Boy or Girl? Boy or Girl? Boy or Girl?

I have a disclaimer: this day did not go quite as planned, BUT...
It was such a fun day. I couldn't sleep, so I got up early (for a weekend) and started baking cupcakes (four dozen to be exact). Knight I helped me mix and pour the cupcakes into the baking cups. While the cupcakes were cooling we fed kids, vacuumed floors, bleached bathroom floors, cleaned counter tops...pretty much did stuff that had to wait until the last minute or else they would be worthless with 2 little ones running around! So around 11:00am the Queen Grandma came over to help finish up, BUT...she couldn't help, she had something to her back while picking out stuff from upstairs at the ranch house and was in extreme extreme pain. I asked her if she needed to go to the emergency room, but she refused. So around 12:30pm the King Daddy helped her out of the chair and into her vehicle. We called Grandpa and told him to watch for her because she could not get out of her car by herself. At 2:00pm Grandpa called and said that they were going to the emergency room and would not be at our gender reveal party. Needless to say I was very disappointed that they would miss all the fun, but we let the Queen Grandma go with us to the ultrasound and we swore her to secrecy, so she already knew what the sex was. So about this time I started taking fun pictures of my sweet kids. Below is Easton kissing London...my favorite!

London is trying to look mad....
Easton is doing a goofy face.

So here is the final table. I tried to keep is very simple. I made cupcakes, hollowed out the center and filled them with the appropriate colored frosting, then frosted the tops with just enough frosting to hide the color of frosting.


Here is the pink side. King Daddy ran and picked up the last few things (since the Queen Grandma couldn't bring her stuff). We had pink and white animal cookies and red licorice bites.


Here is the blue side. In the jar in the back was salt water taffy and blue cookies and creme kisses.
Again, the finished table for our small gathering.


Best picture of my kids and I. The other pictures are better of me, but not as cute of my kiddies. And about a half of a second earlier Easton had his hand on my belly too, but boys are embarrassed, I suppose. Also, you can kind of see my belly...you really can't tell until I'm like 7 months pregnant (because I'm so tall I think), but I guess it's better this way...I never look HUGE!
Here is team PINK!

Here is team BLUE!
Everyone had just opened their cupcakes...it's a.....

BOY!!!!!!!!!!! There is blue frosting inside those cupcakes!!

My Grandma said "Oh no, it's a boy". She was not so happy! It was actually the response we expected from her....So, in October a sweet baby boy will join our family making the count: 2 blue and 1 pink; and my parents grandchild count: 4 blue and still only 1 pink princess!!!

Bump Watch: 19 Weeks

How Far Along: 19 weeks!

Size of baby: Large heirloom tomatoe (8 1/2 ounces)

Total Weight Gained: 6 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: A mix of regular clothes with the bella band and maternity clothes. My good friend loaned me two bags of her maternity clothes which has really really helped get me through thus far!

Gender: Unknown

Movement: If I sit still the baby kicks pretty hard, and the King Daddy can now feel the kicks from the outside.

Sleep: I have been sleeping fine, with the exception of our 2 year old who is having some trouble transitioning into her big girl bed.

What I miss: I miss playing rough with my kids in the floor because now I can't lay down and play airplane with either one of them, but especially my 5 year old.

Cravings: I like salty anything (chips, salsa, etc.)!

Aversions: Nothing.

Symptoms: Other than having a belly sticking out, and feeling weak on occasion...feeling pretty good.

Best Moment this week: Our 5 year old son (KnightI) graduated from preschool this week, and that was a pretty big deal. I had to work, so the King Daddy took lots and lots of pictures for me! We put up Queen London's big girl bed and one afternoon we went looking for her and she had climbed up into her bed and gone to sleep all by herself....it was very sweet.

...the countdown has begun...

On Friday, we will find out the sex of our newest baby. We already have the names picked out and will announce them on Saturday to our families. I have planned to have cupcakes there that have been hollowed out and filled with appropriately colored filling, and then frosted in vanilla or chocolate frosting. About half way through our get together we plan to pass out the cupcakes and everyone gets to bite into them together. We also asked that everyone wear the color (pink or blue) that they think the baby will be and we have a little contest. Once everyone knows we will announce the name. So 2 days and counting until we know what we're having, and 3 days and counting until we tell everyone what we're having!

Harboring a little secret...

