If you know me, or have ever lived with me, you know I love a good chocolate cake or brownie. Nothing suits me better to have a little chocolate cake fresh out of the oven, not always fully cooked and devoured with a spoon. It was no surprise in college to have every roommate to have a corner of the pan and we'd work our way to the middle of the rich deliciously simple cake. Pudding cake as I dubbed it, and still sometimes make today. Even Ryan who insists he wants his baked goods fully cooked can't resist the warm decadence of a simple chocolate cake.
I love the little chocolate cake. and one day, I didn't want to make it better, cause it was already fantastic and simple enough, I just wanted to use it as a base for different kinds of cakes, like soup stock to make other soups, it would be my cake stock.
So there's this local bakery LITERALLY 10 yards from my front door and they make heavenly cupcakes. My favorite is the cookies & cream cupcake. It's rich and chocolately and seems to have a middle whipped cream/marshmallow layer of frosting. Whenever I walk in, they know what I'm there for.
So I wanted to try and create a cookies and cream substitute, for when I get that Sweet Cakes craving, but can't justify to Ryan the cost of a cupcake every month (or week, or day)
So I made the easy make chocolate cake, and then I added a container of marshmallow creme. I got a .99 cent little tub of the Winco brand stuff, and mixed it into the batter. Then I found some random chocolate frosting recipe and added the cream to that. It makes the cupcakes so light and fluffy, and the frosting rich and creamy and light and OMH MY GOODNESS THAT IS SO GOOD.
It's chocolate and marshmallow heaven.
Seriously.
Have a favorite cake recipe? Add some marshmallow cream to it. See what happens.
You'll thank me later.
Today I made a boxed cake mix and added the remaining marshmallow magic cream to the mix to lighten and flavor it up... I'll let you know how they turn out!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Mother's Day... To Me!
My First Mother's Day... So crazy, wonderful and surreal that even though she's not here in my arms, I am daily keeping her a live and growing a person inside of me, and that's the first step in motherhood. I am so blessed to be feeling so incredibly wonderful and normal so far. I'm 5 and a half months along and sometimes I forget I'm even pregnant! Then nature calls for the 15th time today and I'm reminded about what's going on inside of me... :)
My Mother's Day was more than I could've ever hoped for...
This is what was waiting for me when I came downstairs....
Isn't he the sweetest? He bought the stickers and the frame and put it together with my craft stuff all by himself. I'm so proud and feel so loved he go through all that effort for me.
THEN
One craigslist ad, $85 Dollars, a pile of clorox wipes, a Mr. Clean Magic eraser and some borrowed nuts and bolts later.....
My Mother's Day was more than I could've ever hoped for...
This is what was waiting for me when I came downstairs....
(IGNORE THE MESS OF THINGS BEHIND THE CARD, FLOWERS AND PICTURE)
Isn't he the sweetest? He bought the stickers and the frame and put it together with my craft stuff all by himself. I'm so proud and feel so loved he go through all that effort for me.
THEN
One craigslist ad, $85 Dollars, a pile of clorox wipes, a Mr. Clean Magic eraser and some borrowed nuts and bolts later.....
We have a crib
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not the EXACT one we were planning on getting, but it was $65 cheaper, came with a mattress and a drawer underneath for bonus storage space. We only had to drive a mile and a half down the road to get it. I'm not complaining one bit.
Craigslist for the win.
Best 1st Mother's day! Couldn't ask for a more well behaved child (is that the only year I'll be able to say that honestly? ;) ) And a more sweet and wonderful husband and father for our sweet Baby El
Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful Mom's out there!
Friday, March 30, 2012
If you haven't already heard...
We are having a
BabyGirl
A sweet, beautiful, smart, generous, adventurous, kind, faithful, loving, fun, wonderful little girl.
(If she's anything like her Father)
Her name is
Eleanor Olivia Wecker
We'll call her El or Ella for short.
(not Ellie)
Friday, March 16, 2012
What Do You Wear...
To an ultrasound where you might find out your baby has down syndrome?
Yeah you read that right. Apparently my blood test I took two weeks ago showed baby at having an "elevated risk" to have down syndrome.
Elevated meaning 1 in 200 Chance as opposed to the usual 1 in 1,429 for a 22 Year Old Mother to-be.
I'm frustrated. But not scared. I'm nervous. But when the Doc told me on the phone "you have and elevated risk blah blah medical talk blah blah" I didn't get a sinking feeling in my stomach. I don't know if cause in my heart it's not true, or if because either way, it won't matter. Life with a baby, is going to be hard. Life with a DS baby will be a whole different adventure. But that doesn't make me any less excited or in love with this little life growing inside of me. Did you know that 75% of Down Syndrome babies are aborted? I read that yesterday. How terrible. How sad.
