind of downright dumb), fairly worried about Nathan and the state he must be in, way past his bedtime, still at church with the Chamblees -- Hayes, sister Mary, and mom Lois. Now I have mentioned before how much I love this family, but last night they really outdid themselves. They had driven him home to my house, given him a bath, put him in PJs, read him some books, brushed his teeth, tucked him in, and he was sleeping soundly. (In his toddler bed that used to belong to Hayes, for the record.) Can you think of anything better to come home to after a long day, especially when you were anticipating more tears and crankiness? Because frankly, I can't. I counted my lucky stars, returned some emails, and crashed in bed around 11.

But.

BUT.

God had other plans for our evening.

12:00am - a thunderstorm rolled in. Nathan has recently decided that he's not a fan of thunder, so I held my breath and prayed for it to pass before it woke him up. No such luck. Tears and terror ensued, and I found myself huddled on the floor of Nathan's room, with a toddler sobbing into my chest and Bowden cowering as far under his bed as she could get (she's a little clingy during thunderstorms as well). Eventually we moved upstairs to my bed so that I could doze while keeping up my hugging duties, and by 1:30 Nathan was back in his room and sleeping.

2:45am - more thunder in the distance. How is this day still not over??? Predictably, Nathan woke up when the storm was right over our house, and sobbed some more: thunder all done, too loud, fireworks too scary (that's what he calls lightning). Poor baby. But we got through it and he was back in bed by 3:30 or so.

And we all slept past 8 this morning. Except Mark, who returned from night shift and stayed awake until I left to take Nathan to church this morning. That way if Nathan woke up early, I could still sleep.

Because the Chamblees aren't the only rock stars around here.

For pictures of the better part of our day (the part in Millers Creek), click here.

Running With Daddy

For all you naysayers out there who insist my kid can't run (and that's mostly directed at his doctor who made fun of Nathan's run last week but who obviously doesn't read this blog), I have video proof. *I* would consider this running -- both legs are off the ground at the same time. Right? ...Right?

Running is actually one of Nathan's favorite things to do these days. When we ask if he wants to run, he says run with daddy? and if he gets the ok, he says hold my hand and off they go! So cute to see them holding hands and running, even though Mark's poor back will probably break in the next month if Nathan keeps this up.


(This clip was taken near the Iwo Jima memorial during our trip to DC a few weeks ago.)

And I also love how happy Nathan looks with his legs pumping, wind in his face, hand-in-hand with Daddy. Oh, my sweet baby.
My sweet big boy, I should say.

My sweet big boy who can definitely run.