Some days...

...when your kiddo regresses to waking up three times during the night for three nights in a row,...

...when he finally sleeps for an eleven hour stretch but still wakes up grumpy,...

...when he sobs for ten minutes straight but won't let you comfort him and he can't communicate what is wrong,...

...when his nose won't stop running and he won't stop rubbing it all over his face and hair (or all over you) rather than letting you take care of it with a kleenex,...

...when he has a meltdown every five minutes,...

...when you get caught in the vicious cycle that is 'wipe the icky nose, he cries because he hates you wiping his nose, the nose runs some more thanks to the crying, so you have to wipe it again',...

...you have to remind yourself that teething is only a stage and will soon pass, and, more importantly, that your kiddo will return to his precious self very soon.

This is what I am using as my reminder today:

And yes, I am one of those shameless mothers who lets her 18 month old eat some of his Halloween candy. Cha-ching! Thats the sound of my kiddo's future dental bill on the rise.

Did you also notice that I didn't hop right up to grab the Nerds he kept dropping onto my floor? The new and improved Jody waited until the camera stopped rolling before she was on all fours on the dining room floor, chasing down every last tiny Nerd. I think I'm growing!

Oh How The Time Flies!

{ HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY TO US! }

(I meant to post this a week ago, but had to wait until I had a good recent photo of us.)

2005

2008

2010

Nobody loves you like I do, babe!

Ten on Tuesday

1. We had an incredible wind storm last night. PRO: Justin no longer has to rake up all the leaves because they either blew away or formed themselves into neat little piles for him. CON: Our already ugly, sparse tree in the front yard lost a few more meager branches. A few more wind storms like this and only the trunk of the tree will remain – a situation which would actually simplify our dilemma of getting rid of that darn tree.

Come to think of it, maybe that’s a pro.

2. This morning I drove to work behind a Dodge Ram pickup whose bed held 8 grown pigs, all crammed in like sardines. Ahhh, such is life in Eastern Washington.

3. The lady driving beside me pointed out the pigs to her toddler riding in her back seat. I could already hear the question: “Mommy, where is he taking those pigs in his pickup?”

My guess? Piggie heaven.

4. Last night I finally finished Breaking Dawn (for you non-fans, thats book 4 of the Twilight series). One more item checked off the Age 30 Bucket List. WOOP WOOP!

5. Will you find me in line for tickets when they finally release Breaking Dawn in theaters? Probably not. I really enjoyed the series, but you couldn't pay me enough to see this movie in a theater packed full of vampire-crazed tweens.

6. The Disney Movie Trivia feature will not appear this week due to lack of participation - well, that and...I seem to have used up all of the good Disney movies from which people can actually identify quotes.

{Last week's answer: Beauty and the Beast)

7. My fall love this week is my new table runner. I have had this fabric for a few years and finally sewed this runner the other night. Too bad we will only enjoy it for about a week - then its Christmas decor time!

8. In case it is entirely too obvious that I haven't bragged about my kiddo yet in this post, please be advised that we are living with a teething monster this week.

Enough said.

9. Snow is in our forecast for the weekend and I can't wait! Kendry even got his first official snowsuit in the mail this week (hand-me-downs rock!). Curious as to why I don't have an adorable photo of my snow-ready kiddo in his snowsuit for this post? Please refer to #8 above.

The teething monster does not do adorable photos.

10. This Week's Blessing: spending a wonderfully romantic evening in Spokane with my hubby last weekend. Many thanks to Amanda and Jeremy for keeping Kendry overnight for us!

Ten on Tuesday

1. I am certain that the genious behind Daylight Savings Time never had a toddler with an internal clock waking him up at 6:30am (now 5:30am). Augh!

2. I have a serious love/hate relationship with clothes shopping. I love to shop for new clothes - what woman doesn't, right? But I hate selecting which clothes to buy because, more often than not, I have no idea how to wear the current trends. I'm afraid I am somewhat fashion challenged. I was at JCPenney this weekend and found a nice cardigan, but just as I was about to purchase it I envisioned my sister Angel telling me it looked like a "grandma's cardigan". I promptly returned it to its rack. Why oh why can't I live near one of my sisters, if not for this very purpose?!

3. And speaking of clothes......."jeggings"? Really?!

4. My fall love this week is my topiary.

I made this topiary with my sisters several years ago (2002?) when we were together at Jaimee's house in Kenai. We each made our own and when they were completed we noted how each one resembled our various personalities. When I get my topiary out each fall I remember that day with my sisters so fondly.

5. Who knew I could be so excited for a training potty to arrive in the mail this week? I can't wait for Kendry to see it. Its in the shape of a frog.

6. Disney Movie Trivia: "Ma chère mademoiselle. It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight. And now, we invite to relax, let us pull up a chair, as the dining room proudly presents... your dinner."

