Santa's Colossal Cupcake

 

This post is dedicated to the highly anticipated and eagerly requested COLOSSAL CUPCAKE FOR SANTA CLAUS.  You might recall my post about William seeing the commercial for this bad boy and he just HAD TO HAVE IT!  It was William's grand plan to make the enormous cupcake.  He specifically requested one for Santa and one for Baby Jesus.  Knowing how large the ol' cupcake would be, I tried my best to talk him into letting Santa and Baby Jesus share one big cupcake.  It took awhile to convince him, but in the end he was on board.

And we waited DAYS for the Christmas Eve morning to come around.  

William was SO PROUD when he woke up on Christmas Eve morning.  He knew EXACTLY what day it was and EXACTLY what project awaited him in the kitchen.  "Mom Mom, let's go downstairs and make my colossal cupcake.  Today is the day."

We'll just let the pictures tell the story.  

Just for the record. WBB Christmas list 2010

WBB 2010 Christmas List "Put it on my Christmas list Mom Mom"

    * Playmobil private business jet for 4 year olds (says so on the box)
    * airport hangar
    * tiny blue airlines with winglets (hmm?)
    * Galaxy airplane with a new front wheel because mine doesn't have a front wheel to stand up ok
    * a kid size mop
    * a friendly vaccum that won't suck up my airplanes
    * that great big space shuttle
    * a white button down shirt like the real pilots wear - done
    * real pilot shoes - done
    * F-15 fighter jet from Target
    * a light saver
    * that airplane he just saw high in the sky
    * Matchbox airport in the "big blue box"
    * Lego Airplane "when I am 7 because that is what the box says"
    * British Airways Books

• And a TON of model airplanes on stands like they have at the airport - American, Ryanair, Delta, Northwest, Fedex Cargo, and Santa's choice.  I want to build them so we need to ask Santa to keep them in the box when he brings them to my house.

• A remote control airplane for me to fly around.

• And a replacement plane for Southwest and Air Tran since I have played with them so much that they are missing a wing.  
• Busytown board game
• a globe of the world with an equator
• and baby sister needs a baby doll and shoes

27 weeks and 4 days Pregnancy Highlights

27 weeks and 4 days Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: Almost 28 weeks
Size of baby: Baby B is the size of a melon
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Total of 24 lbs so far. Gained 6 at this last appointment.  That's right folks, 6 lbs in 2 weeks.  "Remember your portion sizes." - doctor.  But the weird thing is that I don't feel like I am eating more than usual.  Perhaps it's a growth spurt.  I recall having a spurt with William where I gained 11 lbs in 3 weeks. 
Maternity Clothes: I'm wearing my maternity dresses with my boots and leggings. My black pants are also a staple.  The sweaters are in full force too.
Gender: IT IS A GIRL!
Movement:  She likes having a party at night.  I feel her the most in the evenings once I finally sit down.  She's also made more of a racket when I first try to fall asleep.
Sleep: I sleep on my left side and wake up a few times in the night to readjust myself.  I have had a heck of a time with congestion at night.  I am stuffed up and have a hard time breathing through my nose.  It's worse this go round than with William. 
What I miss: jogging, but I stay active with William. Climbing 42 stairs to my door everyday, several times a day is also handy.  I also miss having lots of energy.  I tend to have to pace myself more often and do a few tasks before sitting down for a bit.
Cravings: meat sandwiches from Quiznos, eggs, fruit, orange juice, and I am mostly hungry for just 3 meals a day. 
Best Moment this week: When William randomly came over to sit by me and said, "Baby Sister, where aaaaaaarrrreeee you? This is not hide and seek!"  Then he wanted to give my belly a hug and a pat.  Such a sweet little boy.

Trains, trains and more trains!

Over our Christmas break we took William to ride the Santa train in Old Town as well as a separate trip downtown to the Botanical Garden train display.  He got a real kick out each activity and  we enjoyed our time spent with Campbell, Caroline and their families.