I ran into one of my old Young Women's leaders yesterday at work and told her what was going on. She has 4 beautiful multi-talented wonderfully smart normal children. She said with all of them, she had the same thing happen to her.. "elevated risk" with no actual problems with that risk. I don't believe it was a coincidence I ran into her yesterday. I needed that re-assurance that it could be nothing, from someone I know. Someone that proved that risk wrong.
So who knows?
Maybe my baby will be special. Will I love him or her any less? Of course not. Will raising this child be the hardest, most challenging, rewarding and fulfilling thing I will ever do in my entire life? Of course. Down Syndrome or not, the blessings this baby will be in my life will be the same, the trials may be just a little different, but isn't it like that with every child any one has?
Mine just might have an extra chromosome. Which will only make him or her extra awesome.
I am so incredibly grateful Ryan is going to be able to come with me. What a blessing I was able to get a late in the afternoon shift where he would only need to get off work an hour early, and he's already worked an extra hour this week to get in his 40 hours. I find that to not be just a coincidence either.
I'll keep you posted.
Yeah you read that right. Apparently my blood test I took two weeks ago showed baby at having an "elevated risk" to have down syndrome.
Elevated meaning 1 in 200 Chance as opposed to the usual 1 in 1,429 for a 22 Year Old Mother to-be.
I'm frustrated. But not scared. I'm nervous. But when the Doc told me on the phone "you have and elevated risk blah blah medical talk blah blah" I didn't get a sinking feeling in my stomach. I don't know if cause in my heart it's not true, or if because either way, it won't matter. Life with a baby, is going to be hard. Life with a DS baby will be a whole different adventure. But that doesn't make me any less excited or in love with this little life growing inside of me. Did you know that 75% of Down Syndrome babies are aborted? I read that yesterday. How terrible. How sad.
I ran into one of my old Young Women's leaders yesterday at work and told her what was going on. She has 4 beautiful multi-talented wonderfully smart normal children. She said with all of them, she had the same thing happen to her.. "elevated risk" with no actual problems with that risk. I don't believe it was a coincidence I ran into her yesterday. I needed that re-assurance that it could be nothing, from someone I know. Someone that proved that risk wrong.
So who knows?
Maybe my baby will be special. Will I love him or her any less? Of course not. Will raising this child be the hardest, most challenging, rewarding and fulfilling thing I will ever do in my entire life? Of course. Down Syndrome or not, the blessings this baby will be in my life will be the same, the trials may be just a little different, but isn't it like that with every child any one has?
Mine just might have an extra chromosome. Which will only make him or her extra awesome.
I am so incredibly grateful Ryan is going to be able to come with me. What a blessing I was able to get a late in the afternoon shift where he would only need to get off work an hour early, and he's already worked an extra hour this week to get in his 40 hours. I find that to not be just a coincidence either.
I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
$$$ Money! $$$
I am awesome.
No, really. I am awesome. I just saved a bunch of money on my baby stuff by looking on craigslist. :)
Instead of a stand alone regular bassinet for baby, Ryan and I (well lets face it, mostly I) decided we wanted a co sleeper. It's a nifty little bed for baby that has half of a side missing so you can strap it next to your bed and baby sleeps right next to you, but not in the bed.
Like So...
The catch was the cost.
on the website they are $189!
Yikes!
Even at target it's $140
But on Monday. Whilst I was doing mountains of laundry catching up on shows on hulu I got the impression....
No, really. I am awesome. I just saved a bunch of money on my baby stuff by looking on craigslist. :)
Instead of a stand alone regular bassinet for baby, Ryan and I (well lets face it, mostly I) decided we wanted a co sleeper. It's a nifty little bed for baby that has half of a side missing so you can strap it next to your bed and baby sleeps right next to you, but not in the bed.
Like So...
Nifty eh?
I really like the funny smile on that baby's face.
Teehee.
The catch was the cost.
on the website they are $189!
Yikes!
Even at target it's $140
But on Monday. Whilst I was doing mountains of laundry catching up on shows on hulu I got the impression....
I need to go on craigslist....
Well, I did.
And I found this little beauty.
FOR 60 BUCKS!!!!
It's in great condition and the lady that sold it to me was really sweet and had the cutest chunkiest babies I had ever seen (that I'm not related to, no one can surpass their cute to chunky ratio)
Mally really likes the storage area underneath....
But Wait There's More!
We also wanted a glider for the nursery.
Most that I have seen are $150 and up.
Yeesh.
Guess how much I got this one for on Craigslist?
$20
I am so incredibly happy and excited I followed that little prompting to go on craigslist cause it just saved us A LOT of money on things that we really wanted/needed for the nursery to be.
Yay!! What has been your best buy of craigslist past??
