The Far Side...

Been a While

2012-02-11T15:44:00.000-06:00

So I know it's been a while (ok, a year more like it) but I am pretty sure no one reads this anymore. Somehow we let Facebook get the best of us, me included, and we no longer need blogs to follow the happenings on ones everyday life. I have decide though after reading many new blogs by friends over here that perhaps there are some of you out there who may still check in once in a while. So, a bit of an update to start me back and then perhaps more interesting things later!

I am still in school. I am taking online classes through National University out of San Diego for a BA in History. No career plans for this just something I was close to finishing eons ago so I thought what better time to do it then now. The classes are only 4 weeks each so it is super accelerated. Makes it nice to be done with each class so quickly but they are super intensive. Especially the 400 level classes that is about all I am in now. :( Anyways, I am 8 classes in now and have 14 to go. So I should be done by summer next year. That is the goal. I am also in a great running groove right now. I have signed up for a 10 mile race in Paris in September and am contemplating a 10 mile race in Antwerp in April.

Younger Bean will be starting German Kindergarten in August and is THRILLED!!! Seriously, the kid can't wait! It's the same one Baby Bean went too just down the street so he is already familiar with the school and the teachers. It will be so weird to have an empty house for 6 hours a day...what will I do? Ha! I have plenty to do!

Baby Bean is in her second half of Kindergarten and loves school. She "challenges" herself with her writing and is so proud of how well she reads. This girl will have no self esteem issues for sure. :) She is so petite still yet growing so fast! Her and Younger Bean are actually the same exact weight only she has him by about 3.5 inches in height. Same shoe sizes though, really, she's petite!

Mr. Bean is finish up some school in the states right now. He's been there for 5 weeks and will be back home in about 3 more. It will be nice to have our family complete again. Luckily the kids and I have so much going on in our daily lives that we have been able to make the time pass super quick. Still, can't wait to have him back!

Well, that's about it for tonight but trust me, with all the cakes, school, chapel events, travel, etc. there will be many more updates to come!

Cakes and such

2011-03-23T09:13:00.000-05:00

So I have started back to college after a 9 year sabatical. I am taking classes with National University out of California online. I am finishing my Bachelors degree in History. I don't yet have a plan for it when I'm done but I know there are several government jobs I could procure with it and that is my end goal at this time. They are super condensed, 4 week classes so I have 22 classes (22 months) of school left. I am in the final 3 days of my first class, Advance English Composition, and have been really surprised at how much work an online class is and at how much I am enjoying this class and learning despite the bundle of nerves I was over taking this particular class. My final for the class is an 8-10 page research paper arguing a particular view effectively and proposing a solution. I am arguing against home schooling. In a week I start my 4 week Geography class. Needless to say I am well on my way and really enjoying it this time around. Amazing the perspective a few years and some life experience can give you on learning.

This is a cake I did for a 5 year old girl's birthday this past weekend and the one below is cake I did for the Annual Aircrew Awards on base. The horse was a lot of fun to make. Marshmallow fondant that was super yummy because I made the fondant and flavored it with Vanilla Extract.

Cakes...

2011-02-15T07:17:00.000-06:00

This weekend was of course Valentine's Day weekend and on Friday I got an order for a heart cake to feed 20 people. Instead of just making a really big heart cake that would feed 20 people I decided to make 2 completely different heart cakes that would feed 10 people each. A yellow cake with buttercream icing, fondant and truffles. A chocolate cake with rich chocolate icing and sugar flowers. This was the result:

Mr. Bean's sister and her family came this weekend as well to visit. Mr. Bean and I were supposed to be going on a Rhine River cruise Saturday night and then dinner at a nice restaurant in Koln with some couples from our church and they were going to babysit. Unfortunately they cancelled the cruise at the last minute opting for dinner at a local restaurant around here. Boo! So we decided to skip it and instead on Saturday evening we all (4 adults, 3 kids) went to a 15th century castle about 15 minutes from our house to partake in their candle lit, live music Valentine's dinner menu. It was INCREDIBLE. The kids behaved flawlessly (except that Baby Bean wanted to go to the bathroom, no kidding, 9 times which was perfectly ok because did I mention, HE IS POTTY TRAINED NOW!!!!!!!). Here are some of the pictures from that evening. Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day as well!

My sweet family. What more could I ask for on Valentine's Day. :)

Baby Bean and me snuggling

Mr. Bean's chocolate sensation at the castle.

Big Girl Bean and I snuggling

My little Buggy enjoying his appetizer!

Cakes...

2011-02-09T06:08:00.001-06:00

So my plan to be more regular about posting has not worked out so well. Sorry! My cake business on the other hand, BLOOMING!

This was a simple Elmo cake for a guys birthday.

This was a cake I threw together for Super Sunday at church. Not my best, but not my worst! :)

This was the 96 cup-cake cake I did for a retirement ceremony on base the DAY we moved into our house over here. 112 cupcakes made in total.

And today, I got 3 more cake orders!

200th Post!!!

2011-01-13T03:48:00.000-06:00

So I have had this blog for 5 years now and am just hitting my 200th post. If that isn't a testament to my lack of consistency then I don't know what is! :) Oh well, here's to trying a little harder.

Big Girl Bean started German Kindergarten on Monday and is LOVING it. She is going to be having German lessons every morning with some other students that don't speak German very well for an hour and then the rest of the day will be kindergarten. It's 7 hours a day, 5 days a week with an hour and a half break in the middle of the day where she gets to come home for lunch. The school is literally only 1 block from our house and we walk to and from every day. Very convenient.

Toddler Bean is getting so big so fast! He is potty training now and let me tell you, not nearly as easy as his sister. He just doesn't have the same attention span she had. He loves his potty and will use it no problem. But still doesn't care if he goes in his pull up either. In fact, we went straight from diapers to panties with Big Girl Bean and only used pull-ups for night time. He however needed the transition to pull-ups first. Gonna try giving it another couple weeks then moving to underwear. He's been in pull-ups for about 2 weeks now and I think the progress is good.

We are all moved into the house now. I have all but toddler Bean's room unpacked and our bedroom. We have a lot of stuff in those two rooms unpacked just not everything. Today will be concentrated on toddler Bean's room I think.

Mr. Bean's sister is pregnant and due the end of July. This will be grandchild #4 for this side of the family. Currently there are 2 boys and 1 girl so perhaps they will even it out. Can't wait either way. I LOVE BABIES!!!

Christmas was great. Mr. Bean's sister and her family came to spend it with us since they are also living here in Germany. The kids had a great time playing together and Mr. Bean and his brother-in-law made a big igloo in the side yard for all 7 of us to fit in. It was crazy but really neat. Mr. Bean wound up getting some new sunglasses and a TON of tools for Christmas. He was pretty funny how giddy getting tools made him. :) Big girl Bean got a 4 foot tall doll house with accessories along with Barbies and some movies. She was speechless and believe me, that's a feat in itself. Toddler Bean got a singing pirate boat with blocks and some matchbox car toys and movies. Also some of the most adorable clothes every compliments of the grandparents and Aunt and Uncle Baby Brother Bean. Now, I do have to say, Mr. Bean way out did himself for me for Christmas. Not only did I get the new Clive Cussler book that was just released and one of my favorite movies, 17 Again, but Mr. Bean also got me a Video Camera and THIS RING!!!!!!

I picked it out at Papa Bean's store back in October and thought maybe one day in a couple years if they still had it maybe we would go back and get it but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have it 2 months later. It's a light blue Sapphire with Diamonds all around. Perfect!

New years we went to Mr. Bean's sister's house and had a great time playing with fireworks and just hanging out. Oh and I also got to go see the new Harry Potter movie while we were down there. Mr. Bean saw Tron. His opinion, no 3D effects at all and not worth the theater fare. My opinion on Harry Potter, can't wait for the second installment!

The Igloo

New Christmas Clothes

His 'Spy Car' shirt with matching pants!

That's about all the updates for the moment. More soon I'm sure. Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!

2011-01-07T05:11:00.002-06:00

My sincere apologies for no posting in over a month. We now have internet back at the house so be looking for more regular and frequent updates soon!!!

The Biltmore Estate

2010-11-30T08:08:00.000-06:00

During our trip to North Carolina Mr. Bean and I managed a day trip to the Biltmore Estate with no children. Back in May, before we knew we were Germany bound, we bought season passes for the Biltmore and as I had never seen it decorated for Christmas, we thought we better seize our last opportunity.

It was the best! We just happened to go on the same morning the Santa Claus rode in on his sleigh to deliver the 30 foot tall Christmas Tree for the dining hall. What a great sight! We had coffee while we stood outside watching the festivities and then toured the house purely to see it in all its Christmas frills. We were there back in May so the history was still pretty fresh in our minds. We really just enjoyed seeing all the holly and mistletoe and tiny trees with lights and Christmas platters spread around. What a great way to get in the spirit before leaving the country.

We then had lunch in the Stable Cafe and enjoyed some seasonal drinks along with Apple Pecan Chicken Salad and Bar B Que fried bread. So delicious!

We had a great time and the waiter was happy to take our picture. The close-up, my handy work!

My new friend. :)

Enjoy the pictures and will talk to you all again in a few days after we get internet set up at the new house. We move in...TOMORROW!

Travel Journal Part 2

2010-11-23T03:45:00.000-06:00

Ok, so we were talking about our travels before hitting Europe when I got sidetracked by all the house hunting fun. Where were we? Hmmm, that's right, we were leaving Alabama and heading to North Carolina for leg 2 of the trip.

We left Alabama the morning of the 26th in October and drove to the beautiful town of Asheville, North Carolina. I know there are many fans out there of Asheville so yes, I enjoyed it enough for all of you. :) We got to visit with Nana and Great Grandma Beans out there and just had an all around relaxing time. We stayed in Nana Bean's new house up on the family farm in the mountains where our retirement home will be in about 7 years. It was so nice to get a taste the days to come sitting on the porch in the cool autumn morning with coffee watching the sun rise over the mountains and lighting up the trees. Mmmmmm, I miss it already.

Wednesday we got to visit with Papaw Bean and have lunch at one of our favorites, Cracker Barrel. I mean really, who doesn't love Cracker Barrel? The babies Bean had fun drawing/coloring and climbing on Papaw.

Yes, both kids are lefties.

Thursday, we went fishing. This was the kids first fishing trip and they had a BLAST! We went to this real cute town that had a nice little Trout fish farm and the kids each caught 2 fish and I caught 1. I love to fish too so I had to catch one to get my fix too. By the end of the day we were all smelling of fish. We took the fish back to Great Grandma's house and she fried it up real nice for us. Mmmmm, tasty!

They had so much fun!

Friday we went to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. A mainstay for Nana and the kids are in love with Dollywood now. We always visit this exotic petting zoo first and then enjoy Dollywood later. Nana also always gets us a room at this resort there that has a great indoor water park that Baby Bean enjoyed immensely.

That weekend we came back on Saturday and then visited the church Fall Festival on Sunday before trick-or-treating around town with my 2 favorite super heroes. :)

The rest of the trip was spent relaxing, enjoying Nana's new digs and shopping with Great Grandma. We also were able to spend a couple evenings with big extended family dinners and a couple evenings with the two Uncle's and their Mrs.

Next week, as I will be gone the rest of the week for Thanksgiving celebrations around Germany and Belgium with family and friends, we will continue with Chicago and the flight here. We also hit up the Biltmore House while we were in town, those pictures will be later. :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Our New House!

2010-11-18T08:53:00.000-06:00

So we have signed the lease on a town house here in Germany and have also signed lease paperwork for our house in St. Louis. WE HAVE A RENTER!!!!!!!!!!

Our house here is a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath 2 story with full basement. Laundry room is in the basement along with the extensive, heated guest quarters and a separate exercise room. At least that's my plan for it. The bedrooms are on the 2nd floor and the kitchen, dining and living room are on the 1st floor along with the guest WC and foyer. It has a white marble staircase and the landlord is installing baby gates on the stairs before we move in along with an electric garage door opener and screens on all our windows. Yay! Here are the photos:

This is the kitchen, obviously.

The other half.

This is a combo dining room/living room area.

This is going to be Baby Boy Bean's room which is green already.

This is a crappy picture of Baby Bean's room and is already painted orange. Her last room in STL was orange too so we took it as a sign. :)

This is our room which is just white but has that really nice window.

