Cake

I made another cake. This will be the last cake I make for a while, since Calvin asked me to put my new hobby on hold for the next few years. (Except for birthdays! E's birthday is 5/5, A's 6/12, and of course they're benefiting from my boundless love of frosting.) However, this will be the last cake I make for public consumption that could otherwise have been ordered from Costco. After ignoring all aspects of my motherly, wifely, and house-keeping duties for about a week, I made a giant birthday cake for my dad. German Chocolate. He requested the german chocolate, but didn't know how big it would be. It was going to be served after church, at what I thought was going to be a huge potluck barbeque birthday party. I was worried there wouldn't be enough cake for everyone. At the last minute, I made another layer. Each layer was a double batch of my recipe, in my new 14" X 14" pan. Three layers. Small potluck. It was a looooot of cake. We froze a bunch at church, so all the people who missed it the first time will be able to try it out.



I think I scored points with my dad for its sheer mass, as he is seriously into things that are heavy, strong, fast, or powerful. I have many childhood memories of him explaining exactly how powerful the chimpanzee in a certain story was, or how fast the guy moved in the wrestling match, or who would win a fight between a grizzly bear and a mountain lion, or exactly what force it would take to rip someone's arm off. He told me he tried to pick up the cake and guess its weight, but couldn't (pick it up, that is--it was heavy!) I think that bode well for him, and I can hear him now, years from now: "Keidi made the biggest cake I've ever seen, it was heavier than my desk." Happy Birthday, Daddio!

A Quick One, just the basics.

Eliana has four teeth, now.

Adessa asked me the other day: "Who glued our house together?" all matter of fact.

Calvin goes back to work tomorrow after almost 6 weeks of vacation. I told him 5 weeks into it that I don't know what all my stress and dysfunction about having two kids was about. I told him maybe it just takes 11 months of two kids for people to adjust. I told him that I was relaxed and really able to enjoy the girls and that I've arrived, I've made it to calm and peace in my mothering. I told him I was ready to start thinking about having another kid. I then told all this to my friend, Kim, who said: "Woah there, Keidi! Calvin's been on vacation." Duh. Of course I'm relaxed and wonderful at mothering. I have almost full time help in the form of my girls' favorite person. Thanks, Kim, you're right. Maybe we'll stick to the plan of another kid LATER.

Where, Oh Where..

...Wherever to begin. Pascha was... okay. I recently discussed with my beloved friend Barbara how sometimes holidays are a double edged sword, because, while they might be fun, there is also the expectation and thus pressure of having and making fun. We had a succinct little basket ransacking event at our house, and then tried to go to church for the Agape Vespers and picnic. It rained, that was the biggest problem, so the picnic that we look forward to all year was, for all my intents and purposes, rained out. We still made a go of it, but between naptime and rain, it wasn't the most fun.

Saturday morning before Easter Divine Liturgy, the only picture I got of the girls in their Pascha clothes.


Eliana with the aftermath of the vigorous leaf and petal throwing.


Easter morning, baskets.
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Easter egg shells are better than olives!


Easter Morning: Eliana and the Eggshells



Eliana- I love watching her pudgy little hands move around. When she picks something up to eat, when she fiddles with her binky, when she waves or gets excited about something, or when she makes her signs (she signs "all done", "milk" and "bird"). So. Darn. Cute. She's marvelous. She gives kisses freely, just dives in for a kiss and makes the smooch sound before or after. She likes to pretend to blow her own nose, and will put off tearing a tissue or napkin to tiny shreds temporarily while she mimes nose blowing for anyone nearby. We lean in and pretend to blow, and she nods in concentration and encouragement. She tries to pull shirts over her head. She pretends to talk on the "phone" which is just her hand pressed to the side of her head. She likes to brush her own teeth, and everyone else's teeth. She's still cruising around holding on to everything, she likes trying to walk but has a ways to go before she masters it. She's getting hungry all the time! Breastmilk isn't a meal replacement anymore, she wants FOOD at meal times, milk is a bonus. She's recently discovered blueberries, and likes to squish them around (again, those darling fingers), before eating them.

