RAINBOW Cupcake FUN!!!!

So, I've been wanting to do this little baking "project" with Trey & Tylee ever since my wonderful friend, Erin Civey, posted this cute tutorial on her baking blog, Lizzie Jean's Cookies....visit it as soon as you get a chance...she's super talented and makes the CUTEST custom order cookies and cupcakes. I mean, she seriously can do ANYthing!!!

So, tonight, after starting din-din (yummy chicken tacos), the kids and I had fun putting together these rainbow cupcakes....Trey & Tylee had their first experience with food coloring and they did a wonderful job sharing and working together....WAY TO GO, you two!!!

And, they turned out yummy, which makes the whole project that much more fun!!!  (Warning...major picture overload!!)

Getting ready to pour in the ingredients.....

Trey with the water....

Tylee with the chunky applesauce (instead of oil...) AND, it looks like we need to use a bigger bowl next time! Oops!!! No biggie....

Adding the new applesauce.....followed by Trey adding the egg whites....

This pic was cute...with Taylen watching her big bro and sis work so well together!!!

Stir time....and, don't worry, we cleaned up the applesauce mess later. Tylee and I agreed that it could wait ;)

Trey making the orange....with an extra cheesy smile...can you tell, he wanted to be stirring instead of smiling for the camera?!?! Thanks, trooper!!!

Tylee making the green....cheesin' without taking her eyes off the task at hand!!

Learning that red and blue make PURPLE! Tylee's favorite color!!

Checking out the food coloring....they were both amazed it only took "little drops"....

Making sure they are all mixed up...stir, stir, stir!!

Scooping in the first two bowls of color....

Spoon master...not too many drips...Great Job, Ty!!!

Topping them off with purple and orange...the last two colors!!!

Before baking...(We decided that next time we'll use more food coloring...our colors turned out a little on the pastel side. Perfect for Easter, I guess!!)

After 20 minutes in the oven...PERFECT!!!

Add a little whip cream and it's go time!!! YUMMY!!!

Tylee showing off her "sad" face after her rainbow cupcake fell over....shucks was all she had to say!!!

GREAT JOB on the cupcakes, you two!! Your teamwork ROCKED and the cupcakes turned out healthy and YUMMY!!! I love having fun in the kitchen with you guys and can't wait for our next cooking adventure!!!

What a GREAT....

Family Fun Weekend!!

Jason, Trey, Tylee, Taylen, and I all enjoyed a fun-filled and relaxing visit with Grampy, Mi-Mi, and Aunt Calie (my dad, step-mother, and little sister) this past weekend.

It was FANTASTIC to see them again...it has definitely been a while. We haven't seen them since Christmas, and that visit went by entirely too fast!!! So, they ventured up here early on Friday morning and hung out with us until Sunday. Lots of Wii (darn Iowa weather), card games, laughter, conversation time, and baby holding.....

Trey playing his first game of Crazy 8's.....fun, fun!

Mi-Mi and Trey wrapped up in a competetive game of cards....

Aunt Calie holding Taylen Jae....such a snuggler!!!

Tylee joining in on all the fun.....

Cheesin' on the couch.....

Grampy and Trey J....fun times!!

Strike or Gutter Ball?!?! Calie's face probably gives it away!!!

Taylen getting some lovin' from Calie & Tylee....

Grampy & two of his grand-babies....

Mi-Mi, Tylee, and Taylen doing a little posin'....

Tylee cheesin' with Trey's bunny glasses....

Oh, now they are on the right way...buck teeth and all!!!

Aunt Calie joining in on the bunny fun...these bucks aren't so big...lol!!

Taylen and Mi-Mi!!!

The whole crew....GREAT times and GREAT fun!!!

THANKS so much Grampy, Mi-Mi, and Calie for making the trek up here from Saint Louis. It was great seeing you all and the kiddos had a blast. The Easter baskets were perfect and everyone has been enjoying their goodies!! We LOVE you bunches and can't wait until we see you all again....

