Customer Service

The good, the bad and the ugly of customer service (well, actually I don't have anything ugly to report - just the good and the bad).
In a previous post I mentioned looking for a sweater dress from g*ap kids and how after finding it was sold out online and calling 4 different stores in a 3 state area I was able to locate the dress in the correct size and get an amazing price deal and have it shipped right to my door. Bliss - my family holiday photo dreams on the road to coming true.
Today, the dress arrived (I ordered it on Saturday so not too shabby of a time line, I was happy with that), SO excited I opened the box. There it was so pretty and bright and everything I had hoped it would be.............but wait - OH NO! It's the WRONG SIZE!!!! After confirming with the woman on the phone 3 times that they were in possession of and were mailing me a 12-18month dress I was sent a 18-24 month dress - and it is BIG! sigh.
I debated whether to even call the store. No one seems to have many of these dresses left and any store that does is completely out of the size I needed so really, were they going to have it? I thought I would call just on the off chance they might...
Horray! They DO have the correct size in stock (so they tell me, fingers crossed!) and felt badly that the wrong size was sent to me. So try #2 is in the mail and again I am happy with my customer service experience with the Lincoln, NE ga*p kids store.
Thank you gap lady!
SO that was the GOOD of customer service...

On to the Bad.
Ok, really this isn't that bad but I think some moms out there can relate and if you can relate do you think we can get the following changed.
Thanks to childhood obesity and the American health craze, fast food restaurants and other food establishments are now offering healthier options for our children. I am glad for this.
My complaint is why do they have milk now but only 2%? My toddler cannot drink low fat milk, its not healthy for her.
So if we are on a road trip we have to bring a cooler with milk in it or pay for overpriced pint of whole milk at a gas station. If we are close to home it is ok for her to go a meal without milk but it makes her happier and a better eater if she has milk with her meal.
How hard would it be for these places to offer whole milk, low fat milk and chocolate milk? Or if that is too much how about they offer whole white milk and low fat chocolate milk?
Are there other mom's who think about this issue? Am I making a big deal out of nothing?

Victory!

I am so excited to announce that I woke up this morning to a perfectly clean shirt with NO GOLDFISH STAINS! :)
I kind of put the whole stain removing venture on hold for a few days after a few failed tries.
Thank you for all your helpful suggestions. I did not try all of them but only because I didn't want to buy a laundry room full of supplies.
I did buy Oxyc*lean Max Force stain remover - it only faded the stain.
So I got a bleach pen and worked very very carefully - and YES! IT WORKED!
Now Baby K's Big Sister shirt is restored to new condition! It's a great day!

Road Trip!

About 21 hours from right now (2pm on Sunday is when I am typing this) and I off for a day trip. A friend and I are waking up well before we would like to, driving in the cold weather, meeting up with other friends and we are going to enjoy the facinating, fun, funky company of

The Pioneer Woman

She is having a book signing in KC, actually she is having 2 signings in KC be we have the priveledge of going to the smaller of the 2 signings. I am really hoping this means our odds of one of us winning something fantastic (there will be giveaways!) should be pretty good.

If you haven't read Ree's blog, aka The Pioneer Woman, or eaten one of her delicious reciepes then you need to hop on the bus and check it out! She has a fun sense of humor, her writing will crack you up. She is carefree and confident and silly and honest and creative. I am looking forward to meeting her in person and seeing what she is like in real life.

Also I'm looking forward to a great day just hanging out with sweet friends and although I will miss my family and my little princess I will not miss cutting up food for others or changing diapers.

Thank you to my husband for helping make this road trip possible and thank you to my friend Jena for helping out too.

Here's to a day of being footloose and fancy free!

Searching and Finding! :)

I posted this earlier...I am amending it because the dress has been found and purchased at a discounted price and I am a happy shopper and would like to give thanks to the Manhattan, KS gap gal who was so kind on the phone and the Lincoln, NE gap gal who made my holiday family photo dreams come true! :) And a special thanks to Marie for the discount coupon that could even be used in addition to items already marked down, I saved a lot of dollars today!

I'm searching for this dress...
"Baby G*ap bright hoddie sweater dress"

There are out of stock online. They do not have it at the local BG store.
If you are out shopping the Ga*p friends and family 30% off sale this weekend and you see this dress. I need a size 12-18months. I would like Baby K to wear it for our holiday picture.

Sadness. I lost out because I was waiting to save some money. I may have saved more than I bargained for if I can't find the dress now.

The Life of a Sweet Princess...

Here are just some cute pictures of Baby K just being Baby K. :)

Here she is being my silly helper - we were cleaning out the lazy susan and reorganizing. She thought it was great stuff to have permission to take everything out!


Baby K is SO ready to be a big sister or at the very least to have a baby to love on! Here she is playing with a neighbor friend.


Today we enjoyed the nice weather with some friends at the zoo. I'm so glad Baby K loves her friends, loves outside and loves animals. We had a great time! (And to all of you who will see these pictures and wonder, "Why did you let her touch those dirty things?" I say to you, a little dirt never hurt anyone and we did wash our hands more than once.)

A Poll, Please Vote... :)

I have been giving some thought as to what would be a good Christmas gift for Baby K and I would like your opinion.
Baby K really likes to sit on chairs, she especially likes to sit in the rocking recliner downstairs and works her hardest to make it rock. I thought we should get her a nice little upholstered chair just for her. The foam chairs covered in cartoon characters are $20 plus dollars. The PB kid chairs are close to $100 and then I found the most awesome thing I could have found.....
Toddle Rock (click here to check out their site!)
They are located in Alabama and make the cutest upholstered rockers for toddlers. This chair should be good for her at least up to four years old! The best part is that cost plus shipping will cost us less than $80.
A store here in town had a little rocking upholstered chair (ugly and overpriced) and we did have her sit in it. She loved it, so I think she will enjoy sitting in one of these Toddle Rock chairs and reading her books (she loves books) and hopefully rocking her new baby doll too (her other gift she is getting).

On to the survey:
Baby K's nursery is light blue & khaki but soft pink does look nice in her room, and we may move the chair around the house so she can watch a movie or whatever so it won't always be in her room.
Please leave a comment letting us know what chair color you think is best. I'm having a hard time becuase I just think they are all SO CUTE!
(*please note the chairs below are in no certain order, it is just the order the pictures uploaded to my blog)
Thanks for your input.

