Miss E's Birthday!

Miss E's present and birthday treats waiting for her to arrive.

     Miss E turned 6 last week!!! I honestly have no idea how that happened. I have been home with her every single day since the day she was born, so it is not like I've been too wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of managing work and home to notice her growing. I have truly been blessed to be with her to celebrate each and every one of her milestones. It just doesn't seem possible for her to be 6 already!

     Looking back on the past six years I can't help but tear up. You see, even though Miss E was our first baby and I was the typical over-the-edge first time mom, I just knew something wasn't quite "right" from the very beginning. I kept questioning some of her little quirks, but for the most part the "experts," friends, and family made me feel like I was just over analyzing and overreacting to things. She was a terrible sleeper. The poor thing just could not self soothe! I swear I broke the binding on our beloved copy of  The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp. We swaddled her, shushed her, rocked her, bounced her, slept her on her side and put more hours on our baby swing in the first few months of her life than we ever would again even with TWO more babies to follow!

Miss D meeting "Piggy."

     She reached most milestones (rolling over, sitting up, etc.) on the very tail end of the typical age range. She never crawled, but I was assured that crawling wasn't a measurable milestone. She took FOREVER to really walk even after making her first few steps. Her first birthday came and went, and she was really not talking at all. We had done baby sign language with her from birth and she could easily learn and use well over 50 signs by the time she was a year. After Miss D was born (the girls are almost exactly 18 months apart) it became even more difficult to help Miss E navigate her world. We were like captives in our own home, unable to comfortably (or successfully for that matter,) go out into public without the poor thing coming unglued. Any sort of deviation from her typical routine was rough on all of us! Long story short, I finally put my foot down at her 24 Mo. checkup and insisted on a referral for a speech evaluation.

     From that moment on we were in the capable and supportive hands of  her OT, PT and SLP. From the age of 3 she attended a wonderful preschool where she had the opportunity to interact with and learn from typically developing peers. She also attended therapeutic swimming classes and Hippotherapy (Therapeutic horse riding) and we eventually got an official diagnosis of Autism from our beloved Developmental Pediatrician when she was 4. Our original goal for Miss E was for her to be all caught up so that she did not require any interventions once she reached school age. She will be finishing up her Kindergarten year in the next couple of months and I must say that while she is still receiving therapies (I'm no longer concerned about that!) and has a shared one on one, she is 100% mainstreamed and thriving. I'd say that she has easily reached and far surpassed our expectations for her since her diagnosis almost two years ago, and we really couldn't be more proud of her!
     If you are like my husband you are probably asking yourself "What does all of this have to do with the blog?" and to that I will answer-"EVERYTHING!!!" Miss E is the first reason we started to simplify our lives. She is the reason I stayed home from my teaching job and have never gone back. She is the reason we decided that it was worth making the necessary adjustments to our budget to live on one household income. Because of that choice I now have the time and energy to be more creative and thrifty. Essentially, Miss E started us on the path that would eventually lead us to having this Small Farm in the Woods.

     For her 6th birthday, Miss E went with Mr. J to pick up our new piglets. She was very excited to be the first one to "pick them out!" While she was gone Miss D, Mr. T and I made her cards, wrapped her homemade present, and put together a birthday snack. We have FOUR April birthdays in our family so I had already made her cake a couple of days before when I made one for my mother. It was a Toffee Bar Coffee Cake that was supposed to be baked in a 9x13 pan so I just made two smaller cakes in pie plates. I am not typically a fan of Toffee, but I have to say it was pretty yummy. The recipe I used for the Toffee can be found HERE. I simply substituted chopped pecans for the almonds. Below is the cake recipe I came up with. It was inspired by a recipe I found on Food.com, but I tweaked it a bit to be gluten free, and we topped it with whipped cream. YUM!
   

After Miss E had introduced everyone to our 4 new piggies and they were relatively settled into the new digs, we came inside for cake and presents. Miss E had asked for a bed for her stuffed animals for her birthday. Plan A was for Mr. J to make one, but as time ran out plan B was to run to the Mill Store to get one. Thankfully, I ended up finding and old planter at my aunt's house while I was helping her move that fit the bill perfectly. I guess God had a Plan C to make our lives even easier!

 I made a mattress for the bed out of the old changing table foam by simply cutting it to size and covering it in some fleece I had on hand. I used the same fleece to make a sheet set for the bed. The pillow is made out of an upcycled prefold diaper and stuffing from an old pillow. The quilt is a work in progress. It needs to be made longer and wider, but for my first attempt, I think it looks okay. I will also make a decorative pillow sham to match once I add on to the quilt in a few days. It seems to meet Miss E's approval and more importantly her beloved stuffed animals seem to love their new bed!!!
     While Miss E and Mr. J were out retrieving the piglets I realized that I had no good way of wrapping the bed, so I whipped up a simple cloth gift bag with fabric I had on hand and tied it with a ribbon. I had plenty of time before they were expected back so I decided to reinforce all of the seams with a zig zag stitch. I also pressed and hemmed the top for a neat finish. In a pinch these steps are not at all necessary but now we have a cool, HUGE, reusable gift bag that is made to last!

     Gluten Free Toffee Coffee Cake

1 1/2 C. brown rice flour                    1. Butter 9 x 13 in. pan or 2 pie plates

1/3 C. potato starch

2 TBSP. tapioca flour                            2. Beat together flour, both sugars, butter and salt until mix. 

1 tsp. xanthan gum                                  resembles a course meal. Set aside 1/2 C for topping. 

1 C. brown sugar                                  

1/2 C. white sugar                                 3. Stir in baking soda and add buttermilk, egg and vanilla; beat until

1/2 C. butter, at room temp                   just combined.

1/2 tsp. salt

7 1/2 oz. toffee, crushed                       4. Transfer to buttered dish(es.)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 C. buttermilk                                     5. Add Toffee to reserved topping and mix. Sprinkle over cake.

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla                                         6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 mins., or until golden brown.

*If you want to make this with regular flour use 2 C. and omit the brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour and xanthan gum.                      

All in all I think Miss E had a good day. It is nice for all of us to have her birthday on April vacation. It really is wonderful to see the young lady that she has become and to celebrate all of her success.

Make a wish, sweet girl. The sky's the limit!

One Proud Mommy, Mrs. J :)