Southern Living Spice Cake

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thanks to God and His miracle of Tylenol PM, I am actually able to include some sentences in this post. :)

So, I survived the making of the Southern Living Spice Cake.
I survived eating it, too, amazingly, since the ingredient list included

which is not a food friend of mine, as many of you know. 
What can I say? I love that husband of mine. I would never willingly bake with or consume coconut for another human being.

The citrus filling was super easy-- dump and stir. Now that's my kind of baking.

The icing was less difficult than it sounded, with all the mixing over simmering water and whatnot. But I will say that this was much more easily accomplished with Mary Bullock playing at her Pretty's house rather than stomping at my feet demanding BUCK BUCK DO IT ALL BY SELF.

So this was the end result:

I wish that I could say that this cake was the best thing I've ever tasted, and it was delicious, but between you and me, I'd rather have Buddy Pie any day. 

Want a taste? It's taking up valuable cookie space in my refrigerator. Stop yourself on by.

Thanksgiving: A Pictorial

Because Mama is tired.
So very, very tired.

I know

I have been MIA-- please forgive me. I hope to be back with something good from Thanksgiving!

Keep me in your prayers tonight-- Lee volunteered me to make this

obviously before considering my limited kitchen skill set.

But I'm going to do it, because it's practice in baking and patience and also sucking it up.

I really should thank him for this opportunity, don't you think?

But pray anyway, just in case.

A Special Toot Day Message

We love you!

Before I forget

My brain is turning to mush. Whether it's lack of sleep or late pregnancy preoccupation or whatever--it's happening.

And my brain wasn't so firm to begin with, you know? I'm struggling.

So I want to write some things down before they drift off into space never to be retrieved.

Remember when I went to Chicago in September?
Mary Bullock does, too. So now whenever we ask where she is going [like when she has her purse around her neck and is strolling her baby doll into the laundry room], she says 'Cago.
Ooooh, that's a long way, I say. I'll miss you.
Miss you, tooooo, Mama!

or we hear this a lot:
Mama, CHOO CHOO TRAIIIIIN!!!
Yes! Do you hear the choo choo train?
Choo choo train go bye bye, Mama. 
Well where in the world do you think it's going?
'Cago.

****
Mary Bullock has just realized that the moon is up even during the day. Whenever we are outside, she asks Moon go? Which loosely translates to Where did the moon go? So then we have to spend a few minutes looking upwards to find it in the sky.
The other night in the bathtub we were discussing this SUPER THRILLING subject, and how when the sun goes down it gets dark outside.
Whycuz? she asks.
I don't know, I say. [Not because I don't understand that the sun makes light, of course, but because we've already had this same discussion several times that day. And the day before. And the day before.]
She thinks a minute.
Know why? she says.
Why? I ask.
Don't know either, she says.

Last night while we were putting her night-nights [pajamas] on, she thrust her round bare belly at my face.
Zuhbuht, Mama. [That's zerbert to the rest of us.]
Zerbert? How many do you want? One or two?
TWO, she says. She holds up two and half fingers. She has trouble getting that third finger to lay down.
I give her two big zerberts on her belly while she squeals.
How many do I have left? I ask.
TWO, she says. She gets her math skills from me, apparently.
But I give her two more zerberts, because what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?
Thas enough, Mama, she says.

My girl is such a delightful mess.

Almost there...

So, after a tearful freak out on the phone to my sister last week, she hopped on a plane and came down here for the weekend to help us get the baby room settled. I cannot even describe how amazing it is to A) have a sister who loves me enough to do this, and B) actually have the room semi-ready. Both of those things have gone a long way towards calming my very anxious mind.

Lee put the finishing touches on the furniture, and we triple-teamed the painting of the walls. By the end of the day on Saturday I was able to start putting the baby's clothes in drawers and managing the general feeling of chaos that has consumed our house in the last few weeks.

We're still waiting on some details like window treatments and such, so I'll wait to show you what it all looks like. But MB seems to love it and has slept in her big girl bed with no problems the last two nights. So I can mark another one off of the worry list [for now]. She is even *knock wood* napping in her bed as I type. This is another HUGE relief.

Nothing will be perfect-- not the room, not the timing, and certainly not me, but it's coming together. And fairly soon [hopefully no sooner than December 10th, dear baby, if you're listening!] we'll be a family of four!

Plus or minus a dog.
Anyone want a dog?

Just kidding.
Not really. But that's a separate post.

Almost as good as a nap

I woke up at 4:15 again this morning. I have been waking up early in general, but the time change has thrown my early-but-sane wake up time into the ballpark of the truly ridiculous.

And I'm not kidding about the ridiculous part. Being tired makes me behave very oddly, like when I found our normally super clingy dog lying in our bedroom all by himself this morning and laughed until it almost turned into crying. I'm teetering on the brink here lately. Hormones + little sleep + a to-do list that never gets any shorter= scary laugh-crying.

Anyway. Mary Bullock climbed onto our bed this morning while I was getting dressed. She put her head on the pillow.

Nap Nap, Mama, she said.
Light off!
I pulled the covers up around her.
Mama lay down, tooooo? 
I climbed in beside her and closed my eyes. I could hear her heavy breathing getting closer to my face.
I love that sound. So innocent.
She put her hands over my eyelids, and I opened my eyes to her sweet baby face inches away.  I had to stop myself from covering her cheeks with kisses.

Nap over, Mama. 
Get uuuuup!