#1: Soft Pink
#2: Tan Suede

#3: Oatmeal

#4: Pink/Brown Polkadots

#5: Pink Soft Chenille

#6: Pink Chenille (notice it is a little more textured than the "soft" chenille chair above)

Ideas for a baby room

Thinking more about a car/route 66 themed baby room for our little guy. My husband has an old GTO that he restored and after some inspiration from a couple of blogs I spotted here are some thoughts I'm playing around with for Baby E. I really like this bedding. I like the idea of painting the walls a light gray color (probably lighter than what is in this photo). My husband likes the idea of the "racing stripe" on the wall.
If we don't do a racing stripe on the crib wall maybe we will do something like this (imagine the black couch is actually the crib)


Here are some prints I found online that we could purchase and frame. We will probably keep the car theme pics to a minimum so it's not too much. Maybe we will hang a traditional Route 66 tin sign too, and possibly a red toy car somewhere for decoration.
Just a few ideas spinning around in my head.
I like this because I think it will grow with the little guy. It's not too baby themed. I'm not much for "cartoon" looking baby decorations.

Appreciation!

I am married to quite the guy, let me tell ya! We have been making a list of things we would like to get done around our house, things like wood flooring in the kitchen/dinning area and replacing the bathroom floors with ceramic tile. We have some ideas and products we like and we were in the process of prioritizing the "To Do" list according to what should be done before the new baby gets here.
On Friday morning I took a peek in the upstairs guest room that will soon be Baby E's room and remembered that the closet is full of office things and my husbands nice suits. I decided to send my husband an email explaining that the first thing on our list should probably be to finish the closet in the downstiars guest room (there are no shelves in there currently and no pole to hang clothes on) so that we can move the items from the upstairs closet down there and make room for baby. Very soon I got a text message from him saying this was a good idea and he had some ideas for the closet. Remember this was Friday morning.
Saturday morning he got up early, went to the store and bought supplies and worked away! He isn't done yet but he made some great progress on Sat and Sun and I imagine it won't be long before we have a very nice closet. I was surprised that he got to work on it so quickly, when I threw out the idea I was just thinking maybe before Christmas we should finish it, but this was a great surprise!
I just wanted to give my husband a BIG THANKS for being so on top of things, for being a hard worker and for using his time to make our home such a nice & organized place. I am grateful for him and very proud of his handyman skills!
You're the Best and I'm so glad you're mine. Love you!

Sad

Well, Baby K's very special "Big Sister" shirt has stains on it now! I could not be more mad about Goldfish Crackers!
I had her wear the shirt when we went to our sono for her little sibling. She only had it on for a couple of hours. There was a snack bag of goldfish crackers in her diaper bag, which I put in there on purpose for her to have if she was getting to wiggly during the sono.
I had NO IDEA she would be so messy with them, especially because there were not that many to eat anyway. I also had NO IDEA they would stain so badly. I have been scrubbing and scrubbing and I'm not getting very far.
The shirt was custom made and NOT cheap and took much convincing to get my husband to let me spend the money on this cute shirt. I am SO sad and SO mad!

I have hated goldfish crackers my whole life, really I have. I hate how they smell (and other crackers like them), I hate how they taste and now I hate how they STAIN!

I am hoping the stains come out. I want so badly for Baby K to wear the shirt in pictures with her new little brother when he arrives. I cannot stomach thinking about buying another shirt like it.

I am feeling guilty as I type this, knowing that children all over the world and even in our country are going to bed hungry tonight or who only have one or two shirts total in their posession and here I am going on and on about goldfish cracker stains on a special shirt that cost extra.
If you have any tips on what you think may work let me know.
The shirt is white cotton & has colored ribbon & embordery on it.

Sigh.

A New Find

Because I really needed to find ANOTHER food blog to love (LOL). :)
I found this blog via foodg*awker today. There are some yummy ideas and great pics I thought you might enjoy as well.
visit
http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/

if you want some yummy ideas.

On my mind...

In just 3 short days we get to have our sono and will hopefully find out the sex of our baby. I'm very excited to find out who this little person is inside of me & will be joining our family in just a few short months.
One of my favorite things about planning and preparing for baby is putting together the nursery. The calm quiet room I will snuggle with our child, the room my husband and I will go in so many times to check and make sure our little one is sleeping safely and soundly. The room that will later become a place of play and a place our child will call their own. I'm not so sure why the nursery is such an important part to me but it is and I love planning & preparing the room.
As I wait and dream about who this little one is I have done a little thinking and searching for what I think a wonderful nursery would be for a little boy or a little girl.
My husband is a fan of old cars, he has a 1974 GTO he restored and it is pretty cool. When I was searching for something totally off from nursery ideas I came across the blog of a photographer who had just finished a nursery for her son that was a Route 66 theme. There are some girly touches to the room because her daughter and son will be sharing the room. But I like the picture she hung and the classy ideas she had so I would like to use those for inspiration should we have a boy. Because the lady is a photographer her pictures are blocked and i could not post them myself but I can give you the link to her blog so you can see the pictures for yourself.
Boy Nursery Ideas

For a little girl I found this wonderful crib bedding set. I love it because I think it could grow with a little girl and not be too baby themed. I also like it because it is not pink. I love pink and love for Baby K to have pink things, however with little girls come LOTS of pink and it's nice to have some things that are not pink.
Mostly I just like the bedding. The curtains are not my favorite and I don't think I would want to paint every wall purple but you get the general idea.
Well, morning nap is almost over so I need to get off the computer and get something done. :)

One Week From Today...

One week from today is our sonogram and we will get to see our tiny baby and hopefully find out the sex of the baby. I am so excited to know who this little person is growing inside me.

On another note, I do think halloween dress up is fun but sometimes I think it's strange. I'm glad that one week from today hopefully I will not be helped at the grocery store or the bank by people dressed in costume. Maybe I'm a party pooper but I just find it kind of creepy to have a grown adult ring up my groceries while dressed from head to toe like a braveheart warrior or vampire.

So here's to November 6th! Should be a fun day!

Pet Peeve!

Ok people. I canNOT take it anymore. I have reached my limit and I just can't do it anymore. If one more small child dumps the dog's water bowl one more time I am going to lose my mind!
I can't stand it. EVERYDAY that dang thing gets dumped out and I have to clean up the carpet and change Baby K's clothes, at the very least her pants. On tuesdays I watch another little girl and that usually means I clean the dog water up at least twice on tuesdays.
The Fruits of the Spirit are being tested people - majorly tested - and by DOG WATER!
I can't tell you how many times I move the water bowl to the counter top, just in time. But then later I have to move it to the floor so the poor dog can have a drink and then I always get side tracked and leave it on the floor and every time the dang thing gets dumped. And it never gets dumped when there is 1/4 cup of water or less - no, always when it is full of 1 to 2 cups of water.
SIGH....