This is the full bath with the shower to the left of the pic in the corner behind the door. A glass stand up shower.

This is the guest room downstairs that is super long and wired for a projector already.

This is the guest WC

The foyer. I like the front door :)

House Update

2010-11-15T01:58:00.000-06:00

Just a small update for house hunting. We decided to cancel our showing for yesterday. The park and white fence house was much nicer in pictures. The grounds had not been kept up and the upkeep costs/time would have been astronomical! Not to mention that it was already over our allotted budget. So we decided no to make the man drive an hour and a half up to show us something we were already a 90% no on. We have found 3 others that we want to check out in it's place and will decide on one from those 3, the first one I showed you guys a couple others. Here are 2 of the 3 new ones found:

Big 2 Car Garage

Big White House

Slight Detour...

2010-11-12T02:10:00.000-06:00

So I know I owe everybody the next 2 weeks of our vacation/gypsy voyage to Germany but first I am going to take today to update everyone on the goings on here.

Our official house hunting started yesterday. This is the first HOUSE we looked at. It is a duplex/townhouse which more than 50% of the lodging in Europe seems to be. We lived in a townhouse in Belgium and never once had a problem with or heard our neighbor. So we are not opposed to one for our 3/4 year stay here. I really liked the design of this one and the shower in the main bath has a bench in it. Always a good thing. :) I also loved that the Master Bedroom opens to it's own private balcony. Mr. Bean and I could get used to that. It has an incredibly low maintenance yard which is rare here and EVERYTHING in this house is new. In fact, the bedroom floors haven't even been laid yet. The garage is only a 1 car but it is a good 6 feet deeper than normal and has an extra 2 feet added to each side. The house has infloor heating as well as an extra 8 inches of insulation around the entire thing. The kitchen is all brand new and for all you IKEA fans out there it is a built in kitchen from there. In fact, the dishwasher is still to be installed so really, everything is new. Baby Girl Bean's favorite part of the house...the chandelier. Go figure.

What do you guys think???? Only 3 bedrooms but has a huge basement for guest quarters with access to back yard.

Today we are viewing another house and tomorrow a third. We really like the one for tomorrow but it is a bit over our allowance and it has a park for a back yard. Literally. Check this out!

Tonight Mr. Bean's sister and her family, who also live in Germany, are coming up for the weekend to celebrate Baby Bean's birthday. We got him a Pirate cake since I have none of my stuff to make him a cake. By the way, don't forget to keep up on my cake site. I have 2 orders for here already and we have only been in country 4 days! Looks promising! We are looking forward to some familiar faces and being able to just relax and play some games with good coffee.

Oh yeah, did I mention we have a contract on our house back in St. Louis for rent? We have accepted the application and given the company our requirements for the contract so now we are just waiting for confirmation from the couple and it's a done deal. Should know something by Tuesday at the latest. FINGERS CROSSED!!!!!

Heaven Sent

2010-11-11T03:35:00.000-06:00

Sloan:  of Irish or Gaelic origin;  meaning "man of arms," "warrior"

Christopher:  of Greek origin;  meaning "bearing Christ inside" 

Born November 11, 2008, Veteran's Day, at 5:09am to a veteran.

Weight: 9lb 10oz  Length:  22 1/2 inches

PERFECTION

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SLOAN CHRISTOPHER LEDFORD!!!!!!

Travel Journal Part 1

2010-11-10T01:40:00.000-06:00

So today starts the first day of a hopefully renewed blogging career, so to speak. We have been on vacation for nearly 3 weeks starting in St. Louis and ending in Germany. I will post segments of our trip over the next few days to get you all up to speed and then it's Europe All The Way!!!

October 13th through 15th we got packed out of the house. Then spent every waking moment of the next 3 days cleaning our house from top to bottom. You would never believe how much there is to clean in a totally empty house. It's INSANE! Anyways, all was packed and cleaned and on Monday the 18th, after shipping our car on the latest possible day because we didn't receive the duplicate copy of the title until Saturday the 16th, we left out for Alabama in my Aunt's trusty Honda to see all the Bean's (parents, brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces/nephew, friends).

In Alabama we had a great time. We played cards with mom and dad, I picked out some new jewelery at my dad's jewelery store (he is the watch maker) for my wish list and made parts of a halloween costume for Baby Bean.

We had game night with Little Brother Bean and his family and discovered that his sister-in-law and I actually have a lot in common. Who knew! We had a great night visiting, eating and getting my butt kicked in Escalation. A card game EVERYONE must get and play.

A couple days later mom, the kids and I went to Big Brother Bean's house to spend the day with 2 ADORABLE little girls who I think love their Auntie Em very much. :) We played outside on the swingset and enjoyed gorgeous weather. We had a big family dinner at Big Brother Bean's house where he cooked pot roast, green bean casserole, homemade macaroni and cheese and cooked carrots and we all were STUFFED! That night we all went out to Zoo Boo at the Montgomery Zoo and I have to say it was really disappointing. The kids had a blast riding on the tractor hay ride but other than that.....a let down. I did get a couple cute pictures though.

Dog Pile on Daddy!

Zoo Boo

Saturday Mr. Bean spent the day with one of is best friends from Florida and the kids and I spent the afternoon roaming Prattville before meeting up together at the best little Philipino kitchen in the state! Seriously, we had all kinds of stuff that I can't pronounce at our friends house that they cooked and it was HEAVEN! Jojo and Nichole...YOU ROCK! Later that night we went back to Big Brother Bean's to play games with him and the Love Bean and had a riotous good time as usual. :)

Sunday we went to an auction with the Bean Parents and had fun ending in a new 1958 Singer Sewing Machine purchase for only $5. That's right, $5 and all parts WORK. :) I love a bargain! Later that evening I got to have dinner (cooked perfectly) with my two best friends in the world and play with the cutest little 2 year old you have ever seen. :) So sweet EK!

Two of my favorite Beans watching Monster Jam together...anyone notice how they dressed alike???

Monday we were able to get together with the brother's Bean again and their families for pictures at the Prattville park and then dinner at Cracker Barrel. A family favorite. It was a semi-late evening but we all had a blast and I was so grateful to get to see everyone again before leaving out the next morning for part 2 of our vacation.

Cracker Barrel Fun!

The LOVE their Uncle Andrew

One cute group of grandkids if I do say so myself!

Tune in tomorrow..........

Villains and Education

2010-08-22T14:39:00.000-05:00

Well the renter backed out so we are back to square one. Hopefully with our move out date being 1 October the rental traffic should pick back up in September. We got all of our clearances and records done and submitted so we should be with orders in hand within a couple weeks. Yay!

Big Girl Bean starts preschool on Tuesday after Labor Day so we are all excited about that. She was going to be going to the local elementery school's program but they told me back in April during all other preschool registrations that they were most likely not going to have the program this year because of budget cuts and if they did have it they may not have room for her. :( Some BS about her not being high risk enough to qualify above others (level of risk meaning parents marital status, economic status, mental and physical ability, etc). I agree that she is very bright and we are not bad off in comparison, but come on, she still should be able to attend the free programs that other kids attend. So then my property taxes went up which around here something like 70% of those taxes is supposed to go to education in your district and they cut her free program. So we are now paying $120 a month for her to go to a church preschool (which we really love) because she is 4 and needs to be in school! But then I get a call from the elementary school last week saying that they are going to have the program now but because they didn't find out before 1 July I am not able to get the registration fee or the 1st month's tuition for the church preschool back So since she will only get to go for 1 month before we move what's the point? In conclusion, she is going to the church preschool and I am happy about that. Not so happy still though about my taxes going up and the crappy job Illinois is doing to take care of public education.

On the other hand, I made a Darth Vader cake last week and this was the result:

I was pleased considering it was my first real big attempt at 3D Fondant work. Lots of fun but man, tons of work! And oh yes, it had sound effects!!!

Some updates

2010-08-17T08:42:00.000-05:00

So we got a call from our Property Management company that we had an rental application for our house last week. Well, they called yesterday and asked for a second walk thru before making a final decision so now we are just waiting. Keep your fingers crossed!

It's been a while since updates have been posted here (and yes, I know that's my own fault) so here are some things that have happened over the last couple months:

1. Baby Bean stuck his finger in a tiki torch flame and didn't flinch. He actually charred his finger tip (it was black) but didn't do anything but suck on it for a few minutes and then go back to playing.

2. Baby Bean touched the prongs of a half way plugged in night lite and shocked himself enough to cut power to the entire room and laughed...

3. Then, Baby Bean got out the front door when I was in the back of the house. I went to check on the kids and found the front door wide open with Big Girl Bean on the couch watching TV and Baby Bean missing... I scanned the neighborhood for a few minutes along with 4 of my neighbors and found nothing. So I called Mr. Bean to come home and help and he said call 911 and he would be home soon. Called 911, gave them all the info and hang up. Mr. Bean calls back and says car battery is dead and needs a jump. Get neighbors to get him while still looking only to find Baby Bean in the driver's seat of our across the street neighbor's car, happy as could be.

In conclusion, he now has grand theft auto added to his rap sheet and I am pretty sure he has some kind of secret super powers.

Happy Tuesday!

A few updates...

2010-08-09T14:21:00.000-05:00

So I have had some requests from certain family members to start updating my blog again and seeing as I will be living in Germany soon I thought I might comply. Here is the latest...

My cakes are still going strong and Pampered Chef is going so so. I will be having a HUGE Pampered Chef party the middle of September as a final out from here and to get the Fall catalog started off right! Early Christmas shopping and lots of free giveaways for everyone!

This is my latest cake. 3 layer white with Bavarian Creme filling. It was done as a birthday cake for a friends mother. I made the fondant roses and mums myself!!! By the way, I have a cake blog now too! www.cakespecialties.blogspot.com Check it out!

This weekend is our last Auto Cross race of the season and I am going to win the Ladies Championship for my class. Yay! I am so addicted to this sport now it's unreal. :)

All our medical clearances are complete so hopefully we will have orders soon and can arrange a final schedule for packing, moving, vacationing, etc. Middle of October will be our final out and then Europe, here I come!

2010-02-23T10:21:00.004-06:00

So it's been almost 3 months since my cop-out post of the kids as elves and I finally got the chastising I had been due to pick back up on my blogging. So I am going to try to get in two blogs a week from here on out. No promises, but I will try. :)

We are all doing good. Mr. Bean has been CRAZY busy with work with week long projects that keep him at work up to 15 hours a day and they have been going on every month. March should be the last one allowing him some down time and all of us a bit more relaxation.

Baby Bean is so grown up these days! She is 4 years and 2 months now in case anyone has lost track and she is full of surprises. She is learning math right now. The other day we were riding in the car and she said, "dad, does 3 and 2 equal 5?" Now granted, if she gets past ten and therefore runs out of fingers to use she gets a bit stuck. But she is very interested in how you add numbers to get bigger numbers and take away numbers to get smaller numbers. I tried getting her to count to 20 the other day and she got to 13 and said she couldn't go any further. I told her I would help her and she said she didn't want to learn to count and she didn't want to learn to read she could already write and that's all she wanted to do. Quite emphatically actually. God bless the teachers that get her in class because they are going to have their hands full! :) She got to go to see Beauty and the Beast the play this weekend with her us parent Beans, Aunt Bean and Grandma Mielke Bean. She felt like such a grown up. Oh, and she if finishing medicine for a 7 on a 10 scale ear infection. We have actually been blessed that this has only been her 2nd ear infection in 4 years.

Baby Bean 2 is growing so much! He is now 1 year and 15 months and weighs about 24 lbs. Baby Bean is only 29 lbs so he is soon going to over take her. That will be fun. He is climbing everything learning to talk. He says thank you, up please, milk please, truck, football, shoes and juice. He is speaking clearly for those who are unfamiliar with deciphering toddler speak but it is very clear that he is saying the phrases at the appropriate time so now we just have to work on the pronunciation. He is full of messy wavy hair and has a thing for shoes and coats. He wears both around the house all day every day. He just this weekend got over pink eye in both eyes and a head cold. You would never believe how wonderfully still a one year old can lay while you drop medicine in their eyes. This kid is like non I've ever seen! Amazing is all I can say. Needless to say our house has been quite the croupy mess lately.

