this is the life...

Jack is playing hookey with Nani and swimming naked on a hot, summer day...makes me happy and...


(Does it count as skinny-dipping if he's wearing water wings?!?)

Party prep...

Banner & cupcake garland: check.


Cake bunting: check.


Piñata, streamers, menu: check.

Ready for the party...just not ready for my baby girl to turn 1 year old already...

A first and hopefully last...

Baby girl will have surgery on Friday morning...it was a long day at Children's Hospital, but as usual, she made us proud with her smiles to everyone and her happy demeanor...


She has a foreign body stuck in the palm of her hand from a cut that happened almost 6 weeks ago. The procedure to remove it will be fairly minor, and hopefully less than an hour, but that doesn't mean I won't be a nervous wreck until it's over...

My poor baby girl...having her first surgery before her first birthday...my head hurts, my tummy hurts...and I just want her hand to be healed up and better...

Test-cake success

The semi-rainbow cake was a success...and fun. I can't wait for the party...

First ponytail...

A look i'll dub: Pebbles meets Lila...





are hair lumpies in?!?

Iced...

...but not pretty. Might need to work on some icing techniques...

Rainbow cake: testing phase

Thought I'd make a test run of Lila's rainbow birthday cake before the big day in an attempt to avoid a fail-cake. So far so good...cakes baked, leveled, and cooling in preparation for the icing...here goes nothing.





Note: the colors are pink, turquoise, and purple, although they don't show up well. I need to get some vibrant colors of the rainbow for the real deal!