Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Fall is here!!!  This first weekend of Fall was absolutely gorgeous and Jake and I had a good time spending most of it outside.  The cooler weather is already making me a happy happy girl.  Soon it will be October, the best month ever.  Oh and just throwing this out there, my due date is less than 6 weeks away!!! YAY YAY YAY!! 

To welcome the wonderful season of Fall I decided to try a new pumpkin cookie recipe.  I found this recipe off another blog I follow and thought it would be perfect to start off the season.  They sounded delicious and they were…eventually.  Well, I under baked the first batch and over baked the second one…whoopsies!!! But…third try was a charm! I swear it’s this new oven of mine, not me! ; ) Here is the recipe if anyone wants to give it a go. Good Luck! 

 My leaf plate didn't survive the move and chipped a lil :(

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles 

Yield: about 3-4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

3¾ cups all-purpose flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

Dash of allspice

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the pumpkin puree.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend.  Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball.  Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.  Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly.  Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through.  Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy your lovely Fall day!! 

For our Anniversary

The Saturday before our Anniversary, we decided to get away for a night and stay in a hotel. You may notice a furry lil friend in the picture below..yes we brought our dogter with us.  Are we weird or what?  It was a nice little get-a-way. Plus I think we need as many nights like this as we can get, before we become a family of 4! (Can’t wait)

If you’re wondering if it’s hard to sneak a dog into a hotel, not our Lilly.  And I’m not ashamed to say this isn’t the first time we have done this… We pretty much have the best dog in the World, yes we are already those parents... Does this mean our child is going to be a monster? Uh oh

So, to make us sound even weirder, I thought it would be fun to bring my fondue pot along and make chocolate covered strawberries in our hotel room….

The chocolate didn't melt quite right… Maybe I should have read the instructions before we left. But, we made it work and they were still delicious!


So on Monday, 9-10-12, our real Anniversary, Jake had to work of course.  So, I thought instead of going out to eat, like we always do, we should do something different, something we will remember.  I know, a picnic in our backyard!  It was one of the first beautiful days outside and our first year in our new home, oh plus we had recently went to Eckerts and bought these amazing apple brats. YUMMMM, they were so good.  So, I figured I would dress up since Jake already dresses up every day for work and we would have a lovely picnic outside, drink some sparkling grape juice and then cut our cake!  It was nice, and Jakes card was the sweetest thing I have ever read.  His cards are always better than mine, no fair! and I know I say this all the time, but I really do thank God for putting such an amazing man into my life. I couldn’t be happier with our marriage and how much we have grown as a couple.

We have a lot to be thankful for..

Cheeseballs 

Yes, I set up my tripod for these…we are mega nerds

Oh, and I guess I should explain our Applebees hats. Our pastor surprised us with these hats when we were up at the altar. LOL It was hilarious. So we said we are going to wear them every anniversary. Oh and the cake was still soooooooo good. Jake how much did you eat again? ; )

Basically, we had a wonderful 1st Anniversary and I am so glad God brought us two goofy kids together.  I can’t wait to have 100 more anniversaries with that man! I love you babe, forever and ever!!!

I miss running

I miss running. I would have to say that running is the number 1 thing I miss about not being pregnant. This time of the year is my favorite time to run, the weather is absolutely perfect for it.  Plus, the Halloween 10k is my favorite race to run and obviously that isn’t happening this year.  This will be the first year I won’t be able to run it since they started it. ; ( I know poor me…. not. I have really enjoyed being pregnant, and I really don’t want to rush it, but I am really looking forward to stretching my legs out again.

 I already signed up for the Go St Louis half marathon in April. I thought it would be good motivation for me to get back into running after the babe is born. I’m not trying to get an amazing time or anything, but I’m really looking forward to running it.  Apparently you're supposed to wait 6 weeks after you give birth to start running again, which should give me plenty of time to train.  So, if Peanut isn’t late that means I should be good to go before Christmas! Merry Christmas to me! Looks like I will be putting my treadmill into good use again.  Oh yeah, and if Santa wants to get me a jogging stroller this year, that would be awesome! ; ) The baby better learn to love the wind in his/her face once Spring gets here. Hmm, I wonder if Pnut will love to run….


