IHF: Water

Another entry for i heart faces photo challenge- this week's theme is water.

I love this picture of Madigan pausing to drink from the slip-n-slide; the post-processing really gives it a summery-warm feeling.

Click on over to the IHF website- there are some AMAZING entries already this week!!

Quiet Time

Madigan, in one of her (rare) quiet, contemplative times.

<3

Who's blog is this?

Hi, my name is Sarah, and I'm a guest-poster here.

Just kidding, but it feels like it! Summer time is always busy for me. Besides my full time "real" job being busy (adding a whole second clinic to my schedule... why not!) my photography business is always booming in the summer time. Seniors, families, children- I love it ALL! Since those two "full time" jobs don't keep me busy enough (insert sarcasm) I am also a Zumba instructor at our local Rec. :) Throw a three year old and a husband into that mix and I'm hoping I'm forgiven for being absent HERE a bit...

Oh, and my 29th birthday is on the horizon in a couple weeks... My real 29th birthday- the one I get to celebrate the anniversary of from here on out! I have some friends and family meeting me in KC for Warrior Dash. I'm PUMPED! It's hopefully going to be a great way to send me into the year before thirty. I am considering doing a mini-bucket list of 30 things I want to do before I turn 30, and I'd love suggestions!!

Happy Birthday, Girl...

I can't believe that I have a three year old.

In some ways, I can't believe it has been just three years since my water broke while I was working and I delivered a beautiful, healthy girl just six hours later.

In other ways, I cant believe it's only been three years, since I feel like her soul has been a part of mine forever. Maybe it has? But somehow life "before" her seems like a vague, distant memory of a place I have no desire to return to.

If I could preserve the things that make Madigan so unique, these would definitely be on the list:

• She is a literal child. Black & white; there is no gray area. If you give her directions, they best be specific because if you leave room for her interpretation, you might get more than you bargained for.
• Madigan speaks like an adult. She has a huge vocabulary and a great memory. She has a "matter of fact" delivery about her thoughts and feelings that leaves most people laughing. For instance, her daycare provider told her to eat her lunch so she could grow big & strong, and Madigan replied, "Don't you worry about me." However you'll never convince her that she mis-pronounces words. To this day, a monster is a "monstard" and "dainty" is "daimpty".
• She loves camels, dinosaurs (she can name several "kinds"); she loves strawberry shortcake and recently learned all the Disney princesses after a friend of hers quizzed her and she didn't know any. Madigan replied, "But it's hard for me!" and then proceeded to quiz me one night until she knew them all. She loves to be read to and has several books memorized. She can recite almost any nursery rhyme if you start it for her, as long as you leave room for her interpretation.
• Her favorite foods are blueberries, strawberries, McDonald's pancakes, and mac & cheese. She doesn't like meat or potatoes but will eat almost any fruit and most vegetables.

She can push my buttons faster than any other human being on Earth. She also fills me with a love that I have never felt before either. Luckily it's more of the latter than the former! I am so thankful for her, and it's conversations like this one from tonight that make me realize that being her mommy will be the greatest accomplishment in my life:

Madigan: "When I grow up, I'm gonna be a mommy too."

Me: "I bet you'll be a great mommy."

Madigan: "I will grow BIG and TALL. Then you can grow very little. And I will take care of you."

Me: "I know you will."

Madigan: "Because I love you."

Me: "I love you too, baby."

Madigan: "I'm not a baby, I'm a big girl!!"

Me: "I know, big girl...... I know."

Making Lemonade...

We had Madigan's third birthday party on Saturday, and in preparation I purchased a cake from a home-baker. I put a lot of thought into the cake part of the party: first off, it's my favorite part of ANY party! Secondly, I like pretty cakes, but I'm not exactly skilled in that department.

I work in a town 30 miles away and I found a woman at the hospital who has recently started baking cakes on the side- Perfect! Not only would I not have to dirty my kitchen to create a cake, but it would look much better coming from her. Besides, I'm all about supporting local business, and I totally "get" women who work full time and also run a side business! Win-Win!

So per the birthday girl's request, a giant cupcake was ordered, with pink frosting and sprinkles. The baker had warned me that she'd never made a cupcake this size before, but she'd do her best.

This is the cake I picked up on Friday when I left work:

Beautiful! A ginormous, pink-frosted, sprinkled cupcake, complete with cherry on top. I thanked the "cake lady" profusely and we loaded the cupcake into my vehicle for the trek home.

Now, wether it was the 100+ degree weather, the heaviness of the cake, the vibrations on the highway or any other number of other unimaginable issues, this is what I found when I opened the box upon arriving home:

Gulp. The pink, frosted "top" was intact (although one side had frosting flattened from the side of the box it had impacted), but the bottom was a mess.

Holy COW! Madigan was with me, and she said, "Oh! A giant cupcake.... Sideways!"

I think I made some kind of internal-shriveling noise, and she said "What's the matter momma?"

I looked at her and said, "Your pretty cake.... it fell down! Mommy is sad!"

Madigan, the always literal, black & white kind of child that she is, said "... Oh well. Can I lick it??"

"Um... sure. Let's lick it." So we each got a fork and took a big bite. I texted the picture to the baker, who was also beside herself. She offered to drive over and attempt to fix it, and I declined. It's a three year old's birthday- it wasn't like it was my wedding or anything! So I decided to make some proverbial "lemonade" out of the situation:

I made the smashed cake section into cake-pops!

The next day at the party, as each guest arrived and looked questioningly at the giant, pink dome of the cake-top and the tray of cake-pops, Madigan was delighted to explain "my cake fell down then my mommy was sad. But we made THESE with it!" and would point her finger at the pops.

In the end, they were the best cake pops I had ever had!

:)