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Guests, goodies & giant cupcake = 1st B-day fun

Posted on May 15, 2008 10:24 pm by TheAngelForever

It is still hard to believe that JSL is one already. Last year at this time I was threatening to leave the hospital after a really horrible night. Now I am home with all three of my boys and my baby is getting so big. Last Sunday (yes on Mother’s Day) we had JSL’s first birthday party at my parent’s house.

Saturday night JL and I baked the giant cupcake and twelve other cupcakes with the left over batter. We were up until almost 1:00 in the morning waiting for them to go into the freezer. In the morning we packed up the boys and went to my parents house. I quickly got everything out and started to frost the little cupcakes and decorate the big one. Thanks to my handy dandy decorating tool it came out really great and did not take too long in the scheme of things.

Once the cake was done it was time to work with my mother and Aunt M (my sister-in-law) to get the food baked and ready to go. We served an egg bake with scallions, baked peach french toast, bagels, lox, cream cheese, vegetarian liver (Mimi’s specialty), hummus, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and potato kuggel (Mimi’s again). I could not have had such amazing things if my mother and grandmother (Mimi) had not helped with the menu and Aunt M had not helped with everything on Sunday – thank you all!

While the preparations were being done in the kitchen the kids were busy playing. NHL, JSL and Cousin S were enjoying time with my brother, Papa and JL. Play time!

An attempt was also made to get a photo of the three grandkids together. This did not work out too well. Apparently this was the best that was captured.

Everyone started to arrive at 11:00. While the food finished baking people talked and watched the kids play. JSL had an interesting time with my parent’s massager. All I can say is – he is a total BOY!

All of the kids ate in the kitchen. It was too funny watching them interact with each other.

After brunch the kids went to play and we put the left over food away. Then it was time to set up all of the good stuff on the table for round two of food. It was finally time to put the giant cupcake on the table!

Everyone came to the dining room so we could light the candle, sing Happy Birthday to JSL and have him attempt to blow out the candle. He was quite serious at one point with everyone standing around watching him.

Time to blow out the candle

While I was busy cutting pieces of giant cupcake for everyone JSL was in the kitchen digging in. JL said that he was quite careful at first. After a little while he figured out that he could get more into his hands and stuff that into his mouth faster. Be glad that you did not have to clean up the little guy and/or his booster seat. NHL was amused with his brother’s mess and declared that JSL looked like Grandpa thanks to his white frosting beard.

Once JSL was cleaned up (read – the best that could be done without a tub) it was time to open presents. This was something pretty new for him. Sure he had a few items at Chanukah time, but he was so little in December. NHL was quite eager to help his little brother dig into the gifts. JSL did not understand why he could not play with his first gift and started to have a mini temper tantrum when we tried to hand him a new package. He did not want that and wanted to play with his new toy.

Of course the real fun came soon after this when all five of the kids started to romp in the wrapping paper. Oh wait, some adults also got into the mix. Check it out. . .

Wrapping paper fun

Being the birthday boy was hard work. The little guy had to stop at one point to chug some water from his sippy cup since he was so thirsty.

It was a very nice day. Seeing all of our family members, eating good food was nice but soon it was time for everyone to leave. Uncle I and Aunt M had a big trip ahead of them. Cousin S was all ready to go after hugging everyone goodbye.

All ready to head home

Before we knew it everyone was gone. It was time to clean up, pack up and go home. JSL did not nap all day and quickly had a bath, ate an early dinner and went to sleep dreaming of giant cupcakes.

Now we can sit back for a few weeks until we start to plan NHL’s 5th birthday party for August. He has ideas, but we shall see what we agree to.

Categories:
birthday family food glorious food fun jsl milestone photos weekend yummy

My Baby is 1

Posted on May 14, 2008 12:36 am by TheAngelForever

I just spent the last few hours looking at photos from the last year. The first year of JSL’s little life has now come and gone. It seems like yesterday when I was VERY pregnant and upset that the little guy did not listen to my eviction notice. Here I am just eight days before my life changed forever.

