April
Well, I had big plans to post on April 1st. Exactly 1 year from the day when we learned that our second baby was growing inside me. It came as a bit of a surprise and the barely pink line that I saw on the stick almost seemed like an April Fool's joke. It took a day, another test, and a slightly pinker line to make me realize that it was for real.
I can't believe a year has gone by. I now have this 14 pound baby, who was then smaller than a pea, no limbs yet formed, with barely a beating heart!
April is the month that I have been thinking about for a long time...with both excitement and anxiety. Just before I learned of my pregnancy, I learned of some other wonderful news. I was going to gain a sister! My brother proposed to his girlfriend, Laurie, and a wedding date was set in April 2013. You can imagine the relief I had when I later realized how perfect the timing of this wedding was for several reasons (A. I could drink at the wedding, B. I might even be able to fit in a normal size dress by that point, C. I could drink a lot (maybe even smoke a joint, hey it is 4/20!...I kid, I kid), D. an almost 5 month old baby would be easy peesy, and probably even sleeping through the night by then!).
I had no way of really knowing what life would be like with a baby, a kid, and a cake business. But I went ahead and continued to take large wedding cake orders, assuming that I would figure out a way to do it all. As the summer came to a close, my upcoming April became booked solid with several wedding cakes, including my brother's, of course! April was going to be my first real test as a mom of two and a wedding cake maker extraordinaire!
At that time, I did not think I'd have my husband at home. It's not really what any of us would choose, but I have to say that I can't imagine not having his help right now, even if I wasn't working quite this much. I've had to dive back into work even "deeper" than planned because he's at home, but having his help with the kids, cooking meals, and cleaning has been crucial during this very busy time.
So, I didn't ever get to post my April post in April. For once I put blogging (therapeutic, but very time-consuming) on the back burner. With a plethora of enormous wedding cakes, a family wedding, a triple wedding weekend, a nursing baby still up in the night, and a busy and demanding soon-to-be-3-year-old, life has left me little time to do things that are not absolutely necessary in this very moment.
Somehow I survived. I managed to make 3 cakes that each served over 300 within 10 days. And that was all just 1 week before my brother's wedding, which was probably the most excited, happy, stressed and busy time of my life. I had been planning the sequence of events of that week and the day of the wedding for several months. A groom's cake to create, a toast to come up with, a wedding cake to make and deliver, a daughter to prepare for her flower girl role, a baby to feed...and maybe a few minutes to devote to my appearance!? It was certainly enough to stress me out every time the thought of 4/20/13 came to my head.
My brother's wedding weekend was a wonderful success. It was so special to spend time with lots of out of town family members, and to celebrate the love between my brother and his best friend. He and Laurie are the perfect pair, and I am so happy for them.
And it was a true test of my organizational skills. The Friday before was a big relief. The groom's cake was complete, the toast was prepared (a major point of anxiety for me since I hate public speaking! - see this link for the slideshow I made to go along with the toast), the wedding cake was (almost) finished....and I was ready to party! I had the wedding day schedule in my mind down to the minute. It ended up going something like this:
And it was a true test of my organizational skills. The Friday before was a big relief. The groom's cake was complete, the toast was prepared (a major point of anxiety for me since I hate public speaking! - see this link for the slideshow I made to go along with the toast), the wedding cake was (almost) finished....and I was ready to party! I had the wedding day schedule in my mind down to the minute. It ended up going something like this:
4 am and 7 am - feed baby, eat, try to wake up
9 am - work on cake
11 am - feed baby, send baby to in-laws (with instructions, food, etc), pick up daughter
11:30 - assemble and complete cake
12:00 - shower (never happened) and pack up everything (dress, make-up, breast pump, izzy's dress, overnight bags for kids and us,
12:30 - try to coax daughter into early nap
12:45 - pump
12:55 - water break
1:00 - deliver cake with assistant Jen (leave instructions for daddy on when to wake up Izzy...I'm a control freak)
1:30 - place gumpaste flowers on cake, finishing touches
2:30 - get dressed, finish make-up
3:00 - daughter arrives - get her dressed, fix her bed-head, try to prevent melt-downs (she was touch-and-go with "no" being the word of choice), convince her to wear a floral head wreath, carry a wand and walk down the aisle with a few hundred strangers staring at her
4:00 - wedding starts, walk down the aisle (success! no tears!!!), stand up front with bewildered child, try to keep her from picking her nose (failed)
4:30 - baby arrives, pictures with family, convince daughter that food, cake and music will be worth standing still for some pictures
5:00 - pump, water-break
5:30 - reception begins, return baby to in-laws
5:45 - sigh of relief and huge swig of vodka soda
6:00 - music starts and Isabelle begins the 2 hour marathon of dancing
6:30 - daughter gets cranky, must feed and hydrate
7:30 - daughter continues dance-athon, I worry she might collapse (seriously scared she might hurt herself from over-dancing)
8:00 - cake cutting, happiest moment for daughter
8:30 - more dancing, then final meltdown...call in-laws to come pick-up daughter
8:45 - try to prevent major screaming meltdown from exhaustion (daughter's, not mine) by feeding her more cake
9:00 - daughter sent home with in-laws
9:15 - I CAN FINALLY 100% LET LOOSE. GREATEST MOMENT!
The rest of the night was a blast. I danced with my hubbie, we "sent off" the married couple and then met up with them and family again at a bar uptown. It was truly an awesome, memorable weekend. I might still be recovering, but it was worth every minute of stress and hard work!
For once in my life, I didn't take pictures at the wedding festivities. I hope to get some professional photos that I can share soon!
But, I did get some pics of Isabelle practicing being a flower girl. She was SOO excited about this special role!
We recently had a fun visit by my adorable Godchild, Frances, who is growing up before my very eyes. I don't get to see her and her family enough, but we enjoyed catching up for a short bit and taking pics of our cuties.
Collier is now 4 and a half months. He is finally entering that wonderful, adorable, happy baby stage. He doesn't fuss much, and he is so full of the biggest, most bright-eyed smiles you've ever seen. I've recently had a few emotional breakdowns over the night-wakings, the failed attempts at CIO (I cannot handle almost 2 hours of crying....this child cannot seem to soothe himself without his paci!), and a nursing strike. Just like my daughter, I seem to have highs and lows...one minute I am crying to the lactation consultant or searching on the internet for ways to get a baby to sleep through the night, and the next minute I am embracing this funny, unpredictable stage, the chubby legs kicking and the soft skin I can cuddle up to.
My loves.
Isabelle reading her recent favorite, The Children's Bible, to Collier. What little saints I have.
Enjoying a relaxing morning in our PJs.
Isabelle loves taking pictures almost as much as I do.
Giving Collier lessons on how to make the most of his playmat.
A little tummy time. This kid isn't nearly as strong as his sister was at this age. Hopefully this means he'll opt to be stationary for many months to come!
Buddies.
Here's Isabelle at about the same age.
How did the time pass by so quickly?!
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