Mia was born on December 20 with a congenital heart condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) and in short, the left side of her heart was severally underdeveloped. You can read more about Mia's journey on her mom's Facebook page. She's seriously a trooper and I couldn't wait to meet her.
Mia was going to be celebrating her second birthday on December 7 and once I confirmed my availability I was put into contact with her mother, Christi. She informed me that Mia is in LOVE with the show Paw Patrol and the character Skye. Once again, I had never even heard about this show so I spent a few hours online researching to get an idea for her cake. In my research I discovered that Skye was a cockapoo and if you've read my very first blog entry you'd know that my sweet puppy dog, Sophie, is in fact a cockapoo! I immediately messaged Christi about Sophie and offered to bring her along when I delivered Mia's cake. Christi and Mia were 100% on board. I think that Christi and I were actually more excited about the whole thing than Mia... And Sophie for that matter. Sophie HATES wearing things. Coats, costumes, bows, you name it. She will literally stand there and look at you as if you just de-stuffed her favorite squeaky toy.
Skye wears this pink get-up so I had to make Sophie wear her pink coat for the delivery!
Sooooooo getting back on subject!!! The design of the cake was actually pretty simple. There are six puppies on Paw Patrol, so I made each of their badges to go on a side of the cake.
They were made from gumpaste that I then colored with edible markers. I also made Mia her own personalized badge that had a gold heart with her name in the center... and I forgot to take a picture of it.
The front had the Paw Patrol logo and a bright, pink '2' for Mia's birthday.
The top of the cake was a different story! I made Skye by carving/sculpting Rice Krispy treats, which is the most time consuming part for me when I'm making 3-D figurines. I'm really a perfectionist and if one part looks 'off' to me then 9 times out of 10 I'll squish up the figurine and start over!
Once I had Skye's head and body made, I covered them in a layer of buttercream, smoothed them out, and then covered them in fondant. I then added all of the details including her goggles and aviation hat, backpack, tail, ears, eyes, arms and legs. I was so happy with how she turned out!
On the day of Mia's party, I got Sophie all dressed up in her jacket and we made our way down to the hotel where her family was having the event. I unfortunately couldn't bring Sophie into the hotel but Mia got to meet her in the entry way of the lobby and Sophie had kisses for everyone. Wouldn't be an issue if she didn't have such stinky, puppy breath!
When I opened the cake box to show Mia her cake, she immediately started smiling. She recognized Skye in an instant and couldn't contain her excitement. I picked her up and showed her Skye and the different parts of the cake and we got a few pictures together.
As I started to leave, my emotions got the very best of me and I started crying. Christi thanked me over and over again for the cake but I told her the honor was all mine, and it really truly was! Mia is such a little fighter and has been through more battles in her first 2 years that most people won't even face in their lifetime. I just kept thinking to myself how miserable I was when I was sick and then diagnosed with Lupus and how much I needed a distraction from all the doctor's visits, lab tests, and hospital stays. Mia's condition is SO much more critical than mine, so I could only imagine the break they all needed from the medical hustle and bustle they go through each day. I was honored to be part of the distraction that day and doing her birthday cake put so much into perspective for me. Life is so precious and so many people take it for granted. I often ask myself, "Are you doing enough? Are you making the world better by being in it? What else can you do to make a difference?" And it dawned on me as I was writing this blog that hopefully by sharing this story, it'll inspire others to have the same mindset. I wish that I could spend the rest of my life providing cakes for Icing Smiles, but unfortunately I do need to make some sort of income haha. But can you imagine how much better our society would be if each day, every single person did ONE thing to help someone else. Ask yourself if YOU are making a difference, and if not, what's stopping you?
Thank you for reading! Always,
Sarah
