Tips for 1st Birthday Cake Smashes from the Perpetually Pregnant Papist

There is one thing that will never, ever be said about my family in any way, shape or form:

There is no one on this earth who would dare claim that we do not take birthday cake seriously.

From Baby Bear...

To Thumbelina...

We are happy to present Glowworm cake smash! Now with MORE FOOT IN THE CAKE!!!!

Here my my tips for an entertaining cake smash:

1.  Do not go for the most elaborate cake recipe.  Know your audience.  If there are food allergies you need to work around of course this goes out the window, but in general it is a waste of time to go for the most elaborate and wonderful recipe for a cake that will ideally be on the back of your baby's head. 

2.  Make sure you do the cake smash where you will not be upset about the mess, and wear clothes that you don't mind getting covered in frosting.  Babies are washable.  High chairs are washable and tarps are disposable.  Your carpet or fabric covered dining room chairs?  Not so much.  Minimize your stress as much as possible.  The $3 tarp from the dollar store is more than worth the investment.

3.  Your baby is most likely to go crazy with the cake if he or she has already had cake before.  Engaging in a cake training regimen is the most likely way to ensure optimal cake smashing.   This will give your baby previous experience before this Momentous Event, and it will give you information that will be important to have in getting your baby's cake sufficiently smeared to kingdom come.  For example, chocolate cake photographs really well, but if your baby would have more spectacularly messy fun with a strawberry cake, it would be good to know that in advance.

4.  My experience at this point suggests that making a cake that looks like a toy (see car cake above... Baby Bear wound up hugging the cake into his lap) results in some really nice cake smash results.  Cars, teddy bears, kitty face, etc are a good option.

5.  Be careful about how much candy you put on the cake.  This was a major issue with The Glowworm's cake.    He kept picking at the candy and ignoring the cake.  Candy smash just is not the same as cake smash.  So, watch the candy and rely more on frosting for decoration.

6.  Be careful about cake size.  A lone cupcake is just not impressive for a cake smash, but if you go too big your baby may be scared of his or her cake, cf. Thumbelina.  This is an actual risk even though this is now the kid who steals spoonfuls of marshmallow fluff and sprinkles chocolate chips on it.  Appropriate scale is best for everyone involved, barring the child who is exceptionally committed to CAKE whom you honestly believe may try to scale a cake.  In which case, YOU ARE A WONDERFUL PARENT AND I SALUTE YOU.

7.  Watch the time of day when you're going to be giving your baby his or her birthday cake.  Cranky babies have been known to ignore cakes they would otherwise demolish with glee.

8.  Be careful about the size of the audience depending on what your baby's temperament is.  If your baby doesn't like crowds, your cake smash would be best done with a really small audience.  Some kids, however, thrive on an audience.  Cf. Baby Bear with cake hugged into his lap.

9.  Make sure there is another cake for parents, other brothers and sisters, etc.  If all goes well, the entire cake given to your baby will be a smushed mess coating your child and the tarp that you put on the floor, which is awesome to watch but less awesome for kids who also wanted cake.

10.  Have fun.  If that means that you outsource your cake making to grandma or the local grocery store?  Outsourcing is awesome, rock on!  If that means you construct an 18 inch tall layer cake supported entirely by pirouette cookies as internal support?  Go for it!  If you make a rainbow layer cake?  You win at life and the internet.  If your cake is a bunch of cupcakes put together?  Wonderful... the better to have your baby grabbing the whole thing by the fistful! 

91 weeks 4 days Belly Pic

It's the Glowworm's Birthday!

Or, the first day day of his life being 1 year old, at least.  This is what happens when you are a Leap Day baby.  And cake will not be happening until the weekend, but I will post pictures of the devastation.  We've been training for months now, I tell you.  MONTHS!

I would like to dedicate this post to The Epidural Man.  Thank you, Friendly Epidural Man, for giving me back my joy in childbirth.  Thank you a million times over and then some.  Thank you, cytotec for a surprisingly easy induction of labor (so much gentler than especially my last "natural" labor... unnatural for the win!)  Thank you to my wonderfully compassionate family physician for my Best Birth Ever.  Thank you to my sweet Soul Sisters, because I've never seen so many women who have had natural births who were so annoyed that it was taking SO LONG TO GET ME THAT EPIDURAL.  SHOULD HAVE BEEN PLACED WITHIN 3 MINUTES OF ADMISSION, RITE??? 

And thank you, God, that I was born in a time and place where access to the miracles and kindnesses of modern medicine is a given. 

Happy birthday, my sweet little guy.  Thank you so much for coming into our lives.  We are so grateful that you are here.  <3

Pilgrim and Papa

The kids and I just watched the coverage of Benedict XVI's resignation from the papacy.  Gosh, how hard this is.  You don't expect that a pope will be pope forever, but there is something so surprising and surreal when it is time to say goodbye.

I was born under the pontificate of John Paul II, but really came of age with the influence of Benedict XVI, under his reign.  His encyclical Deus Caritas Est was the centerpiece of my thesis for undergrad.  His words and his quiet presence, his strongminded gentleness have inspired me more than I can say.

And now he retires to a quiet life, the life he envisioned for himself before the Holy Spirit called him to a place where he did not ever see himself going.  I am so thankful for his papacy, and although I miss him horribly already I am thankful for his example of quiet, invisible yet unmistakable holiness that he will now live in seclusion.  Now he can live the life of holiness hidden from the world.  That so great a man can leave the chair of St. Peter for a monastic life instead reminds me of how every day there are hidden saints among us, living quiet holiness and working out their salvation in fear and trembling.