Friday, March 2, 2012
My Heartbeat Running Away.Beating Like A Drum and It's Coming Your Way
So maybe baby poppet's heart didn't sound like a drum, more like a choo choo train.
Wanna hear?
Baby had just been squirming and moving around like crazy, that's why Ryan said "come on kid start swimming"
obviously baby got a little camera shy cause he/she wouldn't do it again, but it was pretty incredible either way!
And obviously for those who have voted on the gender poll, only one baby, no twins.
Wanna hear?
Baby had just been squirming and moving around like crazy, that's why Ryan said "come on kid start swimming"
obviously baby got a little camera shy cause he/she wouldn't do it again, but it was pretty incredible either way!
And obviously for those who have voted on the gender poll, only one baby, no twins.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
10 weeks
Today I am 10 weeks pregnant with our little poppet.
My body decided to celebrate by making me throw up.
With no warning.
In the middle of the living room.
LUICKILY I had just finished my breakfast and still had my glass in my hand. Needless to say.....
I'll be washing that cup twice.
It other baby news, poppet is the size of a prune. We (hopefully!) have our first ultrasound on Thursday, and get to see/hear baby's heartbeat! We're very excited!!
ALSO:
RYAN GOT A NEW JOB AT WORK!!!!!!!
We are very super incredibly excited and ecstatic about this. It will be right up his alley of working more with computers and software. And it's a Monday through Friday 9-5 kind of shift! We'll be able to have dinner together at a normal time! Yay! :)
The group he'll be working with are all married and have families so when it comes to Dr. Appointments and needing to stay home with me if I'm having a rough day, they completely understand. There's also talk of a possibility that he'll be able to work from home sometime in the future! We are so very excited and blessed for this opportunity and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time!
My body decided to celebrate by making me throw up.
With no warning.
In the middle of the living room.
LUICKILY I had just finished my breakfast and still had my glass in my hand. Needless to say.....
I'll be washing that cup twice.
It other baby news, poppet is the size of a prune. We (hopefully!) have our first ultrasound on Thursday, and get to see/hear baby's heartbeat! We're very excited!!
ALSO:
RYAN GOT A NEW JOB AT WORK!!!!!!!
We are very super incredibly excited and ecstatic about this. It will be right up his alley of working more with computers and software. And it's a Monday through Friday 9-5 kind of shift! We'll be able to have dinner together at a normal time! Yay! :)
The group he'll be working with are all married and have families so when it comes to Dr. Appointments and needing to stay home with me if I'm having a rough day, they completely understand. There's also talk of a possibility that he'll be able to work from home sometime in the future! We are so very excited and blessed for this opportunity and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Facebook 'Friends'
I like facebook.
I'm probably on it way too much.
What I DON'T like about facebook, is when people who I was not friends with in middle/high school friend request me.
What the crap?
We weren't friends.
Why would you FRIEND REQUEST me?
It bugs me.
AND THEN
There's the friend that (TRUE STORY)
I see at the store, whom I haven't seen in person in a long time but.. yeah. easily recognizable. On both counts. She's on facebook a lot too.
Anyways, I smile at her, slow down to stop and say 'Hey, how are you?' and she ZOOMS past me after making eye contact.
What the crap?
**goes home, gets on facebook, finds profile, unfriend? CLICK!**
Is that horrible?
I saw this quote a while ago, and I know every person has an exception, and I don't mean to sound cut throat, cause I'm not. I Love people. I'm a people pleaser. Most importantly a FRIEND pleaser but... Sometimes I feel like I bend over backwards for people who don't respect me or even like me all that much and I deserve better from friends!! Don't you think? Thoughts?
Thoughts?
P.S. Have you ever gone to the website unfriendable?! HILARIOUS Check it out.
I'm probably on it way too much.
What I DON'T like about facebook, is when people who I was not friends with in middle/high school friend request me.
What the crap?
We weren't friends.
Why would you FRIEND REQUEST me?
It bugs me.
AND THEN
There's the friend that (TRUE STORY)
I see at the store, whom I haven't seen in person in a long time but.. yeah. easily recognizable. On both counts. She's on facebook a lot too.
Anyways, I smile at her, slow down to stop and say 'Hey, how are you?' and she ZOOMS past me after making eye contact.
What the crap?
**goes home, gets on facebook, finds profile, unfriend? CLICK!**
Is that horrible?
"Don`t spend time with someone
who doesn`t care spending it with you!!!"
I saw this quote a while ago, and I know every person has an exception, and I don't mean to sound cut throat, cause I'm not. I Love people. I'm a people pleaser. Most importantly a FRIEND pleaser but... Sometimes I feel like I bend over backwards for people who don't respect me or even like me all that much and I deserve better from friends!! Don't you think? Thoughts?
Thoughts?
P.S. Have you ever gone to the website unfriendable?! HILARIOUS Check it out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
