The Beauty of the Cake Smash

I have a problem.

I'm addicted to cake smash photos.

You can be too.  Just follow these easy steps:






Buy an adorable outfit.  Bonus points if said outfit is bigger than your child (see Kaitlyn's tutu above).






Make a cake.







Document your child destroying it.













Enjoy all the little details.

Keep track of all possible cake smash ideas via pinterest.

Be disappointed that you ran out of babies before you ran out of ideas...

Mommy Blog: Successfully Making It Through the First Year

Factors that have contributed to my not blogging include:

-excruciatingly slow internet
-a camera that is misbehaving and the inability to fund a new one (for some reason, Steve doesn't thing that "camera" needs to be one of our major budget categories...)
-the cosmically unfair fact that our version of photoshop is incompatible with my new laptop
-my laziness preoccupation with other things

But, I'm back.  You're welcome.

Countless things have happened in the last year, but one is particularly noteworthy: my baby turned one.  Lucky for me/Kaitlyn/all of my readers, my amazing sister-in-law was able to document Kaitlyn as a newly minted one year-old.

Note to readers: These pictures were not taken in Brevig Mission.  They were taken during a visit to the Lower 48 that Kaitlyn and I made in March.  If they had been taken in Brevig Mission, they would have consisted of Kaitlyn in a snowsuit, coat, boots, gloves, and beaver hat with only her little eyes poking out.





She walks now.  Both a blessing and a curse.





Kaitlyn got to enjoy a swing for the first time.




Something tells me she liked it.

Note to readers: My mom loves this picture.  It's on the fridge at my parents' house.




For those of you artsy types, I'm including this portrait.  Isn't it beautiful?




My favorite pictures were the ones of the Cake Smash.

I spent days on etsy looking for the perfect tutu.  Please try not to judge me.
I spent days on pinterest looking for the perfect cake.  Again, please try not to judge me.




It was all worth it.

Mommy Blog: Obligatory Halloween Post

Now that I have a child, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to do a blog post about Halloween.  I mean, what's the point of dressing up said child if you can't share it with the whole wide Internet?  By the way, if the Halloween post doesn't go up until a week after Halloween, does it still count? So many things I'm still trying to learn...





Kaitlyn's first Halloween was a smashing success.  As soon as we got to the school she was whisked away by school employees (Kaitlyn has quite a fan club).  The kindergarten teacher took this picture of her.






Do I get Mommy Bonus Points for dressing in a coordinating costume?





In case you were wondering exactly how cute we were...  we both had tails.

Note to readers: My mostly sincere apologies to anyone who is offended by the above tailage.





Despite our best efforts, Daddy was not willing to go along with the farm theme ("But Steve, you'll ruin Kaitlyn's first Halloween").





Kaitlyn also had a Halloween outfit to wear while we handed out candy to trick-or-treaters.





I had a second Halloween outfit too.  :)  Daddy was once again a party-pooper.  Kaitlyn, however, was a real trooper.  She came with me to answer the door almost every time.  She only tried eating candy out of the bowl seven times.






Is it embarrassing to admit that my daughter had more than one Halloween costume?





We were a bit indecisive this Halloween.





We briefly considered combining the two costumes.  I think it's best that we didn't.  Cows and tutus don't belong together.

Note to readers: No actual candy was consumed during the taking of the above photograph.  One fun size Butterfinger was only harmed temporarily by baby drool.





Happy Halloween.

*This post sponsored by grandmothers who can't help but buy festive things for their grandchildren...

Mommy Blog: Dangerous Pursuits and Other Cuteness

This is how I found Kaitlyn when I went to get her after a nap a few days ago.  It's only a matter of time before she's trying to crawl out of the crib...





This is Kaitlyn standing up on the swing.  Someday this will not end well.

On a more positive note, you can see her teeth!  Enjoy them because she doesn't show them off very often.





Kaitlyn holding her own bottle.  A triumphant parenting moment.





Kaitlyn's BFF helping her with a little meal.





The face I get to see while I'm cooking dinner.  Lucky me.

Mommy Blog: Progress We're Not Exactly Excited About

Kaityn's been learning how to do new things.  We're not exactly excited about them.



That's right ladies and gentlemen...





Kaitlyn can now pull herself up on things.





And while she looks adorable, it means our lives will never be the same.





Here's another one of her favorite tricks.

What?  You can't tell what's going on in this picture?

Note to readers: for maximum enjoyment of this and the next picture, please notice that Kaitlyn is only wearing one sock.  That happens a lot around here...





How about now?  A baby on top of the stereo receiver and DVD player.  What could possibly go wrong with that?





The final piece of bad news is that Kaitlyn's hair is now long enough to "be fixed."  500 small black rubber bands came in the mail yesterday, so now there is no excuse to not fix Kaitlyn's hair.

This may not seem like such a travesty, but it is.  Readers who knew me growing up will understand why this is so scary to me.

Note to readers regarding the above photo: This was the best I could do.  I am aware that her hands are cut off.  And she's not looking.  And there's a funky shadow.  Please do not let it get in the way of enjoying this blog post.  Thank you.

Additional note to readers: I am formally sorry for any baby blog pictures that I have judged in the past.  Taking pictures of babies is hard.  My respect goes out to anyone who even tries.






(I am the one on the left.)  Not too bad, huh?  That's because my mom did my hair.





(I am, again, on the left.)  My mom was still doing my hair at this point, but it was starting to get out of control (Hey Mom!  Thanks for the poofy bangs!)  (Hey 1980s!  Thanks for the crimping fad!)





(I'm on the far right.)  But this.  This I have to take full responsibility for.  Not only did I dress myself, but I did my own hair.





(I'm the one standing on the far right.)  I was way old enough to do my own hair at this point...





(I'm standing in the back left corner.)  And the results were not pretty.  Could my bangs be any thicker?






My sister Mandy's hair always looked nice.  And she's fixed her own hair since about second grade.  Sigh.  (Hey Universe!  Why are you so unfair?)  Anytime in my life my hair has looked nice (Prom, my wedding, occasional church meetings when I begged her to help me out), it's because Mandy did it.  Unfortunately, Mandy is far away from Alaska, or I would outsource the duty of fixing Kaitlyn's hair in a heartbeat. 

So, Kaitlyn, I apologize for the years you are about to endure.  It won't be easy.  And you'll probably look back and cringe.  There will be times you will wonder, "Why me?"  Just remember, the alternative is Daddy fixing your hair...

Mommy Blog: Adventures in Baby Feeding- Part Two

Today was the day we started Kaitlyn on food other than cereal.  After obsessively reading all information I could find about what food to try first, I settled on avocados.





This is what Kaitlyn thought of my choice.





Even after some of the familiar rice cereal, she was still dazed...

Mommy Blog: Kaitlyn Lately

Taking the advice of my esteemed readers, I'm going to embrace the concept of the mommy blog. I'm not ready to give up all of VFN to mommy land, but I am willing to create a new category: Mommy Blog.





This is Kaitlyn's pose of choice. She seriously does it all the time, complete with her arm stuck out.





Bathtime is fun time. Now that Mommy has mastered the art of the getting the temperature right, Kaitlyn really enjoys her baths.





The drying off part is not so much fun...





Kaitlyn loves to stick out her tongue. Daddy insists it is a sign of intelligence.





We've officially entered the teething stage. Two coming in on the bottom, and two ready to pop out on top. That means a lot of drool, a little bit of fussiness, and a daily struggle to apply Anbesol.