The day before JSL was born was Mother’s Day last year. It was a lazy day where I rested a lot and was not feeling the best. The next morning I got out of bed and before I was able to stand all the way up I heard a loud pop and ran to the bathroom. I recalled this from almost four years earlier when it happened with NHL. I calmly went back to the bedroom and woke JL up to tell him the news. The rest of the story can be seen here.

It is so hard to believe that my baby is one. I am not ready for this and am in denial. Yet as I sit here looking through all of the memories of JSL’s first year I know it is true. I have tears in my eyes because I flash back to February, a horrible month that almost stole my baby from me.

Here are some photos from each month of JSL’s 1st year.

May 2007

1 – Right after he was born. 2 – Big brother NHL comes to take JSL home. 3 – Sleeping in the Papasan on loan from Laura. 4 – Right before his bris.

June 2007

1- So tiny in his car seat. 2 – Big brother NHL taken JSL for a walk. 3 – All curled up to sleep. 4 – Big smiles!

July 2007

1 – First time in his swing – other wise known as his "Thinking place" 2- Mommy and her boys 3 – Kiss from big brother NHL 4- Sitting up alone on the couch

August 2007

1 – In Nana’s arms at Aunt M’s baby shower 2 – Vegging out with big brother NHL 3 – Time to romp in the new to us ExerSaucer … another "Thinking spot" 4 – Posing for the camera with his Very Hungry Caterpillar bib

September 2007

1 – Brotherly love 2 – Creeping in his crib 3 – At the apple orchard in Mom’s arms 4 – Look at those chubby thighs!

October 2007

1 – Wearing the Ark outfit 2 – Amused by Mommy taking lots of photos 3 – One cool dude! 4 – Monkey NHL and penguin JSL at Halloween

November 2007

1 – Wearing new outfit for photo shoot 2 – First solid food 3 – Story time with NHL and Daddy 4 – Cuddles with Mommy

December 2007

1 – Photo shoot for our holiday cards with NHL 2 – Lots of fun jumping in the ExerSaucer 3 – Sleeping in the car next to big brother NHL 4 – Cuddle time on flannel sheets.

January 2008

1 – Big smiles and lots of teeth 2 – Ready for the cold to pick up big brother from school 3 – Wearing jeans for the first time 4 – Snuggling pirate ducky blanket made by Laura.

February 2008

1 – Asleep after coming in from the cold 2 – During four day hospital stay after febrile seizure 3 – Cozy surrounded by lots of flannel 4 – Brothers are reunited and snuggling

March 2008

1 – Brother bonding time 2 – Messy baby face 3 – Loving his bouncy zebra 4 – Standing up in crib to say hello

April 2008

1 – Whipped cream loving baby 2 – Walking with his new lion toy from Nana and Papa 3 – Playing soccer outside with Daddy and NHL 4 – Passover with his matzoh bib

May 2008

1 – Lots of laughs with big brother NHL 2 – Sleep eating 3 – First time on the Merry-go-round with Daddy 4 – Opening presents at his birthday party

Happy 1st birthday JSL – we are so blessed to have you in our lives. Always know that Mommy loves her snuggle puppy and can not wait to continue to watch you grow (just stop doing it so quickly – PLEASE).

Categories:
birthday jsl looking back milestone photos

Official 1st B-day Giant Cupcake

Posted on May 12, 2008 12:13 pm by TheAngelForever

Things have been quite busy here this weekend. My brother and his family were in town and yesterday was JSL’s 1st Birthday party.

We were out and about all day Saturday. Photos coming soon of everyone at the little amusement park (JSL had his first rides). Thanks to being out so late, JL helped me to stay awake long enough to bake the giant cupcake. Here is where the test runs paid off. We knew exactly what we had to do and were able to get it done quickly. Still even with the organized plan, we were still up until almost 1:00 in the morning waiting for the giant cupcake to be ready to put in the freezer.

