Bellaney Babycakes!

I'm so excited!  I've been working toward this for a while, but I think I'm ready to take this "public".  I've made a few diaper cakes for my friends and sisters-in-law, and now I'm going to try my hand at making this a bit of a business! 

I will post more specifics later, but for right now, I want to post a pic of the diaper cake that I'm MOST excited about.  Up until now, all of my diaper cakes have been made from disposable diapers.  As many of you know, I'm a cloth-diapering mama, so I wanted to make an option for other mama's that put their babies in cloth. 

Here's what I came up with:



This cake is made from 6 Bum Genius 4.0 one size diapers.





As with my disposable diaper cakes, my cloth diaper cakes use only the best ingredients!! 
Bum Genius is a top-of-the-line premium diaper!



The cloth diaper cakes cost more than the disposable ones, however, if you buy a cloth diaper cake, you are providing that lucky mom with a HUGE savings in starting their stash!  She will appreciate it, I promise you!

Keep in mind when looking at these pics, this cake was made with used diapers (my son's), and I will, of course, be using new ones with the cakes that I make to sell.  This was just my practice run.  :)

This is just a 6 diaper cake, however you can really help the new mom by doubling that to 12 and I will make a 2-tier cake. Customers can pick the colors shown here, or the new, fabulous prints shown there.

Expect new pics to come, and I may just start a new blog specifically for this purpose.  Stay tuned!

Fall

Ahhh... my favorite time of the year:

FALL

crisp morning air... changing leaves... wearing jeans... high school and college football games (yes, I said it)... the smell of burning leaves... Halloween... sweatshirts... leaf piles... our anniversary... Thanksgiving... bonfires... pumpkin pie... Christmas shopping... apple picking... snuggling on the couch... new fall line-up on TV... migrating geese... migrating butterflies... chili... jack-o-lanterns... costumes... Daylight Savings... fire in the fire place... crock pot cooking... morning fog...  pumpkins... decorating... burning candles... opening the windows... going for walks... holiday parties...

The list goes on...

What do you like about fall?

The Invisible Woman: Part 2

Thank you to my SIL, Nicki for reminding me of this video.  It's an uplifting message about invisibility.

8 Friends

I love this article from Prevention Magazine online.

8 Friends Every Woman Should Have

1. 
   
   A Childhood Friend
2. 
   
   A New Friend
3. 
   
   A Workout Friend
4. 
   
   A Spiritual Friend
5. 
   
   A Younger Friend
6. 
   
   Your Partner's Friends
7. 
   
   Your Mom
8. 
   
   Yourself

I agree with this list MOSTLY, although I don't think that #5 necessarily has to be YOUNGER - maybe just at a different point in their life.  Also, I'm going to add one:

9. Your Spouse! 

I don't think you can have a successful marriage if your spouse is not one of your very best friends.  Now, maybe this friend wasn't included because not "every woman" is married, however, if they included #6, I think #9 deserves a spot as well. 

I'm glad to say that I have every one of these friends (some of whom are more than one to me), although maybe my workout friends need to step it up a bit! 

*Okay, well I need to add another friend to the list (thanks Chala!)

10: The Specialist Friend

These are the friends that are experts in something that you want to know more about.  You can go to them anytime with questions, and they are more than happy to help you out, or lend a helpful ear when you are working on it for yourself.  Yay for the specialists!

 

The Invisible Woman

Do you ever feel invisible?

i do

There are times, when I swear that the world must just not see me.  Those are the days when:

• 
  
  I get cut off in traffic.
• 
  
  I give a friendly wave or smile to a stranger, and they ignore me.
• 
  
  I say "Excuse me" to get by someone in a crowded place, and they just stand there.
• 
  
  I stand at a store's counter to ask for some help or check out, but no one comes.
• 
  
  Someone butts in front of me in line.
• 
  
  I drop something while my hands are full, and no one helps me or even offers to help pick it up.
• 
  
  I have finished my meal, my kids are restless, and I'm STILL waiting on my check from the waitress.
• 
  
  I have my hands full with a bag, a baby, holding onto a toddler, and trying to keep my preschooler in tow, and a man with nothing in his hands walks right through the door that I was really hoping he would help me with. (Surely he didn't see me, right? No one is that much of a jerk, right?)

The funny thing is, these all seem to happen on the same day.  So, I wonder, are there certain days when I'm actually invisible?

Time in a Bottle?

TIME

There is just not enough.  Not enough time to cherish every moment.  Not enough time to get everything done that you want to.  Not enough time to get everything done that you HAVE to. 

This is what I want for Christmas this year.... TIME.

You're My Partner!

Today is my hubby's birthday.  It was shortly before his birthday 13 years ago when we met. 

K-State Homecoming 1997

My sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) and his fraternity (Delta Sigma Phi) were homecoming partners - along with another fraternity whose name I cannot recall! Yikes!  We did an event back then during homecoming called "body building".  No, we did not lift weights.  We actually built with bodies!  It was basically a cheerleading / dance routine.  When I was a freshman at K-State, I did not get to pick my stunt partner, and was not all that happy with my pairing.  So, when I was a sophomore, I wanted a choice!  I quickly scanned the line-up of "Greek" men to find the best looking guy who looked strong enough to actually lift a girl off the ground easily.  My eyes rested on a handsome junior - Jerry. 

I quickly ran over to him and said "You're my partner!" 

If only I had known how true those words were!  We did not date right away because I was already dating someone else.  Jerry fell into the friend category for a year and a half.  Then, on a beautiful day (when I just-so happened to be single), I ran into Jerry on campus between classes.  I asked if he'd like to go out Saturday night.  He said yes, and asked if I had any plans Friday as well.  I did have plans - to watch a chick-flick with my Theta sisters, but he could join us if he wanted - and he did! 

I'm sure I will blog about our first date another time, but for now - this is the story of how we met, and how the romance began. 

13 years and 3 kids later, he's still my partner.

I love you, Jerry!  Happy birthday!