Chicken with black pepper maple sauce

You will lick your plate when you eat this. I promise. It is SO good and so easy to make. I am not a huge fan of simultaneously sweet and salty food, but this is an exception. It may sound like a lot of time and a lot of work, but it's not. While the chicken is cooking you make the sauce. Easy!

Ingredients:

1 (3- to 3 1/2-lb) whole chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 (3-inch-long) sprigs fresh rosemary plus 1 (1-inch-long) sprig
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1/4 cup dark amber or Grade B maple syrup
3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup cider vinegar

Preparation:
* Let me just start by saying that I use 4 chicken breasts. None of this cut-the-backbone-with-kitchen-shears-nonsense. Gross. Just use chicken breasts and it's perfectly good and less time consuming.* Carry on!

Cut out backbone from chicken with kitchen shears and discard. Pat chicken dry, then spread flat, skin side up, on a cutting board. Cut a 1/2-inch slit on each side of chicken in center of triangle of skin between thighs and breast (near drumstick), then tuck bottom knob of each drumstick through slit. Tuck wing tips under breast. Sprinkle chicken all over with salt and ground pepper.


* I took a large boiling pot and put my tea pot in it to weigh it down. I filled the tea pot with water. You really do need to use a weight so the chicken gets that lovely crunch to the outside. I can't figure out how to get the crunch AND get the inside of the chicken to stay moist, but I don't care. I'd rather have crunchy dry chicken than not crunchy moist chicken.*


Heat 3 tablespoons butter in 10-inch cast-iron or heavy nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Add chicken, skin side down, and arrange larger rosemary sprigs over chicken. Cover with parchment round and second skillet, then top with weights. Cook chicken until skin is browned, about 15 minutes. Remove and reserve weights, top skillet, parchment, and rosemary, then carefully loosen chicken from skillet with a spatula. Turn chicken over and re-place rosemary sprigs, then re-cover with parchment, skillet, and weights. Cook until chicken is just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes more.

*Let me start again by saying I don't bother toasting whole peppercorns and crush with a rolling pin unless I REALLY have time to do it. And who really cares, anyway? I just use ground pepper. * Carry on!

Make sauce while chicken cooks:
Toast peppercorns in a dry 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, shaking pan occasionally, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a clean cutting board and coarsely crush with a rolling pin. Return peppercorns to saucepan and bring to a simmer with syrup, 1/2 cup broth, and small rosemary sprig, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a platter and loosely cover with foil. Add vinegar to skillet and deglaze, boiling and scraping up brown bits with a wooden spoon until liquid is reduced by half. Stir in maple mixture and remaining 1/4 cup broth and boil until slightly syrupy, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and swirl in remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Season sauce with salt and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Serve chicken with sauce.

I made this with herbed potatoes and used the maple sauce on the chicken and as dipping sauce for my potatoes ... then I licked the plate ;)

De-vine. Enjoy!

Spiced Pumpkin Bread (Muffins)

I love pumpkin flavored food. Starbucks has a seasonal latte that is pumpkin spice and I order it skinny and tall with a piece of pumpkin bread. It's a little bit of heaven inside my car as I drive. I shared my bread with Devon and he calls it pumpkin cake so I decided to make some. I got this recipe from www.epicurious.com (where I get most of my recipes, by the way). I made two batches of muffins in two days and both times they turned out perfectly so it's a good recipe for muffins. I will say that I thought the loaf was over done and I would have to adjust the recommended cooking time if I really wanted to have bread, but I prefer the muffins anyway.


I used a cool leaf muffin tin that my Mom gave me from Williams Sonoma ... fancy. I got 36 muffins from one batch.


My sister, Jane, doesn't like pumpkin bread, but she liked these. They aren't too pumpkiny and they are a great spice cake for "fall" here in Tucson where we can still wear tank tops and flip flops.

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)


Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Mix in walnuts, if desired.

Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaves. Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.

*For muffins, I bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Audrey: 3 months

We are so in love with this sweet, little girl.
She has definitely started smiling and showing off that dimple! All I have to do is start talking or smiling at her and she smiles away. She loves it when I lay her down and let my hair wash over her face. She kicks and waves her arms. Joe tells me she thinks I am magical. Ok ... I'll accept that ;)

She is cooing and melting my heart with those first baby sounds. She used to make all kinds of grunts and groans and Joe and I would look at each other and laugh at how "unlady like" she sounded, but now all that has changed.

