CHANGES

There is SO MUCH that has happened since the last time I blogged. I promise to do more updates later, but for now I will list a few things so I can remember to blog about them later....

-Halloween
-Thanksgiving
-Christmas
-We made the HARD decision to let another family adopt our dog Maggie :(
-I completed my 3rd Challenge
-We put a contract on a new house (YAY!!)
-We are working on getting our house on the market in the next couple of weeks

I posted a blog below for Mateo's first birthday...check it out!

Happy Birthday Mateo!!

I interrupt this unplanned LONG blogger break to post that my baby boy is ONE!!!

I just can't believe it has been a year already! Our birthday celebrations this year were very small, but I did managed to get ALL Christmas decorations packed up and got up some birthday decorations before we celebrated Mateo's birthday tonight.

I also had time to make Mateo's cupcakes today since I am off this week.

Mateo didnt care for the the birthday hat and didn't know what to think about the candle and singing, but it kept his interest.

He also almost started a fire when he was taking off his birthday hat!

Big sister Tatum helped blow out the candle this year. He didn't mind a bit.

Mateo knew exactly what to do when it came to eating the cupcake! I must admit he has had a few pieces of cake before this day...and no I don't feel bad at all about that. I guess that is what happens with the second child?

The best we could do with a family picture....Tatum attempting to blow in that birthday thing, Mateo trying to lick off all the icing on his hands, Antonio cheesing, and me lookin' like a hot mess because I was trying to get all the Christmas stuff down, birthday stuff up, make cupcakes, clean up a little, etc.

Tatum had to give Mateo birthday kisses

-Mateo is definitely our 'laid back' child.

-He is very easy and goes with the flow.

-He currently has 4 teeth, 2 more teeth have just poked thru a little, but not sure if I can count those yet.

-He is just now wearing a few 12-18 month clothing items.

-He is wearing a size 2 shoe and 6-12 month socks from the Gap are still a little big.

-He is in a size 4 diaper.

-He sleeps all night still (6:30pm til almost 7am).

-He is definitely a mama's boy and I LOVE IT!!

-Mateo has had 3 professional haircuts and needs another one now.

-He is not walking and really not trying to either, but Tatum didn't walk til 16 months, so he will walk when he is ready.

-Mateo sits on his knees alot and I think it is the cutest thing ever.

-He loves to wave and smiles and most girls around if they give him a little attention.

Mateo is a quiet child, he doesn't talk much. He says mama, dada, baba, and babbles some. I think he will be a man of few words like his daddy.

-He RARELY cries, and if he does there MUST be something wrong because he is such a great baby.

We are going for his 1 yr check up tomorrow, so I will post his stats then.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all today. I have so many things I am thankful for, but here are pictures of a few...

My wonderful husband, Antonio, and my little man, Mateo.
And of course, my niece Mya and "little bit", Tatum. Thought this was a cute picture of the girls last night at my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving. They look so sweet and innocent here, but don't be mistaken.....

....it got SO CRAZY last night that Uncle Matt had to hang the girls from their legs in order to keep them still for a moment!

I have TONS of updating to do (a full month's worth). More to come later.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Tatum's Birthday Cake

I saw THIS post by another blogger about a cake and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to try it out for Tatum's birthday.

I started on it yesterday. Here are the six layers of cake. I failed to take pictures of each of my bowls when i was adding the food coloring. It was my FIRST time using food coloring too, so I was really excited with the outcome. Here are Purple, Blue, and Green....

Red, Orange, and Yellow...

A couple of things that might help if you plan to try this...after you divide the cake mix, add the food coloring, and pour the cake mix into each pan, shake the pans really good so that the mix is levelled out. I even banged the pans against the counter top several times to get the bubbles out too when I did the yellow, orange, and red cakes. I can sure tell a difference too.

After I cooked them, I let them cool 25 minutes before I took them out of the pan. I put all the cakes on individual paper plates and let them sit in the fridge overnight.

When morning rolled around, I mixed up the icing according to the directions and put a thin later on the bottom of the cake plate. Next, I tried to level out each cake a little....purple went on the bottom....

then I added in a layer of icing and then the blue layer....

...then icing and the green layer....

THEN i put another layer of icing on and put the cake in the fridge so it could sit and set for 2 hours.

after the 2 hours, i added the yellow layer, icing, then the orange layer

icing, and then the red layer and then icing....

after that, i put it in the fridge again for at least 2 hours.

THEN I got it out and finished icing it down....

As you can see, Icing a cake is NOT my strong talent, but i tried.

I came up with my last minute technique for the sides. I am sure it looks crazy, but that's how i left it.

I took the leftover icing and mixed in purple food coloring so that I could decorate the cake.

I need to work on the icing and the decorating FOR SURE....lol

It went back in the fridge until it was time to eat it.

Tatum was very excited to see her cake and blow out her candles.

And here is a picture of the inside of the cake. I am SO HAPPY with how it turned out.

The cake tasted great too! Trust me, if I can do this....ANYONE can do this!!! Not sure what we are going to do with the rest of this cake, but I am guessing it will be trashed in the next 24 hours since I can't afford to cheat anymore this week. SO, if you are in the area and want a piece, let me know!!

Tatum's 3rd Birthday

It's Official....I have a 3 yr old little girl in my house!!!

Tatum was born at 12:45am, so I spared her from a picture of that exact time this morning and settled for a few pics before we left for school.

Here is Tatum's first morning heading to school as a 3 yr old.

We asked Tatum what she wanted to do for her birthday and she said she wanted to play outside. We asked what she wanted for dinner and she said chicken and french fries. Since it was raining today, we decided Chick-fil-A would be perfect. Inside playground AND chicken and french fries.

We even let her have some ice cream too. Here are just a few pics.

I decided to let Mateo try some ice cream too. This was his first taste of ice cream. His initial reaction....

Mateo decided that he needed a second taste to make up his mind for sure.....

And the decision was made....(check out his 4 teeth!)

Mateo said he LOVES birthdays if they include ice cream. He is ready for Grandmommy's birthday on 11/7!

After Chick-fil-A, we headed home for cake and presents. Tatum made silly faces until I brought out the cake with candles. (Please ignore the finger prints shining on our TV in the background....those would be Tatum's.)

Tatum didn't need anything for her birthday, so Antonio and I just got her a few things. We got her 2 games that every little girl MUST have. Candyland....

and Chutes and Ladders....

BUT, Tatum's favorite present of the night was this card from her Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Clif. It plays music. She played with this thing for at least 15 minutes before she would even open another present.