My latest creation

I made a Chocolate Peanut Butter cake. And may I just say, whoever thought of combining peanut butter and cream cheese...Thank you! The cream cheese frosting was delicious. This was my first time making this cake and I'm sure it won't be the last. It was also the first time I made a ganache for a cake (also chocolate and peanut butter) and it added this wonderful fudgy layer to the cake. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the inside once it got cut, but I was very happy with how it turned out. I got this recipe off one of my favorite websites, Smitten Kitchen. You can find the link to the recipe here http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/chocolate-peanut-butter-cake/

Do the Puyallup!

We went to the Puyallup Fair last night. Dan hurt his back, so he had to stay home, but Delaney and I braved it anyway. We were able to meet up with Grandma Marlene once we got there to wander around and look at all the animals. Then at dinnertime, Grandma Charlene was able to join us too for the festivities. I didn't know what to expect with Delaney, but she really seemed to enjoy all the sights and sounds. There was the major meltdown when it was time to get back in the stroller after the must-have Krusty Pup, but other than that, she did pretty well. She was even able to go on a couple rides (although we had to tell the guy that she was 2 since all kids are supposed to be 2 to ride any of the rides). This was Delaney's first time to the Puyallup Fair since we didn't take her last year and I'm positive she will have even more fun next year. Here she is right after we got parked and ready to go in. I think she was excited to see where we were going. I picked her up early from daycare and we usually don't get to go on many errands during the weeknights, so she knew something was up. She gave me this big grin when I asked if she was ready to go to the fair. Here it is: Looking at the little chicks. These were the naked neck chicks (that was the official name, I'm not making that up). They had, you guessed it, naked necks.

She liked the chicks. She liked looking at all of the animals. I don't think she realized horses were actually that big in real life. We went and looked at the Draft horses and I think she was amazed at how big they were. But she just waved and said "Hi horsey" and "Bye horsey" to all of them.

The little piglets.

Delaney being a goofball when she realized Grammie was taking a picture of her looking at the piglets.

Delaney and I enjoying our corn. Well, I only had a couple bites and Delaney polished off most of it all by herself.

She LOVES corn on the cob. Even better at the fair!

We rode the train around Sillyville. This was the ride the guy asked how old she was before we could get on. We sat on a bench and rode around on a train. I don't think a few months made much of a difference...

The last ride of the evening, the carousel. Yes, we go on it at the zoo all the time, but not at night at the fair. She said "horsey" every time she saw the carousel so I knew we would wind up on it. By this point, it was past bedtime and she was running on fumes, but it was a good end to a fun outing. Thanks to both Grandma's that were out there. We had a blast!

Someone turned her "ham it up" button on

Delaney was in a particularly good mood tonight. We watched a little Elmo, played outside, had some watermelon (or as she calls it A-num-num, a video is coming soon that shows how she says it), and hammed it up for the camera. As soon as Dan got the camera out, she would stop and do a big cheesy grin at it. Her eyes wound up shut in most of them, but here are a few. Man, this kid is a goofball.

Maisy getting some good night loves. With Max gone, Maisy has now had to learn to put up with a lot more loves. Max was the patient one who Delaney could love on and he just sat there. Maisy is still learning, but it seems like she has resigned herself to the job of getting hugs and kisses several times a day from Delaney. I could definitely think of worse things to tolerate than that for sure.

Ouch.

So, this morning Delaney got her second fat lip. She tripped and fell and hit her face and her tooth actually punctured all the way through her lip. I knew we were in store for a fat lip as soon as I scooped her up and the blood started flowing. Considering how bad it was, it stopped bleeding fairly quickly and she was perked up by some "Elmo's World". This is a picture of it once the crying and bleeding stopped. It didn't swell up as quickly as the last time, but it isn't quite as obvious because it is her bottom lip. Here you can see where the tooth poked out the front of her lip. We didn't even realize that it happened until later when the blood kept coming back on the front. We just figured she was drooling for a while.

After naptime, the swelling had gone up some. She has been a pretty good sport about the whole thing (I don't think I would be quite as chipper). Her lip is a little black and blue tonight, but some ice cold watermelon has helped. Hopefully, this will be the last fat lip for a while...

The August catch-up

I am finally catching up on the last month. We had a very busy end of July and August with a trip, wedding, birthdays, and the general craziness that a one-year old causes. Delaney and I spend two days home this week because she got the stomach flu and was not feeling good. I came out Wednesday morning to check on her while I was getting ready and usually she is wandering around with her bottle and watching Sesame Street and I came out and found her just laying on the floor on her blanket and hadn't touched her milk. I knew she wasn't good then, but then the throwing up started. I will spare the gory details, but there was a LOT of laundry to do after that morning. She had perked back up by evening and was pretty much back to herself. We stayed home Thursday too since she still had a little fever, but she is getting some molars too, so the fever could even be from that. Anyway, here are some pics of her from this past month. I can't believe it is already September!
Check out our long-legged little one. Surprise, surprise, we spend some time at the zoo. I know, its shocking. But here she is showing no fear with the goats.

Peek-a-boo!

Her is our big girl on her half birthday (August 20). This makes her an official 1 1/2 year old.

Her daycare had a luau day one day and the kids got to have some special treats (have I mentioned I love her daycare?). Anyway, I picked her up and they had put some flower combs in her hair and she had a little lei that she could take home. Here is our little Hawaiian girl.

And, here she is after pudding.

I have no words...

Why wouldn't you ride a pink pony with no shirt on and sunglasses? Why? (Ignore the fact that she had just taken all her dirty clothes out of the hamper and sprinkled them around her room.)

Oh, and Dan and I celebrated some special birthdays this August, I turned the big 3-0 and Dan hit the 35 mark. So, to celebrate, I surprised him with a room up in Seattle and tickets to a favorite comedian of ours, Demetri Martin. We were in a time crunch once we got to the hotel because we had to get checked in, go have dinner, and get to the show by 7:30, so of course we didn't bring the camera. So, this was one of the only pictures of our little weekend away. My mom was kind enough to watch Delaney for us (although I think Delaney had a grand time being spoiled at Grandma's) and it was nice for us to get away. This was the view from our room at the Hyatt.

There, now I am officially caught up on pictures!