Well that is about all I have for an up date today. Baby Brother Bean and his misses with their bundle on the way will be here for a 3 day visit this weekend for the first time since we've lived here so I am ECSTATIC!!! Next update will be next week with photos of their visit. Here are a few of the kids from recent ventures. Oh, and my latest two cakes. One was zebra stripes with pink and green trim and flowers for a 14th birthday and the other was for a 5 year old girl's birthday party and was themed Princess and the Frog. Enjoy!

My men all cute in their green shirts in front of the fire together. Priceless!

Baby Bean dressing up from a box of dress up stuff Gramma Von Bean gave her for Christmas

Baby Beans eating in their big kid chairs before going to the gym with me one morning.

Been a While...

2009-12-03T15:37:00.002-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Well, it's been a while and I apologize although I believe their are probably only 2 people who ever check here for updates. To those two people, I apologize.
The Bean household is up early this morning so I will give a "nutshell" update. Over the last couple months we have been busy bees around here. I am attmepting two, that's right TWO homebased businesses along with raising two little monsters, I mean Beans and volunteering on the base 1 to 3 days a week (with kids in tow). So we have been busy.
Baby Bean 2 turned 1 on the 11th of November and celebrated by tumbling down our wooden, unfinished basement stairs. 11 of them! Go figure. Needless to say we took him to the ER, they did a CAT Scan and in all we were there only 2 hours and he had a small bruise/bump on his head from the ordeal. About a month before that he had pulled a papertowel off the table that had a steak knife sitting on it that nicked his face just a hair shy of his eye ball. We now believe Baby Bean 2 has super human powers. We will be weary of Water for we know how that can be a weakness for super people. :)
Baby Bean 1 or the Bigger Bean is doing great. She will be 4 this month and is so excited to be having her bday party at Uncle Little Brother Bean's house with all her family and cousins. We will be in AL the 12th through the 23rd this month so we are looking forward to that. Stephanie, we really have go to let our kids meet this time around!!!!

A picture post to follow soon but enjoy the dancing elves for now......

Does this count for walking?????

2009-10-20T06:58:00.002-05:00

2009-10-05T15:01:00.002-05:00

Does anyone come here anymore......

2009-10-01T15:18:00.002-05:00

Not much going on...

2009-09-21T15:37:00.008-05:00

So there really hasn't been all that much going on just me being lazy about blogging I guess. A couple weeks ago a friend of mine here had twin boys at 26 weeks 6 days. Thank you to everyone who knew about this for your prayers. They were a welcome comfort. The babies were born on 09.09.09. How cool, huh? They are both doing great so far. They are almost 2 weeks old and both are above their birth weight, breathing with just a little oxygen mask on, eating breast milk every 3 hours and getting the amount upped every 12 hours. They have been held by mom and dad since they were 2 days old and are adorable tiny kids. Keep praying for them but they are doing good for the moment so all is looking bright here.

Last weekend was the air show and the weekend before that was some family in town for some fun galavanting. The weekend and week before that was Labor Day and we had Nana and a great friend from Montgomery in town for visits. We went to Eckert's Orchards, a Cardinals game and I also made a cake for the neighbor's birthday. He turned 27 but is a huge Cardinal's fan so I made him this cake. We went to a Balloon Glow this past Friday night in Forest Park which was really cool. It's a huge festival of hot air balloons that are lit in the evening for people to come see and photograph. Oh yeah, I made Brother Bean's Mexican Lasagna with a twist so here are those photos as well. Shredded chicken is the way to go with this.

Mr. Bean's new car as of a month ago. Red interior. Nice!!!!!!!

A Balloon Glow photo......

Mexican Lasagna in the making.

The finished product! Take that Mr Bean! I'll compete against you any day. Now if only we could get them to have a Siblings Amateur Top Chef competition.

My new camera does this!

Pujols for the Cardinals. We won 7-6 that night with him hitting a 3 run homer!

Baby Bean in a bouncy castle.

My gosh she is getting so big! She can ride these rides by herself now!

Baby Bean 2 was just chillin out with his feet propped up. Note the Biscuit's tee from the Grandparent's Bean.

the Cardinals cake I made. #5 is Pujols

A little busy lately...

2009-08-30T09:36:00.003-05:00

So I've been a little busy lately. Busy and consumed by Facebook. I never really spent much time on Facebook or MySpace but lately Facebook has really grabbed me. MySpace, haven't looked at in probably a year. I don't like it really. It's very spastic and chaotic and just not for me. Twitter might have taken off for me had I been able to get the phone updates to work but that never worked either. So Facebook it has been. I have to say that Facebook has got some very addicting games as well and I am easily amused by them.

Anyways, I posted these pictures on Facebook earlier but here are the pictures of the Steamer Trunk cake I just finished. All the stickers are edible modeling chocolate. The only things not edible were the buckles and a couple of the accessories attached to the chocolate. The Eifle Tower though is edible and was drawn on by me with black gel icing. Enjoy the pictures!

More pictures!

2009-08-12T13:13:00.003-05:00

So here are a few more pictures of the kids from this weekend's bday party at a gymnastics studio and our little bitty rose garden. Enjoy!

He prefers to sit on his knees rather than his butt!

He loves to crawl up the ramps!

Baby Bean gets her medal!

Some roses from our garden.

Some Pictures...

2009-08-05T10:07:00.003-05:00

...from this past weekend and today. A Christmas Carol is being made into a motion capture film like the Polar Express with Jim Carrey playing Scrooge and Robin Wright Penn playing Fann. We saw the behind the scenes train exhibit at Union Station this weekend. Enjoy!

Baby Bean in her 3-D glasses for a sneak peek at the movie.

All of us at the end of the train tour.

The Baby Beans together.

They play so well together!

My sweet Baby Bean 2! Isn't he adorable!?!?!?!?

Traveling........

2009-07-23T21:45:00.002-05:00

Hi! It's been a while so I thought I would put something up here. I am currently blogging from a borrowed computer as the baby beans and I are up north for a bit. We went to Grandma Campbell's for a couple of days and got to see our newest little cousin. He is adorable and only 2 months old. Made me want another one. Crazy, I know! Anyways, Bowen has gotten this fabulous little diner and Grandma Campbell and the three of us had an early birthday celebration for her there. Then we went accross to the new Veteran's Memorial that has been resurrected for any and all service people. 4 of which were on there were my family. It is a beautiful monument I hope to get pictures of on here when I get back home.

Now we are at Aunt Nancy's and will head back home Sunday to relax for a bit. In august I am doing a bridal shower cake for our neighbor. The couple is going on a cruise for a honeymoon so their cake is going to be a map of their honeymoon route. Their idea. I think it will work. I'll post pictures when it's done.

Other than that nothing really going on. Mr. Bean is busy with work and school and Baby Bean 1 should be starting her 3 year old school program the end of August. She is so excited and I am so anxious. This will be an all new experience.

What are you all up to???

One Fast Little Bean!

2009-07-02T09:14:00.002-05:00

Grandma Moses

2009-07-01T08:46:00.004-05:00

So yesterday we had a busy day. We went to story time at the library, which turned out to be canceled because of the holiday. We went to Mr. Bean's work for promotion day with a big cake and cutely attired Baby Beans. Then I fixed dinner for my 3 plus another 4 that were headed over (out of that total 7, 5 were kids) before I was off to a relaxing evening at another Pampered Chef party. Did I mention that in about 2 weeks I will be a Pampered Chef consultant? Yup, I can't wait! But back to the story...

About 7:45 last night my friend gets a call from her husband that goes like this, "hey, don't ask any questions just send the carpet rake home with Big-E."

That's all he would say. So I called Mr. Bean to ask what had happened to the carpet since her husband was obviously not going to cough it up.

Mr. Bean says, "bring the carpet rake home with you.
Me: Why? What happened to the carpet?
Him: We'll talk about it when you get home."

Click, that was the end of the conversation. Now, I'm at a house full of moms of toddlers and none of us could come up with what I had in my house that could be so bad that neither of them would say over the phone. We threw around paint, glue, candy, ashes, poop, vomit, etc. You name it we came up with it and still couldn't figure out what could have happened. So at 8:15 I drove my happy, nervous self home to find this:

Yes, and that is after 1 hour and 45 minutes, 3 buckets of steamer water and 1/2 a bottle of dove shampoo cleaning. The carpet still has spots that are faded but still discolored from the teal and mauve paint that was puddled on it. Baby Bean used to have a white mesh net around her bed too. It is now purple. Her dresser has remnants of silver and her closet and bed posts have a mixture of lime green and lavender on them. Now, Baby Bean did have another 3 1/2 yr old and 5 yr old accomplice. So this was a group effort. One 3 1/2 yr old asked if they could play with paint and the 5 yr old said yes. Then all 3 were in for the fun. This took about 10 min. What's funny is this morning when Baby Bean 2 woke up I went to get him and he had green paint on his leg. Still not sure how that happened. Baby Bean's, or should I say Grandma Moses', contribution is the part on the left with the smiley face and dark streaks.

So yes now we have toddler art in Baby Bean's room. Not the kind I was planning on but toddler art all the same. You may wonder where the paint came from. Baby Bean has some butterfly and dragonfly stencils about her closet and that was the paint we did them with. The paint and stencils had been in a basket on her top shelf for about 9 months now until I was finished with the stenciling. Baby Bean knew they were there and had been told not to play with them. She hadn't played with them until last night. All bottles of paint were emptied on the carpet and wall so needless to say we don't have to worry about this again. One good thing we learned though, all of our children know not to play with electrical outlets. :)

Baby Bean got sent to time out while Mr. Bean was cleaning and calming down and while in time out she thought it would be fun to do this:

She said her 5 yr old friend was doing it to her elbow so she thought it would be fun to do it to her head. She said the carpet was soft at first and then it started hurting her. Yes, that is a carpet burn she gave herself while sitting in time out. ???????????? I don't know what to say. That was how yesterday went.

PROMOTION DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-06-30T13:17:00.003-05:00

2009-06-23T09:56:00.005-05:00

My littlest bean is growing so fast! Look at his first shopping cart rides!

And of course the two beans together. They really are two peas in a pod. He's in love with her!

A cake from last weeks picnic.

another view

Back in STL

2009-06-09T17:18:00.006-05:00

So we're back from our vacationing for probably the rest of the year. Hopefully that means I'll be a little more diligent in my blogging. Not likely, but I'll try. We went to Asheville for a few short days and then left the baby beans with the grandparents while Mr. Bean and I went down to Charleston for a few days by ourselves to celebrate our 7th anniversary (a week early). We had the best time and have already decided that we need to go down there again soon! Here are a couple pictures from Charleston:

Dolphins escorting our dinner cruise boat.

An original Eli Whitney Cotton Engine

Mr. Bean and Me at Boone Hall Plantation (the oldest working plantation).

A beautiful southern Magnolia blossom.

One of many Charleston homes we adored.

I have promised new pictures of the babies bean for some time now so here they are. The first two were taken yesterday (can't get much more current than that) and the one of them together was taken in Asheville about a week ago.

Aren't they getting big?!?!?!?

As I mentioned before, yesterday was Mr. Bean and my 7th wedding anniversary. In the last 7 years we have lived in Belgium, California and Illinois. We have had 2 beautiful children. We have traveled to more than 10 different countries and learned to partially speak 3 different languages. Mr. Bean has gotten 2 promotions and extended his current career choice for another 4 years. This he did yesterday where he presented me with a custom made diamond anniversary band. This along with the mushy, sweet words he said about me and our family as a whole in front of so many people of course had me bawling (with happiness). He was pretty smooth actually and had given me a gag anniversary gift the night before and said he could get me what he knew I really wanted but that he and papa bean had worked really hard to get me this (the gag yet believable gift). I of course fell for it hook, line and sinker and was blown away by the real gift the next day during his ceremony.

Isn't it beautiful!

I'm here and I need a little help. :)

2009-05-27T17:58:00.002-05:00

We are in Asheville now after a two day drive and leave being cut short. Long story ending is us still getting to go to Charleston but not getting as much time here as originally planned.

Picture update of the babies bean is forthcoming when I get to my computer.

