Cupcake Time!

I have been on a mad cupcake craze the last 2 weeks. I have been dreaming over new delicious recipes and saving as much money as I can so I can buy fun ingredients. One motivator has been my weekly Baby Club. I have been trying to make a different batch each Friday, and so far I have had very tasty results! Last week I finally perfected Buttercream Icing. I have had a love/hate relationship with Buttercream, and after many excuses to make fruity & cream cheese icings, I decided to go for it. I made the Vanilla Bean minis the night before and woke up early the next morning and just did it. The result was perfect- for my sweet tooth at least! I hate icing that is too sweet and generally my buttercream turns out way too sweet. The result was quite cute as well:
My food photography is atrocious, but Peter was too busy to indulge me so I just took a few before I delivered the goods to the hungry mamas.
The week before I attempted a few new recipes as well. Hummingbird Cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing and a Late Summer cupcake (blueberries, peaches, & thyme). I must confess that I never in a million years could dream up these recipes of my own, but I will change a few things here and there. Cheryl from CupcakeShop deserves ALL the credit! Hummingbird cake, a Southern tradition, was very tasty, however I will make this a cake next time instead of cupcakes. The Late Summer cupcake was fantastic! I love the light and fruitiness of the cupcakes and the thyme was a fun surprise! (Additional photos to follow)

Today is my 26th birthday- I have officially hit my "late twenties." I have no thoughts or emotions on this, but I will say that time has gone by way too fast, and I feel the next few years will not go any slower. Magnolia is almost 6 months! I think I am ready for number two just so I can remember what the baby stage was like. Kidding. Seriously.

I promise to be better about blogging. More updates soon!

Back to Real Life

I hate coming back from a week long vacation. Especially when the week involves your two sisters that live so far away, endless amounts of amazing food, and basking in the heat on a beautiful North Carolina beach. We made it back, and real life has most definitely picked up.
While on vacation I feel like Magnolia has grown up in so many ways- it's breaking my heart! She is now 5 months old, she has 2 teeth (with more on the way as I type), and she had her first taste of "real food." Not to mention she moved up another size in diapers and her crazy baby hair now lays flat to her head! It is a bittersweet stage.
So this week I'm making it my mission to read up on and make delicious baby food. I'm off to buy a bushel full of veggies and possibly fruit today to start the process. Anybody know some tasty baby food recipes? I suppose she is still a little young for a Lavender Cream Cupcake (which I finally perfected while at the beach).

Family Beach Trip '09

The highlight of my year has finally arrived: the annual family beach trip! My mom's side of the family has been keeping this tradition going since before I was born, and I have only missed one year due to our honeymoon. This year should prove extra exciting because of the Baby Monster that will be there to entertain us. (Her nickname the past couple days has been Monster because she is getting her second tooth, and wanting to grab EVERYTHING. It is very hilarious and aggravating, but I know it can only get better.) So we stayed up late to pack, got up early so we would not forget any extras, and now to buy coffee to prepare for late night family games.
My mother informed me yesterday of the craft this year: modge podge. We have a new craft every year that is led by my oh so creative mother. A couple of beach trips ago we made bricks. Yes, I said it- bricks. That was an odd craft, but seeing is how my grandpa and two uncles own a masonry company I suppose it is not too off the wall. Growing up we would do sand art, and collect shells to turn in to these really creepy Santa Claus necklaces, and of course there was always a lot of glue and Popsicle sticks. As I got older the crafts became lame to me- a lot of the traditions became lame, but now I eat it up! I want to do a craft everyday, build sand forts, and stay up late on the porch rocking chairs every night with MawMaw. This beach trip has become the thing I look forward to most each year. I love my family. It's a chance for all 15 of us to stay in one giant beach house for a solid week and spend every waking moment together. I love it.
This year I am making sure my sisters are awake nice and early with Magnolia and I. (Early for the beach trip is 8am, if you are under the age of 25 you sleep until 10 am- at least.) Not this year I will have an adorable little monster to put on the bed, slap their face and pull their hair. It will be so irresistibly cute.

Bon Voyage!

Scooter Races in Fairmont, North Carolina. We make a stop to my other set of grandparents before getting to the beach.

Magnolia will get to join the ranks with these beautiful ladies this year.

And I can't wait to spend some time with this hottie on the beach.

New Thoughts on Babies

I promise to keep this short & sweet. I could probably write a novel on the thoughts and theories that enter my mind on the grand topic of raising children. I will preface my ranting by stating that I am in the midst of raising my first child with an amazing husband. We have a great support team around us that consists of the best grandmas, my extended family, and very close friends. Magnolia also happens to be a darn near perfect baby. I will also state that I am a novice on the topic of child rearing and I have never read any books on the subject. This is all coming from my every day experiences and thoughts. Now I shall step up on to my soap box.