The giant cupcake stayed in our freezer over night. Sunday morning I took it out for 10 minutes so I could quickly carve it to put together for the trip to my parents house. Once I got there (9:00 for a 11:00 party) I started to decorate it.

Here is a sneak peak of the finished cake:

And a tease of JSL eating the cake and frosting for the first time:

Yes - I think he likes it

More photos and items from the weekend coming soon.

Categories:
birthday jsl photos yummy

A Baby’s Eye View

Posted on May 10, 2008 11:50 pm by TheAngelForever

There are days that I wish I could read JSL’s mind. What does he think of the giant world around him? What exactly are those little blue eyes looking at?

In just a few short hours we will be having JSL’s 1st birthday party with our family. I can only imagine what he will be thinking with everyone at Nana and Papa’s house. Will be love or hate the attention? Is he going to enjoy frosting for the first time? So many firsts all in one day for a little guy who has not seen the world for an entire year.

As I sit here the day before Mother’s Day I have tears running down my cheek thinking about the year that has gone by.

A year ago I sat so horribly uncomfortable waiting for my little guy to arrive. He ignored all of the notices to vacate and came on his own schedule. JL and I tried to cherish the last moments with NHL before he became a big brother.

On Mother’s Day last year I had no idea what the following 24 hours would bring. I was exhausted that day and quite uncomfortable. My body must have known something was going on and made sure I took a long nap. JL brought NHL to the park and had an amazing time there while I caught up on sleep. It was a very lazy day, but a great one none the less.

The following morning I had the surprise of my life as my water broke standing up getting out of bed. The sound of the pop sent chills down my spine. I knew I was going to be a mommy again and was so thrilled to know I would soon meet my new little fellow.

Over the next few days I am going to try to gather things to showcase JSL’s 1st year before he officially turns one on Wednesday.

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone – have a wonderful special day!

Categories:
birthday jsl looking back milestone photos

Giant cupcake making – Take 2

Posted on May 5, 2008 11:16 pm by TheAngelForever

Saturday and Sunday it was time to bake and decorate the second test run of JSL’s first birthday cake. The first attempt can be seen here and viewed being eaten here. From the first baking we learned some valuable things. We knew that we had to put a lot less batter into the pan and bake it for less time.

Thanks to Google I was able to find a great hint. Someone mentioned baking it at 325 (not 350) for 65 minutes (we actually only kept it in 50 minutes). They also said to put 3 1/2 cups of batter into the bottom section and 3 cups into the top. Another pointer was to freeze the cake to make it easier to carve. While out and about we also decided to try something different for decorating. We found a new toy for me to use. Here it is:

Several of the photos of completed giant cupcakes had tops that had used a similar tool. We figured it was worth the small investment since it will be used again.

Given the resources I found we bought two marble cake mixes and whipped frosting and were ready to go. Things were a little more complicated with the marbling. We had to figure how much to leave out of each side to have the right amount left for the little cupcakes (we had a dozen of those this time). It took a bit more time, but we now believe it was worth it and will go quickly for JSL’s birthday. Here is the finished product after it was almost completely decorated Sunday night.

Giant Cupcake Take 2

We ran out of frosting with a bit left to go. Ooops! Thank goodness JL’s co-workers did not seem to care as they devoured the cake rather quickly.

The deal was to send the giant cupcake into work and keep the little ones home. Here are half of the ones we had for all of us to enjoy. They have my favorite frosting from childhood on them that was discontinued for a while. Thank goodness it is back!

Hopefully the cake baking Saturday will go as smoothly. We just need to finalize the topper for the cake that will go along with the giant star sprinkles that I bought especially for JSL’s 1st birthday cake. We think we want something from Sesame Street and have to figure a way to write his name on it. Plus the #1 candle needs to be on top.

Enjoy the sugary goodness of the photos, more will be coming Sunday after the party!