Devon loves to snuggle with his baby sister. When he says "hold" he runs to the couch, gets into position and waits for me to bring Audrey to him so he can hold her. He is so excited to have her on his lap and giggles back at her when she smiles at him. He is so interested in her it's cute to watch them get to know each other.

He points out her hair, fingers, eyes, stomach and toes. He loves to stroke her hair, give her hugs, kisses, high-5s and fist bumps. He covers her with blankets and gives her a pacifier even though she doesn't really take them.

She is officially a thumb sucker. I have tried to take her thumb out of her mouth and give her a pacifier, but she spits it right out (if she takes it at all) and her thumb goes in. It's pretty adorable and it is easier than trying to track down a pacifier, but I'm sure breaking her of that habit will be tough.

Audrey sleeps from 9:00pm to 5:00 or 6:00am. No kidding. It's heaven and I thank her everyday for letting me sleep. She truly has made her entrance into this world easy in more ways than one. I love to pick out something cute and girly for her to wear everyday and I love, love, love that I can put her hair in pony tales. I can't wait for "winter" when I can put her in tights, sweaters and hats.

I love to squish her arms and legs ... she is SO soft! She definitely is my chunky baby and Devon was my little bird. She had her 3 month appointment today and had 6 shots. It took forever to get her on our insurance so we are a month behind on her shots, but she's still within a good time range so we're not "technically" behind. She is 90% for height (24.5 inches), 50% for head size (16.5) and 70% for weight. She weighed 15 pounds on my home scale, but the doctor said she only weighed 12. Does that mean that I weigh 3 pounds less? ;)I asked my pediatrician if you can over feed a breastfed baby and he said YES. I'm not over feeding her (I asked ;) since she goes 4-6 hours in between feedings.

I love wearing her in a pouch everyday and getting to hold her close. It's a MUST, in my opinion, when you have a 2nd kid to have a baby wearing system of some sort. It's an easy way to be hands free to play with the first child, the 2nd baby gets lots of snuggle time plus all the benefits of baby wearing (IE: easily comforted, good sleepers, voice recognition, lots of bonding time with the parent, etc) you're not having to carry the baby in your arms all the time (saving your arms and back from getting tired) and the baby isn't just being left on the floor. I use them at the grocery store so I don't have to lug a car seat around and she stays asleep so I don't have to worry about a meltdown.

This is my view of her in the Ergo carrier with the infant insert. (Check out those lashes!) It is a little bulky with the insert, but it just clips on so it is super easy to wear. She falls asleep almost instantly and stays asleep when I transition her to her crib. I couldn't do without this carrier. I use it everyday (and used it with Devon until he was almost 2) and it's my favorite. I also like the Moby wrap when babies are little because it holds them close, the fabric is super soft and they can be held in lots of positions.

She must have been holding it in all these months, but she has found her lungs and knows how to use them! She usually only cries when she's really, really tired, but she lets me know it for sure. The first time she cried I almost stripped her down to her diaper because I was sure something had bitten her ... she was that loud. It is still a little jarring when it happens, but we are figuring it out I am learning about her and how she likes to be soothed.
2 ponies!

Audrey loves to smile at her Daddy and it's cute to see them together with their matching hair. It's surprising that I have been asked on more than one occasion if she's mine. Seriously. I get it that Devon is so blonde and I am so blonde and Audrey is so dark, but seriously people ... genes can do amazing things! I have been asked if she's mine, if she's adopted or if Devon is from a different relationship than the one I'm in now. I know ... rude. I just smile and say no and make a mental note NOT to talk to them again.

I love to take her shopping and I treasure my one-on-one time with her. The second child usually doesn't get held or stared at as much as the first, so it's nice when it's just the two of us. She loves to be held close and I often soothe her by turning on some music and "dancing" around the room. That seems to work and I love that time with her.

There was a moment the other day when I had Audrey on one leg and Devon on the other and we were all snuggled together on the couch. It brought tears to my eyes to have both my babies in my arms. I'm sure as they get older those tender moments will become even sweeter.

I feel so lucky to have a daughter.

Friends

Why is it so hard to make friends?

Real friends. Not acquaintances, but real call-you-and-we-talk-and-go-shopping-and-hang-out-without-our-kids type friends. I'm a normal girl. I would like a few normal friends please. WHY is that so hard to do?

Honestly, most women annoy me for some reason or another so it's no wonder that my contacts list isn't bursting at the seams ;) I don't want that either. I don't want lots of friends. I want two. Maybe three, but I want REAL friends.

As a Mom I totally understand not wanting to call and talk on the phone. Some days when I can manage to get both kids to sleep at the same time the last thing I want to do is get on the phone and talk about kids and kid stuff.

Finding time and energy to go out and do something with a friend is difficult, too. I know how much preparation it takes to leave the house with out your kids. It sometimes feels like it takes more preparation to leave with out them than with them and there's the guilt of leaving them home, but I digress. But I think that girlfriend time is important. I go out at night by myself and go shopping and that's nice too, but spending time with another Mom is nice in it's own way.

I've never had lots of friends ... let's just be honest here. I always had friends, of course, but I was never the girl with a million friends. The only friend I still have (that's a true friend that I talk to with any regularity) is Joe and I married him so no one can really compete with that ;)

Since I became a Mom I have realized that making friends is difficult. It's easy to pass the time and go to play groups, but it has been difficult for me to forge any true friendships (with one exception and she knows who she is ;)

I have gone to a few play groups. Some with kids and some just women getting together and going out with out kids and I always thought I was "in" with these groups of women.

Ultimately, something would happen and I would see that I was very clearly not in at all. If you have been going to a play group for a while and want to know if you're "in" the group here's how you can tell ... if you don't know who's in or who's out ... it's you. You're out. You're not in the "in" group. You're there and playing and they're talking to you, but you're not "in" the group.

They all get together and do other playgroups and outings with THE SAME group of women, but they don't invite you. WHY this happens ... I don't know. Why are you invitable to a playgroup, but not out to lunch or shopping or a movie? It sucks when you realize that has happened. It's embarrassing and it shouldn't be, but it is.

WHY can't I just enjoy the play group and not let the other stuff bother me? Maybe I'm too sensitive. Maybe I'm desperate and they can sense that. Maybe I get on their nerves after one day and they can't handle another. You don't have to invite everyone to everything all the time. You don't have to be friends with everyone. Not everyone is going to like me and I get that. Trust me ... I annoy myself sometimes ;)

The point is ... making true friends is difficult.

Xox,
a.

It's not always about the kids

I started this blog as a way for my family members to stay updated and see pictures of my rapidly growing kids. I did movie reviews for a while (lame), posted about going out with "friends" (even more lame) and I still do recipes even though I'm pretty sure no one cares but me ;)I feel like I should take my turn and update about my self every now and again, share random thoughts and talk about something other than just "the kids". I may never do this again, since I tend to be a private person, but I can always delete it later, right? ;)

I miss my grandma today. My mom's mom ... I miss her. She died when I was 8 or 9 and today I miss her. She collected EVERYTHING. Gnomes, ornaments, plates, and cards off of gifts she received. You know those little rectangle cards that say to & from so-and-so ... she collected those. I remember each of her houses and hearing the screen door swing shut. I remember playing cards with her and sharing a shredded chicken and sprout sandwich, washing it down with Kefir milk and "treating" myself to a malt tab from her pantry. I still eat my sandwiches with sprouts (and converted my husband to do the same) and I still drink Kefir milk because of her. I would eat malt tabs, but I don't know where you even get them anymore. She was fun. She let us play with all her costume jewelry. I remember playing in the snow in her backyard. I remember how sweet she was. She never raised her voice and was never mean to me. I wish she could have met my kids. They would have loved her and missed her, too.

I hate when people flippantly say,"I'm doing the best I can." Really? Really?! Are you really? I think most of the time people are just doing what they do, but not their best. It takes lot of effort to actually do the best you can and I don't think people care enough enough of the time to actually do their best.

I feel guilt. Mom guilt. Wife guilt ... I feel that all the time. Like I'm not doing enough or something. Spinning my wheels. My kids are happy and thriving and my husband appreciates me so I know the pressure I feel is self inflicted. I feel like all I can do right now to keep up with life is to be two steps behind. Anything I do to prepare for the next day seems to just make room for more stuff to get done. I guess that just comes with the territory these days. I worry constantly. Constantly. I worry about Devon falling down and hurting himself and breaking his arm or worse. I guess that comes with the territory, too.

I gained 31 pounds when I was pregnant with Audrey. I hired a trainer for a month and I still have 13 to go and it SUCKS! Loosing weight sucks. Carrying around extra weight sucks even more. I have friends who just loose the weight no problem and I feel like I am slugging it out at the gym. I don't want to be thin ... I want to be fit! Yeah, I could just not eat and loose weight, but that's not healthy so what's the point?!?! Do you know a skinny fat person? I do. They're the kind of people who don't work out, don't eat much or eat poorly, but are skinny anyway. In fact, they brag about NOT working out. Skinny fat person. I don't want to be a skinny fat person because that's not healthy. I do want to be skinny so I guess I just have to keep slugging it out at the gym.

I'm cranky today, can you tell? ;) My car didn't pass emissions (for the 2nd time) and it is getting worked on at the mechanic. We are at home all day. It's one thing to choose to stay home, but it's another to HAVE no choice.

In spite of being home all day the main upside is I get true, uninterrupted time with each child separately. When we go out it is nice to do something different, but sometimes I feel like I'm just trying to get through it without anything "going wrong" instead of enjoying it. Or, I try so hard to get Devon to try something new (that he hates) he doesn't have as much fun as I hoped he would and all the work it took to go out feels like a waste. I love it that he would rather stay home playing cars with Mama than go somewhere. He's a pretty laid back kid when it comes to that sort of thing. When we're home I can relax a bit more. I don't have to wear make up or get dressed up. It's a lot of work to pull myself together and quite frankly, sometimes I just don't feel like doing it. I get to watch Devon and his pretend play with cars and trucks. I get to watch Audrey smile and coo. It's nice. I'm lucky to be someone who enjoys being home more than going out.

Xox,
a.

Freezing Day

I used the frozen chicken and salsa (that I cooked, chopped and froze) the other day to make enchiladas and not only did they taste great, but it took me about 15 minutes to put the whole meal together. It normally takes me about 45 of stop and start preparation so I was really happy to save some time. Plus, I only had to wash a few bowls so clean up was super easy.

I decided to make a few more frozen dinners and see how they turn out before I start making it a regular thing. I made spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce and meatballs. I also thawed a bag of salsa and chicken and made Mexican Casserole for dinner that night.

In one nap time (3.5 hours ... thank you, Devon!) I made 4 meals. It was sort of a production and it took the entire 3.5 hours (with cooking and clean up), but that's 3.5 hours that won't take away from spending time with my kids or with Joe.

This past Saturday I was too tired to go to the store and get food to cook. I pulled out the meatballs and marinara sauce and voila! ... dinner. And I only had to use 2 pots. One for the sauce and one to cook the pasta. It was so awesome. I always make sure to lable what's inside, the date, the oven temp I cook it at and cooking time. I also found that laying things as flat as possible when you freeze them makes thawing time shorter.

When I made the marinara sauce I made it very basic. I just used salt and pepper, 1 large can of tomatoes, 1 can of sauce, 1 can of paste, 1 onion and some garlic then I froze it. Once I got the sauce thawed out I added fresh tomatoes from the garden as well as some fresh basil and oregano. I let the meatballs thaw enough to be broken up, but added them to the sauce cold and let them simmer until they were cooked through. It was so good! For the meatballs I did 2 lbs. ground beef, 1 lb. ground turkey, some parsley, salt and pepper, 1/2 C. Parmesan cheese and 2 eggs. I made the meatballs very small so they would thaw easily and they would be more appealing to Devon.

I don't know why more Moms don't freeze food for dinner. I am all about fresh food and I still cook fresh meals 95% of the time. However, at this stage of my life I am all about doing things that can make my day-to-day life a little easier and freezing a meal (or part of a meal) here and there has really helped me. I went to Costco yesterday and got a huge tray of pork chops. Going to try out a new recipe for them tonight and freeze the rest for another day!

Devon: 2 years old

My how times flies! This was Devon on his birthday last year ... just one year old. He was so little! Just a few teeth, just starting to get the hang of walking and babbling up a storm.

What a difference a year makes at this age. My little man is 2! He is so insanely cute there is at least one time a day I just stare at him in amazement of his cuteness. It seems like everyday he does something or says something totally new it is difficult to keep track of it all. I am so proud of the sweet little boy he is turning into. I am so grateful that I have a husband who takes care of our family so I can stay home and watch him grow. Being a Mom is such a big job, but I am so lucky to be able to do it each and every day all day long!