{Last week's answer: Dumbo}

7. Confession: I cheated and listened to some Christmas music today - but only because Amazon had a Veggie Tales Christmas Album as a free download and I just had to have it for Kendry.



8. P.S. to all you moms out there: if you haven't signed up for Amazon Mom you are missing out.

9. I am three movies into my Fall Film Festival, having already watched One True Thing, When Harry Met Sally, and Son-in-Law (which wasn't on my earlier list but had to be added since the movie takes place over Thanksgiving - and because I love Pauly Shore).

10. This Week's Blessing: Cheesecake, cheesecake and more cheesecake! Justin and I are relishing the leftovers of his birthday cheesecake; it is our nightly dessert ritual this week.

The (Now Infamous) Cheesecake

This weekend my in-laws came to visit and we held a 30th birthday dinner celebration for Justin. We made Crock-Pot Taco Soup for dinner, a delicious recipe Justin and I recently discovered and absolutely love. And for dessert: cheesecake!

I told you in my TOT post last week that Justin wanted a homemade cheesecake for his birthday. I also admitted that, as much as I ADORE baking, I had yet to make a cheesecake. Now I must clarify that statement: I had yet to successfully make a cheesecake. Justin reminded me after said TOT post that I actually made a pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving a few years ago; however, since nobody really liked that cheesecake - and I'm pretty sure I burned the crust somehow - I do not include it on my baking resume.

Not wanting to spend my Saturday juggling a baking task and a busy toddler, I opted to make this cheesecake on Friday evening. But, chatty daughter-in-law that I am, I let myself get a little sidetracked in catching up with my in-laws, so the cheesecake didn't make it into the oven until 10pm. There was a sour cream topping that required an additional 20 minutes cooking time at a lower temp, and then I had to account for some cooling time. Long story short, I finally put the semi-cooled cheesecake in the fridge at 12:30am, long after everyone else had headed to bed. Lucky for me, I am halfway through Breaking Dawn right now, so Edward, Bella and Jacob helped to keep me awake for the sake of The Perfect Cheesecake.

And no, I'm not bragging when I call it that - the recipe I found is actually called The Perfect Cheesecake. Its from The Pioneer Woman, so I knew it had to be marvelous.

I would love to tell you that the first thing I thought of the next morning was how blessed I am to wake up to a happy toddler, but it wasn't. It was the cheesecake. I may have even hopped out of bed (a rare thing for a leisurely Saturday), excited to peek at my masterpiece. You see, the cake was still a little warm when I put it in the fridge the night before, but I couldn't keep my eyes open a second longer waiting for it to completely cool. Perfectionist that I am, I was worried that breaking this "completely cool then refrigerate" rule would result in a less-than-perfect dessert.

Justin and Kendry were in the kitchen when I walked in and went straight for the fridge. I audibly oohed and I aahed over it a bit. Then, seeing that it looked presentable even though I had put it in the fridge a wee bit early, I closed the fridge door and greeted my family good morning.

Exactly what happened next is still a bit puzzling to me. One second I was loving on my kiddo sitting adorably in his PJ's on the kitchen counter, and the next second I heard a crash from the fridge behind me. I turn to see my hubby barely holding up a shelf in the fridge, and my beautiful cheesecake lying facedown on the kitchen floor. I think I actually mumbled something like "No, you didn't", and then the tears came. Perhaps I was overtired, or simply overdue for a good cry, but I didn't even try to stop the tears. Within seconds I was blubbering like a child, asking "What were you doing?" and "Why didn't you ask for my help?" Maybe there is no use crying over spilled milk, but it is most certainly justified to sob over a mutilated dessert.

Between comforting his sobbing wife, re-attaching the fridge shelf and cleaning up the globs of cheesecake leaving a trail from the fridge to the overturned springform pan, my hubby finally admitted that he had wanted to take a peek at the cake himself. But apparently his maneuvering of the cake cover and the fridge shelf went a little haywire. Sniffling back my tears, I nearly laughed at the thought of my 30 year old husband sneaking into the fridge like a little boy, so excited to see his birthday cake. How could I possibly stay mad at him for that?

Finally, we flipped the springform over and realized that the damage wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed, especially since the rest of the cake was still intact in the pan. The only permanent scarring was where my hubby had attempted to catch the cake on its way down. So we did a little patching and then figured if we did a raspberry glaze on top the damage may not even be noticeable.

Now that I look at it again, the damage even resembles my hubby's handprint.

And the glaze worked like a charm:

I put up a few photos of my hubby for the birthday dinner. From left to right its Justin with his mom, Justin with his little brother Dru, and Justin at the pumpkin patch with Kendry a few weeks ago.

Gosh that cake looks pretty, doesn't it? And it tasted delicious!

Happy 30th Birthday, Justin!