Can my baby really be 6?

Big Birthday Electric Guitar...Rock on Hank!

Birthday Party #1

Birthday Party #2

It seems like we were just dropping off Hannah (peeper #1) to go have Hank (peeper #2) ... in fact, we even managed to run by Babies R Us for some blue bubblegum cigars ... this is what baby boys do to daddy's! I still have hard time droppping Hank off for Kindergarten some days...he doesn't seem big enough to be getting out of the car with big sister Hannah and walking into school with a back pack and his hair done to a T (by himself I might add ... I mean, how many 6 year olds do their own "do"?). Hank was so ready to be 6 ... seems like he had a countdown going for a couple of months which of course extended into, "It's still my birthday week" .... Hank is constant entertainment ... funny, smart and of course handsome, like his daddy. We were at a Christmas program last week and the "angels" came dancing along on the stage ... Hank leans over to me and says, "Mom, those are not angels ... they don't have those circle things on their head" .... talk about sweet and funny at the same time ... that is my Hanker! I love how he wants me to "lay with him" every night and read to him. This is my baby who wanted me to "rock me mommy" until he was about 4 ... such a snuggle bug and I guess that's how he became my "love bug". I like to ask him if he's still going to be my "love bug" when he goes to college (can't even begin to imagine those days ... heck, I barely got through Pre-K graduation ... it's not going to get any easier with my Hankie. So, here's to my big 6 year old "baby" ... Happy Sweet 6th Birthday to my Hankie, Hanker, the Hankinator and of course, my love bug!

Sweet 6th Basketball Birthday!

I was so excited when my friend Julie (be sure to check out her sweet blog too - http://justjuleseveryday.blogspot.com/) 
asked me to do Brady's 6th birthday cake ... of course I'm a little partial to 6 year old boys ... because our own Hank is turning 6 this week too! AND ... Brady & Hank are buddies in the same Kindergarten class! Nothing sweeter than boys ... don't get me wrong little girls are great too ... but something about little boys and my love bug Hank ... he has always been a snuggler since day 1 and still lets me call him my love bug! I love how he gives me compliments and notices all the little things like even when I've had my toe nails painted! I love how he always has to give me a kiss AND a hug. I love how he winks at me and raises his eyebrows ... makes me laugh everytime! I had lunch today with my love bug and love sitting with the Kindergarten boys and listening to all their stories, being called Mrs. Phillips and well, of course how many times they can burp ... they are all so sweet & polite ... well most of the time! So here's to being 6 and sweet and snuggly and so adorable! Happy 6th Birthday Brady!

Happy 8th Birthday to my sweet Hannah!

Can she really be 8? Seems like we were just getting everything ready for our 1st baby not that long ago...everything from attempting puffy clouds on pink walls (not so much clouds but we just went with a basic pink...cotton candy to be exact!), putting the crib together (well, I left the room), decorating her room (which included a wall border...I tried to help, but I wasn't that much of a help so once again, Torie came through...I tried not to "direct" too much!), getting all her clothes washed & ready and just so ready to put our new baby in her room! I can remember when my sister in law was planning our shower ... she wanted to plan it September 16 and how I thought that may be to close to when I would be having Hannah ... after all, I was due Oct 3 but lo & behold, we had plenty of time seeing that she decided to wait and "cook" a bit longer and not make her sweet debut until October 11. What a beautiful fall day that was ... this fall weather always reminds me of having Hannah and coming home to windows open and taking her on her first official walk @ Shawnee Mission Park (dog park of course with our 1st baby, Brittany). Even though all of this seems like yesterday, we had so much fun since then (well, there were those 1st two weeks where we weren't sure what we had done and Torie was so sweet, we were both tired and out of solutions, so he just pulled up a blanket & a pillow and slept on her floor by her crib ... nothing sweeter than that!).  

So back to Hannah turning 8 .... she is so cute about it all and

yesterday she just said, "mom, it's fun saying you are 8!" What a sweet & happy girl we have been blessed with. What a sweet & perfect blessing from above who was so wonderfully made .... I know my mom is celebrating every minute from Heaven and she loved being a part of every bit of Hannah & Hank's lives .... thank you mom for instilling your legacy in us! Happy Birthday Hannah!