First up was the Santa Train ride from Old Town, Alexandria to downtown Manassas.  William's buddy Campbell and his parents told us about the outing and so the 3 of us got tickets to join the fun.  This was our first Santa Train event in VA (we have done the Santa Train in OKC), so we were not sure what to expect.  The boys were super excited to ride a real VRE passenger train, and Santa seemed to just be an added bonus.  We boarded the train around 1:40pm and rode 30 minutes to Manassas.  Santa paraded through the train cars to meet the children and  he passed out candy canes, sang holiday songs and posed for pictures.  William is still not the slightest bit interested in meeting the jolly man in red, so I have no pictures of him with Santa.  Bummer, and he'll regret it when he's 20, but you snooze, you loose.  Once we got to Manassas, we got off the train for cookies, hot chocolate and story time.  Then we boarded the VRE and headed back home.  It was a great way to kick off our Christmas week.

The second outing was with our good friend, Caroline, and her mom and brother, Conner.  I had heard so many wonderful things about the train display at the Botanical Gardens downtown.  So, our group met there one morning around 10am.  It was a good thing we got there when the doors opened because a line had already formed.  By the time we left, the line was out the door in the FREEZING COLD. 

The train displays were set up in a separate room from the traditional botanical garden tour.  When you entered the train room, the trains were running everywhere you looked.  They were going around the walls, above your head, through tunnels and around the trees.  It was really cool to see it.  Everything inside the train room was made of nature - the bridges were wood, the tunnels were rocks, dirt, and leaves, the rails above our heads were made of crisscrossing branches, etc.  It was REALLY neat, but so hard to describe.  It was certainly a "you had to be there" kind of adventure.  The kids loved the trains and Caroline was thrilled to see Thomas and Percy as two of the lead cars on the tracks.  I noticed that by the time we'd been in the train room for about 15 minutes it was a getting really crowded and hard to keep up with the kids.  So, we decided to explore the rest of the gardens before heading out. 

Caroline and William really got into posing for pictures.  They would tell each other where to stand and then once their picture was snapped, they'd race over to Dan to view it on the camera.  We took advantage of their interest and captured a ton of pictures. 

Here is one where William specifically told Caroline to sit down on the grass.  He then told her to stay there because he was going to stand on the other side of her.

And here is a cute one of Caroline, her brother and her sweet Mom. 

 After a quick bite of Matchbox pizza, it was time to call it a day. Thanks for coming along for the fun guys!

Winlands in Washington

 

My best friend since kindergarten married a man from McLean, VA.  Little did we know how handy that would be once I moved to DC, married Dan and 7 years later.....we are still here!  

Lori and Chris live in Austin, Texas and they switch off doing Christmas in OKC and VA.  Depending on the holiday year, we either have the chance to see each other or miss each other completely.  

Well, this was their year in DC and since we are not traveling due to the pending arrival of baby girl Barron, WE GOT TO SEE EACH OTHER! HURRAY!  Henry Winland and William Barron are 7 months apart, yet they were fast friends and ask about each other often.  Lori and I think it is so fun that we both have boys so close in age who really like each other and play well together.  Lori has another sweet little baby, Alex, who I was thrilled to see too.  He's changed so much since our last gathering over the summer.

So the Winland gang was gracious enough to carve out a few hours of their holiday plans for us today.  They came to our house this afternoon for a playdate.  The boys played with every toy in our war chest while the dads chatted about the new flat screen tv.  Lori and I gabbed and gabbed about everything under the sun just trying to get it all in before we had to say good-bye.  

After stuffing their faces with reindeer cookies and milk, the boys gave each other a big hug and said good-bye.  It was adorable to watch them wave at each other and shout "see ya next time!" as Henry headed to the car.  

Best friends with the best boys!

Grace Episcopal School Christmas Program

Last Friday was William's all school Christmas program at Grace Episcopal.  The show started at 10am, but I went early to nab some seats close to the front.  Dan brought William to school a little later and joined me in the front row (it pays off to go early!) - such the preschool parent!.  

