Monday, January 30, 2012

The Plague

We were hit with the plague last week. Okay, plague might be a slight exaggeration, but if you share my hatred of the stomach flu, you may find it justified. We were awaken Monday night to Peachy crying in her room. What I found in her bed was not pleasant, not pleasant at all. We were awoken throughout the night to her crying and our rushing in with the puke bucket. I lost count of how many times we were down there, but I do know we went through 3 sets of sheets that night. Thankfully she was pretty much over it by the morning. She vegged out for most of the Tuesday and didn't really eat much, but at least she wasn't puking and was holding down some liquids and solids.
Peachy on Tuesday
By Wednesday afternoon she was bopping around the house just in time for me to wake up Thursday morning to a feeling in my stomach that filled me with dread. Sure enough, I hadn't escapes the germ warfare that had hit our home. I figured out I had it in time to keep Mr. Cherry home from work as I knew I wouldn't be able to care for the girls. I spent most of the day between the bed and the bathroom. But by the evening I felt well enough to drink some 7-Up. Thank goodness that the stomach flu is short lived. And thank goodness that it only hit half of the family.
Peachy on Wednesday

Monday, January 23, 2012

Little Miss Mischief

Lately my little Peachy has been keeping me on my toes. I recently made the comment that only a two and a half year old can make parenting an infant seem easy. :o) I find myself praying for the patience and wisdom that I need daily to parent her. Parenting is definitely not for whimps, I tell you.
In addition to the battle of wills we often engage in, here are just a few of the challenges Peachy has presented lately.
She has finally learned to open door knobs. This was bound to happen, but it was so nice to know that I could shut a door and keep her in or out of a certain room. Now when she wakes up in the morning she just comes out of her room and  upstairs. She will also often come into the bathroom while I am showering. Gone are the days of peaceful showers while she contentedly watched a show in the other room. The other morning when I heard her on the monitor and went down to get her up, she was not only up but had gotten herself dressed.
Speaking of getting dressed, this weekend we were at Mr. Cherry's parents' house. We were all sleeping downstairs, but she was in a different room from Mr. Cherry and I. She must have woken up at 10:30 pm and decided that it was high time that she get up and start her day. Without her father or I knowing it, she got up and completely dressed and headed upstairs. She knocked on the upstairs door and when her aunt opened it, there she was very happy and proud of herself.
She also found a pair of scissors this weekend and gave her hair a little trim. Thankfully it was just a little snip, this time. And since she is into hair styling she thought that it would be a good idea to coat her hair in baby lotion while we were getting ready for church.
As someone recently reminded me, at least we know that we have a very healthy and smart little girl. I just have to remind myself of that in the heat of the moment. I also have to remember that Peachy is a curious little girl doing what two year olds do to learn about the world around them. That and take deep breaths with a glass of wine or two.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Foodie Friday: Fluffy Baked Cake Donuts


Remember this pregnancy purchase?
Don't worry, the donuts taste good even when you aren't enormously pregnant and hoping that anything will take your mind off of the fact that you still haven't had your baby. The proof being that I made this recipe last week and still loved it to the last crumb. And if you really want to go all out for Valentine's Day, you can buy this pan instead of the one that I have.
How cute is this? Almost makes me wish that I hadn't ordered my pan back in August.
However, I am pretty confidant that these donuts taste great no matter what shape they come in.

Baked Fluffy Cake Donuts
from Allrecipes
Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon shortening
  •  
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 2 tablespoons hot water
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a doughnut pan.
  2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Stir in milk, eggs, vanilla and shortening. Beat together until well blended.
  3. Fill each doughnut cup approximately 3/4 full. (I like to use a frosting bag with a large round tip.) Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until doughnuts spring back when touched. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan.
  4. To make glaze, blend confectioners' sugar, hot water and almond extract in a small bowl. Dip doughnuts in the glaze. Sprinkle with sprinkles.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Homemade Crayon Valentines


