Birthday Cake

I keep forgetting that my pictures post in reverse. Oh well, so here's the finished project. Scarlet's 2nd birthday party had a Zoo theme. I got hats and different Zoo themed giveaways from Oriental Trading co. online and found some Little people animals for the Zoo cake.

I had been thinking about her cake for a week or so before I made it and couldn't decide how I wanted to do it. I looked around online for some ideas and like the waterfall idea and decided to make a square and a round cake on top. The top cake weighed 5 lbs and so I got some wooden dowels, cleaned and cut them up (Charlie did that for me) and poked them into the bottom cake for support. I don't know a whole lot about cake making, but you can figure that such a heavy top cake would crush the bottom cake for sure.

I used marshmallow fondant, which is super easy to make, but takes a lot of kneading and arm work, especially when mixing in colors. It also tastes pretty good, unlike regular fondant. There is raspberry cream frosting under the fondant also (it's also really easy to make) and layers of chocolate and silver cake (Betty Crocker recipe, it isn't really silver).

I wasn't sure how long everything would take to make, so I prepared the cakes a couple days before the party, crumb coated them and stuck them into the fridge. Not sure if I would do that again. It would be better to call a couple of late nights because the cake was a little dry. Also, I put a raspberry jam as a layer and even though the cake had a crumb coating, it still soaked through; definitely wouldn't do that again, especially since the cake was so heavy. Don;t get me wrong it still tasted good, but for all that work I honestly was expecting it to taste amazing. :)

I had an awesome time creating the cake. Thanks to my helpers: Athena and Debbie! You were great!

Diaper Change Barbie

This is so funny! She started changing Barbie's diaper with no help from any of us (this was like the 5th time, so I was familiar with the routine). Pretty cute!

I.V.I.G & Bone Marrow transplant

I noticed sometime ago that I get a lot of hits from people I assume are searching the internet for results for I.V.I.G or I.G.G. I've been meaning to post a little more about it and transplant in general but found that I wanted to be really specific and it turned out to be a novel instead of a blog. So, instead of me rambling on about transplant, side effects, I.V.I.G, etc. Please feel free to comment with any questions or comments, my email is listed also if you prefer.

I remember going through transplant with Scarlet and searching desperately for any information, especially related to survival and life after transplant. I would love to share any information I can with you. The thing about transplants though, is that they are all different. I've learned that there are just so many variables that affect the outcomes of transplants that you can't rely on another persons experience and expect the same results for yourself or loved one.
There are different protocols for different hospitals as well, which in my opinion, also affect transplant outcomes. With all that said, it is still comforting to hear from transplant survivors and I would like to reach out and help anyone who is need of some guidance.

I started this blog shortly prior to Scarlet's transplant and have posted irregularly since then, you can skim through and check out how she's done. There is much more to transplant that I don't believe I've posted about, enough I felt I could write a book about, but haven't and probably won't. Mostly because the medical field changes so quickly, I figured by the time I even finished writing the book there would have been more breakthroughs and changes and I would have been little help to anyone.
So, please comment or email if you have questions about anything related to bone marrow transplant and I will help as best I can.

It's POTTY TIME!!

Scarlet was reading a potty training book yesterday and when she was done she started pointing to her bum so I asked her if she needed a diaper change. She shook her head no and started climbing the stairs. I couldn't figure out what it was she was wanting with her bum-bum, so I kept asking her, in different ways, if she wanted to be changed. She kept saying "No" and continued to climb the stairs and then I finally made the connection between the book and her bum-bum and asked her if she wanted on the potty. She smiled and said, "yeah." Like, "You finally caught on".

She's caught me many times using the bathroom in my room and likes to get me toilet paper and watch as I do my thing. I hope that's not weird. If it is, oh well, because she wants on the potty like mommy and has the whole thing pretty much figured out, except for the actual "deed", we're not quite there. She sat there on the toilet for a long time, finally I started offering her, her bath toys for some entertainment and then I had to get the camera and take pictures of this new milestone.

Hooray for more pictures!

Scarlet and I took a quick trip to visit my parents a weekend or so ago. We were able to catch a ride over with Athena and her kids which was really nice, although Scarlet still cried for a good bit of the time. It's hard being stuck in a carseat for so long! The weather was great in Lakewood, so Grandma Vicki and Scarlet picked up in the yard a bit. Scarlet was such a good helper. She saw Gramma picking up sticks and putting them into the recycling container and went and found some too. She catches on to things so quickly; smart kid.

Grandma helped her find some dandelions in the yard. Scarlet will have millions of those in our yard here pretty soon. Our neighbors will probably come over and spray for us just so they don't get the seed blown into theirs.

Scarlet keeping Starla company while she cried for her mom upstairs.

Uncle Clayton getting his first piano lesson from Scarlet. I've caught her a few tims playing and singing at the same time. She even looks up at the sheet music like she knows what she's looking at. I'm glad I finally got a picture of her!

This is just a stinkin' cute picture. She loves her chocolate pudding!

So, I almost got a new camera out of Charlie because I had "lost" mine. I finally got around to cleaning the van out and found it hidden under the captain's seat. It wasn't actually hidden...if I really would have taken more than 5 minutes to look for it, it was in plain sight. :) Oops.

Charlie told me he almost got me the nikon camera I wanted until I found the old one.

Darn it!

Catching up on Firsts!

Our first Family Home Evening activity. We got the new nursery handbook and did one of the lessons in there with Scarlet. Of course we had to hang the finished work on the fridge...a first for that too.

Scarlet getting her first portacatheter poke. This was a while ago but I thought I would post it anyway.

Her first time having friends over that weren't family. Ellie and Kate are Scarlet's best friends, well, as best as friends go at that age. :)

I thought I would post this as Scarlet's first sad-pouty face. Yes, she's thrown fits before, was sad and cried before, but this was a new face to us. The picture was taken on Christmas Eve and we really haven't seen her make the face again. I think what happened was she wasn't allowed to help someone open their presents or something like that.

Check out Charlie's Chops! That only lasted a day!

I seem to have misplaced my camera, I had it for our last trip to Seattle and haven't seen it since. I wanted to update the blog today and will just have to use some older photos.
Here is uncle Clayton and Scarlet together on Christmas eve. She's either helping him or he's helping her open a gift. We were able to go to the candlelight service at grandpa Len's Lutheran church for Christmas Eve. It was a very nice service and Scarlet especially liked helping blow out the candles at the end.
Her great uncle Dan bought these Santa hat's for Scarlet and Starla...they are so cute!
They were able to play together awhile before we left for the service.
This year we decided as an Anderson family to go Christmas caroling to some friends and afterward we went to Great Grandma Doris's house for hot chocolate, treats, presents, and more caroling. Thanks Grandma Dor for the awesome time and fun presents!!
Charlie and Len both have recently taken an exam and both found out on the same day that they passed. Len passed his P.E. (physical engineering?) and Charlie the first of 4 CPA tests. Congrats!