Devon loves calculators. There are at least 5 that I can see from where I'm sitting that he carries around with him pushing buttons and calling out random numbers. I keep one in my purse in case of an-out-in-public/bored emergency. He will often hold one up to his ear and use it as a phone to call Gamma, Papa, Emily, Sadie, Chloe, Heidi, Abuela or Pops. He is starting to have these pretend conversations that are super sweet to witness.

His verbal ability is amazing! He can repeat back 3 syllable words with great enunciation and is getting better and better with 4 syllable words. It is so cute to hear his little sentences starting to come out. 3-4 word sentences! We are still working on the alphabet as well as counting and he is able to recognize more and more letters. He knows all his colors and shapes and still loves to read. I read to him at every meal and he has nearly memorized his favorite book "Babylalalala love" (Baby Love). It's a pretty long book and I will read a line and he will say the last word of every other line (since they rhyme) for pretty much the whole thing. He has an unbelievable memory so if you tell him something you better be ready to do it because he will never let it go no matter how much time has gone by.

He will often tell me what he wants to eat which has helped to ease my mind a bit regarding food. I worry when he goes through his phases of not eating very much that it's because he doesn't like what I'm serving him so it's nice that he is starting to tell me what he wants. He still loves "ponies" (my little pony fruit snacks), lasagna, hamburgers, dino chicken nuggets, ice cream and rice. The other morning when I asked him what he wanted for breakfast he said pizza ... and you better believe I made him pizza ;)

This was the day when Devon reached over his crib and grabbed a pen out of his coloring box and decided to color the sheets before falling asleep for nap. Every time I give him THAT particular pen he says "sheets" and we talk about that day.

He loves to say and play "electric tocar (guitar)" and is a great roadie to his Dad by plugging the cord into the amp and turning it on. I love to hear him sing the "Mama song" because he just says "Mama" over and over and over again and dances while Joe strums away. This does not, however, make Devon a Mama's boy. It is a sad thing for a Mom to admit, but Devon has crossed over and is now a Daddy's boy for sure. At least he has been the past few weeks. I'm assuming that it has everything to do with the addition of the little lady and the inevitable division of attention among the siblings, but he is definitely a different kid lately. Even though I try to focus my attention on Devon during the day, it is impossible (and probably not healthy in the long run) to give him 100% of my attention all the time. Audrey has to eat and be held and comforted and he has to understand that there are now two of them and at times he will have to wait. This has been a good learning opportunity for him to understand being patient, being a good helper and playing well by himself.

He follows Joe around the house like a shadow and will stand and stare out the window when his Dad is working in the garden. He wants to do everything and be everywhere his Dad is. It is wonderful to see the love between my amazing husband and my beautiful little boy. They have become good friends and if you ask Devon who his friend is he will say Daddy. It is so helpful that Joe gives Devon a bath and gets him ready for bed while I nurse the baby and that he tells him bedtime stories about the moon, stars and rockets as part of Devon's ever evolving night time routine.

I think when Audrey first got here I was trying to figure out how to make things work with 2 kids when she needed my attention for feedings without making Devon feel slighted. He also wasn't eating well and was really fussy about getting into his high chair. I would turn on a cartoon during those times and over the course of a month Joe and I both noticed that he wasn't as interested in reading as he once was. Once we realized that this was the case, I started reading to him while he ate. Not only was I able to get him to eat more at meals, but we wants to me to read to him all the time which I love because I get to hold that sweet child on my lap. I have made a concerted effort to be more aware of the quality of the attention that I am giving him and really enjoy what we're doing together. If it feels like work to me then it's probably not fun for him so I try to make it fun! I try to get him food he likes and give him special treats when he's good (IE: juice ... in a box is a special treat). I tell myself every morning and every afternoon after naps to be as patient as possible and be more sensitive to how he's doing at that time. I still let him watch cartoons, but he's not as interested as he once was.

Devon has been coming up with his own tricks to dazzle us with and his latest is The Robot. One evening he just stepped both feet out wide (practically the splits) and pulled in his legs and arms in tight standing up straight. When Joe asked him what he was doing he said,"Robot" and that's what we call it. I don't know where that one came from, but it's hilarious just the same. Maybe even funnier because he came up with it all on his own. He must have seen a video on You Tube of a robot that moves like that, but who knows.