Well, thats my random thought for the day…. Hope everyone is enjoying this GORGEOUS weather!!! Me and Lilly are going for a walk. CYA!  ; )

Woohoo! Can’t wait ; )

Lil Peanut’s Shower

Lil Peanut’s Baby Shower

September 16, 2012

     I had a great time planning my shower. It wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be, it was actually really fun. At first I was complaining because my younger sister is not quite the planner and I knew she wouldn’t be of much help. I know, how mean of me. Then I realized I'm sort of a control freak and I really would rather do it myself anyway, so it all worked out.  It really wasn’t hard to come up with a theme. : ) I figured the peanuts were very appropriate and worked well, since it was a gender neutral shower.  I’m not really sure where I came up with the colors.. maybe I saw something on Pinterest, but I loved how they turned out.  

Peanut and me!

Dessert Table..My favorite

The adorable circus peanut cupcakes were made by my sweet cuz-in-law, Lyndsey Huff.  Aren’t  they too cute? They were very delicious as well, thanks again Lyndsey!

The Nutter Butter were made by myself, I’m pretty talented, I know.  I bought the Nutter Butters and stuffed them into the packages, hard work. ; )  The cute “Happiness is a Peanut” bags are from Etsy. 

Last, but definitely not least, the delicious strawberry lemonade and orange dreamsicle cake was made by the very talented Alexa Heepke.  She always makes my cakes for me and she always blows me out of the water every time! So cute Alexa, thanks so much!

Pretty Tables...

The Centerpieces were put together by myself with some help from the lovely Rachel Smith.  We spent about 7 hours on 3 of them… I finished the rest two days later. :O Yes, the tissue flowers are pretty stinkin cute but they take time a lot of time, well at least for a newbie they do. 
So, I have a cute story about them actually…Late one night I was sitting in the living room slaving over these tissue flowers ;) and Jake was behind me on the couch watching T.V…. or watching me? I finally called it quits and told him I was so tired I had to go to bed, that I’ll just finish them in the morning.  So I went and laid down in our room and all of a sudden I heard the sound of tissue being folded.  I thought to myself no way, that’s not what I think it is.  Sure enough Jake is putting the rest of my tissue flowers together for me.  He must have been paying attention to how I was doing it, because he did a pretty good job.  Those are the moments that I know I’m a lucky lucky lady. ;) 

 So back to the centerpieces…. I was really hoping nobody had a peanut allergy, which I didnt think of till the peanut dust was flying in my face when I was assembling them. Luckily, nobody had an episode. lol 
The water bottle labels, I ordered off Etsy and were assembled by my lovely sis Nicky Healey.  The circus peanut "thank you" gift bags were made by myself and my lovely sister, again… I know, I can’t believe it either. ; ) J/K Love you Nik. 

Here is the website for the Ducky Punch. My awesome friend Nikki made the fruit baby, which some of you may have seen from Pinterest. That was definitely the hit of the party. I can’t believe how well it turned out! You did an excellent job, thank you so much Nixter!

Games..

The “Lil Peanut” banner was all in a days work.  I think it took me longer at Michaels trying to think of the colors and design, than it took me to actually make it.  But for my first banner and just kind of making it up as I went, I think it turned out alright. 

   I really wish I would have taken some better pictures of the tissue poms… Oh and here is a tip if anyone is planning on making them in the future.  Don’t make them way in advance and have them sit in the computer room for weeks.  I thought they would take a really long time to make so I did this. Well, the ones I made way in advance and the ones I made that morning looked A LOT different. haha Even though, they never got messed with they somehow became, well, poopy looking.  Maybe it was the trip there that did it, I don’t know, but unless you are making a TON, I would wait till the last minute. 

Jake and I had so much fun going through everything that night and daydreaming.  It was so cute to actually see Jake excited about everything.  It won’t be long till our daydreaming is a reality!! YAY!!! 

And thanks again to everyone who brought things, helped with decor, set-up, clean up and for everyone who took the time out of your lovely day to shower my lil Pnut. You all are so special to Jake and Myself! Love you! 

And a special thanks to my MIL & sister-in law Erin for throwing me my MTV shower! Love you guys!

Bump Check: 8th Month

Bump Check :29 Weeks

August 12 - August 19  , 2012

This week kind of stunk.  I had Salmonella for 5 days.  My amazing husband took such good care of me though and waited on me hand and foot.  We Jake finished the guest bathroom as well. YAY! I’m just thankful, I’m all better now ; ) That was not fun. 