Today I am moving the bowls from the dinning room to our bedroom, near the dog kennel. Maybe this will work better.
If you think the solution is to just put the water outside, nope b/c then I spend 1/2 my day letting the dog in and out, in and out. And if I leave the dog outside she will start barking.

Honestly, I love my dog to pieces I've had her for years but this dog water dumping could lead me to finding her a new home and it's not even her fault. Ok, I'm exaggerating here but I am at my whits end and sick and tired of cleaning up the puddles of water!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Ok - vent over for now. :)

Some like it Hot...

Baby K likes spicy food. It cracks me up. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since I craved hot wings & other spicy food when I was pregnant with her. Last night for dinner we had omelets, Baby K would not eat her omelet bite for anything, and we knew she was hungry. Grrr....I did NOT want to make her something different to eat. She watched daddy put salsa on his omelet. She would not eat her own but kept grunting and reaching for daddy's plate. Daddy put some salsa on top of her omelet bites and yep....you guessed it...she shoveled it in my the fist fulls! The craziest part to me was that the salsa was Medium Salsa, not mild. She didn't even flinch and even asked for more.
She is a hoot!

A friend gave me a recipe this summer for some chicken burritos that have chipotle chilies in them - Baby K LOVES them!!!
Not long ago I made some mac n cheese for us to eat that had sweet corn & jalapenos mixed in. I was only giving Baby K noodles with no jalapenos, after a while she wanted to try some off our plates. She loved it, only occasionally panting, followed by a laugh. She thought the spice was funny? We would offer her a drink and after a small sip she would reach for more hot stuff to eat.

Baby K has also begun to notice that Mommy and Daddy like to dip their food in certain things: salsa, ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, etc. She will often beg to dip her food as well & even at times refuse to eat if we won't dip her food.
Last week, I put a little bit of BBQ Sauce on her plate and she surprisingly picked up little bite of catfish after little bite and dipped each bite in the small puddle of BBQ sauce just like mommy.

My husband and I get such a kick out of watching Baby K grow and learn and develop more and more of her personality. She is a funny kid and we love her to pieces!

Taco Soup & Fried Ice Cream

Here is a link to the recipe for Taco Soup that I used last night.
Taco Soup Recipe
It makes a ton, there were 3 couples eating it and there are about 3-4 servings leftover.

I made a couple of changes to the recipe that I think made it even better
print off recipe and then add
1 (extra) can of diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 (8oz) can of tomato sauce

Its not going to make it too soupy, I promise. Before I added those extras there wasn't much broth to speak of.

Easy Fried Ice Cream:
For an added treat, my spin on fried ice cream for dessert.
Heat some oil in a fry pan to just warmer than medium heat.
Cut flour tortillas into strips about 1"x4"
Place a few tortilla strips at a time into the hot oil and turn when they start to brown (this happens quickly)
When both sides are just brown use tongs to place the hot tortilla strips in a mixture of cinnamon & sugar and coat generously.
Place cinnamon strips on a plate or in a container to cool while to finish frying the remaining tortillas.
These will keep in an air tight container for a couple of days (if you can keep yourself from eating all of them in one sitting!)
I like to warm the strips in the oven for just a min or two and then place 3-4 strips in a bowl, top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle some chocolate syrup on top.
So Yummy!

Setting a date...

Today I have my check up with my OB. I will get to listen to this sweet baby's heartbeat, I love that part! But I am really excited today because we will set the date for the ultrasound and that means we will know when we get to find out if this little pumpkin is a boy or a girl (assuming the baby cooperates).
People keep asking us if we will find out the sex of the baby. My answer is, YES! I would go absolutely nuts if I didn't know and more than that I would drive my husband crazy. I can barely stand it when my friends don't find out. There is just too much anticipation for me. :)
I can't wait to find out who this little person is God has chosen for our family.
I'll keep you posted on when we find out. My guess is the first week of November. We shall see.

No No NOOOOO!!!!!! and YUCKY!

Ok, if you easily think things are gross, please stop reading this post.
Oh, I mean it.
I'm not easily grossed out and I will tell you after reading this article I wasn't sure I should have. Aren't you glad I'm passing it on to you? :)
This is an article I came across today while I was surfing the net for dinner ideas. I guess because of the article title is the reason it came up as a response to my search.
I would like to say one more thing before I reveal the article...
Questions: Will I do this? Do I want to?
Answer: No, No, Noooooo!!!!! and YUCKY!!!

Ok that said, here is an article that was published in a popular mainstream news magazine, the article is about people paying someone to cook, freeze dry & make vitamin capsules out of their placenta after the birth of their child. I guess it has some medicinal qualities.
Don't believe me? Read it for yourself.
Click Here to Read

Enjoy. Now I'm off to figure out what we are REALLY going to have for dinner, if I can even eat after that! :)

Amazing Recipe Finds...

I'm sitting here finishing the most divine cupcake I've eaten in a while! I just have to pass these recipes on to you.
The cake recipe can be adapted to make white, chocolate, fruit, and many other flavors of cake; the recipe tells you how. The cake is wonderful because it's not too dense and it's not too fluffy (falling apart & making a mess), you can use it to make wedding cakes or other layered cakes and not worry about caving.
Before I give you the recipe I tell you that you need to get a Wi*lton aluminum cake pan or if you have the money get a WilliamSo*noma Gold T*ouch pan both cook evenly and great and if you use them WITH Wi*lton bake even strips or WS's Magi-cake baking strips the cake will bake so flat and even on the top you won't have to trim or cut to level the cake.
I was asked to make a lemon cake for a bridal shower this weekend. I asked my friend Resa for a recipe since she made wedding cakes recently and she passed this amazing find on to me.
See step 22 for the lemon variation. Instructions also include how to adapt this recipe into other flavors of cake. I can't wait to try a champagne cake with berries! That sounds yum!
White Almond Sour Cream Cake
If you need to make a cake or cupcakes sometime soon - try this. You will most likely need to cut recipe in half it makes enough batter I could barely mix it in my kitchen aid, so half would be more reasonable unless you need a LOT of cake.