Benedict's greatness comes from his love for Christ, whether he lives as pope or as someone who prays without ceasing.  As simple as it sounds, love made him who he is regardless of what setting he is in.  In some ways, his retirement is a gift.  A painful one but one that can't help but remind me of his beautiful writing.  Man cannot life by bread alone, nor can he love by agape alone.  It is not enough to try to be of service to all people, to be for them, to pour yourself out.  Without eros, without the humility to be filled by the love of a God greater than anything that you can offer, true charity is not possible.

Benedict's life has been one given over to love.  Even as an unlikely pope who would have been more at home in prayerful reflection and solitude, he has lived and loved well.  He has sought God in all things and offered himself in love for others in all things.  Well done, good and faithful servant.  Go forward in joy to the place that has been prepared for you.  You are so very loved, and will be missed.

Taking store

This Lent, the first sacrifice that I am making is to work to eat out of our pantry and freezer as much as possible.  Here is my reasoning, goal, etc.

1. I waste food and I know it. I lose things in the recesses of my freezer because I lack the discipline to keep in mind what we already have before buying food because it's easier for me.
2. When I hit the wall, if I need to, I know that I do have the ability to walk down the street and get more groceries. Whether I take this or not, when I hit that wall I can pause and pray for those who can't walk down the street for groceries like I can.
3. It helps me really focus and meditate on the Scriptures and the Lord's Prayer.
4. I think we get more creative when we are working on a wing, a prayer, what our friends can help us with, and that is a way to see God in my life.

The way I do it is that I can prepare to a certain extent before Lent starts (see what I have in there, make sure there are no major gaps) and I will still buy fresh fruits, dairy and eggs and perishables because I'm not willing to compromise healthfulness. And I'm not letting the kids who have birthdays in Lent not have what the other kids have either. But I need to use the freezer as much as I can, and the pantry as much as I can for meals.

And I think this is one thing where you know if you're cheating or not, and even when you cheat you still see that you're cheating and that knowledge and reminder that this is reality for many people, that they have to stretch the pantry of freezer until Payday (or until the social security or unemployment check clears, or the food pantry opens again.) This is my way to stand in solidarity with and pray with people for whom that life is a reality, because it's a lot of people.

So, today being Ash Wednesday, I figured that it was time to see what I actually have on hand.  I started opening up pantry doors and pulling things out, counting them, entering what I have into my mealplanning app.

It took about 20 minutes in before I realized just how important this sacrifice is really going to be for me.  I looked through everything and realized that I have almost 20 pounds of pasta.  I have meal after meal after meal sitting right here and I didn't even know it.  Between disorganization and absentmindedness, I didn't see how many days bread I've already been given.  And I can hear the echoes from every single time that I've whined about how "we don't have anything here to eat."  Looking at it all now is humbling in a way that I really can't put easily into words.

It took a few hours this morning, but the pantry has been tackled and organized.  I will have to do the freezer tomorrow morning.  But as I put things away, can by can, jar by jar, cereal box after cereal box I could not help but wonder how many other gifts that aren't food that God has given to me that are lying forgotten in a corner next to some other mislaid virtues.  How many blessings do I have hidden in the cupboard all but forgotten because I haven't taken store of them? 

I think this will be a very humbling Lent.

Still alive!

Quick update before I try writing some Lenten things later today.  Our glowworm is almost a year old now, and such a wonderful little guy to have.  Thumbelina closes in on being two, Baby Bear is 4 1/2, Goldilocks cut off her curls and is starting to look more grown up than the 6 years old she will turn on Monday.  Yogi Bear makes his First Communion this year.  Papa Bear serves at Mass every week and is growing into an incredible older kid.

And Gil and I are peeking around the corner at our 11th wedding anniversary.  It's been a long time since I last posted and so many things have happened, mostly for good.  But today is Ash Wednesday, and I wanted to write about where I am trying to grow this Lent.  I will try to post later this afternoon about what Lent is going to be for me this year, but for now I can just type off this quick note and then it's back to the pantry. 

Quick Takes 9/2!

1.

I am really doing my best to not be dead. I promise!

2.

I am absolutely in love with the clearance section at Japanese Weekend for maternity clothes. Seriously. They are awesome and the clearance and sale prices aren't awful.

3.

I am also in love with the Old Navy maternity long skirts. The weight is nice, the length is nice, and it's really comfortable. Not to bring up the skirts vs pants debate, but these skirts are comfortable enough that I actually COULD wear them all day.

4.

Glow-worm (6.0) is now just about entering 2nd trimester! I looked at the calendar and realized that my "big" ultrasound is about 6 weeks away, and I'm about 6 months away from my "victory over due date" day, and uh... eek. Especially since I tend to go over a bit, which puts me in excellent position to have an Ides of March baby.

5.

This does mean that I am getting pretty close to being able to find out whether Glow-Worm is Pink or Blue! Most of the house wants a girl, because "Thumbelina is SOOO cute!" but Yogi wants a boy because "we NEVER get baby boys..."

6.

I am absolutely dorking out reading through the really solid report from the IOM (Institute of Medicine) report on vaccine safety. The report was commissioned to be able to streamline claims for people who have suffered vaccine related adverse events, but to streamline they needed to be able to determine which events were truly vaccine related and which weren't. Wonderful 600+ page long report.

7.

3 year old check up for Baby Bear and 15 month for Thumbelina, and I think we should be able to get our flu shots too.

Check out the other 7 quick takes over at Conversion Diary!

So, um, yeah...

See, there is a reason, a VERY VERY GOOD REASON as to why I've been MIA. Try as I might, I found myself completely unable to refute (or even to desire to refute) the logic so eloquently put forth in the essay I received regarding how we ought to have another baby.



So, amid a move, a heat wave, and er... bats flying around, we are happy to announce that 6.0 will be arriving in March! All I'm saying is that Gil? I'm holding you to your promises so eloquently articulated.