So, you know how I've been saying that I'm super busy, and I just can't find the motivation to craft, and how London wore a shirt that had to be decoded by the rest of our family? Well that's because we are having another baby!!! Surprise, another little King or Queen is on the way, and we just can't wait to meet the little avocado (you see, babycenter says that as of today, our little baby is the size of an avocado)!! We will find out in about 3 weeks what sex the baby is, and we can't wait. Eddie and I think we have come up with the perfect names, but we are going to keep the names a secret until we know what the baby is. THEN, we are going to surprise the Queen Grandma. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do a reveal that is special and fun? Please let me know! So without further ado....BABY KING 3

Kylie's Vintage/Modern Pink/Green/Black Wedding

This past weekend the Queen Grandma helped to decorate for a wedding that took place in Visalia. The colors were hot pink, lime green, and black and white. My Dad was the officiant, so here is the Queen Grandma and Grandpa lighting candles before hand.

Kylie and her Father walking long path to the aisle.
Below is a photo of Mike and Kylie hand in hand during the ceremony. You can see the piece that the Queen Grandma re purposed from Roxanne's wedding. It is an apparatus that is covered in fabrics that match the wedding, and frames are tied to hang within the art piece.
Thank goodness Kylie provided bubbles for their exit. We utilized those a little early! Easton wanted to know when it was going to be over....AND the wedding hadn't even started yet!!!
Here is a little bit better picture of the altar, the bride and groom, and the aisle. The Queen Grandma and the Mother of the Bride spent two hours on their hands and knees laying rose petals down the aisle in the shapes of scrolls. Well, needless to say, they just look like petals after approximately 7 bridesmaids and the bride!
Congratulations Mike & Kylie!!
After the ceremony, as the guests were leaving we let our kids run wild for a little bit! Easton blew bubbles and London chased them.
Since Grandpa officiated the wedding, we had to get a picture at the altar. Maybe someday Grandpa can marry them...someday, someday a lot time from now!
Queen Grandma re purposed the cupcake stand as well at this wedding. The Bride did something unbelievable....she made everyone of those cupcakes for the reception herself!!
Below is a photo of the cake table and cupcake stand. In addition to the cupcakes and cake, the venue served cheesecake...mmmm!! Easton loved his first piece of cheesecake, while London thought it was disgusting! Queen Grandma decorated this table using a glass jar full of bridal pieces, black and white fabric, mossy ferns, a vintage iron table, and wood chips.
A better picture of the actual cake table.
The Bride also cut out circles from her favorite book and cardstock to match the colors to spread throughout the reception.
My Son started to get bored waiting for the bridal party...so he built a fork sculpture!
And here is the sweet little Queen BEFORE the wild hit her. It was hard to sit still for that long. She was wild, not bad in any way, just busy, busy, busy!
...but London took the time to sit and attentively listen to the bridal parties toasts.
London asked to dance with the groom, so she paid for her dance!
Kylie also provided a photo booth. The Kings happily obliged to take a photo... Obviously, I wasn't quite ready for the picture to be taken, but you get the idea!

Easter 2011

So the Easter weekend was super fun for us, even though it was busy! Friday I took off work at noon, and we took the kids to the movies to see the movie "Hop". It was really cute, but my Daughter is too young for the theatre, or so we learned. Then Friday night I boiled eggs and put them back in the fridge to get cold, and baked cupcakes for my Sister-in-law's thirteenth birthday part at the zoo on Saturday. So Saturday morning we got up early, frosted said cupcakes, got everyone ready and drove one hour north to the zoo. The kids had a blast at the zoo, almost lost our little one as she thinks everyone is fun to walk with! After that trip I was convinced I need a leash!! We got home from the zoo and the picnic and after everyone had rested a bit, the kids were ready to dye some eggs.
London helped first...
Easton helped next...
They were sooooo excited when the eggs actually turned colors! Easton's favorite is always green, but our green was WEAK this year, so other colors started taking precedent.
The Easter Bunny brought the kids new baskets (because last years matching buckets got left on the back porch and are now rusty/disgusting), butterfly nets, bug catchers, PEZ dispensers, chocolate bunnies, swimming goggles, lots and lots of candy, and Easton: a boat for search and rescue missions, and London: peeps lipstick (which we did have to take away since she keeps eating it!!).
Grandma took her little ducklings on a walk, and helped them find their special eggs.
Easton found his yearly green egg. Doesn't he look thrilled to post for my pictures?!

My sweet nephew, Knight III, hunting for his very own eggs, playdoh, and hula hoop.