Eliana doing her funny face.


Trying to put clothes on.


Trying to blow my nose. Thank you, Eliana.


Adessa- Oh, this girl. She's so difficult, sometimes, and so sweet and enchanting other times. I am thankful that overall, she is very benevolent to Eliana. That is a balm for my mommy soul. With me (and Daddy, too, sometimes), not always favorable behavior. I find it important to find things that Adessa and I do well together. We wrestle well together, when she's in the mood. I realized last week, after working four days in a row, that I missed her. She's quite content getting all she needs from Daddy, and I have to be creative sometimes to squirrel my way in there after work. Luckily, she is easy to engage and happy to do her favorite things with me, most of the time. She likes creative play, coloring, doing puzzles, blowing bubbles, building with blocks, dressing up in princess dresses, hearing stories, and having me tell her about things over and over. She likes to hear me tell parts from her favorite movies, or how I went on a date with Daddy, or Hansel and Gretel, (the rated G version with no bad parents or witch), or something that happened to us recently. She likes to tell me stories, too-- about her day, or about things she remembers. A favorite thing to recount right now, is what cows make. She lists all the dairy products in her little world and then asks for more. She thinks cows are quite spectacular for providing so many nourishing substances.

And, together, we like to wrestle, and do "tricks". First we wrestle around, which is mostly an excuse to hug her and squeeze her while throwing her around on our bed. Then, we do tricks. We have a little routine, now, and could put on quite a coreographed show. (Think Cirque d' Soleil meets toddler gymnastics).

Tricky tricks!


Adessa reading to Eliana. Eliana listened raptly, riveted by the story.


This girl has a mouth full of sweet teeth. Look at that beaming smile, just for pudding.


She says funnnnny things. One of the things we talked about for a few days after the fact was how sick she got on our vacation down to Southern California. She had a massive temperature and barely ate or drank anything while sleeping for two days straight. When it came up in conversation, and I said: "You were really sick, huh? That was sad to see how yucky you felt." She replied: "Yeah. I was really suffering." Ha! Today she said: "Mommy, are you my twin?" Huh? Nope. Funnnnny.

The other day, our friend Les came over to get some pictures, and as she said "Hi" to him, she ran right into the hard glass doorknob. Ouch! She quickly and silently got into my arms, and hid her face while trying to cry muffled and quietly. This is unusual, or new, as normally she wails at tremendous volumes and isn't embarrassed to be seen or heard after an owie. It made my heart flip over with love for her, and the realization that she is becoming self-aware, self-conscious. Oh, this baby of mine. Growing up, having pride, feeling embarrassed, having complex emotion. It made something run through my head that I haven't thought since the very beginning with Adessa: How strange, this little being, and my attachment to her. Also noteworthy to me was how tender I feel towards her when she's hurting. Awwww.

Adessa does her own hair.


After Pascha we drove down to Southern California, to do a whirlwind trip of visits and relaxing. We got to see our godson, Alex, my college friend Mike and meet his daughter, Jane, Calvin's godparents and their family, and Calvin's sister. Very fun to see everyone. Lovely to be in Santa Monica. We're going to keep trying for a snag free vacation, and this one was getting closer! This vacation ended up having two parts: Before Fever, and After Fever. During Fever doesn't count because Adessa and I barely left our hotel room.

Before fever:
Zoom, Zoom, Riding in the car. The girls did great, possibly because yours truly rode in back with them. The whole way.


Zoom, Zoom, cheerio on my forehead in the car.


Adessa with Megan and Wilson at the McBrian's house in Orange. The most kind and wonderful people Calvin has introduced me to, his godparents daughter and her family. Exemplary. Kind. Talented. Patient with Adessa. Love them. 8)


Eliana showing off her buffness. She became a conversation piece on the playground.


With college friend Mike and his cutie daughter, Jane. Mike was part of my formative college experience. Like the leaf that falls into wet cement and is imprinted forever, Mike was my friend at a "wet cement" time. Even looking at this picture makes me happy--thank you for helping me figure myself out, Mike.