This week our precious little baby is weighing about 2.5 pounds and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Baby’s muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his/her head is growing bigger to make room for  his/her developing brain. He/She has increasing nutritional demands, meaning I'll need to be getting more protein, vitamin c, folic acid and iron. Also, I'll need some more calcium considering that in the third trimester about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited into the baby's hardening skeleton each day.

How far along: 29 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: −1 from being sick, but gained it back fast so +0 120lbs

Maternity clothes?: Cuz, Lyndsey Huff let me borrow some maternity yoga pants and they are amazing

Strech marks?: Nope, playing the waiting game…eeekk

Sleep: Sleep fine, when I have a lot of room ; )

Best moment this week: Recovering from Salmonella, and finishing the guest bathroom!

Movement: Stronger and Stronger! Daddy & I love to feel & see baby squirming before we go to bed.

Food cravings: Anything ; ) After I was better of course, soup when I was sick

Gender: ????

What I miss:  Being active, playing sports

Milestones: Passed my gestational diabetes test!

Bump Check :30 Weeks

August 19 - August 26  , 2012

Baby is now around 15.7 inches long, and weighs almost 3 pounds. His/her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after baby's born, they will keep their eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he/she does open them,  he’ll/she’ll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision - which means he/she can only make out objects a few inches from his/her face.

How far along: 30 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  +1 pound this week,  up 15 lbs total

Maternity clothes?: Bought some leggings and a new shirt, getting excited for Fall clothes!

Strech marks?: Nope, score

Sleep: So, so

Best moment this week: My MIL painting our nursery!

Movement: Baby is moving up and now kicking me in the ribs, but it’s okay ; ) Moving more than ever, crazy baby.

Food cravings: Luigi Ice, and cookies

Gender: I still think girl, but who knows!

What I miss: My old clothes. I thought it was hard for me to decide on something to wear BEFORE I was pregnant..HA!

Milestones: I’m in the 30’s weeks! WOW

Bump Check :31 Weeks

August 26 - September 2 , 2012

This week baby is over 16 inches long and weighs around 3.3 pounds. Eek, supposedly he/she is heading for a growth spurt! He/She can turn her head from side to side, and his/her arms, legs and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his/her skin. His/her movement is as strong as ever.

How far along: 31 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  +4 lbs, up 19 lbs total. What the heck happened?!?

Maternity clothes?: More leggings! Can’t wait till FALL! 

Strech marks?: Nope, surprisingly, with this crazy growth spurt!

Sleep: Getting a little more complicated, the bigger this belly gets!

Best moment this week: Jake took me to the Rams game then put me up in a nice hotel, to get me out of the house ; )

Movement: Baby is crazy I tell you! I feel it move around ALL the time. Baby loves to move to music and kick mommy in the ribs.

Food cravings: Who knows, whatever sounds good at that moment

Gender: I still think girl, but who knows!

What I miss: My runners butt

Milestones: Single digit weeks left!!

Bump Check :32 Weeks

September 2- September 9, 2012

Baby is around 3.75 pounds and about 16.5 inches long. From the pound or so I'm gaining a week, our little Pnut is gaining about half of it. In fact baby will gain third to half of his/her birth weight during the next seven weeks as he/she fattens up for survival outside the womb. Baby now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz).  Baby’s skin is becoming soft and smooth as he/she plumps up in preparation for birth.

How far along: 32 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  —1 lbs + 18 lbs total

Maternity clothes?: Need jeans, but I’m picky and maternity jeans stink

Strech marks?: Not yet!

Sleep: I can only sleep on my left side or else my body goes numb..it’s hard lol

Best moment this week: Celebrating our 1st Anniversary & Jake getting into school!!

Movement: Baby has been head down for a couple weeks now. Peanut has had the hiccups a lot this week and I can feel them in my lower abdomen.  Baby also likes to wiggle it’s butt around and get stuck in my ribs.

Food cravings: Nothing out of the norm

Gender: I still think girl, but who knows!

What I miss: Sweating from a good workout 

Milestones: Completed my 8th Month!!