I had a Pampered Chef party recently and am not closing it out until the 1st of June. I am about $15 away from my next price break and was hoping somebody out there reading wanted to buy something. They have incredible new sheet pans that are just as good as the stones and the only two differences is that the sheet pan cools off immediately where the stone doesn't and the sheet pans can GO IN THE DISHWASHER!!!!!!!! They are warp free, non stick, won't discolor, etc. Anyways, if you would like to get something go to www.pamperedchef.biz/lisahutton and enter my name when it asks for the host. Please, please, please somebody order something!!!!!

Alright, that was my shameless plug. Now a quick update. Baby Bean 2 has one tooth on the bottom and is commando crawling all over the place. He does not currently like baby food chicken but we will try again tomorrow. He had his 6 month appt. a couple weeks ago and he was 18lbs 27 1/4 inches and his head was in the 96th percentile. He is going to have an x-ray of his lower legs when we get back from vacation to make sure his bones are growing properly. They look slightly bowed and the doctor wants and x-ray. Will let you know how that goes.

I am off to visit more family but will talk to you all again soon and hopefully have pictures!

Long Time No Hear

2009-05-14T08:34:00.002-05:00

Hey! I know it's been over a month since I posted but seeing as I have not been harassed by my lack of posting I knew I wasn't really missed to much and therefore not in any hurry to update. :) Well, here it is:

We are all doing great! Mr. Bean has been incredibly busy with work and the little beans and myself have been busy traveling and entertaining. Ma and Pa Bean were here last weekend for a few days and we had a wonderful visit. Ma Bean got to spend a couple extra days with us after the little beans and I went up to northern IL to get her from Great Grandma Campbell Bean's.

While Pa Bean was here we all went to see the new Star Trek movie and I can honestly say I have not been this excited about a movie in a long time. It was so incredibly good that even if you are not and have never been a Star Trek fan, it doesn't matter. You would honestly love this film. It was written well and acted phenomenally. And if you are even slightly a fan of the original Star Trek you will be blown away by the casting and mannerisms of the younger Star Trek characters in this movie. FANTASTIC MUST SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Currently the little beans and I are in northern IL again at the fabulous Aunt Nancy Bean's house for the week for a visit. Today is her birthday by the way. Happy Birthday Aunt Bean!

Baby Bean is doing great. She is growing so much and getting so smart. You really can put anything past her. She is starting a 3 day a week preschool in the fall and she is so excited. Baby Bean 2 is doing well also. He has on tooth on the bottom (got it last week) and turned 6 months old this past Monday. He looks to be about 3 weeks away from crawling too. He rolls from one side of the room to the other in nothing flat. He gets himself up on his knees and forearms and pushes himself accross the floor. It won't be long before he's on his hands and crawling. Then what am I going to do???? :) He is just getting so big. He has his 6 month checkup next week along with his final heart echo so I'll give you an update on all that next week.

Nothing else going on other than another trip to NC in about a week and a half. We are going to stop for a couple days in Asheville, leave the kids with the grandparents for 4 days while Mr. Bean and I spend some much needed alone time in Charleston for our 7th Anniversary. I can't wait!

What's new with you guys????

Kids

2009-04-09T20:36:00.001-05:00

First let me just say how glad I am that Scott got booted from American Idol last night. :)

Today is brag about your kids day apparently. I am not a very eloquent writer and frequently feel inadequate when I try to write on similar subject to others but I will write on this one because, well, I love my kids.

Baby Bean (Brea) is a carbon copy of her daddy if ever there was one. She is so smart, cunning, energetic, spirited, observant, ... I could go on and on. Her and Mr. Bean are so much alike in manner and character it's uncanny. She does have one thing from me. She is very adaptable. Now I'm not saying Mr. Bean isn't but this girl is up for anything all the time. She loves people and has NEVER been afraid of a Sunday School class, a babysitter, a playgroup, etc. She isn't afraid of people but she is careful. We will walk through the grocery store and if someone says hi to her she smiles and then says "mama, that man said hi to me." At which I tell her that's ok and she can say hi back or that it was very "big girl" of her to tell me and that she should only talk to people I approve of. And yes, she knows what the phrase "approve of" means. Her vocabulary is incredible. I'm pretty sure she could give Grandma Von a run for her money in Scrabble. Her memory is also amazing. She can count to 10 in 4 different languages and knows 90% of her colors in Spanish. She can also say a few phrases in Spanish and French. She even knows the Pledge of Allegiance and can write (legibly) her first and last name without help! She just turned 3!!!! Really, this child is amazing. She loves dresses that twirl and anything with butterflies. She names her dolls and animals things like Moira Abelina. No idea where that came from. Her favorite movie is Beauty and The Beast and her favorite song is The Gambler.

Baby Bean 2 (Sloan) is special. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's the fact that he's a boy or the fact that he's a boy after I had a girl. I don't know what it is but when I think about him or look at him I just have special feelings just for him. I love both of my children with all my heart and not one more than the other but it is a special feeling that comes over me when I'm with him. He is so charming. He grins at everyone and loves women! He will tolerate guys holding him but if a woman is hold him he is all dimples and squeals. He is almost 5 months old and is eating like a mad man. He eats 2-3 jars of #2 baby food every day in addition to his 32oz of formula. Now I have noticed in the last few days that his formula intake has dropped by maybe about 4 oz which is interesting and I'm sure a by product of all the baby food. He has been rolling around the living room for over a month now and is trying to pull himself hup to a sitting position from his back. He is getting so big and strong. He is now moving into 6-9 month clothes. He loves to blow raspberries and drools like you wouldn't believe! He is my special little man. Oh, and his favorite song is also The Gambler.

Well, that's all I have tonight. I am going to go organize my DVD racks I just got. What are you doing this evening????

Baby Bean's TV Debut!

2009-04-06T14:13:00.002-05:00

Baby Bean go to do a mock Easter Egg Hunt at our local orchard last week and she actually made it into the clip they put on t.v. here. I don't know how to get the video on here so you'll have to check it out HERE And then click on the Easter Egg-citement at Eckerts video.

Updates of Sorts

2009-04-01T11:24:00.002-05:00

Baby Bean 2 is fine. He went to the cardiologist Monday and he still has his little heart murmur but they said it is really mild and he has no other symptoms of possible heart problems so we are going to do our previously scheduled heart echo in May after his 6 month bday. He gained about 1.5 pounds between 2 weeks ago and Monday as well so they were quite happy. :)
American Idol last night: Am I the only one who is irritated so much by Megan Joy that I want to rip my own fingernails out??? I LOVE her voice but can't stand her or her moves or her personality, etc. Kris was once again my favorite of the night with Adam coming in 2nd and Danny coming in 3rd. Danny may have been my 2nd choice if his last name wasn't Gokey. That's just weird.
I got to watch last weeks episode of Grey's Anatomy yesterday and am so excited that volleyball has been canceled for tomorrow night so that I can see tomorrow's episode.
I'm about fed up with laundry. I've done a minimum of 3 loads a day for the last 5 days and somehow I still can't see the bottom of the laundry basket. Ugh! I need a laundry service.
I'm ready to move overseas again. Nowhere in particular just overseas in general. I love the travel and learning opportunities and I would really love to do it again before the kids get too old and school becomes an issue. Oh, speaking of school, Baby Bean will be starting a 3 day a week preschool in the fall from 9am to 11:30am. She is so excited. She got a new "Teaching Your Preschooler To Read and Write" book a couple weeks ago and she is now an expert at writing her first and last name. It kind of scares me a little. :)
Finally, Picasso is doing much better. He still eats everything in sight but until today he hadn't peed in the house in almost a week. He did however destroy 3 of Baby Bean's pee pull-ups the other night during his midnight romp that has been making his belly a little upset. Oh well, I told him that's what he gets for playing with the nastiness!

American Idol and Baby Bean 2 update

2009-03-20T10:16:00.002-05:00

Baby Bean 2 went for his 4 month apt. yesterday. He is 14lbs and 26 1/2 inches long. He has moved up to the 93rd percentile for height and but has dropped to the 30th percentile for weight. He was born in the 80th percentile for both catagories and in weight dropped to 68% and now 30%. The doctors are not worried about it because of his age (4 months meaning teething, rolling and just more active in general) but because he still has a small heart murmur AND his weight percentage (not actual weight as he is still gaining weight) has dropped some more they want a cardiologist to do an exam and listen to his heart and make his own assessment for reassurances. That appointment will be on March 30th.

Other than that he is doing great! He gets to start on baby food now so we will be experimenting with sweet potatoes today. Yum! Not really because I don't like sweet potatoes although I do really like sweet potato fries. With garlic salt. That is soooooooo good. :)

I didn't get to post about American Idol before the kick off show Wednesday but this is what I thought. I thought on Tuesday that Kris Allen did the best. I am not by any means a country music fan, anymore, but I will always love me some Garth Brooks. I listened to too much of it in elementary school that it's just a mainstay in my head. Anyways, Kris's version of To Make You Feel My Love was great! For the kick off, if I was going to kick someone off solely based on Tuesday's performances this week I sadly would have kicked off Adam Lambert. His version of "Ring of Fire" was horrible. I don't care if it was a Jeff Buckley version. It was strange and weird and not good. But if I was kicking people off based on overall performances from the start I would have booted Scott McIntyre or Lil Rounds. I really just don't like either one of them and feel like they will soon be leaving the show. Obviously my predictions would have been wrong as Alexis Grace was kicked off but I'm glad the judges didn't use their one veto power to save her. I liked her and thought she was good but not as good as some still on the show who might need that judges save later on.

What's going on with you guys?

4 Months And A Nursery

2009-03-12T10:20:00.005-05:00

So, Baby Bean 2 is 4 months old now and I finally have the nursery 98% completed. It's painted and decorated and such and there is nothing left to get for it. But there are still a couple things that need to be put away that don't belong in there. Either way, here are some photos of my sweet boy's "den." Some new photos of him will surface soon. My camera is still on hiatus so my apologies for the crappiness of these photos today.

His dresser with an Aunt Marge original hanging above.

His rolling baskets compliments of the grandparents Mielke and his $2 giraffe photo from "the devil's armpit."

The crib and his view. Most nursery components were compliments of the grandparents Mielke with exception to the furniture. Furniture from the original Baby Bean with the crib being from Nana.

The wonderful comfy rocker on loan from the Great Auntie Nancy. Notice the giraffe ribbon around the windows???? :)

A better photo of the crib.

The closet doors showing off some more giraffe ribbon and the color variations of the walls.

American Idol

2009-03-11T11:18:00.003-05:00

Now that we have hit the Top 13 I think I will post my favorite performance from each week. This week was close but Adam Lambert was definitely the best. For some reason YouTube is not letting me post videos to my blog right now which really irks me. Adam performed Black or White by Michael Jackson and was excellent. There were several other good performances but his was tops in my opinion. Now, tonight, I think the two going home will be Jasmine and Scott. Alexis is a possibility for the boot too though. Check out Adam though and let me know what you think!

For Fans of The Poe Shadow

2009-03-10T11:19:00.004-05:00

It gets released on March 17th.

Heads will roll...

2009-03-02T09:25:00.004-06:00

or maybe just babies. :) This was Baby Bean 2's weekend activities! He'll be 4 months on the 11th.

A Few Updates

2009-02-27T09:00:00.002-06:00

Picasso is doing very well. He sleeps between 3 and 4 hours at a time now at night so I'm only up usually twice to let him out. This is a huge improvement over the first week of getting up every hour to hour and a half.
We have seen a couple movies in the last few weeks and they were AWESOME! Taken with Liam Neeson was thrilling, fast paced and incredibly realistic. He is an ex-special forces guy who's 17 year old daughter and friend are kidnapped in Paris by women traffickers. The movie is his quest to get her back. 4 stars for this one!!!
Confessions of a Shopaholic. I know what you're thinking and I was too. This is going to be the lamest excuse for a chick flick in the history of movies, right? Wrong! It was so good. Very engaging and funny and witty. It was a great girl movie to lift your spirits and feed your inner shopaholic. :)
I am approaching 27 years and am very excited. Nothing special happens at 27 years but I am so happy and content with my life and my family right now that I can't help but feel great about anything to come including my age change.

That's it. What are you guys up too????

Meet Picasso!