XXX's & OOO's.....

~Julie

The Sleepy Weite House....

Had to capture my three munchkins all snoozing away last night...

Trey Jacob...2 months shy of turning FIVE!!

Tylee Jean...2 1/2 and lovin' all her babies!! (Who just happen to all be named "Taylen"....soooo cute!!)

Taylen Jae...just shy of hitting the 11 day mark!! So sleepy!!!

Nothing like a great nights sleep in order to get all rested up for our next round of visitors....

Grampy, Mi-Mi, and Aunt Calie are headed to Ottumwa today and we can't wait to see them!!! Drive safely and we'll see you in a few hours!!!

Oh, and how I hope that we have many, many more peaceful, sleepy nights ahead of us!!!!

Happy Weekend, Ya'll!!!

It's....Flashback FRIDAY!!!

Welcome to another edition of FLASHBACK FRIDAY. This flashback won't take you back too far though because I'm going to blog about Taylen Jae's big birth day!!!

My pics from Taylen's grand entrance into this world were on our other camera and I'm finally getting around to uploading those pics. With it being FRIDAY (Can I get a woo-hoo?!?!) and all, I thought today would be as good as any to document my third baby's arrival.....(You've already seen Trey & Tylee's best delivery shots back in Feb) and Taylen needs her turn!!!

It was a dark & stormy night.....

(Just kidding...it was dark, but it wasn't stormy at all, but, I do like that intro...my 6th graders always use something like that when writing their mystery pieces. Okay, back on topic.....)

For those of you who have facebook, on Saturday morning, March 12th, I posted a status update about heading to the YMCA to get a 3 1/2 mile walk in....trying desperately to start the contractions on their own, so I didn't have to be induced on Monday, March 14th (which was my original due date and I'm not very fond of Pitocin....)

I did just that and then headed to the mall with Jason, Trey, and Tylee to walk even more....

Headed home after gallivanting around Ottumwa and patiently waited for the magic to happen....NOTHING.

Played with the kiddos after nap time and cleaned up around the house....STILL NOTHING.

Gave baths, did laundry, and took a shower myself...even blew dry my hair at 8 o'clock at night....ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Laid down to watch a movie with Jason, and had ONE contraction during the first three fourths of the movie.....WOW. (Psych) But, at least at this point, I had ONE and really thought that by Sunday night (24 hours later, I'd be having regular contractions.

Jason fell asleep during the movie with about 30 minutes remaining (That's almost how it always goes...one of us is always falling asleep....think we should start the movies earlier?? There's a thought ;)

As soon as he closes his eyes, I feel another contraction, and another. Brushing it off, I get up out of bed, turn the DVD player off, and settle back down so I can "sleep" through the contractions. (Not sure why I thought that would be an option...there's no sleeping through contractions for me...nothing like a GIANT Charley Horse taking over your entire mid-section.)

At this point, it's about 10:45 PM and I start "timing" my contractions with my cell phone. From 10:30 to 11:30 they go from 15 minutes apart, to 10, to 7, to 5, to 4. I wake Jason up about 60 minutes after he'd fallen asleep and tell him to get dressed that it's TIME TO GO to the hospital...WOO-HOO!!!

He gets dressed, we call our neighbor, Marshall, and tell him that tonight's the night he'll be camping out on our couch until Jason's parents come down in the morning. (THANKS, Marshall for being there for the other two...we TOTALLY appreciate it!!)

Marshall comes over, we grab my bags and head to the hospital...which is a total of 3 minutes away, at the most! (Another benefit of living in this small town...no traffic to face or long distances to travel!!)

We pull up, Jason parks because I don't want to be dropped off, I want to WALK! Check in goes quickly and they wheel me off to the 4th floor-maternity ward. I get wheeled into my room and instructed to "gown up," as I call it.

