Cake Smash//Picture Overload!

Are you ready for a lot of pictures? Good. Here we go!

Here's the cake before the action:

Sam started out pretty timidly

But after I pinched off a piece of the cake for him to try he started to get a little more enthusiastic.

Pretty soon, he was going at it!

...and then he dumped the cake onto his lap, and later the floor!

Look, Mom, CAKE!

 Thanks for reading. Bye, bye!

If you want to see the healthy (ish) recipe I used for the cake, click here.

Soon, I'll be posting about Sam's first birthday party!

Just in case you were wondering, the backdrop is made from dollar store crepe paper streamers and ribbon from my craft box. I reused it at the birthday party.

Random Update on Our Life

I haven't written in forever. School has been very busy, being a mom has been busy, realizing that plans for six months from now will probably change drastically (No, we're not pregnant)
so, blogging falls by the wayside.

But life has been full of so many blessings!

Samuel continues to grow. He hasn't gained much weight recently, my milk supply has probably gone down since he has to take a bottle most days that I'm at school, but we caught it early and the doctor is helping us get a routine set up to help him get the food he needs.

I got an A on my first ASL test! Which is awesome, 'cause last semester was not quite so good. I'm also loving my English class. I LOVE the way my teacher sets everything up and forces us to work on our essays slowly by having us turn them in piece by piece, focussing on different aspects every time! It's helping my writing so much.

I have also submitted a piece to a magazine! I think I'd like to do more of that! I don't know yet if it will be published or not, but I've decided that I'd like to try to write more, and if I can get published that would be fantastic! I'm also currently working on two children's books. An illustrating major just moved into our ward, so I may have to ask if she'd like to collaborate.

Cameron is thinking of other options for grad school (we were originally planning to stay here) so that potentially puts me in a tough spot for graduating. Still totally doable, I'd just have to do online classes if we left Provo. But we're praying and counseling together and I'm sure we'll find the best solution. (I just hope it's soon so we can plan for the future!)

General conference was AWESOME. My dad was able to come out early for a business trip and spend sunday conference with us, and Cameron's mom and little sister came up for Saturday conference. It was so wonderful to see them! I also made my mom's oh-so-delicious cinnamon rolls and they were awesome! (I'll probably share the recipe on here sometime because it is SO good!)
and, of course, I absolutely loved the messages that were shared! I especially loved all the messages about being kind and courteous to others, regardless of whether we have different beliefs. I know I struggled with that a little when I was younger, and it can still be hard to respond with kindness when people are cruel or hurtful to me or others, but I have a testimony that God wants us to love each other and treat each other well. I hope that I can continue to try to become more christ-like, especially as I go back and listen to the talks from conference over again.

Sam's sleep training is going really well! (Except last night he woke up several times, but I think that he is legitimately teething this time, so we'll let it slide and hope it doesn't become the norm.) He felt so bad for keeping me up all night last night that he let me take an almost-three-hour nap with him today! It was much needed.

Thanks for letting me just blurt out random pieces of news. I am loving life! I am loving a more structured schedule for Sam, and I love the Lord!
Happy October!

(here's a sneak peak of some pictures my dad took of us over the weekend!)

A Little "Whovian" Baking

Thursday was my little sister's birthday, and her first birthday away from home. I wanted to do something to make her feel special, so we invited her over for dinner, but I wanted to get her a gift as well. She is a huge Doctor Who fan, so I started looking down that path for ideas. I made her a bookmark that looks like the most recent Doctor, a super cheesy card, and instead of cupcakes, I made her "fish sticks" and custard!

Yes, it sounds disgusting. It's a DW thing. There was one episode where the Doctor eats fish sticks with custard. I'm not sure how they came up with that combination, but they did and now I've re-created it in much yummier fashion!

I made normal vanilla pudding from a box. Cheating, I know. Then I was trying to think of things that might look kind of breaded like fish sticks that would actually taste good with pudding, so I went with snickerdoodle cookies! I rolled the dough into short little logs instead of balls and then rolled those in the cinnamon-sugar. I forgot, as I have almost every time since moving to Utah, that you have to add extra flour here, so they ended up spreading out more than I anticipated, but I just cut them in half and they turned out to be the right dimensions, besides being a bit flat.

They were very tasty, and my sister reacted very well! I'm glad she like my little home-made treat. I have to say, I was a little too proud of myself for coming up with this idea since I haven't watched much Doctor Who, but I had fun making it, and seeing my sister happy on her birthday was all I really wanted.

Thanks to my husband for helping me get this picture onto my computer! Apparently android and macs don't like to work together. :P

Owl City

On my birthday my mom took Sarah, Cameron, and me to Owl City's concert in Detroit and it was AWESOME!!!!! I love the fact that Adam Young writes ALL of his songs, and they're all so sweet and innocent. They're mostly electronic and upbeat, but when he performed live, he made them more like alternative rock, with more electric guitar than keyboard. It was pretty hype :) He also has quite a few songs Christiany songs that are super fun to listen to, and also really spiritual.

Adam's blog is also awesome. Its really funny most of the time, and the rest of the time its just really pleasant to read. He talks a lot about how much he loves nature and the Lord, so I think we'd get along pretty well. In a nutshell, I love Adam Young! As an artist. I obviously don't actually know him, but I think we could be good friends if I did.

Thank you for the wonderful birthday present Mommy :)

And happy 4th of July! :)

D&C 98:8 I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free.

Birthday Girl

Today I'm grateful for my sister Lizzie, who is 7 years old today. She certainly is a ball of energy. She is always moving, singing, dancing, talking, you name it. Despite all this, I love her so much and I am so glad that she is my sister!

Props to my dad for the awesome video :) It's a little old, but its the best one I have at the moment.

I am also grateful for the beautiful weather today! The sun is out, the wind is blowing a nice warm breeze, the trees and grass are swaying, and everything is soft and warm! I love Michigan :) And my puppy Franky is being so cute and nice to me today. I am also grateful for that.