A Day in the Life.

Olivia has been a busy little girl!  She had a fun weekend with family and friends.  Friday she hung out with her parents and layed low at home since the rest of the weekend was packed.  She watched mom bake cupcakes and had a great time helping with her doll, dot.

Saturday she was up bright and early with mom while she finished baking then it was off to the ballgame.  She went to her second Kentwood state baseball game with dad and grandpa P to watch the boys play and Scott coach.  Apparently, it wasn’t eventful enough for her because she found grandpa’s shoulder to be pretty comfy…Luckily Kentwood won!

With little time to spare, it was time to get home, eat some sweet potato, milk and freshen up for a belated Mother’s Day celebration with grandma P over at the grandparent’s house.  She enjoyed seeing her grandparents, aunt and uncle and getting much attention from everyone along with enjoying toys over at their house.  Livie had a great time and stayed up way past her bedtime – mom and dad got her home, safe and sound to bed.

Sunday morning she was up early, got a quick bath, an outfit change, oatmeal and some milk, then a nice morning walk with mom and dad around the neighborhoods.  Once home she played while waiting for her girlfriend, Elizabeth to come over.  Elizabeth is three months old and is the daughter of Brian and Libby, who are good friends with mom and dad.  This was the girl’s first time meeting and boy did they enjoy one another.  Livie was enthralled by Elizabeth and just wanted to touch her, giggle and play.  They were even dressed to match – it was too cute.  Livie is looking forward to her next play date with Elizabeth already!

Cute daddies and their very long girls

After the fun visit with Elizabeth it was time to have some milk, a snooze and head out to visit Crystal and Gwen with mom and dad.  Livie loved seeing Crystal and Gwen and catching up since she hadn’t been over to their house for a while.  Then it was off to see grandpa’s art display at Druid’s Glen golf course and see tons of family and good friends.  It was quite the gathering and she enjoyed getting held by everyone and seeing all sorts of family and buddies who she hadn’t seen in some time.  By this time Livie was pooped and it was time for a nap, some food and milk asap.  Home by 6:00 pm ready to relax, eat and get all ready for bed.

This girl had a great weekend and is looking forward to a vacation with mom and dad this coming weekend.  She is getting ready to head over to Spokane to visit her gg, great grandpa, great aunt and great uncle Friday and then off to Coeur d’Alene with friends.  Time to get busy packing!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

I have been meaning to start making cupcakes for a while now.  I have only made them from the box and now I can say that I have truly made cupcakes.  I am already thinking about Livie’s first birthday party and have decided that we are doing a cupcake theme.  I actually just ordered that giant cupcake mold and am anxious to start experimenting with that once it is delivered – that will be her cake and then we’ll have cupcakes to match.  Anyways, I need to find the perfect cupcake recipes to make for her birthday party so I am starting now!  Yes, I am a bit of a planner

My first batch of cupcakes turned out great!  The one thing I need to work on is the frosting decorating, but I think considering I used a ziplock back to frost they turned out okay.  I need to get some of those fancy frosting accessories soon.  These dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting are rich, moist and delicious.  These are right up a chocolate and peanut butter lovers’ alley.  I will be making these again!

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes:

Makes 12 cupcakes – Prep Time: 20 minutes | Bake Time: 18-20 minutes | Cooling Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 2 ounces or 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 3/4  cup granulated sugar
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• 1/2 tspn salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream (I used fat free)

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Line standard-size muffin pan with baking cup liners.

Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl.  Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and combined.  (Alternately, you can microwave the mixture at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted.)  Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in second medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.  Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.  Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined, then sift remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is combined and thick.

Divide the batter evenly among muffin pan cups.  Bake until skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.  Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack.  Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

(recipe from Brown Eyed Baker)

Peanut Butter Frosting

Makes more than enough to frost 12 cupcakes – Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 tspn salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work.  Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

(Recipe from Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten)

Next up, Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes!

Mother’s Day Weekend

The last two years, Mother’s Day has been different for me.  Last year I was pregnant and had a lot to think about becoming a new mom and all.  People wished me a happy Mother’s Day since I was expecting, but I wasn’t a mom yet.  This year, actually being a mom, the day was very meaningful.  Yes, it is a “Hallmark” holiday much like Valentine’s Day and Father’s Day so they can make money, but it is a great day to celebrate moms and all that they have done for us.

Now, being a mom I can see how much my mom has done for me growing up and how she has made me who I am today.  All of those diaper changes, sleepless nights and constant worry when I was growing up being out and about.  I honestly can’t thank her enough.  It isn’t easy and I have a lot of respect for all moms out there.

