Happy 3rd Birthday Max!!

 

It's hard to believe my little Max has turned 3!  He's our baby boy (not for much longer)...our cuddler, our shadow...and definitely our clown.  A circus party is fitting for his personality...so bring on the clowns!  We had such a blast planning his party and it turned out great.  Only a few kids were scared of the clowns, but they warmed up to them before the party was over.  Thank you to everyone that joined the fun...you made his birthday extra special!

 

 In addition to a cake this year, I made cupcakes for all the kids.  Assorted flavors of white almond sour cream, chocolate and strawberry!

 The candy buffet!  The kids and adults both loved it.  In addition to munch during the party, each kid got to fill up their favor bag with all their favorite sweet treats!

 Max's BIG TOP birthday cake.  I made a new flavor this time...Orange Cake!  Everyone loved it, so I will definitely add it to my stash of recipes :)

 Chocolate covered pretzel rods were probably a crowd favorite this year (in addition to the cake of coarse!)

 Singing Happy Birthday To Max!  Jots, the clown, posing for a great pic!

 For the clown show, each everyone got their own popcorn box.  They took them home to enjoy popcorn snacks later!

 Jots the clown from Circus Daze.  They did a great job!  And after the show they did animal balloons and face painting for everyone!

 Sonshyne the clown!

 Max was the cutest little tiger ever!  At the end of the day he was EXHAUSTED and so were we...but it was all well worth it.  Happy Birthday my sweet Max!!  I hope it was the best day ever for you!

Meeting Precious Marlin

 On our last trip to WV our first priority was to meet the newest member of the family....precious Marlin!  We couldn't be happier for Don and Adrian as they become new parents and experience the many joys of parenthood.  True...parenting is hard, but there is NOTHING more rewarding.  Our hearts are filled with joy to see them so happy and in love with the little man.  As you can see from the pictures, we were head over heels the moment we met him too! 

 The boys were so excited to meet their new cousin!  After meeting Marlin they have told me several times that we should name our baby Marlin also!  I guess that means they want Marlin around all the time!

 Aiden took to feeding Marlin like a pro and Max soon joined in on the fun!  It's a good thing they get some practice before their baby brother is here!

And of course...a visit wouldn't be complete without wrestling and having fun with Uncle Don (a.k.a. the proud daddy).  He's going to be such an awesome daddy!

We're so happy for you Don and Adrian!  We can't wait to watch all the boys grow up together.  Who knows what they will get into, but I'm sure there will never be a dull moment!  Much love to all three of you! 

It's a healthy baby BOY!!

The day I anxiously awaited finally arrived! I impatiently awaited to find out the gender of all my babies, but this time I was literally wanting to crawl out of my skin by the time THE DAY finally arrived. Why was this so different?? This is our last (or what we plan to be our last). Maybe God has different plans, but we've always wanted 3 babies...regardless of the gender. So this time I would finally know what my family would be!!! Would it be "My Three Sons" or two sons and a diva?? I know everyone expects me to say I want a girl...believe me I've heard it even before I was pregnant with our 3rd baby. I could amost see people's face change when I responded, "I'll be happy with either". It's almost like some people thought something was wrong with me for NOT having this overwhelming need for a girl. Don't get me wrong...I would take a girl just the same. I love little girls and their cute dresses just as much as the next person, but I was truly happy and content to receive whatever God was willing to give me.

So....without further delay....here's pictures of our new baby BOY!!! Due September 5th, but will most likely make his appearance at the end of August via c-section. He's already measuring 6 days ahead...just like his big brothers!!

Speaking of big brothers...Aiden was super excited and SO proud to tell all his friends about his new little brother.  And Max...sweet little Max responded, "Thank you mommy for making me a boy".  As for daddy....you probably won't see him for a while...it's going to take him a few days to land back on earth! 

So, if you're asking...."Are you happy?"  YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!  I'm over the moon to have another snuggly baby boy to cuddle.  Another boy to call me princess, another boy to say I'm beautiful, another boy to want mommy to fix HIS boo boos, another boy to look up to their AWESOME daddy, another boy to run, scream, kick, yell, wrestle, catch bugs, get dirty and do BOY things...and yes...even get time outs in the middle of public.  I love it all and wouldn't trade it for anything! 

Now if we only had a name and fabric for a quilt....to be continued...



Hungry Caterpillar!!

I must say, this hungry caterpillar cake was one of the funnest cakes I've made!!  I didn't just get to make some cute shapes...I got to paint!  And better yet, to match the book I got to be messy and paint!  The boys were so excited all week when I was making the cake, we read the book more that week that we had in the past year!  It is a great book...and an awesome party idea!

Here are some GREAT pics from Miss Ella's Hungry Caterpillar party.  Her mommy did an absolutely amazing job at putting together all the little details to make this party truly precious! 

If you're wondering about the amazing photography and the rest of the party details...head on over to Hana's Blog !  You can link to her photography website from there and see all the party details too!
 

Thanks Hana for giving me the opportunity to make your cake for such a special party!  LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!

Happy Birthday Andrew!!

Happy Birthday Andrew!  I love being able to make cakes and be a special part of birthday celebrations...especially a first birthday!!!  It's hard to believe Andrew is 1 already.  I know we say that with every baby...just goes to show how fast time really does fly!
 

I hope everyone enjoyed the cake and spoiled the little birthday boy rotten!

Make Life - My Nephew's Baby Quilt

 It has been extremely hard to NOT share one of the most important project I have been working on lately.  A new baby quilt.  Nope...not for me...for my nephew that is due to be born in the next few weeks.  About 10 minutes after I found out my brother and his wife were expecting I had it on my mind to start looking for quilt ideas.  I have only finished 3 quilts so far in my life...all for nieces and nephews :)  Yes...someday I will make my own boys a quilt...they are in the works, but much bigger so it will be a while before you see those :)

Anyways, I picked this 'life cycles' quilt and used Moda Fabric's "Make Life" by Sweetwater.  I love the colors and patterns and the idea of getting family members to sign it as a keep sake was just the idea I was looking for!  I started the quilt in November and finished it this past week and got to present it to the proud mommy and daddy-to-be at their family dinner/baby celebration this past weekend.  I hope they enjoy it and let the little one play on it often.

 I used my wonderful Singer Featherweight (gift from my MIL) to piece the fabric together and hand quilted all the detail.  Hard to see in the pictures, but there's a lot of quilting in there...I loved every minute of it!

 Family members signed their own messages to the baby.

 Hand made label on the back with my personalized prayer for my new nephew.  I can't wait to meet him!

The label read, "This quilt is made from fabric called 'Make Life'.  That is my prayer for you...make life...make it sweet, make it fun, make it challenging, make it hopeful, but most of all....make life BIG!  Big dreams, big goals, big joy, big laughter...a life of endless opportunities. -Made with never ending love-
Aunt Rachel"

Even Aiden and Max can't wait for the new addition!

Dinosaurs and Taylor Swift....What a Pair!

 One weekend....two cakes.  They couldn't be more different!  One Taylor Swift guitar cake for Miss Hannah and a dinosaur cake for Daniel (I had to watch Max from eating this one!).  To be honest I wasn't sure how the guitar cake was going to turn out...I had to try a several new things on one cake, which always makes me nervous.  In the end, I was happy and so were the birthday boy and girl!!

Happy 6th Birthday Hannah!!! 

Happy Birthday Daniel!!