Since my last post, I have made my first toddler and baby blankets and baked a baby shower cake for two of my wonderful new mommy friends.
Denise, who just gave birth to a wonderful baby girl named Lily, was the recipient of the baby and toddler blankets. I don't have pictures of them yet, but they weren't bad for the first try, IMO. I made a whole basket for the baby, consisting of a pair of black patent dress shoes, a pink knit hat with a large pink flower, some wipes, lotion and baby bath, a few handmade bows and a purple blanket with rainbow satin trim and large satin bow on one corner. I also made a larger, toddler-bed size blanket for her other daughter, Kamryn, that was purple with satin Tinkerbell trim and flower appliques of assorted colors. I know how important it is to involve the sibling when a new addition comes along, so I needed to give her something just as special. I just hope that they last.
Another wonderful mommy-to-be (for the first time) is Megan, who's baby shower cake I baked this past weekend. When I heard that her baby shower was being planned by her mother and mother-in-law, I was a little heartbroken that I didn't get the chance to throw one for her, but I jumped at the opportunity to offer my assistance. Most of the planning had already been taken care of, except for the cake, so I offered to take care of that (the more experience I can get, the better, right?). While talking to her mother-in-law about the fine details of a possible theme, I suggested a pirate theme since their nursery was pirate themed for their unborn baby boy and because of the location (Margaritaville at Pensacola Beach). This was actually an idea that the future daddy threw around when I talked to him about the baby shower. After some slight convincing, the mother-in-law agreed that it would be a good idea and we ran with it. For the shower, I ended up baking a two-tiered pirate cake with yellow cake and confetti cake, buttercream icing and my own homemade marshmallow fondant. It turned out better than I expected, although I ran out of red dye for the fondant and it ended up looking pink. I just said "Well, this is really for the mommy anyway, so we'll go with it." I think it tasted great and it held up to the 1.5 hour drive just fine (which was my BIGGEST worry).
Another great adventure I've been involved in, is potty-training my 20 month old daughter. And boy, it has been an adventure, although from what I've heard from other mommies I've had it easy. Despite a few accidents here and there, she's been doing VERY well and I can't complain. I've learned that it's a lot like house breaking a pet, except you can't rub their nose in it and throw them outside if they have an accident. ;) Hopefully, we'll have her trained in no time!
