The Decorator

I was lucky enough to have quite a few occasions to make and decorate desserts this month! Here are my bragging rights to said desserts:

My wonderful father-in-law turned 60 years old earlier this month. I made him a cake after one of his favorite drink choices, Diet Pepsi. I don't know another human who can drink a soda faster than him, which I can appreciate as I also love the carbonated goodness. Happy birthday Joe!

My friend, Kelsey, is expecting her baby boy in a few weeks! For her baby shower, I made a bunch of sugar cookies in the shape of footballs, baseballs, and basketballs for the sports themed shower. Kelsey and her husband are very athletic so it fit quite well for them.

Another good friend of mine, Abby, is expecting her little girl in about three weeks. I made this cake for her baby shower. The nursery colors are pink, white, and black and the cake goes very well with Abby and her stylish, classy self!

I LOVE making desserts and decorating. I have one more opportunity for the month to make pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies for Matt's coworkers and then it's on to Thanksgiving and Christmas themed desserts!

Pumpkin Carving

Following a trip to the pumpkin patch, it is time to carve pumpkins!
The girls were very excited to find the seeds inside the pumpkin. They were also excited to be wearing Mommy's t-shirts.


Erika's comment: "It smells stinky!" Yep, it did! But they loved feeling the slimy, gooey inside and seeds.

They each chose a small pumpkin at the patch that they could color.

Erika actually drew a face and hair on her pumpkin. Laurel just looked at her messy fingers.

Our finished products!

Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch on Wednesday afternoon. The girls had a great time! Erika is old enough to remember going to the patch the past two years so she was excited to see the familiar hay bales maze, animals, and playground. And, of course, the tractor ride to the pumpkin patch!

The girls loved running through the maze.

And, walking on the huge hay rolls.

Laurel showing off her little pumpkin. Erika didn't want to be in this particular picture.

Our little lambs.

Big Girl Bed

We now have two girls in big girl beds! Last weekend, we bought new mattresses for the girls, but we didn't get around to setting up Laurel's bed until yesterday. Last night was her first time in it and she did awesome! I was so nervous that she wouldn't stay in her bed, but she didn't get up at all. I think Erika likes that Laurel is in a bed now......it makes it more fun to jump from bed to bed at night! There were no falls last night either, which is good since Laurel's mattress is very very high. Now, Levi can make his appearance any time since we have an empty crib waiting for him to sleep in!

She looks so little in her big bed!

Matching beds with matching Disney Princess bed spreads for our two princesses!

Judging from her hair, I say she had a great first night in her big girl bed.

My Girls

The girls decided to play princess beauty shop yesterday. It's exactly how I imagined them playing as sisters....nicely and quietly! They were so cute combing each others hair and complementing each other on their beautiful princess outfits. They performed a dance show for me when they were done. I love these little girls!

Cannon Beach

This past week, we went on our first family vacation ever! It was so much fun! On Wednesday, we left Newberg for Cannon Beach via Tillamook. We stopped at the cheese factory for cheese curds and ice cream.....a wonderful combination! The girls did really well in the car and slept for the last 30 minutes or so of the drive. Here were the sleeping arrangements.

I guess there was too much light for Laurel to sleep because that is her under the blanket that she put over her head. Silly girl!

We rented a house in Cannon Beach to accommodate our family, my sister, mom, and brother and sister-in-law. Jacob and Lisa flew in from California to join us on our vacation. The main reason we all got together was my mom in turning 60 at the end of this month so we had a birthday party/vacation for her. More highlights of the trip are as follows:

Jacob reading to Laurel. She insisted on wearing a hat for the majority of the vacation so of course Uncle Jacob got to wear one too.

Our first day at the beach was beautiful! For those who are familiar with the Oregon coast, it's kind of a toss up what kind of weather you'll get when you vacation there. We really lucked out with the weather this trip. Thursday was sunny and super warm. Not warm enough to swim in the ocean, but at least to put our feet in!

Laurel loved digging in the warm sand.

As did Erika.


Uncle Jacob and Aunt Lisa bought a kite for the girls (and adults) to fly.

More kite flying.

Erika dug a hole to stand in. Laurel was excited that Erika was then the same height as her.

Aunt Sarah and Erika chasing waves.


Daddy showing Laurel the joys of the ocean.


Our girls LOVE everything about the beach! The ocean, the sand, throwing the sand into the ocean, everything!

See? Told you they love it.

"Who wants pizza for lunch?"

Oh, now Erika wants pizza as well. On a side note, Lisa and Jacob are expecting their first baby on December 4th......the same day Levi is due. We're having a race to see who is born first.

Thursday after naps, we drove into Seaside to go to the aquarium and play arcade games. It was a blast! At the aquarium, they have seals that you can feed little pieces of fish to. Erika was terrified of them, but Laurel loved it! They both really enjoyed the touch tank that was full of starfish and sea urchins.

They won bracelets, stickers, princess wands and American flags at the arcade. Thanks to the tickets won by their aunts and uncle!

They also rode the carousel.

On Friday, the weather was much different. Cloudy, slightly cool and drizzle in the morning. But, we still had fun digging in the sand and making castles.

Jacob and my grandparents watching the girls dig in the sand.

Daddy made little sand castles that Laurel could squash. That was her favorite part, stomping on everything we made.

The girls still loved the ocean in cold.

Jacob and Sarah managed to make a sand village without Laurel squishing it.

On Saturday morning, we did some family pictures on the beach.

The girls were pretending to be on a train while on the log.

Laurel enjoyed dragging a stick in the sand and making lines.

Erika liked playing with the seaweed she found.

Making new discoveries of beach treasures.

On Saturday afternoon, we had my mom's brother and sisters over for her big birthday party. We asked all the guests to bring 60 items to give to her as a gift. Jacob and Lisa gave her 60 balloons with money inside them. Sarah gave her 60 cm of gift cards. Erika and Laurel made her a picture with 60 stickers. She also received 60 leaves, 60 rocks, 60 M&Ms, 60 rubber bands, a bracelet with 60 links and 60 charms, and 60 cherry pits with a card saying, "It's the pits to be 60". It was a super fun party!

Sarah and I made the cake for Mom. Sarah made these leaves out of gum paste before we got to the beach and then we made the cake and basket decorations while we were there. As you can see, the cake is a basket of leaves! Mom loved it.

Two of the crazy party guests.

So, it summary, it was a great vacation! Now, we're back home with new routines happening. Laurel is now potty-training which means I will be spending the majority of my day in the bathroom. She is also transitioning to a big girl bed so the crib can be ready for Levi when he comes. More details about those routines later!