2009-02-17T07:42:00.002-06:00

So this is what we did this weekend. We had promised Baby Bean a puppy for Christmas since it had been almost 2 years since we put our last puppy, Clutch, down. Well, after 2 weeks of hard core searching and calling about almost every add I found we found him. He is almost 6 weeks old. He is 1/4 Pit Bull, 1/4 Black Lab and 1/2 Australian Shephard. He was originally advertised as a Pit/Akita/Aussie mix which to me sounded like a "Picaussie." So seeing as that was the mix he was with the merle spots on his face we decided we would call him Picasso. The we got there and found out it was Black Lab in him rather than Akita (which is better) but we stuck with the name anyways. So, what do yout think? Pretty cute, huh? Well at this point I am ready to take him back simply because I had forgotten how often they had to pee at night (every freaking hour!). My 3 month old baby doesn't even wake up at night and when he used to it was at the most frequent every 4 hours. I also forgot how whiney they were the first few days at night. I am currently functioning on about 4 hours of sleep so say a little prayer for me that I survive the next couple weeks without incident. :) We can't actually start training him not to whine until he hits 8 weeks and of course his frequent peeing will have to level out with age. Ugh! I love puppies but man I forgot how much work they were. :) Baby Bean is in love with him though so it will definitely be worth it.

Oh yeah, my camera is completely incapacitated now so I may be a bit slower on picture updates until I figure out how to get my pictures downloaded from my camera phone to the computer.

HAPPY MONDAY!

2009-02-09T11:33:00.002-06:00

A Baby Bean 2 Update (Updated)

2009-02-03T09:59:00.005-06:00

Baby Bean 2 is doing great! He is 12 weeks old today and has been sleeping through the night (8pm to 6am or 9pm to 7:30am) for about 3 weeks now. He is so relaxed and just a generally happy baby. We had some trouble with his spitting up and had an ultrasound done to check for Pyloric Stenosis. Results: Everything looks great! We have been putting rice cereal in his bottle for about 3 weeks and he has gotten so much better. We also had to have an echo cardiogram done at the Children's Hospital to check a slight heart murmur the doctor heard and all it is is the opening in his heart that all babies are born with has not fully closed yet. Most close within a couple days of being born but some don't close for a couple months. All we have to do is have a followup echo cardiogram done at 6 months to check that it has closed. So, good news all the way around. :) Baby Bean 2's heart echo results came back and he is just fine. Everything is structurally as it should be. The little whole in his heart from birth is still slightly open so as mentioned before we will have a follow up echo done at 6 months. Yea for good news!!!

At his 2 month check up he was weighing 12lb 8oz and measuring 24 1/2 inches long. That was a 10oz and 1 1/2 inch gain from his 1 month check up. Next appointment, March for 4 months.

Now, look at this face, I'm in Love!!! And he loves his cousin Lily too!

Jason's Prize

2009-01-21T09:28:00.004-06:00

For those who weren't aware, Jason and I made a bet on the presidential election and the loser was to make a cake for the winner that reflected their candidate's win in some way. Well, sadly I lost the bet and therefore I was charged with making Jason an Obama/Democrat affiliated cake. This is what I came up with:

While I liked how it turned out I do have to admit that it could have been better. But in my defense I was working in a borrowed kitchen with only a few of my cake decorating supplies at my disposal. Jason, I hope you enjoyed it!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T18:03:00.003-06:00

From our house to yours...Merry Christmas!!!

Baby Bean 2

2008-12-24T09:19:00.003-06:00

Just some pictures of Baby Bean 2 at 5 weeks. He is now 6 weeks and 1 day. Such a cutie if I do say so myself! :)

A Beautiful Poem for the Season

2008-12-21T12:50:00.002-06:00

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

Christmas Ornaments

2008-12-18T12:10:00.005-06:00

A friend of mine posted some pictures of some of the ornaments on her tree. Now, I don't take such professional looking photos but here are some of my favorites. Our tree is a hodgepodge of places we've been and people we love. Enjoy and show me some of the ornaments on your tree!

First, the original Baby Bean in her Christmas attire. :)

This is a mask ornament from a fabulous Christmas shop in Tongeren, Belgium.

One of my favorites, from the Aquarium of the Pacific in San Diego, CA.

A new ornament this year from Aunt Nancy. I love the colors!

For the obvious reasons and to always remember there are those of us without family close this holiday season.

This is from a 6 story Christmas store in Monschau, Germany. A GORGEOUS picturesque town about 40 miles from our old home.

This was given to me by a sweet friend years ago. Her name is Hannah and her family has always been close to my heart.

The first photo we got of Baby Bean with Santa. It's from Christmas 2007 and she decorated the ornament herself!

My first Christmas ornament. We recently had a Sunday school party here at the house and one of the ladies in our class has the EXACT same ornament on her tree.

Baby Bean's 3rd Birthday

2008-12-09T15:12:00.003-06:00

Even though she won't be 3 until the 21st we decided to go ahead and have her 3rd birthday party this weekend so all of her friends could come. The closer we came to Christmas the more of her friends were going to be unavailable for a party. So here is her party in pictures:

First we decorated Christmas sugar cookies with all the kids. These were Baby Bean's.

Then she opened her presents. Of course there was lunch in between but no one needs to see pictures of toddlers eating chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. Very messy.

Her favorite birthday gift. A mermaid night gown.

And to finish it off, a birthday cake fit for a princess! My latest creation. I'm a bit out of practice. :)

My Christmas Tree Memory

2008-12-08T10:36:00.003-06:00

My favorite Christmas tree memory is this and some of you may remember:

Big Brother Bean's fist year in college he was part of a band called Weeping Isaiah. For Christmas that year he wanted to bring the band and their friends/significant others to our house in Selma for Christmas Caroling that year and to see the magnificently ginormous tree that is our families tradition every year. Well, since his friends were coming to see this monstrosity he wanted to make sure it was perfect and pick it out. In his defense it looked good in the forest. And yes, we get our tree from the forest and not the actual Christmas tree lot as those trees are too small. Well, once this tree was in the house, strung up with lights and decorated it was lacking something. Filler branches to be exact. We actually used green twine to tie branches into different places to make it look a little better than it actually did. It was quite the farce getting that tree in presentable shape. However, all came, caroled and ate wonderful food and were merry. So overall, a big success with a rather large Charlie Brown type tree. :) Love you Nicholas!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

2008-11-27T14:05:00.002-06:00

My Little Beans

2008-11-23T16:32:00.003-06:00

My Sleeping Beans

New Bean's bath time

Baby Bean who prefers to be called "Cinderella"

A few pictures...

2008-11-18T10:29:00.003-06:00

In my lap the day of.

Mr. Bean and Baby Bean with the new Bean.

Me and new Bean in LDR.

My little monster's weight on record. :)
Here are a few more pictures for you. Other than that I am just recovering and relaxing. Baby Bean is in love with Baby Bean 2 and loves to say how cute she thinks he is. She is a bit of a snitch though. He was laying in his bed yesterday after eating and spit up a little and Baby Bean quickly told Mr. Bean that I had not burped the baby before laying him down. : 0 I am going to have to work on that girl. He had his second doc. apt. yesterday and his jaundice is gone and he is no longer on his Bili bed. He is back up to 9lb 6oz from 8lb 13oz on Friday and the doctor is very happy. His circumcision is also healing quite nicely. Thank goodness. For those of you who have boys and know this routine, kudos to you for not getting squemish when taking care of such a thing and for those of you who only have girls, be thanful you don't have something like that to deal with for a week's worth of diaper changes. :)

Welcome to the World!

2008-11-11T18:52:00.003-06:00

SLOAN CHRISTOPHER
9lbs 10oz 22 1/2"
11/11/2008 5:09am

Baby Delays......

2008-11-06T14:33:00.003-06:00

Yesterday around midnight (which was 12:00am Wed. morning) I woke up with contractions about 2-4 minutes apart lasting about 45 sec. to a minute each. Called the doctor after a little while and he said to come on in. Got to the hospital about 2:30am and I was 4cm and having about a 3 on the pain scale of 1-10 for contractions so they admitted me and I was ready. For about 2 hours I had the same contractions. I got in the tub about 4:30 and my contractions slowed to being about 10 minutes apart. After that they went to about 12 minutes apart and at 10:30am when my doctor go to the hospital they had pretty much stopped and she sent me home. :( Boo! So now I am 4-5 cm she said and the good news is that when I do start having contractions like that again it will definitely be the real thing and pretty quick with my progress so far already. She offered to brake my water but if she did that I would be committed to getting him out and stuck there being much less mobile. While I am beyond ready to get him out she could not guarantee that braking my water would start the contraction enough to get the job done without Pitocin and if I didn't get him out within 8-10 hours after having my water broken then they would have to do a c-section because the risk of infection by that point would be too great. So, with no guarantees except that he was doing quite well inside me right now we decided to come home and let him tell me again when he was ready to come out. So as of now I have not had any contractions since 1pm yesterday afternoon and he is as happy and mobile inside me as he ever was. And now 8 days late. :( I am thankful that he is still doing well and that we were able to make this decision with family around to help out for a week.

So, a prayer for us and for Mr. Bean's dad. He had a 2nd heart attack yesterday morning. He will be ok and is going to a step down unit from ICU today but he is not in good health and if this doesn't get him to change his lifestyle then he is in for something much worse soon.

2008-11-04T09:21:00.004-06:00

I VOTED! DID YOU?

I am not eloquent or well versed in political policies or issues so my blog today may seem elementary; however, I feel it is valid all the same.

I voted for JOHN MCCAIN and SARAH PALIN.

I am a Republican and I don't feel that I am close minded, stingy, self righteous or out of touch with society. My morals line up with the Republican party more than any other and for certain specific reasons I vote this way. I don't feel that anyone out there that is Democratic or pro choice is pro abortion. But I feel very strongly that abortion is not right and cannot in good conscience vote for someone who could possibly make this option too accessible for those who would abuse it's availability because of their own carelessness. And I'm not saying that's everyone's reason for using it, but a lot of peoples.

Anyways, I have looked into tax cuts and raises, education reform, environmental issues, etc. for both parties and I agree with McCain more so than Obama. Tax proposals by both candidates will result in a tax refund for our family. The only difference is the amount of that refund. And we are by all accounts a part of the under $250,000 a year middle class everyone keeps talking about. Part of being an American is the opportunity to advance your economic station through hard work. Our country was built on capitalism. Careful planning, risk taking and diligent effort by individuals. The American constitution guarantees us the right to pursue happiness, not the right to happiness. Any program that offers individuals benefits without that individual making those decisions and investing time in those efforts moves closer and closer to socialism, then communism under the pretense of everyone getting a fair share. In reality, everyone's fair share is based on the amount of effort put into a program. Those that own big businesses have most likely worked for generations and/or are parts of very productive teams that are successful due to their and their employees efforts. The difference between the owners and the employees is that the owners funded the original capital and have taken all the risks. An employee has no risk, puts forth no capital and is paid accordingly. So why then should a person being willing to take risks and put forth the effort to be successful be punished by being forces to pay more than their fair share. If I know that I'll be punished by working harder, then I'll do the bare minimum to get by as will everyone else. As a matter of fact, those that receive more from the government and require assistance should be taxed more with a few exceptions like handicaps, etc. If you have 5 children going to public schools, then in theory your taxes should be more than the single guy making twice as much. Why should he pay to send your children to
school?

I don't work in the school system so I don't have first hand knowledge of what goes on, but one thing that makes sense to me it is this: If other countries can have better education than we do with half the money spent on their school systems as is spent on ours, more money spent on our is not the solution. I think teachers are miracle workers and I am not saying they are over paid or should have their wages cut. What I am saying is that I believe there are many teachers/educators out there that are in the wrong line of work and if they are not motivated to be better by their love of what they do and their desire to educate then more money is not going to change that. Actual education reform, in my opinion, is what's needed.

I know this will probably not set well with most who read this but Luke wanted to know why we were voting and these are some of my reasons. I voted! Did you?

