A "Very Hungry" Birthday Party

So this was a post I meant to write about five months ago...

Sometimes life just gets in the way of things that I mean to do. But better late than never, right?

I always said I was not going to be the mom who went all crazy for kid's birthday parties. Haha, boy did that ever NOT work out for me.

It all started with cake class. Last spring I took Wilton cake decorating classes through JoAnn Fabrics. They were a lot of fun and I learned a little something. At least enough to do a little icing and flower making and fondant covering and sculpting. I decided I was going to make a fun cake for Natalie's birthday party.

Well, between being back and forth from the cities I decided a really fancy cake just wasn't going to work out for this year. Also, I had seen some cute ideas on Pinterest for a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" themed party.

And I went with it.

Cupcakes were way easier than making a cake, although the caterpillar's head was a small fondant-covered cake. He also had little fondant feet and fondant leaves. I found someone on Etsy to make Natalie's invitations.

We had lots of yummy food, and one thing I saw was to do the fruits that the caterpillar eats during the days of the week. Simple and easy. And delicious, especially with a cream cheese fruit dip.

Once upon a time the Eric Carle store sold Very Hungry Caterpillar plates, cups, napkins, and other party decorations. No more. I went to a local party store and found basic things with coordinating colors, and it worked out just fine.

Best part of the day? Natalie's face when she realized she got a cupcake. She loved it!

Why I Love...

...my Roku.

My mom got me a Roku for Christmas. It is stinking awesome. A Roku is a streaming device you hook up to your TV to watch things you stream online. It works with Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, for example. And, since I have an Amazon Prime subscription (which I love) I have access to over 30,000 movies and TV shows for free. Natalie and I watch our Roku shows quite a bit during the day. For me, it's Grey's Anatomy. She prefers The Backyardigans.

one month

I can't believe we have been homeowner's for a month already! I still feel like there are lots of things I want to get done, but we will get there when we get there, I suppose. The main thing is that the majority of the house is organized and liveable. Darren and I just finished unpacking a few boxes this morning that we were waiting on until after we got carpet in the family room downstairs.

It's crazy to think that with all the changes of the last month, the next month will be even more busy with the new baby! Darren said yesterday that he would go stir-crazy staying home all day like I am right now, but I told him that between the house and Natalie I am so busy I don't even know what to do. Although a lot of the time it isn't so much that I am so busy as it is that I am so tired I just want to sit on the couch. So there is plenty of that happening, too. I just hope we will survive the next few months with Natalie and the new baby!

puffy and tingly

Fingers, that is.

Two fingers on my right hand have been asleep for a week.

A week. Talk about annoying. According to my OB, this is completely normal and will go away as soon as the baby is born. The problem is the baby is pressing on nerves causing restricted blood flow to my hands. Sounds like a problem if you ask me, but she didn't seem concerned.

I haven't worn my rings in weeks, and now I have annoying half-asleep tingling in two fingers constantly. Ready to have this baby, for sure!

getting settled

We bought a house.

It has been a crazy couple of months, from making an offer (on the second day the house was listed!) to dealing with getting a mortgage to finally closing on December 12, 2012.

It still seems weird to me that we are homeowners. It probably will for some time, I suppose. Weird, and scary, too. If something goes wrong, we have to deal with it. Much different from renting!

We are still working on unpacking a few things. Carpet in the basement will (hopefully) be installed late this week or early next week. After Natalie took a digger off the couch onto the concrete floor we decided we shouldn't wait too long to get it put in. Then the next week I heard an ad for a $39 installation special so we decided to bite the bullet on that.

The baby's room is almost ready. We still need a mattress and sheet set, but otherwise we are pretty much ready for baby. Physically. I'm not sure if I'm mentally prepared. This pregnancy has been a lot harder than my pregnancy with Natalie, though, so I'm ready to not be pregnant. Just not ready to handle a newborn.

Life is settling into a routine. Natalie and I have fairly predictable days at home, interrupted by my weekly trips to the doctor and weekend trips to Brainerd. Otherwise we pretty much spend our time playing inside or out, if it's nice enough, and watching Mickey Mouse, Elmo, or the Backyardigans. Last night I had a dream about the Backyardigans...too much time at home with a young child, I think.

Target this week

I haven't had a good Target shopping trip in a long time. Being back and forth from the cities so much, I haven't had a lot of time for cutting coupons and spending time looking for deals.

Stride iD gum, single packs $1.29
-buy one get one free coupon up to $1.79
Final price: $0.40 each (the coupon rang up at the full value of $1.79)

Archer Farms almonds, sale price $5.00
-$1.50/2 Target printable coupon
Final price: $4.25 each

Old El Paso taco seasoning, sale price $0.75
-$0.60/3 manufacturer's coupon
Final price: $0.55 each

Market Pantry pasta, sale price $1.00
Market Pantry pasta sauce, $1.39
-$1/2 when you buy both Target printable
Final price: $0.70 each

Crisco canola oil, $4.34
-$1/1 manufacturer's coupon
Final price: $3.34

Carnation evaporated milk, $1.09 each
-$0.50/2 manufacturer's coupon
Final price: $0.84 each

Apples, 3lb bag, sale price $3
No coupon needed
(I bought extra to freeze for apple crisp and apple pie)

International Delight coffee creamer, $3.49
-$0.55 manufacturer's coupon
-$0.75 Target printable coupon
Final price: $2.19

Dove body wash, sale price $5.04
-$1.00 Target coupon
-$2.00 manufacturer's coupon
Final price: $2.04

Crest toothpaste, sale price $2.50
-$1.00 manufacturer's coupon
Final price: $1.50

Pantene shampoo and conditioner, $5.54 each
-buy one get one free coupon up to $6.99
Final price: $2.05 each (the coupon rang up at the full value of $6.99)

Bertolli pasta sauce, $1.14
-$1.50/2 Target printable coupon
Final price: $0.39 each

Huggies size 1 diapers, 40 ct, sale price $9.39
Huggies wipes, 56 ct, $2.09
-$0.40 Huggies wipes manufactuer coupon
-$1.00 Huggies diapers coupon
-$2.00 Target coupon (when you buy both)
Final price: $8.08 for both

Tide, 64 load size, sale price $11.99
Charmin toilet paper, sale price $12.99
-$1.00 Tide manufacturer's coupon
-$1.00 Charmin manufacturer's coupon
-$5.00 gift card when you buy both
Final price: $8.99 each

Pampers diapers, $34 each, buy two
-$1 manufacturer's coupon
-$10 gift card when you buy two
Final price: $28.50 each
I bought a box of size ones (180 ct) which comes to $0.16 per diaper and a box of size fours (132 ct) which comes to $0.22 per diaper.

a geography lesson

I generally feel like I have a pretty good grasp of geography. Or not bad, at least.

Today at work I was doing foreign currency risk for a report, which involves looking at the investments of an entity in different countries. So I sat there mumbling to myself things like "Austria...Japan...Netherlands...South Africa..."

And then I came across it: The Sultanate of Oman.

What the heck country is that?

I had to google the answer.