For the lemon cake I thought a nice Lemon filling between layers would be yummy. I found this gem of a recipe and it was easy & much cheaper than buying lemon curd at the store.
Lemon Filling

I'm frosting the cake with traditional cream cheese frosting as requested by the bride.
Let's hope I don't eat all the cupcakes before the shower tomorrow.

The sun is shinning and I'm enjoying the smell of lemon cake & cupcakes baking in my kitchen and the sound of quiet while my daughter is napping. Ahhhh.... what a day!

P.S. I just had to share that when I think of Resa I think of 3 things: What a kind person she is, her beautiful cakes, and the wild fact that she delivered her last baby in the front seat of car while her husband was STILL driving! She's amazing! Hope she doesn't mind me sharing that with you, I delete it if she asks me to. But seriously, she should win some kind of award for that craziness or make it on a discovery health program!

Just Because

she's cute. Just wanted to share this picture I took last week. This is a very common scene in our kitchen.

No Canned Pumpkin...

Evidentally I have been living in a hole. My grocery list for this week included canned pumpkin. I was shopping at a very large store, it is no where near being Thanksgiving yet and the shelf was completely empty. I was bummed.
At the register the lady asked me if I found everything I needed alright. Usually I say, "yep." But last night I said, "no, where is all the canned pumpkin?"
She told me there was some kind of pumpkin shortage going on, but didn't really know much about it. My husband then remembered he had seen a story on the news about it.
I found several articles about it, here is one
Pumpkin Shortage Article

Anyway, now I am on the hunt for canned pumpkin and when I find it I am going to buy several cans and hide them. LOL

I know it is easy enough to make pumpkin puree, but I tried last year and couldn't get a knife through the hard pumpkin. Those little pumpkins are tough little guys! I don't want to mess with it if I can just buy a can.

Pumpkin Patch

We spent a cold morning at the pumpkin patch. Baby K had a lot of fun with her friends looking at pumpkins and petting zoo animals. We also had lunch at the consession stand they had at the patch. Yummy fri*to pie and a hotdog. Not healthy but Oh So Yummy. :)

Eating with a Spoon...

Baby K wanted to try and eat with a spoon yesterday. She also learned to walk yesterday but of course she would not let me capture that on video. So here is a video of her practicing to eat with a spoon. The video is a link, blogg*er was taking too long to load it. :) Enjoy!

Eating w/ Spoon Video

What's New...

Baby K and Mommy just got home from spending 4 days with family. We went to visit so we could celebrate my Great Aunt's 90th birthday! There were lots of people there and lots of food and some really yummy cake. :)
We were also able to visit Aunt Janie twice at the nursing home and not have to share her company with the large crowds so that was nice. Baby K enjoyed time with her Great Great Aunt and was very sweet; sitting on her lap, sitting with her on the bed, giving her a hug around the neck and even blowing kisses. I'm so thankful for a little girl who loves others well (praying it stays this way!).
On the drive home my grandma asked me if we remembered to get Baby K's highchair (her Chicco travel seat that clamps to the table) - NOPE! Totally left it at my Aunt & Unlce's house firmly clamped to their table. Shoot. Well, I was not about to add another hour or two to our already 5 hour drive so my family is mailing the "highchair" to us and in the mean time I had to find a way for her to eat.
I bought a booster seat several years ago at a garage sale to use when friends have their kids over. It's for big kids but my husband helped me turn it into a make shift highchair and it is working well.

Daddy Date Day

Baby K and her daddy had a Daddy Date Day last Saturday, while mommy enjoyed a much needed day by myself. Baby K's grandpa has some old tractors and was part of an antique tractor show. Daddy and Baby K had a fun day. Here are some pictures of their day. Daddy took all the pictures so he's not in any of them. opps. :)

Our Sweet Daughter

In my excitement of making this card I wrote "Womack's" rather than "Womacks" - oh well spelling/grammar have never been my strong points.
Enjoy the news and ignore the typos!
Love
the Womacks

We emailed this card to share with family and friends. Before sharing with anyone we wanted to tell our close family first. I sent a copy of this to be printed at the drugstore in the town where my grandma lives (since she doesn't use email) and she went to pick up a new picture of Baby K. When she got there they said they never received an order from me - WHAT?! They have it now but she won't have time to pick it up until 7:30pm TONIGHT! So she still doesn't know.
My husbands parents didn't get the news until late either because their internet was down.
Kind of a blow to our excitement that the people we were most excited to tell couldn't even get to see the announcement when we intended for them to. Good thing the news is still exciting. :)

Thanks for all of the well wishes we have already received. Our children will be 19months apart and I'm sure we are in for a real adventure!

12 month Update

Baby K had her 12mo doctors appointment on September 11th. Here's what we learned.
Weight: 20.5 lbs - 41%
Height: 29.25 inches - 53%

At birth her stats were:
Weight: 6 lbs 3oz - 7%
Height: 19.5 inches - 38%

Lookin' good kid! :)

At this time Baby K has the following skills:
Eating - she can almost out eat me! She LOVES bananas and I am so tired of the smell of bananas, but she loves them.
Cruising - she uses her push toy to walk everywhere, kind of like an elderly lady with a walker only much faster! hee hee - she walks around furniture, holding our hands, etc. We are confident she has what it takes to walk, she is steady on her feet and has great balance but she just isn't that into it right now. Fine by me, she can stay a baby a little longer.
Words & signs -
She signs "More" when she wants something (usually food or drink) and she does occasionally say "Ma" when she signs more...it kind of sounds like "more" w/o the r sound.
Mama & Dada she can say but rarely uses them to get our attention, unless she is desperately trying to refuse a nap & wants to be rescued from the crib.
Up - she says this a lot, and always sticks her bottom lip out at the end of the "p" sound.
Body Parts - When asked she can point to her eyes, ears, mouth and nose.
No Thank You - She shakes her head no, so cute! Usually she does this when we are telling her no, b/c of danger or b/c she wants to play in the dog water (yuck!), not really prime times to giggle at her cute no head shake. So I taught her to shake her head "no" when I ask her to say "No thank you". See learning manners already!
Animal sounds (you can ask her what the following animals say and she will tell you) -
Cow - Moo
Duck - Ack Ack Ack Ack she LOVES to walk around the neighborhood lake watching the ducks, waving to them and Quacking loudly. It makes her mad that she is not allowed to pet them.
Elephant - this is her favorite sound to make! Basically, she spits. :) She presses her lips together & then blows air, it is so cute!
Snake - sssssssss
Gorilla - she says "Ahhhhhh" while lightly beating her chest with her hands.
Dog - she doesn't do this one. Ironically, we have a dog that she loves, we have tried and tried to get her to make the sound but she just stares at us and smiles like we are so silly. Hmmm...well, we probably do look very silly.