Our newest revelation hit me like a ton of bricks and made me want to kiss Peter all at the same time. "We baby babies too much." I mean "we" as a society, and by "babying" I don't mean goo-gooing or cuddling, I simply mean we baby them way more than we ought to. Thinking back on my earliest child raising thoughts when Magnolia was still in the womb, I remember stating that we were never going to giver her a pacifier. I had read somewhere that offering an infant anything beside a breast would give the baby "nipple confusion." Oh heaven forbid we want to confuse this ultra smart and sensitive baby by giving them something that will soothe them when all they want to do is suck on something. Of course I am being really sarcastic, because I do respect parents who do not give their children anything besides a nipple or a finger during those first few weeks, but I'm making a point that we worry and freak out about these things way more than necessary. I am sure there are infants out there who had trouble adapting- Magnolia ended up getting a pacifier within the first 24 hours of her life and also breastfed without any signs of confusion. My mom had never heard of nipple confusion. She raised 3 daughters and breastfed us until we were almost 1 year. She gave us pacifiers, bottles, and my youngest sister sucked her thumb- it was never an issue. I just think this is one of the ways we worry way too much about baby things. Maybe if new parents would just relax and do what our gut tells us we could sleep easier at night (and perhaps our babies would too!)

So I'm still deciding if I want to read any parenting books. (If anyone has a book that they would recommend I am game for trying it out.) Magnolia is 5 months in about a week and we have been just fine thus far. I have looked up things online (when she was teething, and in the first month when she would freak out every time I would try to nurse her) but I have found the most effective parenting tool has been my friends and family. Any time Mags is acting different or I have some cause for concern I call my mom, and after that I poll the friends that I know will have some encouraging words or sage advice. Gosh- even when I was pregnant if one of my dear friends had not been there to answer the phone at all hours I don't know what I would have done. She even came to my house and talked to me for hours just about breast feeding! Now my mind has been put to ease and my oddest questions have been answered simply by picking up my cell phone or sending a facebook message.

It takes a village to raise a child- amen? Amen.

I know there are thousands upon thousands of "ways" to raise a child, and none of them are the way. All I know is if you love your baby unconditionally you are probably doing it perfectly.

Magnolia & GiGi- my two favorites.

Nicknames

I love nicknames. To me, it makes me feel close to a person when I can call them by a fun version of their given name. When a close friend or loved one calls me by a nickname, I feel loved and special.
When Moses and Aya became part of our family we began our nickname adventure. Every time I would see them or give them affection I would call them by the first name I could think of. This led to Trandall, Tamberline, Trubadoors, and anything ending with Bear. Then there is of course Moses the Policeman (this is a popular song around the Godshall Lounge that I made up), and Ayala McGuilicuty (when she is in trouble), and they are both Pharaoh-Barrows (this is when Peter picks up their hind legs and does the "wheelbarrow").
Magnolia does not stand a chance. She already has several nicknames around our house, and they are just as bizarre. Maganope, Magatron, Magatron 3000, Maganoli-oli-o, Magarope, Mags, and Mae-Mae- just to name a few. She is also called any random word with bear attached to it. When she's fussy, it's Fussy Bear. Sleepy Bear, Crazy Bear, Silly Bear...the list goes on.

I have been forbidden to divulge Peter's nicknames; he has to maintain his tough guy persona. I will share a nickname I gave myself a few years ago but it never caught on around the house: Lamby. Lamby was a name I gave to Baby Bunny's best friend. Baby Bunny was a character I developed on my Treo phone, in the Color application, and later became a business idea for baby clothing- I'm going to stop there because Baby Bunny is a insanely long story. Anyways, I always wanted Peter to call me Lamby and sadly he has always refused. I continue to act like it's a normal nickname that Peter calls me but I know he will never seriously use it. Perhaps he will call Magnolia Lamby and that would suit me just fine.

My Birth Story

So many things about being pregnant or having a newborn baffle me, but the most frustrating has to be the unwarranted advice. At 30 weeks I would have slapped the next person who said "Any day now?" and when Magnolia arrived in mid-March I could have strangled all the sweet old ladies who told me to "cover up that baby's ears." People need to mind their own business- but then it would not be the South anymore. The one thing I have heard that I completely understand now is how fast things really do fly by. In thinking of the passing time, I realized I never documented my birth story and before things completely disappear from my mind I have decided to announce my recollections here. My electronic diary. (Fortunately Peter wrote some very amusing notes before we actually left for the hospital).

I will preface by saying Magnolia, by the grace of God, was born 1 week early, but afterwards our midwife said they most likely had my due date wrong (duuuuh). It was a blessing she was born when she was (mostly because I could not have pushed out an 11 pound baby) because the next week they were planning on inducing labor due to her size. I was planning a non-interventional delivery in a hospital with a midwife, and knowing if I was induced my chances for having the birth experience I desired would decrease drastically.