The Queen Grandma pulled this dress out and washed it for me. She asked if London could wear it for Easter because it was my Easter dress approximately twenty (cough cough)-seven years ago. Doesn't my sweet girl look so sweet wearing her Mommy's very own Easter dress. When I put the little petti-slip on underneath the dress London swayed back and forth saying "pitty Mommy pitty". She did look pretty, and I was so excited for my family to see this sweet one.

The Queen Grandma LOVES to take Pumpkin Carriage rides, so TJ hooked up the tractor and took all of the kids and a few choice adult/teenage chaperone's for rides.

This picture is especially neat because you can see the pumpkin carriage being pulled around the vineyard, and in the background is the house. That house was built in 1875, and my Great Great Grandpa bought it in 1896. My Great Grandpa Renaud was born in that house and passed in the house; my Grandpa was born in a small house (that no longer stands) just to the northeast of the house), and now my parents live there with my Grandma (who thinks she's the Queen). The house still has many of the original fixtures and character that it had, but has been upgraded by my parents in the last 3 years. Well I hope everyone had a great Easter. We enjoyed our family and friends.

Our little Queen's most special dresses

I have so much going on, and nothing really going on, so I'm going to share some of our little Queen's special baby baby dresses. When London was about 1 month old and Easton was 3 years old, we took the kids to Disneyland for a few days away. Queen Grandma couldn't stand the thought of our little wearing off the rack Disney clothes, so she got out her sewing machine and all of the local animals came around to help. Below is a picture of the closet with a few of the special items we took for the kids to wear. A picture of my most precious/fiesty from the start little wearing her Cinderella inspired Christening-esque dress. I always wanted long long dresses to put on my Daughter so Queen Grandma knew just what I had in mind. We are waiting in line to pick up our season passes at the Happiest Place on Earth! The second day our sweet little debuted her Belle inspired dress, and as you can see my Daughter was very good as showing how she felt. Queen Grandma also made receiving blankets out of Disney fabric for each day we were there. So when London was ready to be snuggled up like a burrito, she would be matching and ready for any Disney adventure. At my Baby Shower for London, Queen Grandma surprised me with a sketch of this Christening-esque dress made from one of my highschool dresses. When we picked it up we were in love, although we wish it was a tad bigger. Not too far from our houses there are gorgeous trees with green grass, so treked out there in search of a pretty back drop. *You can really see how long this dress truly is in this photo. And an up close photo of my little Queen laying in a bed of wishes. Oh how I miss that sweet chubby baby! She has turned into a full fledged TWO YEAR OLD TODDLER!!!!

...goats and a funny story...

So firstly, I would like to introduce 2 goats to you...Emma and George. Emma is standing on top of the crate and George is somewhat hiding behind the crate. For the Queen Grandma's 50th birthday we adopted two 8 week old baby goats. We surprised her with them.

Here they are after the Queen Grandma started to build then pen bigger as they grow. They are about 4 months old here.

When the goats pen was built out, the chickens were moved closer to the goats, so George is checking the chickens out and scoping the scene.

Here is my sweet Queen feeding the goats. Emma is the sweeter one, and she eats right out of the kids' hands. She also walks on leash. It's amazing to see my Daughter blossoming into a little farm girl.

Again, here is London feeding Emma. Emma happened to walk right up to London on this day and KISS HER right smack on the face. Well, I suppose a farm girl has a certain bond with her animal friends. So, on to the funny story...today the Queen Grandma looks out her window and sees a goat walking around her porch. So she quickly runs outside thinking that goats are out and loose. Well to her surprise, this goat on the porch IS NOT ONE OF HERS. Can you imagine the surprise when Queen Grandma see some random goat playing on her porch. She keeps teasing us that all the goats in the area can hear Emma cry for her, so they are coming to see what Emma is talking about. You see, Emma cries whenever the Queen Grandma leaves her...Emma wants to be right next to our Queen Grandma. So the neighbors come over (they have several goats, but all are pigmy goats) to see if this random goat is their goat...IT IS NOT THEIRS EITHER!!! So this leaves us wondering...whose goat is this and where did HE come from? Since HE is most definately a HE, Queen Grandma sent him to live with the pigmy's until his proper owner can be found, or forever depending on whether or not he gets along with the pigmy's. But one thing is for sure....HE can not live with the Queen Grandma. We do not need any more baby goats on this farm!