By the way, thankfully, there was no line for me to stand in, I voted in less than 5 minutes and I was given a coupon for a free cup of coffee at Starbucks or a free donut at Krispy Kreme for voting today. I was voting anyways but free coffee and donuts never hurts. :)

Our Weekend

2008-11-03T09:46:00.004-06:00

So, Halloween has come and gone and yes, I am STILL pregnant. It's funny, my doctor said at my last appt. (last Thurs.) that for me to make it to my next appt. (this Thus.) would be very unusual with this being my second child. Well, unless something happens in the next 3 days it looks like I will be proving her wrong. Oh, and did I mention that she herself is currently 39 weeks pregnant and will probably have her baby before me? Yeah, so I'm a little irritated and impatient. I just want to be able to hold MY baby. He was supposed to be out by now!

Anyways, this weekend we had Halloween and went to the City Museum in St. Louis. It was WILD!!! For those of you who don't know what the City Museum is I am putting some pictures here to show you. It really isn't a museum as much as it is a 7 story indoor and outdoor playground. Seriously. They have 7 story slides, caves, tunnels, mazes, an aquarium and mesh wire tunnels that run all over the inside and outside of this old warehouse that has been converted. Baby Bean was a bit timid the first hour or so due to the dimly lit spaces in some of the room and the heights but after that it was another 3 hours or her running wild all over this place crawling through places I couldn't possibly go in my condition prompting me to yell "Mr. Bean, go get her!" We had so much fun and I really can't wait to go back after the baby is born. These are the pictures from our Halloween and City Museum experience.

These tunnels run through the entire 7 story warehouse.

A 4 story slide.

A miniature hall of mirrors.

Baby Bean in a tunnel.

Baby Bean practicing her climbing skills.

An outdoor picture of the 7 story playground. See those mesh cage tunnels? That's what you climb through inside and out!

An airplane about 4 stories up that Mr. Bean and Baby Bean explored.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-31T09:32:00.002-05:00

So today is actually Halloween and these are our two carved pumpkins and Baby Bean's painted pumpkin. Because it's Halloween, I have to include her costume photo again. :) Who wouldn't???

How cute?!

Spooky Darlings

Sly Witch

Also, I found this interesting. These are two photos of my belly with the two kids. Look at the difference there! Can you believe it? And I weigh a little less with this one than I did with Baby Bean. CRAZINESS!!!!!

This is at 38 weeks 4 days with Baby Bean.

This is today, 40 weeks 2 days.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-29T14:40:00.004-05:00

I know it's a couple days early but Baby Bean had her playgroup Halloween photo today and I couldn't resist sharing it. With a group of toddlers, I think we did pretty good. I love the two of her by herself. My little butterfly!

Today makes 40 weeks and my due date. Now normally I would be excited and expectant and on edge that any minute something was going to happen; however, I have had nothing but the usual strange feelings that have so far only led to some dilation and no actual labor. :( I have an appointment tomorrow for the regular check up, an ultrasound and a non-stress test. So maybe I'll have some kind of renewed hope after that appointment. I have a feeling though that this baby is going to wait until Nov. 1st at the earliest. I don't think he wants to be a Halloween baby and I think he just wants to push me into November to say "HA! You only thought you were getting an October baby!" Oh well.

Hope you are all enjoying this INCREDIBLE fall weather!!!!! Oh, and you should all make it out to a local Borders bookstore and try their Gingerbread cookie warmed up. HEAVEN!

My Latest And Greatest Desire.....

2008-10-10T15:41:00.003-05:00

The Atmos Marqueterie by Jaeger-LeCoultre. Care to take a guess at it's price????

2 Weeks, 6 Days...

2008-10-09T14:45:00.002-05:00

No baby yet. My 37 week appointment was today and there is nothing new. Weight gain has slowed almost to a stop so that's good. Blood pressure was 120/68 so that was FANTASTIC since my last pregnancy I carried 140/90 most of the time. Will let you guys know if anything happens before the next appointment. Still need name ideas.

Results of Obama And The Other Democrats Work in Illinois

2008-10-06T14:31:00.006-05:00

A good friend of mine sent this to me and I found it quite interesting. Kind of makes you wonder......

CHICAGO  POLITICS

BODY COUNT IN THE LAST SIX  MONTHS

    292 MURDERED IN  CHICAGO

    221 KILLED IN  IRAQ

OUR LEADERSHIP IN  ILLINOIS;

    SEN. BARACK  OBAMA

    SEN. DICK  DURBIN

    REP. JESSE JACKSON,  JR.

    GOV. ROD  BLOGOJEVICH

    HOUSE LEADER MIKE  MADIGAN

    ATTY. GEN LISA  MADIGAN

    MAYOR RICHARD  DALY

    ALL DEMOCRATS

THANK YOU FOR THE COMBAT ZONE IN  CHICAGO

OF COURSE THEY ARE BLAMING EACH
OTHER.

CAN'T BLAME THE REPUBLICANS, BECAUSE  THERE AREN'T ANY.!!!!!

STATE PENSION FUND $44 BILLION IN DEBT,  WORST IN THE NATION.

COOK COUNTY (CHICAGO) SALES TAX 10.25%,  HIGHEST IN THE NATION.

CHICAGO SCHOOL SYSTEM ONE OF THE WORST  IN THE NATION.

THIS IS THE POLITICAL MACINE THAT OBAMA  SAYS HE COMES FROM IN ILLINOIS.

AND  NOW OBAMA SAYS HE'S GONNA "FIX" WASHINGTON  POLITICS.!!!!!

A Possibly TMI Pregnancy Post

2008-10-02T10:02:00.004-05:00

I had my 36 week appointment Tuesday. I am 1cm and 60% effaced. The doctor said I probably wouldn't efface much more if any until I go into labor though because this is my second baby. She said normally with consecutive children if you efface all the way or more than 80% the relaxed muscles and baby pressure will go ahead and start labor. Baby is head down and engaged. Meaning he is stuck in my pelvis now and will not be moving from there until he comes out. She said she could feel his head bones and tried to push him off my cervix but couldn't budge him which means he is no longer floating. So that's all good. She said I definitely would have him this week but beyond that she obviously couldn't say. Before she checked me she said she didn't think he would be bigger than 8lbs but then after she checked me she said he would definitely be over 8lbs she just didn't know by how much. She thinks my optimistic guess of being between 8lbs 6oz and 9lbs 4oz is a much more accurate guess at what he'll weigh. So it's nice that there is no more 10 or 11 lb talk here. :) Next Thursday is my 37 week appointment but I don't get checked for that one. So I'll have another baby update for you guys on the 16th when my 38 week appointment comes around if I haven't had him by then (which I'm still praying he comes any day now).

We also have STILL not come up with a name. I would really appreciate some suggestions. We are looking for not common, interesting, strong names. None starting with a B simply because I don't want all my kids to have B names.

Happy Fall!

2008-09-15T15:05:00.003-05:00

Nothing says fall like a live llama chase through your backyard!

The rest of these are a couple indoor Halloween decoration pictures (I love Halloween!) and a couple of my every growing belly. Look at this belly! Can you believe when I went into the Motherhood Maternity store the other night to try on a shirt the lady told me to put on the "belly pillow" to make sure I got a big enough size???? This belly isn't allowed to get any bigger! Or lower for that matter. This kid's already between my knees the way it is! :) Enjoy!

33 weeks, 5 days

33 weeks, 5 days. Notice the spooky mantle. :)

Our dining room table.

The spooky sofa table.

Our new breakfast table and chairs with my new place mats and napkins! Compliments of my most favorite Jimmy Buffet fan!

A Page from Stephanie

2008-09-10T21:29:00.002-05:00

hope you don't mind. :)

Current Book(s): I have a bad habit of starting several books and not finishing any of them. Currently though is The Appeal by John Grisham. Last finished was an Edwardian novel I can't remember the name of. Go figure!

Current Playlist: I'm on a big Kenny Rogers kick right now. Also Lifehouse.

Current Fetish: Anything having to do with Fall/Halloween decorations.

Current Drink: Decaf. Sweet Tea (which tastes exactly the same as caffeinated) and a Pumpkin Spiced Latte (decaf). Thanks to Big Brother Bean and the Mrs.

Current Food: Cornmeal Pancakes. Crazy maybe but I love their sweetness! Try it with the Jiffy corn bread mix and directions on the package.

Current Favorite Favorite: A hot bath or watching Mr. Bean and Baby Bean play together. It's a toss up at this point in time. :)

Current Wishlist: A garage door opener. Seriously, we've lived here nearly two years and still haven't gotten one. And don't think we don't park in the garage because Mr. Bean wouldn't have it any other way. Perhaps this year Santa will bring me one. :)

Current Needs: Sleep. Although I don't know when that will be. : /

Current Triumphs: Getting my shoes on in the morning. I haven't swelled at all this time but bending over is not an option anymore. I've gotten creative.

Current Bane(s) of my Existence: Driving. And that makes me sad because I so love to drive. 7 more weeks............

Current Indulgence: Starbucks. Today was the first time in probably 5 months I've had Starbucks and I got a coupon so went back for a second drink later in the day. :)

Current Blessing: A healthy pregnancy. All I want is 3-4 more weeks and then I wouldn't mind and early entrance.

Current Outfit: Half pajamas/half regular clothes.

Current Excitement: Decorating the kids rooms!

Current Mood: Tired and in a little bit of pain. Either someone is very large all of a sudden or I'm having tummy growing pains from someone getting very large.

Current Links: www.childrensplace.com (they have jeans for Baby Bean for only $4.99!)

What a month!

2008-09-02T16:03:00.003-05:00

August has been incredibly busy at the Bean household. We had company every weekend including this past weekend along with transitioning baby bean into a big girl bed and making, transporting and setting up wedding cakes. Needless to say a slow September is what I'm looking forward too.

Baby Bean is in her newly madeover room with big girl paint, a big girl dresser and most importantly a big girl bed which she LOVES! We haven't had the slightest problem getting her to sleep in her bed and she loves it. I will say it is quite a change though to have a 2 1/2 year old just climb right up into your bed at 7:00am when she has woke up and can now get out of her bed and room without assistance. :) She is growing up so fast! We still have some more decorating and painting to do but we're getting there.

Like I mentioned above this past weekend was the wedding I have been working on cakes for for the past 3 weeks. I would rate it an all around success. Bride and groom were both pleased with the result and thought the taste was "illegally good." And that's a quote from the groom. The only major thing I would have done differently is on the bride's cake. Unfortunately when we leveled and squared up the bottom layer of cake it took it in about an inch around the sides leaving the 2nd tier slightly larger than expect. This resulted in a slight over hang of the corner leaving no room for the shell border to continue around the end of that particular cake. Otherwise all went well and I am happy to say I have no other wedding cakes lined up at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I would love to do more of them but there would most definitely have to be a charge next time around for all the stress and work put in.

Here are some pictures of the new big girl room and the cakes.

3D Ultrasound take 2

2008-08-13T19:40:00.002-05:00

For anyone interested, here are the photos from yesterday's ultrasound. He was 28 weeks 6 days and measuring in at 32 weeks 4 days. His weight was 4lb 4oz which is about 1lb to 1 1/2 lbs bigger than his age currently. I looks like we are going to have a big one just like my last ultrasound predicted. I'll be getting another regular ultrasound in the next few weeks to check the numbers again. I'll keep you posted!

The Zoo...

2008-08-11T10:58:00.004-05:00

...literally. This weekend was pure craziness at the Bean house. Mr. Bean was in Florida for the week with my computer so I was offline for 5 whole days! I'm not sure how I survived. He returned home on Friday at 3:30pm and we had to get clean and dressed for a formal at his work that we had to leave for at 5pm. Our first time every paying a babysitter was that night as well. She was a nursery worker from church who does the pre-K class. She also is the oldest of 5 kids with a 3 year old sister and is in her second year of early child hood development in college so we were fairly comfortable with her abilities when it came to watching our 2 1/2 year old baby bean. She arrived at 4:45 and we had to go over all the phone numbers, hiding places, bedtime routine, etc. So we got to the formal at 5:15. Social hour started at 6pm and the event (food and presentation) started at 7pm. This was in celebration of Mr. Bean's promotion as well as all others that go promoted with him. This promotion is a very big deal! Needless to say by the time we got home and got the babysitter out we were exhausted from the evening and him from his flight earlier that afternoon.