Swimming in the hotel pool, rocking those sunglasses!


Adessa's fun morning at the beach--that afternoon she succumbed to her fever. It was the only time she and daddy spent at the beach. I missed the beach pretty much altogether. Someday!


During fever:


After Fever:
Hanging out with god-brother, Alex, and his parents on the swanky Santa Monica 3rd street promenade.



Post Script:
Cake #2. A baby shower cake I made for one of the mamas in our group, Sharon. I'm improving!

Spring has Sprung! (Among other things)**

Is it April already? We are excited for spring, for Pascha (rain or shine!) and swimming and walking and good weather. Calvin has taken a few weeks off so we'll have Spring Break together, and its been great to have him around in general. I've had days where I haven't washed a dish! Yay!
--Oh--an aside: we're foregoing our big dream of a major remodel because of the economy, but are planning a round of "home-repair" they call it. We're going to get a dishwasher, first and foremost, but then update the wallpaper, countertops, linoleum, and bathrooms. Hooray!

The girls are doing fine, depending on when you talk to me about them. Eliana is trying to talk, she says appropriately: ball, baby, bear, bird (Okay, they all sound like Buh-bu or some variation thereof) uh-oh, achoo (whenever anyone sneezes), Dada, and Deta (for Adessa). Maybe only I understand her, but she's on her way to mini-words! She's also trying to walk, cruising on everything and wanting to hold fingers and hands and be walked around. Part of learning to pull herself up and walk is her irritating habit of finding me wherever I am rooted (washing dishes) and swaying from my pant legs. When I'm wearing my PJs, that means she pantses me. Her big walking milestone coming up means there have been a few nights where I wake up to feel around in bed for her and find her standing up against the wall. It's like wrestling to get her to stop climbing the wall and hold still long enough to fall back to sleep.

Adessa is moving through her emotional life daily, experimenting with all the ranges of cheerfulness, sweetness, sadness, defiance, and disappointment. She has a clear idea of how she wants her juice, which spoon she wants to stir her yogurt with and which spoon she's going to eat it with. This girl loves routines, and we all pay if the spoon she considers essential is dirty at the time its requested. Arg. She has moments of extreme loveliness, with us and with Eliana, which give me much hope, and really, most of the time we have lots of fun with her. I'm just still shocked and blindsided when things seem to be going swimmingly and an unforseen trigger gets her going and going and going. Adessa says funny things, too: "Scrack, Cackle, Pop" for Rice Krispies, and "gralala" for granola. She's saying lots of "the darndest things", her word combos are surprising us all the time, especially when they're our words coming back at us. "Try to concentrate on this music." as she plays Eliana's little piano. "Plan ahead, Mommy!" when I'm getting ready to go to work. "First things, first!" when she lines her shoes up by the door. (Those last two are entirely thanks to Calvin, neither of those phrases have ever graced my lips.)

**Please be advised, some of the following pictures depict an unsavory and upsetting view of what are normally considered innocent hair folicles. Calvin entered a contest at work, much to my very vocal chagrin. The whole cadre of coworkers have taken the month of March to see who can grow the best mustache. I'm sure that Calvin can be very proud of his hair sprouting abilities, and I have been ready all month for him to shave the scratchy thing off. We had an agreement when we married, all vows were nullified by upper-lip-adornment, his or mine. I've allowed this temporary lapse, but be assured that Calvin has heard how I feel about it. I'm told September is Sideburn month, much more palatable. 8)

This is my new most favorite picture ever. You'll be seeing this one again, hopefully a REAL photo, printed and everything, framed in our house. (Why does it seem so hard to do that these days?)


Daddy and previously mentioned facial hair, out on the patio with Eliana.


The mustached man and his family.


Eliana's first bubble beard, kind of like lamb chops on her. Calvin could have gotten away with a bubble-stache.

Adessa is old hat at these bubble adornments, but poses anyway.


Eliana is cruising around, with help from Adessa and her push-walker.