The school is only preschool-5th grade, so the show was not terribly long.  Preschool filed in first and I watched William settle into his seat, fold his hands in his lap and just sit there.  quietly.  hmmm, not so much at home!  When the show started, preschool performed first.  William marched up on the stage like an ol' pro and did exactly as he was told.  He sang his heart out and did a few hand motions.  I could tell he was looking around trying to find us, so I gave a small wave and he beamed.  

Once preschool was done, each of the other grades sang a short song or performed with the musical instruments.  Then it was over.  Nice and quick.  

It was cute to watch all the children up on the stage, and I was so proud of William's first try on the big stage at Grace.  Job well done WBB!

The Colossal Cupcake for Christmas

I never thought William paid attention to commercials on tv until now.  He saw an ad for the Wilton colossal Cupcake pan and JUST HAD TO HAVE IT. 

It went down like this:

William: "MOOOOOOOOOM MMMMOOOOM!  Come quick and see this on tv.  I need to go to the pan store and buy that colossal cupcake pan so we can make it."

Me:  "well, that is so big.  I am not sure what we'd do with a cupcake that enormous....."

William:  "Mom Mom we need to get that colossal cupcake pan for Baby Jesus' birthday and then we can make two and give one to Baby Jesus and one to me on my birthday.  Ok?  Let's do it."

That was a week ago.  I tracked down a colossal cupcake pan because as you can tell, every household should clearly have one.  

Then tonight, this was our conversation out of the blue as I was putting him to bed:

William: "Mom Mom, I have one more question.  Ok?  We need to make that colossal cupcake for Baby Jesus.  But, how are we going to get it to him since he lives so far away?"

Me:  "Well, we probably can't mail it because that would make a mess for the Postman.  So, I think we should make the cupcake and you, Dada and Mom Mom can all sing "Happy Birthday" to Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve before Santa comes."  

William:  "But Baby Jesus won't be here to eat the cake. We need to leave Santa a note so he doesn't eat the whole colossal cupcake and he might want to borrow our calculator.   Do you think we can save Baby Jesus a piece?  I also don't think he will hear us sing the song because he is so high up in the stars."

Me:  "Well, he'll be in our hearts and I bet he'll be so thankful that we tried our best."

William:  "Ok.  I wonder if he likes chocolate icing?"

25 weeks and 6 days Pregnancy Highlights

25 weeks and 6 days Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: Almost 26 weeks
Size of baby: Baby B is the size of an English cucumber
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Total of 18 lbs so far. (gained 3 at this last appointment)
Maternity Clothes: I'm wearing my maternity dresses with my boots and leggings. My black pants are also a staple.  The sweaters are coming out because today was the first snowfall of the season!
Gender: IT IS A GIRL!
Movement:  She likes having a party at night.  I feel her the most in the evenings once I finally sit down.  She's also made more of a racket when I first try to fall asleep.
Sleep: I sleep on my left side and wake up a few times in the night to readjust myself.  I also find sleeping on the right side a little uncomfortable and I don't think she likes it!
What I miss: jogging, but I stay active with William. Climbing 42 stairs to my door everyday, several times a day is also handy.
Cravings: meat sandwiches from Quiznos, eggs, fruit, orange juice, and I am mostly hungry for just 3 meals a day and a late night snack.
Best Moment this week: Feeling her so much more. Sometimes it can hurt, but I am happy to take the pain!

Because I Said So

William -"Mom Mom, you get what you get and you don't get upset."

Campbell and Cookies

A few weeks ago, William invited his best buddy from school, Campbell, over to the house to play and to decorate cookies.  Campbell and William first met each other when they were 19 month old classmates at First Baptist Church Mother's Day Out.  They became fast friends (as did the moms!) and both made the leap to "big kid school" at Grace Episcopal this year. 

It's very sweet to watch them interact.  You can tell they share a special bond of friendship and spend most of their school days watching out for one another.  As a mom, it makes me very happy just to know that William has a close friend at school who will stand up for him.  I love to watch them play together because they get along so well and truely enjoy each other's company.  I treasure my own friends dearly, and it makes my heart light up to see William forge such a close friendship with several little people at this young age.  You are a super buddy Campbell!

