This is the first year I did not bake a birthday cake for either one of my children.

Baking and decorating birthday cakes have always been a source of pride for me. I’m not particularly talented at cake-baking; I actually implored my readers last year NOT to report Lily’s Ariel cake to the Cake Wreck website. Even though Ariel wasn’t the best cake design, I’m quite proud of the Hello Kitty cake I made for Emmy one year.

One reason I have always insisted on baking cakes for Emmy and Lily is because I still remember the cakes my mom baked for me on my birthday. I especially remember the cake during my horse-crazy year. Mom melted down chocolate chips to make a paper-thin sheet of chocolate, cut out a horse silhouette, and put it on the top of my cake. I loved that cake!

But this year, birthday cakes at our house have been doomed. Emmy’s birthday was on the same weekend as my Dad’s wedding in Iowa, and so we had a little party with a cake I bought. Lily has informed me that she now hates cake and so she requested a brownie ice-cream cake from the store.

What? No special cakes decorated by Mommy?

I have decided that next year, I will reinstate the birthday cake tradition! And if Lily decides not to actually eat the cake, then so be it! That’s more cake for me!

Lily may not have wanted cake for her birthday, but she did request that I make homemade pizza. So I baked three pizzas this weekend. It’s not cake, but at least I did make something for Lily on her seventh birthday.

Lily may not eat cake, but watch out! That girl LOVES her pizza!