Looking for a fun and unique Valentine to make this year? Gather up your old and broken crayons and recycle them into new ones for the valentines on your list.
Here is what to do:
1. Remove all wrappers from your crayons.
2. Break and cut crayons into small pieces.
3. Place crayon pieces into a heart shaped silicon tray. (I used an ice cube tray that I had purchased at IKEA.)
4. Place silicon tray onto metal baking sheet in 250 degree oven until crayons are completely melted.
5. Remove tray from oven and allow wax to reset.
6. Pop crayons out of tray.
I wrapped up the crayons in a bag and closed it off with colorful ribbon and a fun tag. I also included some coloring pages that I printed off of the computer onto quarter sheets of paper.

Color your valentine's world this February and make these crayons!

I am linking to these wonderful parties this week.
Today's Creative Blog
Making the World Cuter

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Wisdom Teeth Removal

image source
I went under the knife last Friday and finally had my wisdom teeth extracted. I don't even know if you could call it under knife so much as under the pliers. All four were fully erupted, they were just sitting all wonky. So out they came. The dentist has been after me for years to get them out and I kept putting it off. Last year I chose childbirth over having them removed. I am a wuss and went completely under. It was nice. I have never been put out before and didn't know how my body would react. As far as I know, I didn't make a fool of myself in the recovery room. My recovery has been pretty easy as well. Lets hope it stays that way and I don't get the dreaded dry sockets. Thankfully I didn't have much swelling or bruising, so no chipmunk cheek pictures to post here. I still have the stitches in and am being careful what I eat. Lots of soft mushy food. It is a great post-holiday weight loss plan. (That and the stomach flu I had between Christmas and New Year's.) I am totally craving some good crunchy food though. I may have even contemplated sucking on a pretzel the other night. We gave Cream pumped bottles from my freezer stash for 24 hours just to be on the safe side. I was worried that she would decide that she liked the bottle better and we may have a hard time switching back. My worries were unfounded. She was so happy to have the "real thing" back that she put in some really long sessions. It was hard for me to watch all of the milk I pumped in those 24 hours be poured down the drain. But I didn't cry over spilled milk. All in all a relatively good experience, not that I would want to do it all that often. And now the next time I go into the dentist he won't have to bug me about getting them out.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

I'm Loving It . . .

It is time again for I'm loving it. The first edition of 2012!!
1) I am loving the balmy winter we have been having. When you live in a region where cold and snow are the norm from November through March, no snow and 40-50 degrees are a true gift!
2) These little guys are not only cute, but practical and sweet!
3) Sparkling Ice Zero Calorie Drink. This is a delicious drink that you don't have to feel guilty about sipping. I found it at Wal-Mart. It is a blend of fruit juice and sparkling water.
image source

Monday, January 9, 2012

Paper Plate Snowman


As soon as I saw Kaysi's paper plate snowman post in my Google Reader it was pinned onto my preschool board. Since we are lacking in the snow and cold department so far this winter the preschoolers happily made the warm and paper version of a snowman. *Note, I am not complaining about the unseasonably warm temps we have been enjoying and the lack of white in our landscape. I am enjoying this tropical winter for all that it is worth.*As we were constructing our white friends, one of the preschoolers said that he would like a body for his. We just stapled two more plates on to complete them. I had the kiddos use paint daubers for the eyes and buttons.

I am linking to these wonderful parties this week.
Today's Creative Blog
Making the World Cuter

