Desto!

An update on our sweet little girl...

Nicknames: Desto, Dest, Desty Kiddo, Kid, Kidesto, Beautiful (Toby gave her Dest and Desty)

New Skills: Eats three meals a day (doesn't have favorites, she's never said "no" to anything we've given her, army crawling (she can get anywhere if given enough time), pulled up for the first time yesterday, takes big baths with Toby, sits up with ease, belly laughs more often, loves cords (yikes), did her first finger-painting tonight and interacting more and more with her big brother.

We thank God for Kidest's smooth adjustment into our family. We love her so much.

Steals his Mommy's Heart.

Toby had the opportunity to be the ring bearer at his Aunt Casey's wedding this past weekend. He was very excited to wear his "penguin suit" that he borrowed from his older cousin. He did make it down the aisle with a either a "stop looking at me face" and then a heart pillow shoved in his face (thank goodness the aisle was not long). As he walked, he made sure to step on the flower petals that were sprinkled about. Toby thought this job had the perfect pay for the hard work, as soon as he made it down the aisle, he was able to eat the m&m's that his aunt stuffed in the pillow and a piece of gum from his proud mama.

Family Pictures.

New Pics!

Toby had a wonderful time celebrating Grayson's b-day this week. They were so fun to watch and got a big kick out of their blue mouth, tongue, teeth and hands from the icing. Not many adults ate the blue cupcakes after watching the kids turn blue.

Eight Months Old Today!

Chef Toby

I think most kids like to help in the kitchen, Chef Toby is no exception. Today we made a huge cake to freeze for Wes's sister's bridal shower. The cake required three mixes. The biggest surprise to me about Toby wanting to help me is that he is really quite helpful. I am sorry if I am going to be obnoxious and brag on my son, but he cracked nine eggs flawlessly (four of them without me even supervising. I had no idea that a boy, who is barely three, could do such a thing. We've had success with cracking eggs in the past, but this was a personal best. I was so proud of my "egg cracker". Furthermore, he held the divider in place perfectly while I poured in the chocolate and vanilla cakes into one big pan. I consider these events to be slight miracles. Toby loves to bake cakes as you can plainly see from the pics. Cake time was really fun today, nap time was not so much fun.

Mini-burgers, a big success.

Last week we mad these mini-burgers out of vanilla wafer and grasshopper cookies. I borrowed the idea from a friend who borrowed it from a magazine. They were super easy to make and really cute. It is also a great way to use up leftover icing!

Buns=vanilla wafers

meat=grasshopper cookies

sesame seeds on bun=sesame seeds, brush egg yolk on top of vanilla wafer, sprinkle on seeds and bake for a few minutes

ketchup, mayo, mustard=colored icing

lettuce=green colored coconut

Toby's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Sweet Son!

Organized Chaos!

Do you recognize this toy? I grew up with it. It is called "Marble Run" or "Marble Works". Our parents still have the ones we played with 25 years ago. We purchased this one from Discovery Toys. It is a classic toy in my opinion. Toby plays with this toy all the time and it is so fascinating to watch the marble run its course. When he gets a little older he will be able to construct his own coasters. This is a product I would do an infomercial for, if asked.

I was a little concerned that Toby's birthday would occur so soon after returning with Kidest, but with some planning ahead, we had a wonderful celebration. The timing turned out to be perfect because a ton of attention was given to him last week. My mom was here most of last week, so she helped me make Toby's birthday cake, which was so much fun to do. The reason I loved doing it was because it thrilled Toby's soul to come and check on the progress of the cake every 20 minutes or so. He loves "Wedgie Tales" (what he called them when he was two).

The party was planned for the outdoors, but with the yucky weather, we had to move it indoors. Thankfully, we could use our church gym. Above, you can see all the children (and some adults) wheeling around.

More Homecoming Pics!