Saturday morning, my Uncle, his wife and their 3 boys (8, 12 & 14) came down along with an additional 8 year old to go to the zoo and then spend the night with us to go home on Sunday. We did not get to the zoo until about 11:45 am and it took us 1 hour to drive around the zoo 3 times to find an open parking lot to park in. We finally got home from the zoo at 5 and made dinner and watched some Olympics until we all crashed. Sunday all day Mr. Bean had an Auto Crossing event and the company went home. Thankfully we don't have any company coming this weekend but we do both of the last two weekends in August as well as the wedding I am making cakes for the last weekend in August. I don't see us slowing down until September I'm afraid.

I am doing well. I am 29 weeks and trucking along. I am exponentially more miserable this time around however due to his position being so low in my belly and him being so big. I don't remember if I mentioned this last time but when I went in for my 26 week ultrasound baby boy bean was weighing in at 2lbs 6oz when he isn't supposed to be 2lbs 5oz until 28 weeks. He was in the 92nd percentile for his weight when 6 weeks earlier he was in the 82nd percentile. I know those estimates can be off but with my families history of large babies (and I mean 9lb6oz and 10lbs 10oz) I am not ruling out the possibility of a 9 pounder this time around. I am having another 3D ultrasound tomorrow so I am going to see if I can get another weight estimate then.

Well, here are a few pictures from the fun filled weekend. Enjoy!

Baby Bean modeling a new dress from her Nana.

Baby Bean and I at the zoo in the Reptile house. It's her favorite!

A nice little elephant shot for fun!

3D Take One...

2008-07-23T15:13:00.003-05:00

Here are two of the pictures from today's ultrasound. And yes, he is still a he. :) I have another 3D in two weeks. The ultrasound tech is so nice. He doesn't charge for this he just does it for the extra practice. Yea for Pictures!!!

The baby does have a whole arm there it's just that when he moves at the same time the photo is being taken it skews certain parts.

One Proud American!

2008-07-15T10:09:00.002-05:00

2008-07-14T14:38:00.002-05:00

So not much up with us right now. Visiting close family and working on kids rooms. The accent wall in the babies room is painted (guacamole green) and the rest of his walls are going to be a shade of brown or tan. Baby Bean's room is going to be turquoise with white trim. Haven't started on that one yet. I'll be 25 weeks Wednesday and baby is as active as ever. I am still carrying as low as ever too. If I hadn't done this before I would think that he was just going to drop out at any minute!

Oh, I am making the wedding cake and groom's cake for a friends wedding the end of August. Here are the particulars:

The wedding cake is going to be 3 tiers 2 layers each. All layers square and each tier off set from the one below. This may sound slightly odd but wait til you hear the request I got for the groom's cake. Her dress is trimmed in a red ribbon so there will be a red satin ribbon around each tier of her cake. Then each tier will have a minimal design on it but a slightly different design on each tier. All other decorations on her cake will be white.

The groom's cake is going to be a two layer chocolate sheet cake with basket weave around the edges and shells or stars for the bottom border. The top however is a different story. The top is going to be Lambeau Field. That is the home field of the Green Bay Packers. Look it up on Google images and yes, that's what I'm doing. Green Bay on one end, Packers on the other and the big G in the middle. He also wants in addition to his tuxedo strawberries some GBP jersey strawberries. This is going to be crazy. Doable of course, but crazy. My biggest challenge at the moment is figuring out where to store some of the cakes before the wedding as my freezer is not big enough.

I'll definitely post more and for sure pictures when the time comes. Until then...

Photos

2008-07-07T16:01:00.003-05:00

From our 4th of July weekend!

A 4th of July cake, of course.

Fireworks

Fireworks part 2

Fireworks part 3

and Baby Bean and I swinging on the Bowen playground!

A Picture Post

2008-06-30T11:03:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks. I don't really have any news to report at the moment other than Mr. Bean's fantastic selection for promotion! He won't actually be promoted until next year but the results were posted last Thursday and Mr. Bean made it. WaHoo!

Baby Bean has a new dress fetish. Uncle Andrew and Aunt April gave her this one.

Baby Bean and Mr. Bean petting a constable's horse at a Peoria market.

New outfit from Uncle Ryan and Aunt Lisa with her new favorite toy. I swear this balloon is more than two weeks old and still flying through our house.

Showing off her new church dress from Grandma Marie.

And a full length view.

And me at 5 months.

I Must Be In Wonderland

2008-06-13T08:33:00.002-05:00

This is my latest cake creation. Very 2D as my architectural cake skills are still being honed.

"Bob Wehadababyitsaboy"

2008-06-12T14:04:00.002-05:00

In case you missed the banner at the top, IT'S A BOY!!!!

I had my 20 week ultrasound today and it was amazing. Mr. Bean and I could tell it was a boy before the technician even said anything and then she said, "That is most definitely a boy! There's no mistake about this one and he is NOT shy." We about died! It was too funny. I'll have to get the pictures scanned in so I can post them. Hopefully this weekend. The baby is 13 oz and in the 82nd percentile (I'm guessing for size?). I am doing great and he is very active. He was had down today so they couldn't get a profile shot. What does this mean? It means I get another ultrasound at 26 weeks which is FANTASTIC because I love pictures.

Well, nothing else for now just wanted to let everyone know!

HAPPY THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-08T13:03:00.002-05:00

HAPPY 6TH ANNIVERSARY TO US!!!!!

A Picture and You Could Have Heard a Pin Drop

2008-06-05T15:13:00.004-05:00

This is courtesy of Mr. Bean who emailed this to me moments ago. It's really good. And also a picture of me at 19 weeks. I am MASSIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

YOU COULD HAVE HEARD A PIN DROP

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the
Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of
empire building by George Bush.

He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of
its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond
our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is
enough to bury those that did not return."

You could have heard a pin drop

Then there was a conference in France where a number of international
engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break
one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you heard
the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to
Indonesia to help the tsunami victims.

What does he intend to do, bomb them?"

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three
hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear
powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they
have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a
day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water
each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting
victims and injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such
ships; how many does France have?"

You could have heard a pin drop.

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals
from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a
cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers
that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting
away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly
complained that, "whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn
only English." He then asked, "Why is it that we always have to speak
English in these conferences rather than speaking French?"

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied "Maybe it's because the
Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to
speak German."

You could have heard a pin drop.

A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour.
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At
French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry
on.

"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked
sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in
France!'

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look.

Then he quietly explained. "Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day
in 1944, I couldn't find a Frenchman to show it to."

You could have heard a pin drop.

Vacation is over

2008-05-27T10:40:00.002-05:00

So our 10 day vacation ended today. Mr. Bean had to go back to work and Baby Bean and I are back to house chores interspersed with playing and walks around the neighborhood. We were in NC for 6 days and then had a wonderful relaxing 4 day weekend for Memorial Day. It was so nice to have Mr. Bean out of school and work to just be home with us to play and relax. Yea for vacations! Well I know you are all very well aware but since my last post I have become the Aunt of 2 GORGEOUS little cuties by the names of Harper and Lily. It is killing me that I am going to have to wait until August or later to actually see them and get to hold them. I can't wait!!!

Other than that everything is going great. Baby Bean is chattier than ever and getting so big. She got to ride a couple rides at Dollywood this last trip that she didn't get to ride last year. She is still too small for most of them but the ones she got to ride this time she enjoyed immensely. I am going to be 18 weeks pregnant tomorrow and my belly is huge! My book said that around 20 weeks your uterus hits your navel but according to my last doctor's appointment and how the doctor showed me how to feel where it is, it's already there. Like I said, my belly is huge! I feel great though. I am definitely out of my old clothes now and into maternity clothes completely. I did find a couple shirts at Old Navy last week that in a medium size were super cut and still covered my belly. They should last another month or so.

Mr. Bean and I will be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary in a couple weeks and I can't believe it's been that long. We tell people all the time that it really still feels like we're just dating. Except with the obvious marriage benefits. ;) Mr. Bean is incredible and has shown me more love, honesty, generosity and comfort than I could have ever imagined possible. He truly is my Knight in Shinning Armor. I am so proud of him. Of what he does, what he stands for and how amazing he is as a husband and father. I feel so blessed to have been married to him for these last 6 years and can't wait for 60 more!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!!!!!!

This and that

2008-05-13T12:21:00.002-05:00

On Mother's Day Mr. Bean was supposed to have an auto cross race from 7am to 5pm. Well, due to our obscene wind around here, not to mention the over abundance of rain we've had, his race was cancelled. You see, they score your auto cross by how fast you run the course and add time for however many cones you knock over. Well, the wind was blowing all the cones off the course therefore making it very difficult to score a race. Therefore we go to spend the day together. The whole day! Yea!

We went to church and Baby Bean made me my first real mother's day present in Sunday school. It was so sweet to see how excited she was to have made something to give me. That alone made it the best Mother's Day ever. Then we took Arby's home for lunch, we all took Sunday afternoon naps, then we went to the mall where I got my hair cut, we all had Orange Julius' and then went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. It was wonderful. Then on the way home we stopped by Border's where I got a new book (an Edwardian mystery) and the movie 27 Dresses which we went home and watched after Baby Bean went to bed. It was a wonderful day!

Today I had my 16 week appointment. Baby is still there. Heart beating and flipping like mad. I feel the baby all the time now during the day and it's so much fun. This is one of my favorite parts of being pregnant. My next appointment will be June 12th where I will get to have another ultrasound and find out if we're having another girl or our first boy. I can't wait!

Friday I am going to dinner and the movie, Made of Honor, with some playgroup ladies and then Saturday morning we're headed to Asheville, NC for a week of R&R as a whole family. I can't wait. Until I get back....

Finally!

2008-04-28T10:14:00.002-05:00

I couldn't believe it but laying in bed last night I laid my hands on my lower belly and after a few minutes I felt the baby kick, TWICE! I would never have felt it during my regular routine as it was so faint and small but laying in bed quite and still. It was amazing!

Happy Monday Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update

2008-04-24T14:16:00.002-05:00

So I never got the referral from my previous doctor that I felt so entitled to receive so get this, I had to DROP to a LOWER level of insurance coverage for a period of one year to get the care I was comfortable with and felt was adequate enough to take care of me and my new little one on the way. How screwy is that that you have to lower you insurance coverage to be able to have that kind of flexibility? Craziness! Anyways, all is well. I have gotten to lower coverage and had my 1st appointment with my new doctor today and am soooooooooooo glad I switched to this office. The baby was being uncooperative with the heart doppler so I got to sneak in for another ultra sound and it was amazing. You forget how cool it really is to see so much of another human inside you. We saw both arms and hands, both legs and feet and everything else baby is supposed to have. The heart beat was 169 so Mr. Bean and I are convinced even more now that it is going to be a girl! So yea! We don't actually know what the baby will be but we are banking on a girl. :) That would be good since I have all girl stuff already and would need to actually buy very little. Anyways, they want me back in 3 weeks for a more indepth appointment to meet nurses, fill out pre-registration paperwork, etc. so I will have more information then. And then hopefully the end of May we will know 100% if it's a girl or not.

Other than that there really isn't much going on. We got home Sunday afternoon from a visit to the AL bean family and were glad to be back in our own beds. This Saturday Mr. Bean and I are going to and indoor arena football game for the first time with a couple friends so that should be fun. Then Sunday Baby Bean and are going to Aunt Bean in Peoria's house for the whole week to visit, play and just have fun. Oh and did I mention that GREY'S ANATOMY is back on tonight!!!!!!!!

Until later...

Vacation and things...

2008-04-18T17:34:00.002-05:00

... well Baby Bean and I got down to AL last Saturday evening and have been enjoying family, friends and time away from home. Mr. Bean was "on the hill" for the week so we decided we would have our own little vacation. Sunday we went to Sunday School where Grandma Bean needed to show off her little grand-bean and then we moved on over to Montgomery for mid-afternoon burgers with Little Brother Bean and his Mrs. The burgers and brownies were fantastic. After dinner LBB took Baby Bean to McDonald's to play and a good time was had by all. And yes, that means me too. The pictures will be forthcoming. ;) Monday we had dinner with my two favorite girls from high school (one of which is glowing in her 5th month of pregnancy). Then we exchanged belated Christmas/Birthday gifts over coffee and Lady Bug Petifours (not sure about the spelling). Tuesday was a relaxing laid back day. Wednesday Mother Bean, baby and I went to Prattville for the afternoon and did a little shopping. Thursday I got to have lunch with my two favorite girls again and then we get to Friday.

