Letting the Pictures Talk

 Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a mouthful for your eyes. With some captions. 

Just because I can.

Peanut at 9 weeks

Yeah, I can wear this shirt now and not be accused of false advertisement!

12 weeks, before I got sick and dropped back down to pre-pregnancy weight.

Due March 24th.

Laying on the Couch

If there is one phase that completely explains what I've done all week, it is "laying on the couch."

Saturday night I told Dustin I thought I was getting sick. My throat was a little sore, I was feeling worn out, and I had definitely over salted dinner in his opinion. I woke up in the middle of the night shivering under all my blankets. Bad news. Since Dustin now has to go to early morning meetings before church, I knew getting myself and the kids ready for church was going to be rough that morning (although I'm used to doing it solo.) I forced myself to eat the delicious pancakes I had made for breakfast and got the kids and myself ready, even though when I walked out the door, I still looked kinda crappy. :( But I had taken the last of our cold medication so that I would hopefully be able to sit through sacrament meeting and the kids Primary Program. I did okay for the first couple of hours (and enjoyed how well my kids did with their parts in the program) but I HAD to go home for the 3rd hour. Upon walking in the house, I removed my heels and jewelry and climbed straight into bed. Pretty much stayed there for the rest of the day. 

My in-laws came to check in on us later that night, and after seeing me in such a sorry state, my mother-in-law took great pity on me and offered to be at my house the next morning at 6:30 to help get Carson off to school. She did just that, and stayed pretty much the whole day, taking care of me, the boys, our laundry, taking me to the doctor, picking up my prescription, you name it! Turns out I had a tonsil infection (that would explain all the horrible flu-like symptoms) and possibly strep throat (which would explain why I couldn't eat anything.) The goal was to be feeling much better after 48 hours on my antibiotics. And I was, until I started getting a stuffy head and a runny nose. So now I'm back to laying on the couch (like I ever really got up!) resting and pushing A LOT of liquid into this poor ol body. 

And if that wasn't enough to keep me occupied enough, Jensen had a little accident. He was running around before bed time (which we had already asked him to stop doing) and of course slipped, fell and slammed his hand into the wall. I could tell pretty quickly something wasn't right. His left pinkie was hanging off his hand in a very odd angle. So it was up to Dustin to take him to the ER while I bathed the other boys and got them in bed. That was about 7pm. They waited to be seen at the hospital 5 minutes from our house for a couple of hours. His finger wasn't looking any better.

 Once he was seen, and X-rays were taken, they determined it was broken and that in his situation they needed him to go to Dell Children's Medical Center (about an hour away from our house) to be properly treated. This was about 5 hours into his night in the ER. He was pretty tired.

 They were able to sedate him, re-set his finger and then they put a soft cast on him and allowed him to go home. We'll wait to see a hand specialist sometime next week to make sure the bones were set correctly and then get a real cast. Dustin said he was so good the whole night and he never seemed to stop talking. He did well coming out of his anesthesia and he hasn't complained once today about being in any pain. He's been happy as a hog to just sit on the couch like so and watch t.v. 

So, for now it looks as though "laying on the couch" might become a more permanent theme around here. But I am so thankful for my MIL and all my friends who have brought dinner, picked up my carpool, called, texted or emailed me and have been super watchful of our family. We'll count those blessings.

Jensen's First day at School

Jensen finally got to have his "First day of school" today. He was excited to be in the "Bear Class" at Mother's Day Out. When we went last week to the open house, we was happy to find out that he would have one of the teachers that he had last year. I also loved that they had made a special "Bear Cave" in the classroom, which the teachers told us was to be used when a child needed a few minutes to themselves. 

He had a great first day, as usual, and Mason and I had a productive morning with just the two of us. :)

Labor-Free Labor Day

Our Labor Day this year was very much like Memorial Day. Dustin and Grandpa Brudnicki took the big boys out on the lake in the morning for a little fishing, and Grandma Brudnicki, Mason and I joined them for a yummy picnic lunch. One of the goals of this little fishing excursion was to get a picture of Jensen with a fish. Since he wasn't willing to hold the fish by the mouth, Dustin cleverly kept it on the line and had Jensen pose with it. What a little cutie!!!! When we met them at the dock, they said Jensen never stopped talking the whole time, that is, unless he was eating something. :) I was impressed that he stopped talking while eating, because he sure doesn't do that at home!

While we were waiting for the big boys to come in off the lake, Mason was excited to be able to interact with some wildlife. 

Ducks. 

Another little girl was giving them bread, so we were able to get nice and close. He loved watching them swim in the water and walking around in the grass.

Dustin also gave Mason and I a little ride on the boat. Mason kept saying that we were on the "Ocean." He also kept telling me that he wanted to get in the water and swim. Thankfully he did not jump in. I was also thankful for a beautiful morning, a perfect shaded picnic area and the short nap that I got to take when we got home. :)

Back to School

Yes!!!!!! I'm so excited that this kid is back in school. This might have been one of the longest summers ever. (Well, at least a close second to the summer I was pregnant with Mason.)

Carson does so well when he's in school. He likes having all that structure in his day. He loves having people to do things with and new things to learn. I'm sure it's also nice to not have limitations set on what he can or can't do due to younger siblings tagging along as well.

I felt so much peace after I got home from the gym this morning. I couldn't explain it at first, but then I realized how nice it was to not have to constantly find something to entertain Carson. Carson is smart, but he really needs a lot of guidance. I can give Jensen a stick and a bandana and he will be out of my hair for hours just playing by himself. Carson…not so much. Plus Mason and Jensen play really well together. Not a lot of fighting going on between those two. (At least at this age. :) ) 

 Carson wanted Dustin to take him to school today, so that's what we did. My friend Steph took these pictures of Carson getting settled in his class this morning. And even though I'm sure I'll enjoy my quiet and relaxed day, I'm excited to go and pick him up this afternoon and hear all about the First Grade!