We went for wings like we did every Thursday night with our friends, it was March 12th. My dear friend (who was about 33 weeks pregnant at the time) and I went for a nice long walk before dinner. I remember doing everything I could those days (39 weeks) in order to get this baby out- so I took the waitress's advice and ordered the nuclear wings (she also mentioned walking up a steep hill which fortunately we had just done on our hike). Peter and I went home, watched our favorite Thursday night sitcoms and laid on the bed talking. For some reason we stayed up later than usual listening to music and talking about Magnolia; what would she look like? Would she have lots of hair? Are we going to like her? Normal questions. Around midnight I had to go to the bathroom and noticed a bit of fluid in my unmentionables, but being used to the normal pregnancy fluids I was unphased- that is, until I stood up. I jumped in to the bathtub because I thought I was still going to the bathroom but then it occurred to me that it could possibly be my water breaking. Peter and I laughed together at the excitement that this could be the night and because it was just funny to think that I was peeing on myself in the bathtub. I was not convinced that this was the real deal so like I read in so many books I tried to sleep- this was impossible. Went to the bathroom again- bloody show was now present, okay, I admitted to myself, I'm in labor.
Not 30 minutes after all this was taking place I had my first contraction. I was a little shocked because it was much more intense than I had anticipated. After about 15 minutes of intense contractions that were anywhere from 4 to 1 1/2 minutes apart we made some phone calls. First I called my sister in Maryland. I always promised she would be the first to know. Then I called my mother to ask her advice and tell her I might be having a baby in the next 24 hours. I then had Peter call my dear friend who happens to be a nurse- I wanted to find out why on earth I was having such painful and close together contractions when my water had just broke 1 hour ago. When I finally admitted that this was going to happen I panicked! I had not finished packing my bag! It's now 2 am, I have not showered, my make-up is not on, and there is a huge pile of laundry to be done. Peter called the hospital and praise the Lord my midwife was on call until 7am that day! She told us to relax and call back when we thought contractions were getting closer and more intense- meanwhile I'm thinking "can they get closer and more intense?"
I tried sitting in the tub- horrible idea. I tried to labor on the exercise ball- even worse. The only thing I wanted to do was lean against something and rock side to side. I could not even talk! (This is shocking news to all who are close to me- I always have something to say)
Peter finished packing my bag for me- he had been charging all the electronics during this time and rubbing my back. However, I found I really just wanted to be alone. About 3am was when it hit me- we should be going to the hospital. Everything had come so much faster than I had anticipated and as much as I would have loved to have a home birth, I knew this first time I wanted to be with a team of experts. We left the house around 3:30 am.
The 15 minute car ride was a complete blur to me- when we walked in to the hospital around 4, I was hunched over every minute or so when a contraction hit. Oh the audacity of the front desk woman who told me to sit down to fill out paper work, and then tell me to wait and "we will see if this is the real deal." She should be fired!
The nurse who brought us back to the "let's check you out" room was amazing and she was there through the whole process. After about 45 minutes of checking vitals and asking questions I was told I was 5 cm dilated. We were to be moving down the hall to our room where Magnolia soon would arrive. During the short walk to our room I had 2 more contractions that made me stop and lean against the wall, our nurse looked me in the eyes, "You are going to be able to do this natural. You just seem like the person who can make it." The most encouraging words.
We settled in- I got to wear a wonderfully fashionable hospitable gown, but honestly nothing really mattered to me at that point. I was so focused on what was happening with my body. I walked around the room, and at some time my mom and mother-in-law were there. I just remember seeing their faces. There were only a couple negatives to my hospital birth experience. The first was when they had to monitor my contractions and the baby's heart rate. I understand the necessity of this, but lying on my back while they strapped things on and looked at readings was so uncomfortable. I also had to be administered fluids so her heart rate would go back up to an "acceptable" level. It took about 10 min of being hooked to an IV while I walked around the bed and then they took it out. However, the nurses were very nice and polite the entire time and explained why they felt it was necessary. Peter and I just decided this was a battle we were not going to worry about at this time.
Around 6:30 am our midwife made it to our room. I had been having several contractions that were making me want to push so she decided to check my progress. I was only 8 cm, and not ready to be pushing yet. She said she could tell my cervix was becoming swollen and no matter how insane it sounded she told me to try and relax and not push when my body wanted to. The most disappointing portion of her update was she estimated it was going to be a couple more hours before I would even be ready to push, and she strongly recommended having an epidural so my body would relax until it would be time to push. I asked what our other options would be before we had to do the epidural and she recommended sitting in the hot jacuzzi bath to relax and then we would re-evaluate. This sounded great to me so I moved my large self in to the tub. Peter plugged in the ipod so we could listen to the soothing sounds of Sigur Ros.
I remember putting hot rags on my chest and stomach and biting Peter's hand every time a contraction would hit. About 20 minutes later something happened. I can't tell you why or what made me do it but I sat up and put my hand between my legs. Her head! I felt her head!
With wide eyes I told Peter what I was feeling. I saw a nurse look at us and start to move rapidly. I was escorted out of the tub while several nurses began setting things up around me. Our midwife walked back in (later we found out her shift was over and she was just going to pop in to say good bye) and began helping. Oh and the fun began.
I won't go in to the glorious details, but I can honestly tell you the pain was unlike anything I expected. It was burning, heavy, and somehow wonderful. Fifteen minutes after I had felt her head, Magnolia Louise Godshall entered the world. 9 pounds 11 ounces, 21 inches long, born on March 13th at 7:33 am.