Playdate, by MB

This is my friend Mattie.

We have been friends since we were little. See?

But now we're big. And we can do lots of things.

Like

make a big pile of blankets on the kitchen floor. That was super fun.

And we can also

draw. We like to trace our hands because tracing our hands is also super fun.

And we draw princesses!!!! Yeah!!!!!  My mommy says our princesses look like hands.
But I don't see what she means.

We clean up all our toys and hug bye bye because now we are big.
I love my friend Mattie. 

The End.

Life was good today

If you haven't talked to me in person lately, you might not know that the last few weeks I have lived with a very clear and present danger of head explosion.

If you have seen me in person, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about, because I probably mentioned it at least once, and the stress in my voice probably freaked you out, and you probably told me that it doesn't really matter because the baby won't know the difference if his room isn't ready.

And in theory I can see your point. Really, I can. I think I've actually said those exact words to worried pregnant women before.

But it doesn't stop the dark cloud of worry from following me around. My eyebrows are in serious peril of being permanently knit together from all the furrowing I've been doing. Especially since the countdown is now at less than 4 weeks.

But today I was able to put aside some of my worry, if only for today.

Doughnuts for breakfast helped. But doughnuts help lots of things, I think.

I feel compelled to assure you that we do not eat doughnuts on a regular basis. But they are more fun to eat than eggs.

Then Lee set to work on the furniture for the nursery-- the never ending project. We finally moved indoors away from the tornado of dog hair outside on the deck.

Of course, that means our dining room is Lee's new workshop. But it's a small price to pay if it means that this project will soon be coming to an end.

While Lee worked, Mary Bullock and I sorted baby clothes to take inventory of what we still need. Answer: absolutely nothing. Baby boy may or may not have a place to sleep, but he will be definitely be well clothed, wherever he lands.

We took a break from our sorting to have some popcorn and watch Daddy work.

Buck Buck likes popcorn. She even likes the uncooked kernels [girl after my own heart]. Thankfully, she also likes to share.

We rounded out the day at a birthday gathering for MB's friend Claire.

She totally has a future in percussion. I think she gets her rhythm from me.
[Ok, now Lee's head is exploding. Isn't that great symmetry?]

And then we were sent home with extra cake.
Greatest day I've had in months.
The End.

My baby had some shots earlier this week, and unlike any shots she's had before, these really slowed her down. Her boo boos hurt for two days at least. This is her on Monday afternoon, lying on the couch making unreasonable snack demands.

I knew she really didn't feel well because she was on the couch for close to an hour. She has never been awake and still for that long ever.

What can you do when your baby is in pain? When you love her so much your heart hurts?

I got her the snacks.

Weekend Recap

So, whatever powers that be who concluded that Halloween and the World's Largest Cocktail Party [i.e. the Florida-Georgia football game] should be so close together-- I'm not sure if I love you or hate you. Those two events made for one busy [but fun] weekend at Wedekind Haus.

First there was the football game--or the tailgate, rather, since I go more for the people watching than the sport...

I especially like to people-watch this particular person. He is my favorite. 

This is my favorite kind of beer pong--the kind where I am the best player. You know, because I don't  have to drink the nasty contents of those cups. This is one feat of athleticism for which pregnancy has given me a competitive edge. :)

Our tailgate was surrounded by Georgia fans, and I must say--they were all really nice. A little crazy, but super nice. I love it when people are a little nuts and a lot nice. So here's to you Georgia fans!

But thankfully they still lost. :)

Then, after too little sleep, we geared up for Trick-or-Treating. Mary Bullock's costume again centered around a pair of red shoes...

and once again I dressed her up in clothes that she'll wear again. [Except maybe the red plaid shirt. Unless grunge makes an unexpected comeback sometime soon.] Halloween is not my favorite [airquotes] holiday [un-airquotes], but not spending major bucks on a costume makes it bearable for Halloween scrooges such as myself.

MB even managed to wrangle herself a couple of ranch hands...

though one of them [dang it!!] couldn't wear boots because of lingering pain from a massive leg cramp.

[By the way-- I am casting aside nearly all of my vanity by posting this picture just so y'all (ok mostly Julie) can see the bump. So feel free to comment something along the lines of NO, SUZ, YOU ARE NOT AT ALL ENORMOUS or THOSE RUNNING SHOES MAKE YOUR LEGS LOOK TOTALLY SKINNY, or some such other shamelessly false flattery.]

Mary Bullock was surprisingly brave about walking up and saying Trick-or-Treat! Or she was-- until she was greeted at one house by a teenager in a huge moose head. I think she might be permanently prejudiced against moose now. [I might be, too...I ended up having to carry her a lot after that.]

Mary Bullock's friend Mattie was a pretty pretty princess who thoroughly tested her mother's patience while getting into her costume.  [But just think, Meg-- one day soon you'll have to fight her to get that dress off. Won't that be so much fun?]

What is it they say about learning to paddle your own canoe? This is the same concept, right? MB's got it down pat.

A little after dusk MB & friends called it a night. It had taken us close to an hour and half to go a grand total of a half-mile away and Mary Bullock's ranch hands were dead in their boots-slash-running shoes.

We got back just in time to appreciate Lee's pumpkin carving handiwork and then collapse on the couch. 

If you're still reading, you must really need a hobby love us.
Happy Halloween!

[And if you know of any way to make November last until next year, please let me know. I'm not ready to add another pumpkin to our patch just yet. Aaaaahhh!!]