Our Mother’s Day weekend was really nice.  Livie and I traveled down to Olympia to visit my parents Friday and stay the night because we had a very special 1st birthday party to head to Saturday.  Her buddy, Don, turned one on Saturday and we were very excited to see him and celebrate his day.  It was a fun day and so beautiful outside!  We loved getting to catch up with great family friends and see all of the kids.

Birthday boy enjoying his cake!

Lauren & Livie

 The Lookers

Jeff joined us Saturday night at my parent’s house after his golf tournament, which they won, to hang out and have dinner all together.  It was just such beautiful weather – we really enjoyed being outside for most of the weekend.

Sunday morning we took some pictures together and then went to brunch out over looking the sound.  I got an awesome gift from Livie and Jeff, a darling photo of her that Grandpa Jim took and an imprint of her feet, along with a Lululemon giftcard.  They spoiled me.  I also received a great canvas print of Livie from my parents – I love it, so special.

It was a great day and I felt very much appreciated.  It was also wonderful getting to spend part of the day with my mom.  We are looking forward to celebrating Jeff’s mom this coming weekend too!

Livie was too distracted by everything outside and the sun to get any good smiles

After our time in Olympia we headed home to enjoy the rest of the day with our little family.  We went for a great walk and had a yummy dinner together.  A perfect weekend, just not long enough.

Livie, you have made my life worth living – you are the best!  Thank you for making me a mom.

Six Months Old.

Our little girl turned six months old yesterday - this last month has been filled with changes.  So many firsts and exciting things happening.  Livie is so much fun!  Her little personality comes out more and more everyday – she is such a funny, smart and sweet little girl (yes, I am biased because I am her mom too ).  We can’t put anything past this one – she is quick.  When trying to take these pictures she kept trying to take the sticker off, the little stinker…

Playing

Playing now is big business.  Toys are so cool and keep her attention for a long time.  She can now sit on her own and stays up pretty good.  She juggles several toys at once.  It is amazing to see her coordination now and how her fine motor skills have progressed.

She is loving her new play area in the family room.  No crawling yet, just lots of wigglying and flopping around.  Jeff and I both didn’t crawl we just went straight to walking so maybe she is following in our footsteps.  She is a lot stronger in her arms and pushes up when she is on her stomach pretty good.

She has almost outgrown in length her piano playgym and her jumparoo may not last too much longer either.  We will just have to get some new toys that fit her better!

Eating

We are several weeks into solids and things are going great.  We tried oatmeal for the first time this week and she loves it.  Now we are giving her oatmeal during the AM feeding and a vegetable puree during the PM feeding.  Later in the next couple weeks we will start fruits with her oatmeal and see how that goes.  Her appetite is not as crazy as it was and she has plateaued a bit on her weight gain.

Speaking of eating, Livie got her first tooth this past Monday!  It was a weird night before the tooth erupted…Jeff left for a work trip so it was just Livie and I Sunday night.  I had put her down on her play mat  while I was getting dinner ready and she started to cry all of a sudden and I realized she had thrown up.  This was strange because she had never thrown up before, only spit-up.  I was so sad/scared that she wasn’t feeling well and nervious as to why.  We went upstairs and she threw up again as I was taking her temperature, poor thing.  Her temperature was normal, thank goodness.  I gave her bath #2 of the day since the throw up was all over her and myself.

She seemed fine after the bath and was her happy self and went to bed great.  The next day she had a tooth!  Her lower, left bottom tooth was poking through so that explains the throwing up, we are assuming.  This eased my mind knowing the reason.  The other front, lower tooth looks like it is about to poke through too.

Sleeping

Livie is still a great little sleeper.  We do wish that she would start sleeping in longer into the morning.  She is up at 5:45 am most mornings and that means no sleeping in on the weekends…we even tried to have her stay up later and she still woke up around 6:00 am, ugh!  Hopefully we can slowly change this pattern.

She isn’t into rolling over too much yet and stops herself if she can when she is on her side and about to go over.  She does do it from time to time by accident though – I am hoping she starts doing it on her own so her bald spot would go away a bit .  In time!

Favorite Things:

• Her toes
• Chew toys, especially ones straight from the freezer
• Oatmeal and avocado
• Her kitties – she watches them very closely now and tries to pet them
• Story time – she turns the pages now
• Jumparoo

Stats:

• Weight – 17 lbs, 9 oz./80%
• Length – 28 inches/99%
• Head – 17 inches/73%

We hope everyone has a great Mother’s Day weekend and Happy Mother’s Day to the very special mom’s in our lives – Great Grandma Maxine (GG), Grandma Jean and Grandma Nancy!  Thank you for all that you have done for us.  We love you very much and appreciate you everyday!

Starting Solids.

We are at week two of solids and things are going pretty good.