Other Loves:
Being with people
Playing with other babies, toddlers, big kids. If you are under 4 ft tall - you're her favorite! LOL
Books - especially opening & closing them, over and over and over again.
Wagon rides - best birthday gift ever. It has a seat belt and she loves to cruise the neighborhood and loves it even more when a neighbor kid will ride in the wagon with her or Baby A. She is certainly a people person!
Kisses - if you ask for a kiss you may not get one, but if you say, "Baby K, I love you!" she will always give a kiss. I guess it's her way of saying, "I love you too." I'm guessing she learned this because mommy & daddy are always saying, I love you, and then kissing her.
Justice - our dog. She lights up when she sees her. She is gentle to pet her and loves feeding her cheerios and dog treats and the occasional table treat if we don't catch it first. She loves to crawl in the dog kennel (I've been washing the blankets in there often b/c I keep finding her tucked in there with the dog or w/o the dog. If our child smells like a dog kennel please let us know. LOL)
In & O*ut - not the burger place, the action. She loves toys that require you to put things in & take things out. She could do this for hours. She loves empty boxes and baskets, she loves helping move laundry from the washer to the dryer - she loves to put things in and take things out, over and over and over again. She does this with the dog kennel too - crawl in, crawl out, crawl in, crawl out.

She has many other loves but this list is long and probably less entertaining to you than it is to her parents. :)

We are grateful to God for a healthy, beautiful, inquisitive, sweet little girl. Thank you for this special blessing. We love her SO much!

It happened today...

Since I was pregnant with Baby K I have been praying that God would shape her into a kind and compassionate person. I pray often that she will also have a gentle spirit and a giving heart.
We met our baby girl a year ago and she has been nothing other than a people person. She loves people, especially children and babies. She loves to hug and when other babies or children are around she will bring them a toy and put it in their face, as if to say, "Do you want to play with this?" I love it!
Today was the first time I ever saw Baby K refuse to share a toy. What?! I couldn't believe my eyes. I knew this day would come but didn't know it would come today.
Baby A is here today, because she always comes to play with us on Tuesdays. Both of the girls were playing on the floor nicely together when Baby A went to play with our new cookie jar shape toy.
Baby K let out a yell as if to say, "HEY!!!! NO!! THATS MINE!" and quickly crawled over to her friend and swiped the shape toy right out of her hand. Then she crawled over and started playing with the toy herself. Anytime Baby A gets anywhere near her toys Baby K yells and steals. We've had a lot of crying and yelling this morning. (all from the babies, of course. Mommy is calm and collected. )
Where is my sweet, sharing, toy sacrificing daughter?
We are working hard to be kind to our friend today. For now there has been no hitting and I'm hoping after nap time that sharing will be appealing again.
Just another sign that Baby K is growing up, forming opinions and that babies are born with a sinful nature.
More parenting, discipling and disciplining are on the horizon.

What is a swing set?

We have been doing a little thinking about swing sets. I don't think we will have one anytime real soon, but we don't have a big tree or a deck to hang a swing from so for now we have to walk down to the park and wait our turn for the baby swing. My wonderful engineer husband would like to design and build the playset our children will play on and in the end I think this will save us some money and we will have the special memory that Daddy made it, not just put it together but actually made it (with the exception of the actual slide and swings that will be attached). I think that sounds like a lot of love and hopefully a lot of hours of family fun time and children using their imaginations and getting some exercise.
Today we decided to drop in a new playground equipment sales place. I will say their products are HIGH quality and better than the kit sets you find at the chain hardware stores. Adam was impressed with the quality as well so you don't have to just take my word for it.
The smallest set, that would actually also be the best fit for our family, is currently "on sale" for $1299, regular $1700. Adam thinks he can build an equivalent set for much less.
The price of their sets pretty much jumps from the simple one we are thinking of to $3000 for the next low end set. And when I say low end I mean LOW LOW LOW end.
Mind you these are advertised as "Residential Playsets"
So in the catalog we find this - the set that costs $48,099 but is currently on sale for $33,349 (I'm sure they didn't want to ask $33,350 because that number might scare people!LOL)It is 32 feet wide and 48 feet long and this particular set is, "the undisputed leader in unbelievable residential play structures."
Unbelievable is right! Check this out... It's kind of like the Noah's Ark of Swing sets; honestly, you could put several Large Animals in this thing!
Now if this seems a little steep for your taste or just flat out too big for your yard, then let's take a look at the step down. You can get this next bundle of fun for the sale price of $25,599 (again, good thing they didn't round that sale price up a dollar, talk about sticker shock!), this is a bargain from the regular price of $37,049.
And I forgot to point out that the install price for the above set is $4,760. The install price for the set I'm about to show you is $3,655. I'm telling you, these are REAL deals people!
Ok, so here's your step down set. It's only 20.5 feet wide and 36.5 feet long.Who needs 4 tube slides in their backyard?! This is nuts people!

Birthday Pictures!

Here are 26 pictures of some 200 plus pictures we have from the past 2 days of celebrating. I have not edited these pictures at all but I'm sure Baby K's cuteness will shine through nonetheless. :)

Saturday afternoon (the day before her actual birthday) we had a big party with friends and family. We had cupcakes and Baby K wore her party OUTFIT! A special thanks to Kendra at Sugarplum Orphans for making a very special hair bow that even had a "jewel" on it! Also a special thanks to Brandi who made the most PERFECT special birthday bracelet (that will get a lot of use b/c Baby K loves it!) and thanks to the Doll family for gifting Baby K with the bracelet; you really should take a look at it in the pictures, sterling sliver w/ a cupcake charm & a rhinestone dangle! TOO CUTE! I got the birthday shirt from the internet and made the skirt for the low price of $4.60! There are so many people to thank for making Baby K's day SO SO Special but for now I will finish the thank you's with a Thanks to Ginger for the great cupcake cake pan! Thanks for loving our little girl, we are blessed with wonderful friends!

So we had yummy cupcakes and opened gifts. The weather could not have been more perfect. After friends left we had dinner with family and spent several hours just playing with Baby K and her new toys. She was LOVING it! I have video of her eating her cake but I'm guessing it will be Wednesday or so before I will get it posted.

