The end of an era…

This is a picture of my sexy new wrist brace.

At night instead of “Good night, baby, I love you”, the last thing out of my hubby’s mouth is, “Did you put your brace on?” Oh, my, have we entered “that” stage after 11 1/2 years of marriage??
(I’m only half joking—I still get the sweet I love yous too- it’s just followed by him checking up on me to make sure I have it on! He’s just good to me like that!)

Something I’ve feared for over a year now, have officially been confirmed. I have been diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. And tennis elbow.

Fun. Joy. Great.

And in my right hand/arm. And I’m right handed.

I’ve had some pain for a few years now. About a year ago, I started having more frequent pain as well as numbness in my arm/hand.

The last straw was recently when we were taking care of the babies at church a couple months ago. I was having trouble picking the sweet little ones up. When one little one fell asleep on me in the rocking chair, after just a few minutes of holding her my forearm/hand went completely numb and started hurting really bad.

I was in the doctor the next week. It scared me to think that I’m not going to be able to pick up and hold my baby without pain and discomfort. I have to get better before my little Khloe comes home. (Have I officially stated that’s what our sweet little one’s name is going to be? If not, there you go! It’s now official!)

So, the doctor told me to get the brace and wear it at night when I sleep and also when I have pain.

I was skeptical, but believe it or not, it has helped tremendously. What he said about most of the damage being caused while sleeping, I’ve realized it’s so true. I was sleeping with my hands in the weirdest positions before the brace. I was in a lot of pain right after the doctor visit because the poking and prodding and testing that he did really aggravated it. For an entire week, I was in pain 24/7. I even had trouble sleeping.

After that 1st week, it started feeling better. I ended up “accidentally” having almost 2 weeks off from making any cakes. The schedule just worked out that way. At the end of those 2 weeks, I was in less pain than I’d been in many months.

I thought I was cured!

The next weekend, I had one cake to do that had to be delivered on Sunday.

I barely got the cake done I was in so much pain by the end of it.

I was in pain for 4 straight days after I delivered the cake.

So, I came to the conclusion that the reason I was feeling so good after those 2 weeks is because that’s the longest time I’ve gone without decorating a cake since May.

So, after talking with Jason about it, we decided that I need to stop making the decorated cakes. The main thing that hurts so bad is holding the bags of icing and piping the icing on the cakes. Also, kneading and rolling fondant was killer. Although I didn’t use it much—because I couldn’t hardly work with it.

I was thankful that all the friends I had to cancel on understood and had enough time to be able to get someone else to make their cakes.

I finished the 2 that I had on the books for this weekend and that is the end of my cake decorating career.

The end of this short but sweet era of my life.

I can still bake and provide the pure yumminess without a problem! I’m just going back to my original intent for my little fundraising business.

I never intended to make the “fancy, decorated cakes” in the beginning because of the time factor involved. I’m too busy without the cake decorating on the side! But, the orders were coming in faster than I ever imagined and I was so thankful for the business that I just couldn’t say no!

And truth be told, I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve surprised myself on some of the stuff that I did that I never thought I could do. I’ve had several sweet moments in the kitchen with my husband as he helped me finish cakes into the wee hours of the morning when we were getting delirious and could hardly hold our eyes open- swigging caffeine like crazy and jamming out to my Michael Jackson station on Pandora to keep going.

I have to admit that I also thoroughly enjoyed the praise from my children each time I completed a cake and showed it off to them. Each of the boys had written reports at school about their mom’s awesome cakes. They gave just the most glowing comments each time. Even if I wasn’t completely satisfied with the final product, they thought I was the rock star of cake making. How could that not be a good self-confidence booster? (Especially when I struggle with self-esteem issues anyway.)

In a lot of ways, making all those cakes was good for me!

I’m so thankful for each person who ordered these cakes from me and for your contributions towards our adoption fund!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

I am still in business making cakes (sure to be homemade from scratch and yummy… but don’t ask me to decorate them in your party theme, please! I just can’t do it!) as well as cupcakes, muffins and cookies.

And, coming soon:

HOMEMADE PIES, CANDIES and CINNAMON ROLLS for the holidays!

More info on these new goodies coming soon!!

Thank you again to EVERY SINGLE PERSON that has ordered anything from me. You are helping us to reach our goal of bringing our Sweet Baby Girl home. I pray God’s blessings on each of you!