Now I don't want to repeat Mrs. M's sentiments about the days as they were so eloquently stated, but I will say this. It was soooooooo hard for me not to jump up on that table and get my belly photos too! I was so glad to see the twins in real time. They are getting so big and Baby Bean is so excited about becoming a cousin. One thing Mrs. M. left out of her blog was the insane mating of birds that we were honored to witness while enjoying the afternoon splendor. Craziness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Official!

2008-03-31T22:32:00.002-05:00

We're having a baby! Ha! As if we didn't already know. I had my first appointment today and everything looks great. I'll be 10 weeks on Wednesday. Heart beat was in the 170s and so tiny! I don't remember seeing the heart beat before 20 weeks last time so it was new and amazing to see it pumping so tiny. Baby is just over and inch from crown to rump and aging about 9wk3days. I have a due date of 29 October and am hoping for a Halloween baby. I think that would be tons of fun! Anyways, that's about it right now. Here are a couple of pictures or our newest baby bean to be!

Some Pictures....

2008-03-19T12:26:00.003-05:00

....from the last week or so.

A birthday cake I made for my friend who just had a baby. It's called Topsy Turvy. I think it's tied with Brother Bean's Sand Castle cake for being my favorite so far.

This is us at the Titanic Museum in Branson last week.

Baby Bean showing her new cousin some love!

Baby Bean playing dress up.

I'm still here...in some form...

2008-03-17T13:56:00.002-05:00

Well we went to Branson last week for a couple of days to visit some in-laws. It was a lot of fun. We played in the pool at the hotel, stayed up late playing cards, went to the World's Largest Titanic Museum and just had a nice relaxing mini vacation. It's always good to get out of dodge for a few days.

I am doing good. I am past all previous d-days for miscarriages so it puts me a bit more at ease with the whole pregnancy. 8 weeks always seems to be my 1st and most important mile marker and I am now 3 days past it. Hooray! Now if I could just get my health care options in order I would be good. With my insurance we are limited to the mercies of certain people and if we don't like the decisions they make we can choose to do a "point of service" options which is paying out of pocket up to a certain amount and then being covered from there. It's not a large amount but enough to stress you out just a little. My beef is where I currently am I don't have a female OBGYN option under my complete coverage and I also don't have a hospital with my labor options available under my complete coverage. I am going to tour the only hospital option they give tomorrow and decide if it's going to be acceptable or not. I know they may sound snooty to some but when you are having a baby and having so many doctors appointments and such you really should be able to have every option you want at your disposal. I'll let you all know how the tour goes and what we decide. Other than that I am feeling ok. My appetite is insane and I am trying so hard not to give in to it because of my last weight gain. The same thing happened last time and I gained nearly 10 lbs in the first trimester. I am aiming for less than 5 lbs this time. Hey, did anyone else who has had a second, third, etc. child ever noticed getting bigger faster than the first time? Maybe it's in my head but it feels like my belly is growing so fast too early. Any thoughts?

On a different note. Baby Bean has not had any pee pee accidents in over a week and after going poo poo on the potty last week a couple of times she has now started telling me when she wants to do number 2 in the potty and actually doing it in the potty! Hooray! 2 weeks for potty training (in respect to pee pee and not poo poo) has got to be some kind of record! I'm hoping for only another 2 weeks on the whole pooping thing. Wishful thinking? We'll see!

26 and Feeling Great!

2008-03-04T13:35:00.002-06:00

I'm still here. Nothing big really happened after the last announcement so I took a small break. I am feeling great and impatient for all the wonders of pregnancy to take over. I love the big belly, the baby kicking, knowing what it is (to narrow down names and paint colors), getting to wear the maternity clothes, etc. I love being pregnant and am always impatient during the 1st trimester. Not only does nothing noticeable really happen then but there is always the lingering thought in the back of my mind that it may not stick. But I have faith in God and his timing so if it's to be (and I feel different about this one than the last one) then it will be. I don't know why, but everytime I think of the baby I picture a brown headed girl. Intuition or overactive imagination? I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Yesterday I turned 26 and while yesterday itself was uneventful I had a fantastic Birthday Weekend! It started Friday with Mr. Bean having the day off and taking Baby Bean and I to the Galleria in St. Louis. There he took me shopping for some new dress boots (Black Suede Marc Fisher) as I had actually worn holes in my last pair and was about to break the zipper. He also got me some really cute new shirts that are made of stretchy material so I can wear them now and through the 2nd. trimester. Nothing like dual purpose clothing! Then we stuffed ourselves at the Cheesecake Factory before heading to Peoria for the weekend to celebrate with the extended Bean family. There we say "The Other Bolynn Girl" which was good but nothing really spectacular. We went shopping and had a wonderful birthday dinner and cake with the family. I also brought home 2 lbs of Decaf. Highland Grogg coffee beans. They are like Heaven! Other than that there really isn't anything new going on. I'll be sure to keep all updated though when something does come along.

What can I say....

2008-02-27T12:37:00.001-06:00

....perhaps the 4th time is the charm. :) Looks like a Halloween baby!

2008-02-19T15:31:00.002-06:00

Baby Bean has finally done it! About 5 minutes ago I heard her rummaging around in the bathroom so I peaked around the corner to see what she was doing. As I spied on her and watched in wonder as she moved her stool to the doorway, turned on the light (she was previously unable to reach the light switch), move her stool back in front of the potty, pull her pants down, take off her clean, dry diaper and sit on the potty. I thought, this is too good to be true. But as I listened I heard the glorious sound of little bean tinkling her heart out! She then proceeded to unroll way too much paper, pull only a little piece off and roll the excess back up and wipe herself. She then moved her stool to the sink and proceeded to wash her hands. With Soap! Now, Baby Bean has been going potty on her potty for quite some time and keeping about 60% of her diapers dry. Even occasionally telling me when she wanted to go potty. But this time she did it all by herself without a word to me. We still have a ways to go but what a MILESTONE! Congrats Baby Bean!!!

Interesting

2008-02-18T10:49:00.002-06:00

I believe one of the Republican candidates has been publicly criticized in the blogosphere for appearing on the Tyra Banks show. Therefore I think it only fitting that I point out that both Obama and Clinton have also appeared on her show. Interesting.

A little of this and a little of that

2008-02-11T15:30:00.000-06:00

So mother and father bean were here this weekend for 3 days and we had a wonderful visit. Baby Bean wore them both out and cried when they left. Poor thing. She has unfortunately also acquired some sort of stomach bug which has left her acting completely normal except for a random throw up here and a runny poop diaper there. I know all of you were interested in knowing that so I thought I would toss it in.

Mr. Bean is settling into his school schedule now so his stress level has come down which is nice. Now we are deciding what to do for Valentines and my birthday in the coming weeks. I think some nice dinners and movies at the theatre without Baby Bean may be in order. We have a babysitter for my birthday so now we just have to grab one for Valentines. Any takers? :)

Well we celebrated Mother and Father Bean's birthdays while they were here so here are some pictures of the celebration and the cake. Now don't be too brutal with the comments. I'm afraid I aimed a little high for my current skill set but none the less it tasted good. So enjoy the photos!

The Parental Beans making a wish. Baby Bean's helping from behind.

Now if you don't know what it's supposed to be then please, don't tell me. And keep in mind it was a first try thing.

Due to the amount of drawing it took for this I did only two sides for the top and two for the bottom half and added some other creative elements to finish it off. Had it been going on display for an actual paying customer it would have been completed all the way around and hopefully looked a bit better.

While overseas we took them to Paris and all went up in the tower so I thought it only fitting to put them on the cake somewhere. And this design was at the request of Father Bean. It was a Coca Cola Fudge cake with Royal Butter Cream base icing and Hershey's Chocolate icing design.

This was a couple weeks ago on a make shift sled Mr. Bean made for the little one. She had a good time.

My Vote

2008-02-04T14:16:00.001-06:00

This post is for Ms. Varlowe and the comment she made on Brother Bean's blog. Short and sweet. If anyone out there is with me, speak up! It's getting Obama heavy around here.

Chocolate Anyone???

2008-01-28T10:48:00.000-06:00

Here is my most recent cake. We had a chili cook off for our Sunday school class and I thought what better opportunity to practice my cake decorating. So this was my dessert.

Heath Ledger, A Talented Actor

2008-01-23T10:30:00.000-06:00

Heath Ledger was a good actor with promise for a long future. I loved most of the movies he did and am still looking forward to seeing his last complete performance in the new Batman movie. These are some clips of him from some of my favorite movies he did. I am anxious for the toxicology report to come back and prove his death truly accidental. All our prayers go out to his family and friends.

10 Things I Hate About You

A Knight's Tale

The Patriot

HAPPY TUESDAY!

2008-01-15T14:16:00.001-06:00

Christmas Photos!!!!

2008-01-09T13:50:00.000-06:00

Finally they are here and by the way, Congrats to John McCain!!!!!! He's got my vote.

Baby Bean finally warmed up to Santa on her birthday!

Baby Bean's 2nd birthday cake. I made it and added birthday candies and candles after I took this picture.

A rocking horse replica of Pony Tiger Alfie. Ask Brother Bean.

Riding in style with her vintage Pink Cadillac Pedal car.

What happens when we let Baby Bean dress herself. Long Johns, Snow Boots and a Ski Cap. What can I say? She's one of a kind!

A New Year a New Start...

2008-01-07T14:26:00.000-06:00

Per Ms. Hooks request and an unfortunate lag in time I am updating all on our goings on.

Christmas was a mixed bag this year. On one hand Baby Bean turned 2 and had the best Christmas every. She had the best time opening gifts and discovering the joy of driving. Seriously, she got an old Cadillac pedal car in pink and silver and it is ADORABLE. She loves it and cruises around with her bears any chance she gets. On the other hand Mr. Bean, baby, Mrs. Muffing and Grandma on Mr. Bean's side all got sick and we think Baby Bean perpetuated it all.

We learned of Brother Bean and the Mrs. incredible news that I was going to be an Aunt and then a few days later that I would be made an Aunt TWICE in the same day was thrilling. Unfortunately after 6 months of trying for baby number 2 we found out we were pregnant and at the same time losing it all in a matter of days. The good news is that I am fine physically and mentally with out any doctor intervention and we are taking it as a sign that after 6 months of trying it is still possible just a matter of HIS right timing for it to work out and not ours. That gives us hope and in the mean time I have TWINS on the way to spoil and throw all my bad habits too. :) I can't wait.

We had a great holiday with visitors from both sides. The best part of all was that we had our Christmas in Our home. We got to wake up Christmas morning to our tree and our fireplace with our child and enjoy the blessings we all had. By far my favorite Christmas.

I will download and post Christmas pictures soon.

Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Baby Bean!!!

2007-12-21T08:56:00.000-06:00

We let baby bean open one of her presents this morning before Mr. Bean went to work. It's so fun to see how excited she gets now over her presents. Enjoy my nostalgia!

Her original birthday.

Her 1st Birthday.

Today. Her 2nd Birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BEAN!!!

Tagged...

2007-12-17T09:42:00.000-06:00

For you Brother Bean.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both

2. Tree--Real or Artificial? Real

3. When do you put Christmas tree up? After Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? There's no telling. Probably mid January

5. Like egg nog? Gag me.

6. Do you have a nativity scene? No but I'm in the market for one. Any suggestions?

7. Favorite gift received as a child? The 3 story barbie mansion with elevator. Until my brothers used it to shoot my barbies across the room.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Uncle Bruce

9. Easiest person to buy for? Dave, he always wants Craftsman

10. Worst Christmas gift? A miniature calendar for the wrong year.

11. Mail or email a Christmas Card? Mail

12. Favorite Christmas movie? It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and Hobo's Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? October

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Maybe once

15. Favorite food to eat on Christmas? Dad's homemade cinnamon rolls.

16. Clear or colored tree lights? Twinkling Colored Lights

17. Favorite Christmas Song? It Doesn't Have To Be That Way Music Jim Croce

18. Travel during Christmas or Stay home? This year, stay home

19. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Sleepy, Bashful, Grumpy, Sneezy, oh wait, you said reindeer didn't you? Of course!

20. Angel or Star on Tree top? Previously and Angel, this year a Star

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning of course

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Pressure to buy nice gifts when that's not even the reason for the season.