Simply the BEST!

HAPPY 39th BIRTHDAY TO OUR VERY SPECIAL DADA!  

 WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

 

WE BOTH THINK YOU ARE THE BEST PERSON IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!  WE ARE SO LUCKY TO WALK THROUGH LIFE WITH YOU! 

"Mom Mom, let's make that chocolate cake for our best friend, the birthday boy!"  - William

Dada's request for a chocolate cake with no icing is baking in the oven right now!

First Baptist Church Alexandria Children's Choir

This fall, William has been a part of our church's children's choir.  They meet every Wednesday evening for about 45 minutes down in the Sunday school rooms.  William LOVES it.  He enjoys going to see his friends every week and many times, we'll eat dinner at church around 5pm with his buddies.

Sunday, Dec. 5th was his holiday concert during the Hanging of the Green.  The church bulletin said to arrive early as the seats fill fast, so I went about 40 minutes early to snag good seats for me and Dan.  Dan came later, dropped William off and met me in the sanctuary.  Camera and Video were fully charged and ready!

The 3 year olds are the first group to perform (lucky us!) and William marched on stage like an old pro.  His group sang 3 holiday songs and I was impressed that William knew all the hand motions!  He spotted Dan in the audience and smiled really big and then he found me on the floor up front with the camera.  Stage Mom!

It was a cute concert and I am so glad William had the chance to participate.  It was the perfect way to kick start our December Christmas celebration!

On Dasher, On Dancer, On Prancer, On Vixen!

On Comet, On Cupid, On Donner, On Blitzen!

And so we have the second annual batch of Reindeer food ready for William's classmates. Last year William helped me fill little bags with oatmeal and confetti for each of his friends to sprinkle on their lawns Christmas Eve.  He was very excited at the thought of giving the reindeer a delicious snack!  This year, William's school is a little more "green" so I thought the confetti might not be the best idea.  So, I bought a box of Fruity Pebbles and used it along side the oatmeal.  I tossed in this cute poem and tied them up with a tag from William.  

Poem:
Sprinkle this reindeer food outside tonight.
The moonlight will make it sparkle bright.
As the reindeer fly and roam.
This will guide them to your home.

I also remembered that tomorrow is William's turn to bring the December special snack.  We love a good theme around here, so we went with Rudolph sandwiches.  They turned out cute!  Since the school is nut free, we opted to spread the inside of the sandwich with cream cheese (a winner in the preschool room).  The face is made up of a red cherry, raisen eyes and pretzel antlers.  William is super excited to pass them out tomorrow!

Candy Cane and a North Pole Breakfast

 Our very special Christmas elf made a surprise appearance last Saturday morning.   When we all came down stairs for breakfast, there was this cute little elf sitting at our kitchen table.  He had worked all night to create a very special North Pole breakfast for William Barron.  You should have seen William's eyes light up as big as saucers when he turned the corner into the kitchen and saw this spread:

"Wow!  Mom Mom!  What isssssssss thhhhhiiiisssss?"  He was grinning from ear to ear.  He immediately went to his seat and sat down next to the elf.  He picked him up and just giggled and giggled, "Mom Mom look! Who is this guy? How did he get here?"  I told him I wasn't sure who he was, but that he'd written a Christmas tree letter for us AND brought him a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse night light.  