So fun to be 4!



Batman Cake #2 - Walker's 4th Birthday



Batman is back ... and much more detailed I might add! I was so excited when my friend Mary asked me to make a Batman cake for Mr. Walker (the cutest boy who just turned 4!)  ... not only do I like Batman (and yes, the 1st Batman movie with Michael Keaton WAS the BEST ... hands down!) but creating a Batman cake is awesome! Probably the best thing about the cake was, of course the memories it brought back of my sweet Hank (Hankie, Hanker, the Hankenator) when he turned 4 AND had a Batman cake! So fun to think back of my baby Hank (who is about turn 6) and his BIG 4 year old birthday.

Batman Cake #1 - Hank's 4th Birthday

It seems like I was just checking into the hospital to have him and now my little love bug is in Kindergarten and about to be 6! I'm so thankful for Hank's sweet, sweet spirit and passion that I just can't wait for many, many more ... Happy FUN 4th Birthday Walker!



Oh to be 10 again....

I can totally remember being 10 and in the 5th grade ... well, at least some if it, but I do remember my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Bove @ Overland Park Elementary and thinking that our class was almost the top of the class (you know back in the olden days .... elementary school was K-6 and then it was junior high ... now that's another blog post .... terrified in 7th grade!) Okay, back to 5th grade .... new school subjects & switching classes, walking to school (when it was safe), making those cool "glue" finger nails with dried glue (that of course we made inside our metal desks), the rumor of the "clown in the black van" driving around picking up kids, playing tetherball and wishing I was really good at tetherball on the playground (which I never remembering winning ... there was always one girl (Nikki) who always won and was super cool), wishing I was cool and friends with the "cool girls" .... funny, thinking back on all these things and realizing what really matters now and how not much of that was important. I want to explain all these things to Hannah & Hank so they don't worry about what kids say and do but guess some of it they have to go through and make those decisions for themselves. I'm just always in "protective mode" and want to shield them from the pain and getting their feelings hurt.  

However, they are so happy go lucky and pretty resilient & thankful they are good at holding their own ... so enough about me and being 10 but more about the birthday @ hand! Happy 10th  Birthday Devin! Hope you had a fabulous party and welcome to your tweens! Which btw ... totally NOT ready for my baby to turn 10!

Birthday Blessings....Party #2!

Well...Miss Ava Maria should be good & worn out from her second 1st birthday party...what a blessed little girl to have such a loving family & friends to help her celebrate her big day! A girl can never have too many birthday party celebrations ... right?  I remember getting ready for Hannah & Hank's first birthdays ... what kind of cake should I make? what should the theme be? what should they wear? how many pictures can I take of the cake, the party table, the decorations and of course H&H digging into their cakes (the best part!) .... ahhh, nothing like 1st birthdays and of course, they just get more fun from there.  Hard to believe we'll be celebrating Hannah's 8th birthday & Hank's 6th birthday in a few months and not much has changed for me ... still thinking about the cake, theme, etc., but now I get valuable & creative input from H&H ... and that's the icing on the cake! 

1st Birthday Love

One of the many things I love about creating cakes, cookies and cupcakes are the stories & celebrations behind the design. I love the emotion and passion people have about their children and how their celebrations have no bounds. Today I had the joy of creating one of two 1st birthday celebrations ... party #1 was a "smash" cake and celebration cupcakes for Ms. Ava Maria who is turning 1. Ava Maria is a miracle child as her mom and dad have been through many challenges to have their Ava Maria blessing along with their other 2 children. As I sat & listened to Ava's mom share about her journey, my heart went out to here and I found myself loving my own two blessings more .... if that's possible.

Trying to not get emotional, I took notes on how Ava's goodies were going to be decorated for party #1 ... right down to the last squiggle. Who knew I could feel so blessed through baking ... thank you mom for letting your legacy shine through.