Sunday we went to my grandma's house (Baby K's Great Grandma) and had a fun afternoon and evening spending time with my family. We sang Happy Birthday again, since it is actually her birthday, and let her dig into her cake - the GIANT cupcake.

We are so grateful for the blessing of our sweet daughter. Thank you everyone for celebrating with us! Baby K says, "Thank you," and she loves you and would like to blow you a kiss! :)

Party Day

Today is Baby K's bday party. I am busy frosting cupcakes and getting food ready and if I'm lucky I'll get a shower before the big party. :) Pictures will be posted later this weekend.
I spent last night making the cake and cupcakes and used a family favorite chocolate cake recipe that my mom made for us often. She didn't really make it for birthdays but just for a special treat. I think it's kind of special that i'm using it for Baby K's birthday cake.

The other party today is the K-State Party. Wish I could be two places at once. Football season starts today, it's a home game & Bill is back! Oh how I wish I could drive up for the 2nd half, throw on my purple and yell "First Down!" and "Touch Down!" Another day.

Well, I'm off to do more party prep. :)

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! (it's really tomorrow but we will celebrate for days!)

Happy Mothers Car Seat

After reading and researching and asking moms and dads what they thought we finally decided on a convertible car seat. Originally, our thought was to get the Alph*a Ome*ga by safety 1s*t but our car has side impact air bags and we felt there wasn't enough on the seat to protect baby's head from the air bags should they go off.
Then we thought we would but the gra*co seat but learned it is only tested by US standards which is impacts up to 35mph. Everyone kept telling us to get a Br*itax. Listen people - those are expensive! We resisted. Then we learned that they are made in the US but they are made to the European standards tested to 55mph of impact. Humph.
After looking online we found a Bri*tax Roundabout for the same price as the other seats I mentioned previously. Nice! We ordered the seat online through Amaz*on from a company called Happy Mothers. The seat got here in a very timely manner and I opened it yesterday to find they sent the wrong color. Shoot.
Then we call the company, who says their hours are 10am to 6pm Eastern time (New Jersey). We call at what is 5:30 their time and get a recording that says they are closed, please call back during their regular hours. WHAT?! Hello, who decided to leave work 30 min early????? We have an issue!
Today my husband called in the morning. A very nice lady helped him and said they would send us a shipping label and send the shipping company to pick it up. We are to call Happy Mothers as soon as the seat is picked up and they will ship the correct color. When asked why no one answered the phone last night the lady said, "Really we close at 5pm but occasionally we are here until 6pm so that's why the recording says that."
In what world does that make sense? Sounds like they run on Island time or China time or something.
Results are still pending if this company is a place of their word. I will let you know if they make the black list or if they are reputable.

Oh becareful little eyes what you see...

Yesterday I was telling some friends that Baby K is so silly, she has started licking her plate after she finishes her meal. My friend says to me, "Oh no, how much time has she been spending around [my husband]?" I just laugh. Her husband has fed Baby K so many random things, chicken between her toes, lemon wedges, jalapenos, etc. She LOVES Mr. J and Mr. J loves her.
My friend goes on to say that her husband likes to teach kids two things, to lick their plate and to eat spray whip from the can. We laugh.
Just over 24 hours later while I was preparing a snack for my sweet baby and she was "cleaning the fridge" (she loves to empty the bottom shelf when the door is open), I set the snack on the table and came back to the fridge to find she had put the spray whip can in her mouth!
Just so you know, I don't think Mr. J taught her this. I think it just looked like a bottle to her. And also for your information she did not get any out of the can, it has been washed and placed on a higher shelf. And finally no, we will not be serving the spray whip to any guests.

Baby K Draws a Picture

Last night while I was writing some cards Baby K picked up a pen and started writing on a piece of paper. Smart girl! I remembered she has some cray*ons given to her from an art teacher. We gave Baby K a blank piece of paper and to start with just one cra*yon. She did pretty good and it was awhile before she started trying to eat her crayo*ns and we had to stop the creative process. :)
I hope you will enjoy these fun pictures of Baby K's 1st drawing. It is of course posted proudly on our refrigerator.

Playing Catch Up

My husband took all last week off, so we have been having lots of family time and now I'm playing catch up. I should have used the opportunity to have extra hands around the house to clean and do laundry and start the week off with a clean slate, but instead we had lots of quality time together and did a few chores that have been at the bottom of the list for a long time (cleaning out the laundry room storage! Thanks Husband!).

The 1st two days of vacation we spent in Omaha. We went to the Omaha Zoo, ate lots of food and tried to take in as much of Nebraska Furniture Mart as Baby K would tollerate.

I still have lots to do but I know there are some waiting to see pictures so here are a couple for ya until I have time to put up a proper post. :)

Picture and a Sneak Peek...

Here is a fun picture from last week and a sneak peek of my first attempt at Baby K's birthday invite. There are some changes I want to make and I will be adding a very recent never before seen picture to take up most of the space on the left. You will notice I put fake information on the invite as well since I am posting it here for all the world to see.
anyway...on with the pictures. :)

Stuck

I'm stuck. I've been thinking about what would be the best way to buy music and play music for my sweet baby.
Here is my struggle, small CD player or MP3 player & doc?
I'm not technical at all. I have a cell phone that is a year old. My computer is 8yrs old or more. I do not have an Ipo*d or anything like it. I had a blu*etooth for my old phone but my new phone won't pair up to it, so I don't use it anymore. Until I got married 2 1/2 years ago I didn't even have a digital camera. LOL

I want to have more music playing in our house for Baby K to enjoy. We do have 3 children's CDs for her and I play them in my computer sometimes (but it's old & running the CD makes it tired like 2 songs in so the fan kicks in and is SO loud you can't enjoy the music or hear it in the next room)

Baby K's birthday is coming up in like 6weeks. What should we get her?
Mp3 player? docking station - can we find good kids music to download? Where do you get yours? is it crazy to get a baby an Ip*od?
CD player? I'm for this b/c it's cheap! Well, kind of it's cheap, you have to buy CD's and then you have more junk laying around the house...

What are your thoughts?
What music do your kids listen to?
Any suggestions on music to buy for our sweet Baby K who I know would love to boogie if she just had some good tunes! ;)

Thanks for your thoughts!
This frugal non tech wife/mommy needs help.