My beautiful, dark-headed baby girl was placed on my chest, and as I looked at her perfect face time stood still.

Being in Bean Town

It has been awhile since my last post. Having a 4 1/2 month old that is staying awake more and taking less naps does not allow me a lot of time for blogging, but I promise (to myself) to stay on top of things more.
Peter, Magnolia & myself got back last night from a 4 day trip to Boston. It was lovely! Maganope did wonderful- even on the plane. She enjoyed the long walks around the city and of course all the shopping, however entertaining a baby in a hotel room is not the easiest thing. We talked a lot, shook the same toys over and over, and made lots of silly faces- surprisingly she was fine! It made me wonder if I really need all the baby swings, mats, and play yards. What did the pioneers do to entertain their 4 month old babies when they settled in Boston, Massachusetts?
This was Magnolia's first trip to the North, and my first trip to Bean Town. I discovered several things while we were there that made me appreciate Dixie Land, but also made me yearn for more. What a fascinating place!
I knew nothing of Boston other than it's a really old city and they have some pretty reputable schools (ummm, Harvard?). I had no clue why the city was called Bean Town, but did you know it's because they are famous for baked beans? They have a very fancy way of making them and claim to be the best baked beans. I couldn't imagine that they were better than my Aunt Lynne's Southern styled baked beans, but I will try anything once so we ordered a large portion while we were at local restaurant in Faneuil Hall. While I did like them- I did not love them. They are simply beans soaked in molasses- no additional flavor. I like mine beans with a little bacon or perhaps on the rare occasion, simmering in fatback. One other strike against Boston is the absence of sweet tea. I know the Boston Tea Party took place in this historic city- but apparently no one puts gallons of sugar in their tea. (This really was not that surprising to me because I have been north of Virginia and west of Tennessee before and remembered that no one serves sweet tea outside of the South.) I did realize one thing the North has to offer that us Southerners have yet to perfect: amazing pastries. My husband loves cannolis. Before we were married I had never heard of this delectable dessert, and being in the South it is rare treat to find a well made cannoli. The North End had an amazing pastry shop, Mike's Pastry, that we found and brought back at least 15 pounds have insulin- spiking, carb- loaded goodies. Oh gracious maria! My only justification for sitting in bed at ten o'clock at night eating cream filled croissants and chocolate chip cannolis was because I walked about 4 miles that day. Praise the Lord we don't have a Mike's Pastry in Charlotte- I would look like the side of a barn! And if that wasn't delicious enough, Magnolia and I hiked the 2 mile walk from our hotel to Sweet, a cupcake boutique in the Back Bay neighborhood. I ate more delicious cupcakes in 3 days than I have ever intended- but it was all very worth it.
On an historic note, the city of Boston is so incredibly rich in history. It is everywhere! From the graveyards, to the sidewalks- you can smell the Revolutionists! (That is a bit of a stretch I suppose) The architecture is breathtaking- something the South does not have. And while I love Southern history, we are completely lacking in the really awesome old buildings. I could go on and on and tell you my reasons and theories behind this, but it's irrelevant and really boring. I just really appreciated being in an old city and seeing sites that I have only read in text books about. After all, it's the birthplace of our American freedom. (I still admit Civil War history is far more interesting to me so I will take a Shiloh tour or a road trip to Gettysburg over Paul Revere's house any day.)
I will close by saying I loved loved loved our first family trip to Boston. I am so glad Magnolia was able to have her first trip in a beautiful Northern city, and I hope when she is old enough to understand and appreciate history, we will return. When we landed back in Charlotte I was very content and appreciative to live in my South. I missed the hot humid days of July, the friendly smiles and waves, and of course a tall glass of sweet tea! I love good 'ol Dixie, and I hope to live and long happy life here.My very own little Scarlett O'Hara! This would have been such a perfect dress for her to wear while in Boston- she could have been a baby reenactor!