22 Weeks Old

August 22 - August 28

Poor little Sarah had her first cold this week. She woke up Sunday with a little bit of a runny nose, and by Monday it was a full-blown dripper! She whistled when she breathed through her nose, and she quickly learned to turn away in terror when Mom or Dad came after her with a Boogey Wipe! She never had a fever or acted "sick" (just a little fussy!), so we decided to send her to daycare to see how things went. I felt TERRIBLE about this, but it was my first day of pulling students into my room at school, so I put on my big girl pants and tried my best to deal with sending my sick baby off for someone else to love and comfort all day...

...and then God heard my prayers! I pulled into the school parking lot and saw folks standing around out front. It turns out that our school's transformer was hit by lightning during a big thunderstorm the previous Friday night. No one was at school to know that we had no power, so the problem went undetected until the custodian got there Monday morning! At 7:50 the decision to cancel school was made, and I got to rush back to daycare to snatch my little girl out of Veronica's arms and back into mine!!! (It should be noted that I really like Veronica and trusted her to take care of Sarah - I just had major Mom guilt going on!)

We spent all day Monday snuggled up together in the big chair and playing together on the floor, stopping only to celebrate when school was canceled again for Tuesday! Apparently, the transformer required a part that had to be ordered! Life just always seems to work out...

By Tuesday, Sarah was feeling a little better, so I sent her to daycare in the morning. While she was gone, I cleaned bathrooms, did laundry, and bought a Baby Bullet and some fresh fruit so I could make her some baby food! I had been feeling bad that just about the time Sarah would be able to try a variety of fruit, it would be the dead of winter and nothing would be in-season. This solved the problem! By the end of the week, Sarah had pureed peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, and plumots stashed away in the freezer for a happy wintertime treat.

I also decided to bake a cake for Tom on Tuesday afternoon.  He was having a rough week at work, so I wanted him to have something to look forward to when he got home.  I mean, OBVIOUSLY he looks forward to time with his family, but this had peanut butter in it for goodness sake!!!  Tom came home to a delicious smelling house, and we both enjoyed a piece of this yumminess!

On Thursday, the weather was cool and sunny.  We took Sarah to South Lake Park where she was able to watch the ducks while Tom and I ate a picnic dinner at a table near the lake.  The mallards (Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack?) were quacking happily at us and gobbling up the bread Tom tossed to them...until a large, white, petting zoo/Old MacDonald type white duck came tearing out of the weeds, scolding them all in his loudest voice and claiming the bread as his own!  It was very funny to watch, and Sarah got to hear a LOT of quacking!

Uncle Adam also met us at the park, which was super fun!  We walked around the lake and then swung in the swings. 

Isn't this a fun family portrait? Tom and I are just shadows!!!



Sarah also got to look at trees - one of her favorite things in the whole world!  Look at those eyes take it all in!!!

Sarah started to get sleepy/cranky around 7:00, so we packed her up and took her home.  Since it was past her bedtime when we got home, we went straight upstairs for a story and bed.  Pickle joined us as usual, but this particular evening she just laid on the floor and moaned.  We thought maybe it was because she hadn't gotten a walk that night...until Tom went down to the kitchen and discovered the source of Pickle's moans.  Apparently her tummy hurt from eating the ENTIRE PEANUT BUTTER CAKE!!!

This cake appears to be delicious for both people and dogs, so if you'd like to make one for your own family (or for your pets), here is the recipe:

Pickle's Peanut Butter Sheet Cake
Mix in pan and bring to a boil:
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter

Sift the following and add to the above mixture:
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda

Mix and add to the above mixture:
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

Stir well and pour into greased or parchment lined cookie sheet pan (jellyroll pan). Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Frosting:
Mix in pan and bring to a boil:
3/4 cup butter
6 Tbsp buttermilk
1/2 cup peanut butter

Take off stove and add:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla. Pour over warm cake.