Mommy, can I wear your shoes?

For weeks now Baby K keeps finding my shoes around the house and tries to put them on her feet. The funny part is she has only wore shoes a few times to church - like less than 5 times. She's a smart gal & knows these flip flops are for feet but is angry she can't get them on HER feet!
Watch this funny video.

Yummy Summer Dinner

I cannot take credit for this picture. It is from the blog Chaos in the Kitchen and there is a link to the recipe later in this post.

I've been trying some new things for dinner this summer. What I've learned about myself is that mexican food almost always sounds good to me in the summer and I have a new found addiction to cooking with Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce! I knew I liked those peppers but I am cooking with them every chance I get these days. The sweet, the smokey, the spice - glorious! :)

Last night I made Quesadilla Pie. Check out the recipe and know that you can fill it with whatever you would like. I used some leftover chicken we had, tomatoes, green onion & red onion, black beans, cheese, tomatoes & chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (because I'm in love with them! I'd marry them but Adam snagged me 1st! lol)

You can find the recipe and step-by-step pictures at
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/quesadilla_pie/



For dessert we had Quesadilla S'Mores.
http://chaosinthekitchen.com/2008/10/do-you-want-smore/
I found these through Foodgawker and have been wanting to try them. The recipe didn't list exact portions of ingredients and I WAY WAY WAAAAY over did it on the filling! Better luck next time I guess. So ours were kind of gross - Chocolate & Marshmallow oosing out the sides, all over my fingers in a sticky MESS!
HOWEVER, if made correctly (filled in moderation) I really believe these easy yummy treats are a great summer dessert and would be even better if served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Happy Eating!

Silly Baby...

Our daughter is funny! Here are some pictures of her and all her cuteness in the past few days.
Today Baby A is at our house and while she was playing in the exersaucer Baby K decided she wanted to play underneath it! Also today, Baby K pulled up all the way to her feet to stand under the table. She has done this once before but I missed it - today I caught it on film! And finally some pictures of her eating blueberries and yogurt but the best part is that she was sitting leaning back in her chair with her foot up all casual - then she started laughing when I started taking pics and laughing at her laid back approach to breakfast.

Yes, PLEASE!

I was looking up recipes for cookie bars tonight in hopes of finding something wonderful to get out of the rut of the recipes I've made dozens of times (hee hee pun intended!).
And I found this jewel.
At least I hope it's a jewel, the ingredients look more than promising! Check it out...
Sadly, there were no pictures.
Do I want to try these? Do I want these for my birthday (less than a month away now!)?
Yes, PLEASE! (although I'm thinkin' leave out the walnuts, what are they in there for?)

Coffee Bars
The rocky tops on these luscious bar cookies come from chocolate-covered coffee beans and crushed toffee bars.

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon Kahlúa or strong brewed coffee
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate-covered coffee beans, chopped
1 cup coarsely chopped English toffee-flavored candy bars

Beat 3/4 cup butter at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add brown sugar, beating well. Add egg yolk, beating well. Add flour, coffee granules, and salt, stirring just until blended. Using greased fingers, press dough into bottom of a lightly greased 13" x 9" x 2" pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Set aside.

Combine sweetened condensed milk and 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, and stir in Kahlúa. Pour mixture over prepared crust. Sprinkle with walnuts.

Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with chopped coffee beans and toffee bars while still warm. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover and chill until firm. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into bars.

Yield: 3 dozen

Our Big Girl!

Our Baby K is getting so BIG! Most of the time we feed her unless it's a finger food like bananas or cereal O's and lately she's been eating those things from the table. I had a place mat down for her to eat off of. I've been afraid to give her a plate because I envision it ending up on the floor - food and all! Last night I thought let's give it a shot because most of our food could be eaten with fingers. Catfish, baked beans and mac n cheese.
I almost cried! It was as if she has eaten from the table forever. She did a great job and never tried to pick up her plate! I will say she needs major supervision on her handfuls because she will try to put as much food in her mouth as possible so she needed some help with portion size but we'll get there. It was nice to eat without hearing her holler every time we take a bit because she wants to always be the one taking a bite.
Here's some pics of our Big Girl with her very own Big Girl plate! (excuse me while I go cry in my pillow a bit - she's growing up too fast!)

Cool Resource!

Check this out!
http://www.safetytat.com/

You know how kids LOVE the temporary tattoos?
Well these tats say, "If lost please call #"
or they have allergy alert tats, etc.

One of the little girls at church was wearing one. She is a quiet shy little girl and her mom said she puts them on the kids when they go to the zoo or a carnival or something like that in case they were to wonder off. This is great. I can't imagine this quiet little girl telling a stranger what her mommy's name is and she may or may not be old enough to remember a cell phone number.

Aside from safety they have several neat designs.

All parents should check these out. Most of all I pray that our children are NEVER lost and no one Ever needs to actually use these things.

GG's Birthday

My grandma, Baby K's Great Grandma, is GG. Saturday was GG's birthday so I dressed Baby K in her 4th of July outfit that GG had bought for her and we drove down to have lunch and homemade ice cream (so yummy!) and get some cuddle time in with our GG!
Here are some pictures I took of Baby K in GG's yard on a very hot and muggy day.
Also you will notice a bruise on Baby K's cheek - lear*ning to crawl is hard work and she did a faceplant the other day onto the bathroom scale and got her first offical "Owie". Poor baby! I just think it looks so sad, but she doesn't seem to mind it.


Has anyone noticed if you type certain words, ie "learning", that blogger allows some thing/one to make it a link to something totally unrelated to your post?! Grrr...anyway that's why I had to type lear*ning above. Anyone know how I can keep this from happening?

And...SHE'S OFF!

It's offical...July 1st, 2009 at approximately 2:00pm Baby K started crawling. She crawled across the kitchen floor, slapping her hand down one at a time like a stomping dinosaur! It was a hoot. I called daddy right away. She is getting faster every day.
One of these days I will take the time to learn how to post a video on here. Sorry I'm too lazy to try. :)
Here are some pictures from Sunday night July 5th. Baby K's last day of being 9 months old! By the time most of you read this she will be a whoppin' 10 months old - time flies when you're having fun.

See the post below this. I posted several pictures from our 4th of July weekend.

Our Sweet Spot...Baby K

Well, I have several pictures to post. Not tons, but several. Baby K just gets more and more fun every day, and even though she and I both had a cold this past week she was smiles most of the time and after a couple of sleepless nights we were back to normal for the most part.
The 4th was a great time with friends and of course I had fun dressing Baby K for the celebrations - including a mother/daughter matching pedicure!