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Baby Cream: 4 Months

We have come a long way in the last month. Cream has developed a personality all her own and is more person than baby now. For the most part she is happy and content, but she still can erupt when things don't go quite her way. She has found several different voices that she likes to use including a lovely scream. For now it makes me laugh, but I can see where it might get old in the future. I thought for sure that I would be able to report her first tooth this month, but she is still working on them. Judging by the amount of drool and how she puts everything in her mouth I think they will be here this month. She also has started to giggle. At first I would have to tickle her, but now she will laugh when we are just playing together. Unfortunately her sleeping has regressed and is really wearing me out. Some nights she will only wake up once and others she is up every hour. New Year's Eve she decided that sleep was for the birds and she wanted to stay up instead. While Mr Cherry and I had not planned on staying up to ring in the New Year, that is just what we did while holding a baby, in our pajamas, in the Lay-Z-Boy. (We are real party animals, huh?) She has discovered her hands and is getting more and more coordinated in using them. She even gets her thumb in her mouth once in a while and happily sucks away. Around Christmas she figured out how to roll her body to the side. Her arms still get in the way of completely rolling over, and she gets a little frustrated. She loves attention and will look at someone and wait to make eye contact to reward them with a smile.

We had her in for her 4 month doctor appointment today and she sure showed them her grumpy side. She was doing fine until the blood pressure cuff beeped a little too loudly and then it was all crying and screaming. The doctor thought maybe she had an ear infection since she was so mad, but everything checked out. Turns out she was just mad.
4 Month Stats:
14 pounds 6 ounces (62%)
25 1/4 inch long (81%)
16 1/2 inch head circumference (75%)

Her tear duct is still blocked. There are days that it seems to be getting better and then it is all goopy again. I am praying that it clears up before we need medical intervention.
4 months is a great time with babies. Lots of the frustrations with newborns is gone and they are happy to be a part of the world. It is amazing watching them grow and develop each and every day.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

2011: A Year in Review

What a year 2011 has been for us here at Bowl of Cherrys. I can hardly believe that it has come and gone. It seems like just a few short months ago that we found out that we would be adding a little Cream to our Peachy last December and here another December has come and gone.
January 2011: I didn't blog much this month. Just two posts. I knew that was due to the fact that I was feeling under the weather with a little one growing inside. I did post about Peachy's mitten shirt and her kitchen helper. While the shirt no longer fits, the kitchen helper is still used, almost everyday.
February 2011: We finally were able to share the big news that Peachy was going to be a big sister!!
Mr. Cherry and I also went on a quick weekend getaway and left Peachy for the first time overnight.
March 2011: The end of winter was in site as I loaded up the car and set up my booth at my first big craft show. I also posted my first Cream bump picture.
Other than that we laid low and enjoyed a little swimming and cooking.
April 2011: We spent April celebrating. We celebrated my birthday. We celebrated the Royal Wedding. And we celebrated Easter.
May 2011: We continued with the celebrations in May. First up, Peachy's 2nd birthday, my younger sister's college graduation, and Mother's Day. I walked two 5ks at 20+ weeks pregnant.


June 2011: June brought about a family camping trip and Mr. Cherry's birthday.
July 2011: We worked on Peachy's big girl room this month and also had her 2 year pictures taken.
August: This month Mr. Cherry finished our garden shed, Peachy made the switch to a big girl bed, we finished her big girl room, oh, and I had a baby.
September 2011: As we adjusted to having a newborn in the house again, Mr. Cherry and Peachy spent time together and enjoyed her new sandbox. I posted Cream's birth story here and here. And we had Cream's newborn pictures taken.
October 2011: In October we celebrated Cream's baptism with our families. I started teaching preschool at our house. And I had two sweet trick-or-treaters.
November 2011: We celebrated Thanksgiving and all things pumpkin flavored.
December 2011: Cream turned three months and we geared up and celebrated our Savior's birth.
Although it may have passed in the blink of an eye, the year 2011 was filled with blessings and memories!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Top Posts of 2011

Humor me for a bit, dear blog readers, while I pretend that I am a big time blog with thousands of readers. I have seen other sites posting their top posts from the previous year and thought that it would be fun to do the same. That and I really don't have anything new to post since I have been busy Chritmasing it up with my dear family.
So, here they are in ascending order, the top posts from Bowl of Cherrys in 2011:


There you have it. It has been a wonderful year for us at the Bowl of Cherrys house. We are looking forward to the Lord's blessings in 2012!!