As many of you know Shannon and I travel to the ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas each year in the pursuit to find new and exciting products in the Baby and Juvenile Industry. What I find difficult is to find clothing that is both comfortable and business casual. Come learn more about me and my pursuit of fashion.

Marshalls Makeover with Kelly from Bellani Maternity from Audrey McClelland on Vimeo.

I started this cake with two boxes of Betty Crocker Butter Yellow Cake Mix

( I know, if you know me, you know that the cake lover in me finds this unacceptable.  However, when I make a cake for the kids to devour, they just want something pretty.  If you want good cake, wait for another week!)

Make the cake mix according to box directions.

Now take out six similar sized bowls.  Evenly break up batter into the six bowls.  Now add food coloring to each bowl for it’s appropriate color.  I used rainbow colors of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet.  Use lots of gel coloring or food dye, or whatever it is that you use, but make the colors vibrant!

Next take your round cake pans, I used tw0 ten inch cake pans, and grease and flour (or parchment).  Take 1 cup of the red batter and pour it directly in the middle of your first pan.  Now, using a clean measuring cup, pour 1 cup of orange directly into the red, like pouring oil in the middle, go slowly, make it even.  You should still be able to see red, but it should be moving to the outside of the cake pan.  Repeat with the Yellow, Green, Blue and Violet.  Now, make one more of these, but do the colors in reverse.

Bake according to package directions.

Finished Product

When cakes are cool (really cool) slice in half, so you have four moon shapes.  I layered the moon shapes, with frosting in between.  Then frosted a crumb coat and flipped it on it’s side to make my “rainbow.”  I then frosted the entire cake in cream cheese frosting (my daughter’s favorite and so easy to make!), and added skittles to make my concentric half circles for the rainbow coloring.  Okay, so actually Mr. Guertin applied the skittles.  I was onto grilling eggplant.

photo by suchitra prints

So I work on my marriage.  It isn’t easy, but it really isn’t that difficult either.  Mr. Guertin and I will be married seven years in December.  During this time we have had children, moved, started a new business, lost parents, lost jobs, and left jobs.  We’ve been lazy, and then at times we’ve seemed manic.

I’m a perfectionist, who has a to do list with several addendums.  I crave order, organization, and my idea of perfect family life.  Imagine living up to those standards!  My husband has his flaws, just like I have mine.  Sometime in the last several years I realized that a great marriage doesn’t just happen, I would have to work on it.  Quite frankly, getting divorced just seems like too much work anyway.

Kelly

Soft, light and easy to grasp, Sophie La Giraffe is perfect for little hands and makes a happy sound when squeezed. Babies especially love her bumpy head to sooth their teething gums.

In today’s fast paced world it is unusual to see a high production toy still made by hand. Proudly handmade in the French Alps with the finest rubber (phthalate-free) and food quality paints. She is hardly new, Sophie was born in 1961, and is certainly a Bellani baby favorite.