Babies, Computers and Such . . .

My temporary blogging break has been caused by our lives being turned upside down! Well, mostly mine for right now . . . I have started to watch a 4 month old (? I think he's that old! See, things are crazy!) here at our house during the week. This has been quite the adjustment for us all. Matt has been a huge help with the baby and giving me breaks when I need them, and Trenton has been pretty accepting of his new little friend. That's a huge relief since we've got another litle friend in the making--he or she should be arriving in 6 or 7 months! So things not only are hectic, but I am battling the first trimester nausea and sleepiness throughout each day! We are super excited and will hopefully will know more soon about when the baby is due. :)

Oh, and our computer crashed a couple weeks ago, so updates may still be scarce. At least until we've saved up enough for a new one (and I get caught up on my never-ending desire for sleep)!

Trenton, Son of Matt

If you know my husband, chances are you've seen glimpses of the ridiculous amount of shoes he's collected over the years. A few of you might have been oh-so-lucky to have actually seen the shoes lined up on display as proof that he does, indeed, possess shoes in higher value than our wedding rings put together. Now, I'm really not bitter, or even making fun of Matt, and I'm not saying that he needs to get rid of his shoes (he might throw me out with them if I say that!). But, I am quite thankful that a large amount of his Never-Worn-Out-of-the-House Jordans and similarly useless shoes are stored away in his mom's attic. Our closet already looks like a shoe store, and I'm not sure where we would be able to put the entire collection. :) He is so proud of all of his shoes, and he does take great care of them. Since we've been married, he's reigned in on his never-ending shoe purchasing urges, and sticks to longingly browsing through Foot Locker's collection both in the store and on the Internet. He's training for the Indy Mini-Marathon for the second year, so he stays somewhat satiated with his new, as-needed, running shoes a couple of times each year.

Here's the problem: He has a son. A son with an eerily similar shoe obsession! UGH!! How did this happen? I think Matt whispers to Trenton in his sleep when I'm not around. I do know that Matt now also longingly looks at toddler shoes (Jordans, Nike Shox, etc.), and laughs when I say that Target might carry shoes that would be just fine for a three-year old. Trenton's wide feet basically force the two of us to call a truce--Matt's fancy shoes don't quite fit right, nor do my cheap, but cute shoes from Target. Instead, we are forced to find a compromise in Stride Rite's wide shoes that are equally expensive as the Jordans, but still as cute as I'd like (I think Jordans are UGLY!). Trenton, however, sees no need for this compromise. We can barely walk into a shoe store before he starts screaming "ooooooh!" (that's shoe without the "sh") and expects us to hand him shoes to hold and admire with longing eyes just like his Father's. After we bought a new pair this week, Trenton asks for them the moment he wakes up, and will wear them until he goes to bed (yes, he wears them even with pajamas). He makes us take off the "oooohs" and then put them back on seconds later, only to repeat 15 times within an hour. He shows them off to everyone, and we caught him doing a little dance in them last night because he was so excited to wear them. It's like seeing my husband in his toddler years!! I fear that by the time Trenton is married, he might have a wife with some blogging material about her husband's shoe obsession, too. :)

Sister, Sister Cake Decorating Company, Inc.

Karie and I have watched a couple episodes of "Ace of Cakes" on TV when we are bored--those cake decorators are incredible! We always get hungry for cake while we watch, amazed at the cakes that Duff and his people create. At the risk of sounding like we watch too much TV (and we do!), we recently watched the movie "Because I Said So." Great movie--and at the end, they show a pretty cool wedding cake with colored polka dots all over it. I think this was Karie's breaking point. She was suddenly inspired to make and decorate a cake. We looked up tips for using and making fondant (the smooth stuff that goes over icing to make the cakes look so good), and eventually made a trip to the store to buy pre-made fondant and some supplies. It took us at least 3 hours to finish this cake. Matt's mom's icing recipe is amazing, and we had to make two batches to cover the cake. Icing the cake was my job, and I have to say I was horrible at it! It took me forever to get that stuff smooth. Later we realized that it didn't need to be perfectly smooth since the fondant covers many of the flaws. Karie is the fondant roller-outer, and she is great at coloring the fondant, too! Here was our creation:

We had so much fun making this cake, and the funniest part was that it tasted awful! Fondant isn't known for being yummy, but somehow the cake underneath was bad, too. We laughed at ourselves and said we'd try again soon. Then the opportunity came! Our sister-in-law, Stephanie's birthday is Jan. 15, so we made a cake for her birthday dinner. This time, we used Linda's icing recipe AND cake recipe, and the cake tasted MUCH better. (Thanks, Linda!) Our decorating time was less than an hour, and I think it turned out better! We joke around about starting a cake company (hence the title above) so that we can save up for an expensive camera to start our own photography business! And now I think I've let everyone in a bit too much on just how crazy Karie and I really are. :)

Steph's birthday cake!!

Another Photo Shoot

We got the Beaver grandchildren together at our house for a quick photo shoot--Mimi has a great picture of her fabulous 5 hanging in her dining room, and we wanted to recreate the shot as a surprise to her. Thanks to Jenni's camera, a white sheet, and three exhausted adults, we were able to get a good picture! Here are the results!

The famous pose.

T and Lindsey

Lindsey and Gabby--I love how Gabby is looking to
see what Lindsey is doing! They are adorable.

A rare shot of them all smiling at the camera!

The Big Boy Bed

Christmas morning, Trenton woke to find a new bed waiting for him next to the Christmas tree! It is a teeny little toddler bed, and it is a perfect fit. He loved it right away, and had no problem climbing in and making himself at home. He even opened presents while he sat on it!

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So far, we have had no problems transitioning to the bed from the crib (which was promptly taken apart and put in the garage before noon Christmas Day!). We are lucky to have only found him on the floor one time at night. He was sitting straight up, so we think he must have climbed out and wasn't sure what to do next. He also won't get out of bed in the morning until one of us goes into his room and tells him to "roll." Somehow, he hasn't realized that we have given him the control to do this on his own! And let me tell you, we are okay with that! Especially with a feeding pump at night. I'm sure it won't last, but for now, things are working out well! Stay tuned for a future blog entitled: "He Won't Stay in Bed and We are Getting No Sleep." :)

Preschool Christmas Party

We had lots of Christmas projects planned for John this week, but due to 2 snow days, we had to pack them all into one day! Karie rushed to the store to buy some cookie-making supplies while John and I finished making and wrapping small gifts for his family, made a chain to count the days left til Christmas, and made some reindeer prints with hands and feet! Then we unleashed the cookies and supplies on the boys . . . it was a huge mess (hence their shirts being off!) but so much fun! John was a mad man with the green frosting, and Trenton loved the sprinkles and red hots! We will definitely have to do this again. Later, we tried on Trenton's Christmas sweater. . . he was clearly thrilled. :)

Our Friend Ash

One of my favorite things about our friend Ashley is that no matter the situation, she can reference some episode of Friends that fits perfectly! Every time she says, "That reminds me of . . ." I know there is about to be a story coming up about Joey and sandwiches, or one of Phoebe's crazy songs. The stories (and Ash's ability to remember every single detail about anything she sees!) make me laugh every time. I love laughing as we remember episodes and each of the Friends characters together.

Last night, there were six of us, and we joked around trying to decide which Friends characters we are most like (Yeah, we might be dorks--or bored--but come on, you know you've tried to figure out whether you're more a Monica or a Rachel!). :) Naturally, my sarcastic husband is Chandler, and Karie got pegged as the animal-loving vegetarian, Phoebe, and so on. I'd rather not mention who I got likened to, as I've always hoped to be the cool Rachel! But no. I got Ross. Yes, Ross! We all laughed so hard as I slowly realized that I really am as dorky and awkward as the character that annoys me most on that show. Looks like I need to find a Bloomingdale's and practice up on my Rachel-ness! :)

Oh, and we tried to stump Ashley with the ridiculous, impossibly difficult questions on the Friends board game (Yes, I have the Friends game--didn't buy it, never played it, as it's so hard!). Next time you see her, you might ask Ash the last name of Joey's agent, or which one of Joey's sisters Chandler dated. You'll be impressed! But only if you haven't been around her to hear the Friends memories yourself! We love you, Ashley!!!