William was eager to hear it, so Dada and I read it aloud:

" Dear William,

I am one of Santa's special elves from the North Pole.  I have been very busy helping Santa build toys at his workshop.  It is a lot of fun, but burr!!  It's cold there too!  Santa told me to come visit you, your baby sister and your mom and dad.  He wants me to stay with you until Christmas Eve and make sure you are a good little boy.  I know you are such a good friend, a wonderful listener, and you love to play!  I saw all your airplanes and told Santa to be sure and pack the sleigh with new planes and toys that you will be happy to add to your collection.  Remember to listen to your parents and teachers.  Be sure to eat a good healthy meal and most of all, Santa is so proud of you!  You are a very special boy.  Thanks for letting me stay at your house.  P.S. Santa thought you would would like this night light and can you give me a good name?" - Love  Elf

William never stopped smiling.  He was intrigued by the North Pole breakfast and kept asking how the elf was able to make the breakfast and bring it from the North Pole without melting the snowball donuts.  And was it really safe for a person to eat the reindeer food (How do you keep from laughing)?  We explained that Santa must have sent him to stay with us until Christmas Eve and how fun it will be to have a new friend in our home.  William decided to name him Candy Cane and carried him all over the house in order to show him every single toy.  They even watched a few Gemini Jets on YouTube.  

Candy Cane has been a delightful addition to our family of 3.  He's quiet, never asks for a thing and William loves toting him around town.  He's even made a star appearance at Show and Tell during Preschool.   

One of the highlights for William is putting Candy Cane on his dresser at night and telling him, "sleep tight Candy Cane.  I will see you in the morning."  Then when William wakes up, Candy Cane is missing from the dresser and we have to bolt down stairs to find out where he flew too during the night.  This game will never get old around here for William!

WBB 2010 Christmas Ornament

Ever since William was born, I have needlepointed a Christmas ornament for him.  The goal is for William to have a special collection of memory ornaments when he's older.  This year marks ornament #3.  I try to find needlepoint canvases that reference a special memory of the year, a particular obsession, a trip we took, etc.  I also have a stash of ornament canvases in my needlepoint bag that I have picked up on sale or someone has given me as a gift.   

I searched for a needlepoint canvas with Santa in an airplane (since airplanes are a huge 2010 obsession and continue to stay at the top of our list!) or even just a holiday airplane, but I didn't have any luck.  So, I picked this cute Santa Claus carrying a pack of presents on his back.  It was in my stash of ornaments, and I decided to embellish it with airplane charms in order to highlight William's love of flying.  I think it turned out really cute.  William loves the airplane charms and played with them for about 30 minutes before letting me stitch them onto the canvas!

Merry Christmas WBB!  I hope you will treasure your handmade ornament collection when you are older.  Mom Mom stitched each tiny hole with great love for her best boy!

Flight Missions

Dada came up with a really fun game that William just adores.  They each pick out a fighter plane from William's overflowing airport, and then they suit up for their flight mission.  The flight suits are merely coats, hats and backpacks, but each layer is taken seriously by Pilot Barron.  He makes sure they are ready for their "secret mission on Walter Reed Drive." 

The duo takes off from our front porch and they fly down the stairs, across the parking lot and onto the bike trail where they launch their secret flight mission to the creek.  They walk down the trail flying their planes while Pilot Dada gives the countdown and Pilot Barron launches the bombs (aka sweet gums and rocks).  

On cold days, the pilots call Captain Mom Mom on their radio and she drives the army tank (dada's jeep) down the street to the site of the secret mission to pick up the pilots.  Pilot Barron gets a real kick out of Mom Mom's participation and it's really cute to watch him stay in character the whole time.   William LOVES when Dada announces it's time to fly on a secret mission and he'll drop whatever he's doing to play the game with Dada.

Oh the joys of being 3!

Merry Christmas Santa Claus 2010

William has been telling me that we need to "decorate the entire house for Christmas" and since we have about 1000 square feet to move around in, I usually don't get many decoration out.  This way, it's less to trip over and heck, I don't have alot of places to put it!  

But, he's been asking to put something on the front door so Santa knows where we live.  Since he loved making the Thanksgiving turkey project with me, I decided we could make a Santa Claus.  So after school today, we came home and constructed our jolly ol' St. Nick.  I was impressed that William actually put the facial features in the right place on his face!  We used marshmellows for the hat and of course, he had to eat not one, but two.

I think Santa looks pretty cute! And, I am sure Santa will know exactly where this little pilot lives!