The Birthdays

So I never posted about Carson's actual birthday party, because, well, I was tired, and I figured I'd just post Mason and Carson's birthday's together. So here are Carson's pictures first. He had his birthday at the Jumpy Place, which is a place that has a bunch of giant inflatable bounce houses. This is the second birthday party that we've thrown at such a place, and I love it. The kids get to run around and play, and I don't have to do anything but watch them and feed them. :)

 Carson seriously lucked out on all his presents this year. His friends were so thoughtful and got things that he has really enjoyed!

 Even though I dedicated a whole post just to Carson's dragon cake, I couldn't resist putting this picture up of him taking a bite out of the wing. What a nut!

 For his party favors I wanted to do something nice and fun, so Carson and I found the most adorable book about a dragon and we ordered them online a week and a half before his party. They came to Dustin's office the morning of his party, and Dad, being the hero, drove them to the party so that we could actually give them away as his favors! Carson also had fun picking out a candy bar (KitKats) and wrapping them with a note that said thank you. (Just so you know, my kids have asked me to read this book to them at least once a day since then. It has become a fast favorite at our house.)

Now for Mason's birthday. We decided it was high time for Mason to get out of his crib. Having to lift him in and out of that thing was seriously giving me back problems. We didn't take the other boys out of the crib until they were a little bit older, but Mason is so much bigger than they both were at the age of 2. So, we went and got a toddler bed for him. HE LOVES IT! And since sleeping in his new bed, he has been sleeping in in the morning and taking rock star naps. Dustin is convinced it's the new mattress. He might be on to something.

 Ever since our Disney Cruise this spring, Mason has had a love for Mickey Mouse. We bought him a small stuffed Mickey Mouse to take his 2 year portraits with so I also thought it would be fun to make him a Mickey Mouse cake. We talked it up the week before his birthday so he was super excited to wake up from his nap to find it made. (He doesn't look that excited in this picture. He just wanted to eat it. And I just wanted Dustin to take the picture, because I was holding the 30 lb. monster in one arm and balancing the cake with the other.)

 Here he is attempting to blow out his candles. Dustin accidentally blew them out right after I took the picture.

 It was as good as he thought it would be. :) Now he's 2!!!

 Then we just had a simple party with Grandma Brudnicki (the cake and opening his 2 presents). We were also able to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen so they could watch him open their present. My mom made him an adorable ABC book. I love the look on his face in this picture.

 Grandma and Grandpa Brudnicki gave him a Winnie the Pooh book (who he also loves) that has a recording of Grandma Brudnicki reading it. He was fascinated by the fact that this book played music and read itself.

 Festivities for Mason's birthday were held to a minimum because we had to head off to Back to School Night. Carson met his new teacher, Mrs. Snead. She seemed super great, and Carson was excited to see kids that he knew in his class. I can't believe he's in 1st grade!!!!

How to Make Your Dragon Cake

Carson had big plans for a "Dragon Themed" birthday party this year. I like going with a theme. It makes certain aspects of the party planning easier. So, of course, a dragon themed party needs a dragon cake. We did a little research online together and found some very cool ideas. We took one that we both liked (he liked, and I thought it was feasible to actually make) and ran with it. Here we are with the final creation. So how does one make an incredibly awesome dragon cake such as this? I will tell you.

First you start off with some cake. Carson ordered chocolate. I simply baked 2, 8"round cakes, 1, 6" round cake and several cupcakes (I think I used 3 or 4). I sliced one of the 8" cakes in half, then stood them on the flat end, back to back, to make the body of the dragon. Same procedure for the 6" cake, placed on either side of the body for the hind "legs." The neck and tail were cut from the remaining 8" cake. Then I took cupcakes and cut them for parts of his head, face, tail tip, feet, and I also used chunks of cupcakes to bridge the tail/neck into the body. I just used a little icing to glue him all together. 

 Then, the dragon needed to be crumb iced, so as to make the decorating easier, and also to help smooth his body together.

 Carson also ordered a blue dragon, so I gave him a thin icing of blue to help further shape him and provide me with plenty of color coverage. (At this point I was getting pretty excited at how cute he was looking!)

 Next was the tricky part. I wasn't really sure how to "scale" the dragon, but I used a petal tip to create his layers of scales. At first this was difficult (especially working from some odd angles) and I wasn't so sure I liked it, but Carson and his friend that was over to play assured me that it looked great, so I kept going. Listening to 2 six year olds totally paid off… this time. I left his face un-scaled for a couple of reasons. I thought it would be too much detail on his face, AND I was out of blue frosting, so by default his face is smooth iced.

 Then came the fun details. Hershey kisses make up the spikes along his back. Chocolate chips were used for his toenails, as well as the spikes along his tail. The tail tip was iced and then covered in strawberry flavored fruit roll ups. His "ears" were also fashioned with the fruit roll ups and some skewers and toothpicks. The fire coming from his mouth was also fruit roll ups. His eyes were made of 2 melting chocolate wafers, and I put the pupils on with black gel.

 The final touch were his wings. I made them the day prior to making the cake. Carson picked out red melting chocolate wafers to use for his wings. (Hence, the other red accents.) I drew a pattern for the wings, then formed molds out of aluminum foil. After melting the chocolate, I poured it into the wing molds, reinforcing them with a couple of skewers buried inside. Once the chocolate was set up, I removed the molds and used a vegetable peeler to smooth and shape the wings. We didn't add them to the cake until we made it to the party destination. 

And there you have it- how to make your own dragon cake. Easy peasy, right? Right. I think I'm going to take a quick nap now.