Here are pics of her all dressed up - the sun was BRIGHT and she was ready for a nap. I will try and take pictures again when she is more up for it.

Some friends of ours have 2 boys and are expecting their 3rd child, A GIRL! The boys love Baby K and her friend Baby A and I know they are going to make amazing big brothers! Baby K LOVES these boys - thanks little guys for being so sweet to her!
And their mommy is great with Baby K too, she's holding her in the pic.

Does anyone have...

Does anyone have a Wilton 3D cupcake cake pan I can borrow or rent? They cost $30. YIKES! And I don't want to spend that much to only use it a few times. I looked on Eb*ay and although they have some for $17 by the time you pay outrageous shipping costs it is more than $30!
I looked at Am*azon and found the same problem as e*bay. Craig*slist did not have any listed for the area. I called the local cake supply store and they only rent discontinued pans.

If I do buy it does anyone want to "rent" it from me for $5.00? Perhaps I could give you a deal and make back some of the ridiculous cost of a cake pan I will have little use for after Baby K's 1st birthday party.

Thoughts?

Overheard...

My friend Tricia and I went to get shaved ice the other night. We happened to be there just before closing and it also happend that the daughter and grandkids of the owner came to visit their Grandpa.
The kids were very good kids, or so it seemed to me. The mom was very friendly as well.
After sitting at the picnic table enjoying our "snow cones" my friend and I found out the youngest grandson was a hoot! I'm tellin you he was funny and had some sweet things to say. He was like maybe 5 years old. He made up his own flavor of shaved ice too - Rootbeer & Sour Apple. No matter how cute he is, I will not be trying that anytime soon! LOL

I heard the mom talking to the grandpa and telling him a story about the youngest son and something he had said earlier in the week. I HAVE to share it. It keeps making me laugh.

They were at a fast food restaurant. The boy was insistent to his mother that he wanted to tell the cashier his order, all by himself! She told him that was fine and to go ahead and step up and tell the guy what he wanted. In a very Matter of Fact kind of voice, in all seriousness he ordered...
"I want a hamburger. No cheese on that. You can save that for the next guy."

And finally a side by side shot.
I had my hair color changed this week. I'm enjoying it. Here are some before and after shots.

Pictures of what we've been up to...

I thought you might enjoy some pictures of the last week.
There are a couple of slide shows
Father's Day we had a Fish Fry with my husband's family. It was a lot of fun, lots of food & Baby K had loads of fun with her cousins, Grandma & Grandpa, & uncles.
Swim Class with Daddy (last time you only saw pics of Baby K and Mommy at swim class), this was her last class and she was very tired! We had already been swimming earlier in the day and she had a 2.5 hour nap & dinner then we were at swim class - she was having fun but didn't show as many smiles as usual.
Finally some pics of Baby K peeking out the door while I watered plants & pictures of Baby K's new friend Baby C! We are so happy for the arrival of Baby C and had a great day celebrating her with several friends in Manhattan. Can't wait to spend time with them again.
Ok, now for the pictures because they are much more fun than reading my ramblings. :)

Money Saving Fabulous!

Coupon Savings made easy
Grocery List made easy
I'm trying this for a month and seeing how it works out but I THINK I may have just stumbled upon something truly fabulous!!

Shortcuts.com

found it thru Dillions.com links and at the site above you can register your grocery store costumer card number (many stores participate not just Kroger stores)
this site lets you choose coupons from their site, then you do not print them, they just are registered to your shoppers card! You don't have to remember to cut them, or bring them with you! You don't have to waste your printer ink!
You can even make your shopping list on their site including items they are not giving you a coupon for and if they have a coupon for something on your list they will let you know you missed it and ask if you want to add the coupon! Are you kidding me?! This is GREAT for a busy mom if I can just remember and find the time to type my list up on their site. Even if I forget as long as the coupons are on my card that is great for now.
Also their site tells you if you have a coupon about to expire so you can use it before you lose it.

WOW! I am amazed at technology! I only wish Wal-mart had a shoppers card so I could do this there as well!
Anyway, you have to check this out. I'll keep you posted on whether or not I like it.

Requested Sugar Cookie Recipe

I got the recipe from a blogger I found through foodgawker.com here is the link to the blog address for other fun ideas and below is also the recipes I used.

http://chiccookiekits.blogspot.com/2008/11/cookie-dough-and-frosting-recipes.html

Also a special note about the frosting - Wilton makes a product called "Icing Color" it comes in "White-White" it comes in a 2oz bottle, it is liquid and looks like white-out, not joke! The frosting will look cream or off white b/c of the vanilla extract - this product will turn your frosting WHITE WHITE, WHITE as clean snow in a blizzard! I LOVE IT! Here's a pic - you can buy it at Hob*by Lobby or Walm*art or other craft stores.


Also after chilling the dough I roll it out by using 2 dowel rods, one on each side of the dough, the rods are 1/4" thick and I just roll the dough until my rolling pin touches the rods and then I know my dough is exactly 1/4" thick.
There are special bands you can get that go on each end of your rolling pin that will serve the same purpose.

Sugar Cookies:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and blend well. Add extracts and blend. Mix flour and salt and gradually add. Chill dough for about 2 hours before rolling out and cutting. Bake cut out cookies on parchment lined baking trays at 375 for 12-14 minutes. (the cross cookies I only baked for 7 min using a silicone baking mat on my cookie sheet - got the mat at Wal-mart in the baking section)

Frosting:
Note: This frosting is similar to royal icing, but I add shortening and flavoring to make it taste delicious. Thus, it dries hard enough to handle and pack when left overnight, but not rock hard, like traditional royal icing. The consistency is NOT the runny kind used for flooding. It's stiffer. Take a spoonful, turn it over the bowl. The frosting should cling to the spoon and slowly fall into the bowl. That's the right consistency.

4 tblsp meringue powder (available at many supermarkets and in most craft stores)
1/2 cup water
6-7 cups confectioner's sugar (may need more or less, see the consistency advice above)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup Crisco

Whip the meringue powder and water on high speed for a looooong time, several minutes, until it's fluffy and peaks form. Gradually add the rest of the ingredients to desired consistency.
(**Note from me...I sometimes have to add water to get the right consistency, just depends on the day I guess)
Store at room temperature in a sealed container for up to a month.