This is a sick, sick pic, but it was about 2 hours before the delivery...had to capture this moment...pasty white and fat arms, face, fingers, legs, belly, chin, elbows, butt, hips, lips, earlobes, and all!!! I was ready to go and it was around 12:20 AM at this point. (That's the good thing about hospitals...it's so stinkin' bright and everyone's so awake and cheery that it doesn't seem like the middle of the night. Kind of like VEGAS...okay, that's a stretch, but you know what I mean....)

I get on my BEAUTIFUL hospital gown and get mentally prepared to handle what's headed my way. I've never been much of a Lamaze breather...just seems to make things worse for me. The nurse checks me and I'm about 4 1/2 centimeters.

I labor for about 20 more minutes, with the contractions 2-3 minutes apart and the Dr. comes in...he checks me again and I'm 6 1/2 centimeters dilated, so he breaks my water.

The nurse hooks me up with the IV goodies and I get prepped for my epidural. (More power to all you ladies who love natural, med free births, but it's just not for me....I've had an epidural with all three of mine. It was more mind over matter for me. Guess I should have taken the Lamaze thing a little more seriously ;)

I get my epidural, which is always kinda scary, and my back labor is INSTANTLY relieved....the doctor checks me again 5 minutes later and I'm 10 cm dilated, but the baby has moved up (the wrong direction) and my contractions have slowed to about 5 minutes apart. The Doc leaves me there for another half hour....hoping the baby comes down on it's own.

The nurse pops back in around 30 minutes later and checks...head is right there and she wants me to push. At this time it's about 4:40 AM (with the spring ahead time change...so really 3:40 am) and I push once...she yells STOP, that's enough and tells Jason to hand her the phone on the wall so she can call the Doc.

In my head, I'm thinking, "It's go time!!" I'm sooooooo ready....

The Dr. hustles in and at 4:45 AM we (okay, I) start pushing. Four pushes later, Jason's looks at me, says "It's a GIRL!" and, Taylen Jae Weite enters this world at 4:54 AM, weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce and measuring 21 inches long. What a beautiful and precious gift.....and baby girl instantly joins the Weite House!!!

The Doc working his magic!!!

Still waiting to hear that first cry.....

There it is!! 

Taylen Jae Weite--8 lbs. 1 oz. (It's a little blurry, but Daddy still did a fantastic job of playing both the coach and photographer roles!!!)

Warming up....with her big old feet!!!

Me holding her for the first time....wide eyed...

Loving the warmer...after getting poked & prodded!!

All bundled up & worn out from delivery....ready for a snooze!!!

Taylen's first visitor....Thank you Marcia and Ken for coming down from Des Moines to help with the kiddos and relieve Marshall of his duties!! We appreciate it and don't ever want you to think otherwise!!! Taylen, and Trey & Tylee for that matter, are all lucky to have such wonderful, caring grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins from both sides of the family!! We love and appreciate you all!!

Dear Taylen Jae,

Your delivery was a breeze and you've been a relaxed, happy, and content baby ever since. You are officially 11 days old and doing great. We love you and are so excited to have you here with us!! Enjoy looking back at this post one day and reading all about your big birth day adventure!!! It surely was a very special day for all of us!!!

Lots of Love, Hugs, Kisses, & Snuggles,

~Mommy



Thank You, LYSOL....

So, gotta love (not so much) the timing of the latest round of sickies at the Weite House. Up until the birth of Miss Taylen, we had pretty much avoided all sickies, aside from Tylee's 2 week bout with strep and two rounds of antibiotics, ALL winter long.

The yucks decided to make their grand entrance a day before Taylen was born and it seems as though, up until Wednesday of this week, we battled one thing after another. Nothing major, but just a bunch of viruses, that have to run their course as we were told many times by the docs, and JUST enough to make this Momma a nervous one. I mean, I even STAYED at the hospital until 8 pm on the last day possible, just to give those at home a little longer to battle the bug.....