      My belly is growing fast, real fast.  When strangers ask when I’m due, and I tell them and they tell me I’m small. I don’t feel small. I feel like a turtle with this belly constraining me all the time.  It is pretty entertaining watching me get out of bed or off the couch.  Jake gets a good laugh out of it.  The baby has been moving around more than ever. I know it seems like I say that every week, but it’s true!  It seems like I discover a new sensation all the time. I think my favorite is when I feel a foot (or knee, elbow etc.) swipe across the top, real fast.  It tickles and I can feel it so well.  I can literally move the baby’s foot when it gets stuck in my ribs. Or cup it’s lil butt in the palm of my hand. I had no idea you could feel it so well.  All of this growing and moving around just means that my lil Pnut is a healthy nut, so it makes me a happy mama.  I’m getting more and more anxious everyday.  I don’t want to rush my pregnancy because I know I will miss feeling the baby inside me, but I just can’t wait to hold my lil Pnut for the first time.  Jake even says he is going to miss me being pregnant..hmmm I must be a pretty enjoyable pregnant lady then!  Also, we Jake has  been getting a lot of home improvements done this month! I think that’s his way of nesting. He had to fix the railings on the stairs and build a wall instead so the baby couldn’t crawl through! Those were his words..hehe He is so cute. & I’m trying to get nursery things together + last minute things for my showers that are this weekend! I’m so excited!!!  Oh my gosh, 8 more weeks till we get to meet our baby!     

He did it!

Before I begin, I’m warning you all now that there might be a little bragging, of my Jake in it.  So if it’s gonna make you sick, I would stop reading right now.  I’m like a proud mama, what can I say? Plus, I write this blog as more of a diary for myself and this is an important life event!

On that note.  He did it!  Jake got accepted to SLU’s Endo residency.  For a lot of people, you’re probably thinking okay, don’t know what that is and it doesn’t sound that cool, but for us it’s a life changer and a dream come true for my husband.

First of all, an Endodontist is someone who specializes in root canals.. yup root canals.. why on Earth would you want to do that? Well, you will have to ask Jake that. ; )

 Jake decided he wanted to specialize in Endodontics when he was in dental school.  I’l have to be honest, when he first told me he wanted to go back to school, I was like ughhghh really?! As if, 9 years of college isn’t already enough? (I could never do it)  But I could see how badly he wanted it and I knew in the long run it would be for the best. He was actually awarded “most likely to go back and specialize” at his award banquette for dental school, but anyways…there I go bragging.. ; )

So,  lets back up to September, 9, 2011. Yes, the day before our wedding.  Jake had his first interview at SLU.  To be honest, he thought he had it.  The interviews went great, he thought, but unfortunately did not make it into the program that year.  3 other Harvard or something like that smarty pants beat him…grrr. and Yes, 3. Only 3 people from all over the country get into the program each year.  But that wasn’t going to stop Jake, so he tried again this year.

And….  On September 8, 2012 He was accepted!!  That morning, around 7:00 he left the house looking all sharp in his suit,  I gave him a hug and kiss goodbye and wished him good luck. After interviewing with other Dr.s from Alton he had his BIG interview at SLU with the head of the Endo program around 10:00.  When he walked in, the Dr. immediately said “This is going to be short, you’re in.” Jake said he didn't know what to say, he felt stupid because all he could say is. “What?” LOL Oh, I wish I was a fly on that wall. Jake had to hide his smile the whole rest of the day.

The whole day went from 8am till 8 at night and Jake found out that morning. Oh, and did he let me know right away?..NOOO....  The little stinker text me at 1:00 and said “tough competition” even though he knew he was already in.  He didn't tell me till he got home because “he wanted to tell me in person”. Uh huh..  Me and my sis were sitting on the couch and he walks in and says “Where is the champagne?” Nicky and I looked at each other like huuuhhhh??  I had just told her that Jake called on the way home and sounded grumpy, so to watch out.  Plus we all thought he wouldn’t find out for a week, that’s how long it took last year. Turns out the little stinker was fooling me, the entire day.  It was a wonderful night. We celebrated with some wonderful friends, and then Jake passed out on the couch. LOL

He couldn’t stop smiling ; )

So anywho, that’s the story of my little Endodontist.  He starts school on July 1st and the program is two years long.  I’m sure it will fly by, I can’t believe how fast this year has. I’m so proud of my husband, he really is the most driven person I have ever met. I can’t wait to cheer you on at your graduation, with our little peanut babe!!! Love you!

I snapped this with my phone that morning.  I don’t think he even knows I did it…. ; O