TamaraLynCakes

Double 7′s

Before we get to the cake, we have to take a stroll down memory lane.  The summer of 2003 was a long hot summer in Texas as I neared the end of my second pregnancy.  We were living overseas at the time but had returned to the states to give birth.  It was an especially fun time to be pregnant because my sister-in-law was also pregnant with her first.  It was a race to the finish as we both tried to survive the heat…maybe I remember incorrectly, or maybe it was just being pregnant, but it seems like we had record breaking temps.  Of course, it seems we have record breaking temps in Texas every summer anymore.

Here we are a few weeks from delivery – weren’t we cute? 

I made it to the finish line first, but only by a few days.  On August 8th, my daughter, Madison, was born and her sweet cousin, Jackson, followed just 5 days later.  It was so fun to be sitting in the waiting room (the very one where all our family sat just 5 days earlier) with my own 5 day old baby awaiting the birth of my first nephew.  It was such a special experience to be pregnant at the same time.  We would go shopping together in those first few weeks with the babies and people would “ooh” and “ahh” over them.  They would say, “Oh, cute…twins!”  We would smile and respond, “No, cousins, 5 days apart.”  It was then that we started calling them the “twin cousins.”  This was taken when they were just a few weeks old.

It is always special for Madi and Jackson when we get to celebrate their birthdays together.  We were visiting family a few weeks ago right before their birthdays and we got have a little party for them.  Of course, I had to make a cake!  I wanted to do something simple and cute so we came up with the idea of “7″ cupcakes.  If you have never seen the pull apart cakes before, they are a stroke of genius for birthday parties – cupcakes laid in a shape and iced as one cake.  You get the benefit of a cute decorated cake, but the ease of cupcakes!  This was the first time I had made them and they were so much fun.

Splish Splash

After we returned home from all our travels, it was time to plan our own birthday party for Madison.  We decided to have a good ‘ole backyard splash party.  We played all kinds of fun water games, had a water balloon fight and best of all, a slip n’ slide!  As I thought about the party, I came up with this cake design, complete with “fondant Madi!”  I was really pleased with how it turned out and most importantly, the birthday girl LOVED it!!  Although I have to admit, it was a bit strange when Madison was asking, “Can I please eat my head?!?!”

Lots of fun cakes and another one coming soon…