Nothing like bringing a two day old baby home to a coughing two year old who wants to "hold her" and "touch her face," a Daddy who has to sleep on the couch until he feels better, and a four year old that says his ear hurts so bad that he won't move a muscle (who didn't even end up having an ear infection, it was just another part of the "virus"--UGH!) I know she's supposed to be protected through me, but it still worries me like crazy considering all three mentioned above were running low grade fevers, hovering around 100 degrees, at one point or another and the last thing the nurse told me at the hospital was to head straight to the emergency room if Taylen's temp went above 100.4 degrees. A rectal temp was not what I was wanting to have to take on a 3 day old!!

So, THANKS to Lysol, Lysol Wipes, and a BUNCH of hand washing, it seems as though the yucks have made their departure for the time being. PLEASE, PLEASE stay away until next flu season!! (I'd hate to see what things would have been like without our flu shots....ugh!!!) And, enough with the "pink" sheets posted around the kids' school....

Here's to everyone who's under the weather feeling better ASAP.....and, Reach out and Touch this.....



Oh, and have I mentioned that it's SNOWING again!!! Enough already...I want those temps in the 60's back for good!!!

Poor Penny.....

has gone to FISHY HEAVEN!

Unfortunately, Penny's time here at the Weite House didn't last long. Apparently she decided that it was time to visit a better place and make a swim for it via the toilet bowl.

Tylee was EXTREMELY sad (although, I think she was more saddened by the look on Jason's face when he told her that Penny had died after school yesterday...she's such a sweetie and hates to see anyone sad!!!)

Tylee called Marshall to break the bad news to him, and GUESS WHAT!??! Tylee and Marshall made a quick trip to Earl May (Walmart's fish didn't quite pan out....THANKS for the heads up, Nik...lol) and picked out a new one!! That Marshall is quite the spoiler!!

So...here's a new shot of Penny Jr.......

She already looks healthier than the original Penny (Tylee wanted to keep the same name....) Look out Titan, there's a new gal in the tank!!!

Tylee Jean....Don't ever forget what great neighbors we have! You are one lucky girl!!!

Guess What!??!

Trey & Tylee officially have their FIRST pets....

Our WONDERFUL neighbors, (and, I'm not exaggerating when I say that Trey & Tylee absolutely adore them) Sarah and Marshall, took the kiddos on a little adventure this evening to let them pick out their FIRST pets EVER!

Tylee picked one with "spots" and Trey picked one in the perfect shade of orange....

They picked up a few necessities including food, a bowl, pebbles, a plant, a net, and a few other items.....

On their way home, they picked their names....Trey named his "Titan" from the movie, MegaMind, and Tylee named hers "Penny"....not sure where the name came from, but she's the boss!!

After a few minutes of prep work and setting up, the pets were ready to be enjoyed. Trey already knows they need to be fed once a day and he's in charge of giving them just the "right" amount....sounds like some responsibility factoring into this whole situation and Momma REALLY likes that idea!!

In case you still haven't guessed what they got.....see below....(PS...there aren't any photos of Tylee with the fish...she was too busy eating her watermelon and chose not to participate in the snap shot session...don't mess with Tylee Jean and her watermelon!!)

Trey posing with Titan & Penny!! Funny thing...he ran into the house after the trip to get the fish and said, "Mommy, you said no pets and now we have two!" Isn't that how it always goes??

Pointing out whose is whose....and now for sure realizing that Sarah & Marshall weren't taking them to the store to get Pepperidge Farm Goldfish....which is what he thought when they originally left for the store. When Marshall asked him what kind of goldfish he wanted, Trey's response was, "Chocolate!!!"

Making sure Titan and Penny like their new home.....

Watching them eat up the food as it falls to the bottom of the bowl.....

So, here's to a great first pet experience! Thanks, Sarah & Marshall!!!

On a cute little side note....as I tucked Tylee into bed tonight, we talked about her new fish. I asked her if she was going to tell her friends all about it tomorrow at school. She said, "Sure, of course, Mommy!" and then when I asked her what her fishy's name was, she paused for a minute, and then responded, "Quarter".....I had to giggle...who knows what the fish's name will be tomorrow!!!