Coming soon to www.darlybird.com

Loads of cute cupcake supplies, i.e. toppers, sprinkles, liners, etc. I know the cupcake scene is not so new, but I'm still diggin' them after a couple of years. So why not? They're pretty much 2 cute 2 be 4 gotten.

It's not too late to celebrate!

Leah's sixth birthday party was on Saturday. The clown gig we "purchased" at the church Girl's Camp auction was a hit. Balloon animals galore.

Happiness, thy name is Phoebe

Darlybird'll be sporting some new products, like this cute tee

Love me tender, love me true, love me 'cuz I'm Phoeb-a-roo

Foot in focus, face not

Learning some of the basics of my old camera. I like this shot.

Little Phoebkinz

Ph learned to roll over on her 4 month birthday. Now starts the "oh great, she's stuck on her tummy" syndrome. But isn't she sweet anyway?

Haven't Said Much Lately

I think I forgot how to blog. I have been pretty decent about posting new photos since Miss Ph was born . . . but writing? Argh . . . I've lost the knack. But I figure I might as well add some of my more memorable moments from the last I-don't-know-how-long:

• Took baby Ph to the ER Wednesday night because she was uncontrollably screaming on and off on Wednesday. She never cries, let alone scream, so something was definitely off. At 2:00 am, with Jon out of town-----and luckily Tropical Velvet in town (thanks, Becca Claire!)-----I headed off to the ER. 5.5 hours later I was back at home without a diagnosis. Phoebe did have a set of chest x-rays, was catheterized, and given some Tylenol for a fever. I vowed never to eat sweets again as the diabetic man on the other side of the curtain had a literal heart attack while he was waiting to be seen. That resolve lasted for a few hours, until I got home and promptly ate a cookie leftover from the Neighborhood Watch meeting I hosted the night before. And then another. Stress eating, folks---it's a big problemo. And now I think that Phoebe just had an epic case of gas.
  
• I got a boogie off Esther's nose a few weeks ago. She wanted to see it, so I showed it to her. She promptly stole it off my finger and put it in her mouth before I could stop her. I asked her what it tasted like, and without skipping a beat, said "lunch." Yum.
  
• Had visits from lots of fun people: Jane and Bill, Ethel and Jefferson and Charlie, Leah E and kids, and Becca Claire and kids. Happiness to me that Phoebe (the namesake) and kids are arriving tomorrow night. Yippee!!!
• At baby Ph's last appt (at 3.5 months), she weighed in at 16 lbs. WHAT THE? Leah B wasn't 16 lbs until she was almost one! She's basically in the 101st percentile. I love her chubby thighs and wrist rolls. Why aren't my chubby thighs that cute? Dang.
• I followed American Idol pretty religiously. I was happy to see the Davids duke it out, and must admit that although Archuleta's music is not my style, I really like his creamy voice. It reminds me of George Michael for some reason, which spawned my reawakening with GM. You gotta have faith. Now I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance and have to make another admission: I Tivo-ed it and have since watched one of the performances (Katie and ?--- they did a hip-hop dance to a song by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown) at least 7 times. And even got goosebumps. Another double WHAT THE? I wish I could dance.
• Leah turned 6 on May 26th. We're going to try and pull off an "It's not too late to celebrate" birthday party on Saturday.
  
• I'm in the middle of revamping Darlybird a bit and hope to have a bit of a relaunch in the middle of July. Look for fun new sections and items.
• Ricardo and Pedro did marvelous work on our kitchen. I'm loving my house about 1000000% better than I did. If you live in my area and need some work, give me a call and I'll hook you up.
• Phoebe was born with her frenulum too attached, which made for the worst nursing experience on the planet. I know it usually hurts at first, but this was way worse than anything I could ever imagine. After two lactation consultant appts, she was "snipped" ala the KISS guy . . . her little frenulum was cut in order to help her tongue thrust better so she wouldn't be "biting" all the time . . . another memorable moment of holding down my 2 week-old while the Dr. takes a huge needle to her mouth and then a pair of scissors. Not that you wanted to know, but it'll be something interesting to her posterity.
• Jon planted a great garden and we're already enjoying the spoils. Zucchini, corn, strawberries, tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, blackberries, marionberries. So far we've had zucchini, tomatoes and the berries. Come on, cukes!
  
• Life is pretty darn good. I love my three girls, even though I pull my hair out on a near-daily basis. It's the agony and the ecstasy of being a mom. Damned and exalted on a daily basis.
  

Father's Day Breakfast

Jonnie got scrambled eggs with Parmesan cheese, hash browns, yogurt granola blackberry parfaits, and o.j. I'll say it was pretty spectac. Yum . . . The brownies he requested for dinner were pretty divine as well. Recipe to follow.

Granola Parfait

was parfait . . . for father's day. Get your copa cabana umbrellas and vinyl lace placemats at Darlybird.

peek-a-boo

Bright Eyed and . . .

Sweet Little Baby

Blurry but cute

Try photographing a fidgety baby without a flash. Since I know about nothing about cameras, and I hate pictures with the flash, this is as good as it gets. Ain't she sweet?

My new favorite room

Sorry for the grainy pics. Just trying out some different settings on the ole camera.

View from the couch

I love my new family/dining/kitchen area.

Jonny and Jeffro

Thanks for coming to the blessing, Jefferson and Ethel. Jon and Jefferson would marry each other if things were different. (I guess a few things would have to be different.)

A glimpse at our new kitchen

This project started 2 weeks before Ph was due. Let me just say, "Heaven, I'm in heaven." Jon and me preparing food for the blessing lunch. Hi Wendy (in foreground)

Mini delectable cakes for the blessing luncheon

I must admit that these were divine. I made 5 small-ish cakes with different fillings and icings. YUM!

Chocolate/white with vanilla buttercream and raspberry filling

Chocolate/chocolate with chocolate custard filling and chocolate buttercream icing.

Yellow cake with whipped cream/lemon curd filling and fresh strawberry cream cheese frosting.

Red velvet with cream cheese filling and frosting

Vanilla/chocolate with almond whipped cream filling and chocolate custard topping.

These cakes kind of stole the show from Phoebe and her blessing. Oh well. They were divine and I loved using my new 6" square and 6" round pans.

Chillin' like a villain

Too bad Ph spends far too much of her time in a car seat. I guess that's what you get for being the 3rd child.

Q: Why didn't I pull the dress down to cover up the stinkin' Kirkland kanga?

A: too many other things on my mind.

This is the dress my mom wore for her blessing, my sisters Sarah and Susannah wore for their blessings, and that I wore for mine. Leah Bluette and all of her girl cuzzies (ex. Eve because Leah had her own blessing dress before my mom thought to use hers---so she had her daughter blessed in hers) have worn for their special day. Jon's blessing was beautiful. I've thought about transcribing it here, but don't know if that would be considered a bit sacreligious. My family was unable to attend, so I'd love them to hear/see it.

mother and child and another child

prior to phoebe's blessing at church.

mother and child

blessing day

baby got belly!

last night's bath . . . her belly looks larger than normal. she had just tanked up in a nursing session. happy girl!!