I took Devon to Chuckie Cheese and we met up with Aunt Jane and Sadie. I didn't realize ahead of time that Devon would be too small for 98% of everything there until we got there, but he had a good time anyway. Since I already bought tokens I let him put them in the games and I helped him play as much as possible. I was determined for him to get tickets so he could walk away with something from the experience so he got an Airhead candy (since Sadie got one Devon HAD to have one, too), a couple of mini-Tootsie pops and some rubber bugs ... A.K.A. choking hazards. Good job Mom. When he saw Chuckie you could tell he was equal parts fascinated and freaked out. He just had this goofy smile on his face. He grabbed me by the finger and made me follow Chuckie around, but didn't want to get near him. Notice that he put Audrey and I in between him and Chuckie. Classic.

Devon loves to be outside and is a boy through and through. He loves to see bugs, lizards, play in the mud, trucks, tractors, the moon, rockets, astronauts, dinosaurs, Egypt, rocks, digging with a shovel and lets me know when he farts and burps ;) Joe caught Devon a Hawk Moth and we named it "Hawky the Hawk Moth". If you know Joe, it would be obvious that only HE could come up with that name ;)
Daddy caught Devon his hopper. Devon was so brave and tough to touch it. Ask him, he'll tell you ;)

We went to the zoo with Gamma and Gampa (he used to call him Papa, but that name seems to be disappearing) and walked around.

I usually put Devon in the stroller, but since I had 4 extra helping hands to keep track of him I put the baby girl in the stroller and let him walk.

He had a great time having a little more freedom and got to feed the giraffes.

He loves spending time with his grandparents and was EXHAUSTED by the end of it. Oh, and he thinks the elephants at the zoo are stinky.

The night before Devon's birthday, Joe and I blew up a bag of balloons and when we got him up in the morning we dumped all the balloons into his crib and all over the floor of him room. I think that would be a fun tradition to do every year. I just picture doing that to him when he's 18 and still getting a kick out of it. I imagine him saying it was lame and secretly loving it ;)

For his super special birthday I took Devon to Old Pueblo gym and met up with Aunt Jane and Sadie.

It's a gymnastics gym that has "free gym hour" and kids can go wild climbing, going in the foam pit and jumping on the trampoline. Then we went to lunch at Iron Grill. I didn't want to do anything too out of the ordinary because I wanted to make sure that everything we did he liked.

Martha (Joe's mom, Abuela) offered to have a family dinner at her house so we went to her house and had a family party. I am not a big fan of parties for kids when they're this little, but since she offered I think it is a nice thing to do as a family. Devon had a blast! He got some great gifts and doesn't know what to play with first. He got a sock monkey tea set from my Mom (as well as a bag full of other equally awesome gifts), a stomping, roaring dinosaur from Aunt Crystal, a huge tractor from Joe's parents and a truck and cash register from Joe and I. I think his favorite gift was a yellow robot that Joe gave him. His eyes got wide when he saw it, they got wider when it moved and I think his head exploded when he realized that it could walk. We let him take it to bed with him and he played with it for an hour. Joe is such a sweet Daddy and knows just what Devon will like.

I was in charge of the cake so I wanted it to be good. I went to a bakery that specializes in wedding cakes, but will do birthday cakes also. So you KNOW the cake is gonna be good. It wasn't THAT much more expensive than a Costco cake, but it was 10 times better tasting.

I can make a cake. I really can. But just because I can make it doesn't mean I have to. I would rather spend time playing than making a cake just for the sake of appearing to be Super Mom ... something that I definitely am not. Plus, I'm a little bit fancy in case you hadn't heard ;) I want a fancy cake for Devon's fancy 2 year old birthday party from a fancy wedding cake store ;) I picked out a white cake with Bavarian cream filling and covered it with stars, a moon and a rocket ship, of course! Yum! (high pitched voice!) It was so good. Can someone please have another birthday so I can get another one of those cakes?

All in all it was a really fun day and Devon was one happy kid. Nothing makes a Mama happier than to see her kids happy. He had a great time playing, seeing his cousins and grandparents and having people make a fuss over him. He loved playing tea party with Aunt Crystal, eating with Gamma and Gampa, going out to see the jumping castle with Pops (yes, they had a jumping castle) and on and on and on. Such a lucky kid.

My Mom said it best ... 2 years ago today I became a Mom. I remember the day he was born so well and I think it's important to remind yourself of the details so you don't forget them. Every birthday he has makes me a little sad at how quickly time is passing and well with pride at what a sweet boy he is. I am so proud to be Devon's Mama and I cherish everyday with him.

Happy Birthday to my favorite little boy in the whole world.
I love you,
Mama