My oldest son, Elijah (5) loved Toy Story when he was 3 (which is the age he was when my youngest, Judah, turned 1 and Bakeosaurus Rex was born.) his FAVORITE Toy Story Toons was/is Partysaurus Rex (WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN IT?! It is okay, Disney Pixar has a Sneak Peek on YouTube, click here to see it.)

Since he loved it so much, naturally -saurus Rex got added to a lot of words to describe things to Elijah.  A few examples include:

Crabbysaurus Rex

Sleepysaurus Rex

Sillysaurus Rex

Bakeosaurus Rex

The week before Judah’s 1st birthday, I had barricaded myself in the kitchen using baby gates and kitchen chairs so that I could practice and refine my baking projects for Judah’s birthday party.  Whenever Elijah would ask for my attention (with his father sitting right next to him, isn’t that how it always goes?) I would say, “Just a minute buddy, mommy is Bakeosaurus Rex right now, I am almost done”  So you could say,

It stuck.

1. Have you ever noticed BRex only has one tooth?  The reason why is because Judah only had one tooth on his first birthday.
2. Did you notice what hand BRex is holding his spoon in?  Why the left?  I am left handed.
3. Why is Rex’s bowl red?  Red is my husband, Nicks favorite color.
4. Why is Rex’s hat too big for his head?! A chefs is too big for Judah, he is who I drew Rex after, remember, although I think Judah is going to be right handed, the verdict is still out.

PAUSE: Before you read any further, I should tell you, I tend to make up words. My older brother, Jason (who you will hear more about in future posts as he had a lot to do with getting me “online”) at an early age coined them as “Shannonisms” there in here, so keep you eye out. The first one you will come across is “reblend” apparently Webster doesn’t reblend his cake batter after scraping down his batter bowl, either that or he calls it something different)

PLAY: I am a Christian. I have two beautiful sons. Elijah who is 5 years old, and Judah who is 2 years old. I am married to my best friend, Detman. So, how did I get here?

My second son was turning 1 and I wanted his day to be special. I have come to find that, because he is the second son, he gets a lot of hand-me-downs and almost everything he has, wears and plays with was at one time his older brother’s. SO, I really wanted this party to be HIS and I wanted it to be SPECIAL.

We decided to have the party at one of his favorite play places, KidsWork Children’s Museum in Frankfort, Illinois. The party time they had available for his birthdate was 10am. The woman on the phone suggested doing breakfasty type foods because of the time. I took that idea and RAN (over to Pinterest) with it.

The party theme was Pancakes and Pajamas. So of course the most important part (to me) of any party, is the CAKE! It was his first birthday so there had to be a smash cake and after much hunting I found the cake of my dreams, and I was going to make it. First, I needed to practice, so I did, making mini silver dollar pancake cupcakes.

I was overwhelmed with positive responses via Facebook from family and friends and even had some folks interested in taste testing. After a few tweaks, using their honest feedback, Judah’s cake, and his guest’s cupcakes were complete! We were not sure we would have enough so we ordered some yellow cupcakes with white buttercream for backups. (Don’t worry, I dressed them up with cute fondant pancakes and a caramel maple drizzle.)

My own husband was so taken with my creations he suggested a side business. Lacking confidence, and not fully realizing he was serious, I laughed it off. Through text, his aunt had the same suggestion. The day of the party many party guests including my cousin, Kelly, again suggested it to me.

It wasn’t until my husband’s friend and co-worker complemented my work and asked me to fulfill an order for her son’s birthday the following month. I had a “Holy Spirit Got Your Tongue” moment and thought in my mind I was going to say “No” (doesn’t this lady know I don’t have a pan, I don’t have a mixer, I don’t know HOW TO BAKE!!! I had to borrow EVERYTHING I used to make the treats for my sons birthday!!! BUT), what came out was “of course!” With my husbands encouragement, lots of YouTube video watching and practice, I fulfilled her order for a cake, cookies, cupcakes and cake pops.  .

Thus, the birth of BakeosaurusRex! Want to know why the name Bakeosaurus Rex?  Click HERE.

 Since then, God has grown this business into what it is now. My family and I look froward to how the story of Bakeosaurus Rex will continue to unfold over the years. What a joy and blessing it has been thus far.  Thank you for being a part of our journey.