{embrace} the camera thursday

With the bigger kids at school, it's just me and the mini papercut out for a walk. It's kinda nice having this time with just the two of us, but boy does she miss her siblings while they're away!

I'd like to say a huge 'Thanks' to Emily for being such a smart cookie and coming up with {embrace} the camera! My kiddos are certainly grateful for all the pics of us together, as am I :)

fly, fly away

A few weeks back I posted about some adorable apple cupcakes. I was going to make them for my little one's first birthday, seeing as we were planning to have her party at an apple orchard. Well, since then there's been a change of venue , so I decided to make butterfly cupcakes instead. The cupcakes themselves are pretty simple, it's the 3-D chocolate butterfly that's a bit tricky.























These are really pretty, when done correctly, but as you can see, my first attempt did not turn out quite as I would have liked. I'm hopeful that round 2 will look a lot better than these, and I'm gonna chalk this one up to a learning experience:) On the plus side, they taste delicious!

this little kitty

I know if a black cat crosses your path it's supposed to be bad luck, but this one was too sweet to pass up. Isn't this little guy cute? While the mini papercut and I were out shopping, she spotted this kitty on a shelf, so I just had to buy him. And the fact that he's also a piggy bank was a hidden bonus!




















I find that I'm drawn to all thing Halloween inspired for my youngest. I'm not sure if it's because she's born in October, relatively close to Halloween , or maybe it's because I love the Fall and everything that goes with it.



















Whatever the reason, the mini papercut is my Halloween baby...whether she likes it or not, black cats and all :)

rock on

Yesterday I took my brood to my niece's birthday party at Joe Rockheads...rock climbing(that's my eldest at the top there)! It was an awesome day, and we'll definitely be doing it again. I'd never thought to take the kids to do anything like this before, so it was really nice to find something new that they liked that didn't involve video games and got them up and off their butts :) So much fun!

{embrace} the camera...friday

I've been sick this whole week, so it's a wonder that this picture even took place. Me and the littlest papercuts (the oldest papercut was occupied elsewhere), just sitting around doing nothin' :) Hope you all had a fabulous Thursday with your kiddos embracing that camera! Remember to link up with Emily:)

birthday boots

A couple days ago I celebrated my 36th birthday very quietly with the family. No party. Nothing fancy. Just dinner with the kids and hubby. The Mr. is getting me something I've wanted for a couple years now, and never really gotten around to buying. Hunter rain boot:) I know, not very exciting, but considering how much time I spend standing outside in the rain while dropping off or picking up the kids from school, they are definitely a necessity. I can't wait to get them. Happy birthday to me:)

the lesser of two evils

This is the face of a well-rested child up to no good:) Trouble with a capital 'T'.

When the mini papercut was very little she slept like a champ and ate like a beast. She remained this way until the kids started summer vacation. With the older kids home all day, she gave up on her normal nap times, opting to stay awake in fear of missing out on some of the fun. She also stopped sleeping through the night, waking at least 3 or 4 times to breastfeed...not fun!

Well, it's been about 3 weeks since the kids started back at school, and I'm happy to say that the mini papercut has returned to her old sleeping habits! WOO HOO!!! Over the last month or so, I've also cut off her night time feedings, as she was only really doing it to soothe herself back to sleep and she'll be 1 soon. She has not protested and it went surprisingly well, considering how much this kid likes to eat:) But I made the mistake of substituting her breastfeeding with letting her lay on my chest to fall back asleep at night, something I swore I would never do again! I learned my lesson with my eldest child, who slept with us until she was about 2, and was a pain to get out of our bed.

The first few nights of adopting this new routine went smoothly, with her falling asleep on my chest and me placing her gently back in her crib, where she'd sleep contently until about 5 or 6 am and wake up to either breastfeed of be soothed back to sleep for another couple of hours.

This no longer is the case.

For the last week or two, the mini has had the luxury of sleeping in my bed the whole night. Yup, exactly what I didn't want to happen. But I'm not too worried about that, that's not the problem. The problem is that I've been sick for a week, and exhausted, which means my little one has been sleeping with/on me for the same amount of time and now my back is a MESS!!! I am in so much pain that I can't even bend over to put her back in the crib. I'm having pain in my lower back when I walk, when I sit, heck, even when I lay down. NOT FUN!!! To say I'm not a happy camper is an understatement, but what can you do?

On the plus side, the mini papercut is sleeping right through the night now. I'll take what I can get.