We decided to take the plunge and get started when Livie was close to five and a half months old.  She was eyeing everything we were eating and it seemed like the right time to start.  Technically, Livie has been on solids for a long time if you count the rice cereal that we have been putting into her bottles which dissolves into the milk.  We started doing this because of her reflux and the pediatrician’s instruction and it has been great for her.

Her first taste of real solids was sweet potato – not the yam (I am not a fan of yams, but sweet potato) baked and then blended up in a food processor.  Her first taste definitely led to a face of “what the heck was that”, but soon she got into it and would open her mouth like a baby birdie waiting for the spoonful of sweet potato puree.  Since the sweet potato, we have tried avocado, carrots and squash puree.  Her favorites are definitely the sweet potato and avocado – two of my very favorite foods ironically.  Next up I want to try green beans and Washington asparagus since it is in season right now and amazing.  After that rotation we will start-up fruits.

She hated carrots.  Hands down the worse face that I have ever seen her make.  After attempting to feed it to her for a few minutes she decided it was torture and started crying.  Poor little girl!  So to the freezer the carrots went – we’ll try them again in a month or two.  We have been spoon-feeding her as opposed to the baby-led weaning method.  Baby-led weaning intrigues me, but I would be too nervous with the choking hazzard.  I was spoon fed and turned out okay so that is what I am going with.

We have been feeding her the solids just before her mid-morning bottle feeding and then again before her afternoon bottle feeding.  I feel like the milk helps wash down the food and she is always really excited for her bottle after eating.  She is into her high chair and likes to sit up and look around at everything like a big girl.

All in all, I am really glad that we started solids when we did and she seems to be taking it pretty well.  Some days she isn’t the best eater and isn’t too interested, but other days she is and eats it right up.  We are having fun exploring this new stage with her.  She is so much fun!

Oatmeal-Orange & Raisin Cookies

This oatmeal raisin cookie recipe is from the Don’t Eat Your Heart Out Cookbook.  These cookies are refreshing with the hints of orange and abundance of raisins.  These are great for breakfast or an after dinner treat.  I have been eating way too many of these the last two weeks!

Ingredients:

• 1 orange with rind
• 6 tablespoons safflower oil
• 3/4 cup honey (or brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup skim milk or soy milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or oat flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups raisins

Directions:

Grind orange with rind in blender; add oil, honey,milk and vanilla; bland.  Combine remaining ingredients; add to orange mixture.  Stir to blend.  Drop by large serving spoonfuls onto silpat baking sheet.  Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  Remove to wire racks to cool.

Note:  If less orange flavor is desired, use less orange rind.

(recipe from:   Don’t Eat Your Heart Out Cookbook)

Enjoy!

Jogging Stroller Adventures

Livie and I hit the pavement this weekend in the jogging stroller.  Jeff was golfing Saturday so I had no choice, but to strap her in and go for a run.  It was absolutely gorgeous outside and I couldn’t bare to be indoors the entire day with her so we went on our first run together.  We have gone on a couple of walks in the jogging stroller and have loved it – I was eager to try it running.  I do love that our area has so many great sidewalks and paved trails - it makes it easy to head out with the stroller.

 I didn’t have her in the sun while running, I had the cover over her to block it out just pushed it back for the picture

Since starting back running Jeff and I have been alternating going out for runs while the other looks after Livie which has been nice because it gives me time to think and de-stress alone, but it was pretty fun having her with me for a change :) .  She loved it and was fast asleep around mile 2.   Jeff and I used to run together every weekend so now I am really looking forward to getting lots of miles in this summer with her in tow.

It didn’t feel too weird not being able to use my arms while running and it went by really fast because I was concentrating on her and pushing the stroller.  It worked out well and I am looking forward to giving it another try this coming weekend if the weather is nice.  She is a great running partner!

In other news, Livie also got to meet up with her buddies, Don and Trent, on Sunday and meet a new girlfriend, Nina!

 Trent & Livie ready to get on the road!

 Sleeping beauties first meeting - Nina & Livie

So tired 

Best buddies – Nina (2 weeks old), Livie (5 months old), Trent (8 months old), Don (11 months old)

Nina was born in early April and is the daughter of good family friends, Kora and Nick.  Nina was so adorable and sweet – I loved getting to hold her.  She has the cutest little features.  It is amazing how quickly they grow, thinking back to Olivia being that size just 5 months prior.  Livie is sure excited to have another girlfriend to hang out with in the future close in age!

Sunday night she was pooped from her day of fun – she was in her crib at 6:00 pm and fast asleep.  This is the earliest she has ever gone to bed.  Little girl played hard.

We are looking forward to next weekend already!