Better late than never (on a variety of things)

**Somehow I wrote but never published this one.**

Almost one year ago today I became a Mom. I find it hard to even begin reflecting on how this has changed me...on the joy he has brought. But those feelings are so deep, so in my core that it is one of the few things that leaves me speechless.

I waited a long time for my baby. There were times that I thought I would never be able to carry a child full term and then suddenly....as the sun rose in the hills, (literally) on January 26, 2009 at 7:02, my perfect baby entered my life. And what an adventure this has been.

was one of those types of Moms. Or I thought I would be....you know the one. Only organic would touch my baby! Breastfed until I could reason with him to stop. No TV! No media! No sugar or box food! Family bed and babywearing. All my attention, all the time!

And then along he came! And along came reality..... he never breastfed. Although that was not for lack of trying. Spent most of his life in disposables. He eats mostly organic and has very little sugar. However, he has eaten chocolate, Nilla Wafers and Annie's Bunny Crackers. He watches "3rd and Bird" while I get ready for work. Play by himself while I blog and facebook. He does sleep with us everynight.....

It took me a while to realize that being militant does not make you a great parent. I believe that healthy parenting lies in the reality of life and in flexibility. I feel like a better parent letting him watch a little TV while I shower because otherwise he is screaming at the door. He also goes to playgroup, plays outside, plays with Mom.... he does a little of everything and GUESS WHAT!

He is OK! He is better than OK, he is great. I wouldn't have said this a year ago and I don't know why! What did I think? I guess I though parenting meant total control.....HA!

Anyhow....I can go on that topic forever but the important thing to note today are the Birthday Celebrations! I went for a Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. Both recipes as well as all of my cake paraphenalia can be found on the "Wilton" website. The cake batter seemed to thick and the icing a bit thin. The icing went very soft while piping and next time I will likely use a traditional Buttercream. Note the Brown Icing as I accidently added Black to it and managed to save it. Proud moment! This is a first for me as neither my Husband or I are "cake people." Seriously though, the cake batter was phenomenal.

Go ahead and try piping a cake! One of my BFF's makes cakes for everyone....she is my insipration in many ways. I kinda think she is superb in every way most especially parenting so I like to copy her whenever I can! Seriously...she can make cake sand out of crumbs and brown sugar. Who the heck does that! Check out some photos, laugh your ass of at my Funky Monkey and thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings!