Too Cute Tuesdays

Isn't he just too cute?! This is my nephew Memphis...making a dirty little mess. But I'm sure he had tons of fun doing it. I really wish I lived closer to my sister so I could enjoy moments like these with her. Lol!

Snickerdoodle Fun

Snickerdoodle Duo (from Bakerella)
These were so much fun to make! It did take me all day (only because I had a my little cupcake to take care of), but it was well worth it! Here are the recipes if you're interested. Oh! And for the icing I used a vanilla buttercream, but the original recipe was a meringue. If you like meringues, go for it! =)

Snickerdoodles:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, room temp
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375. Sift together first 4 ingredients. In separate bowl, cream sugar with shortening and butter. Add egg. Mix flour mixture with creamed mixture. (Oh, I use a wooden spoon when making cookies...just cuz.) In another bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Use about 1/2 tablespoon dough to achieve the correct size. Roll in cinnamon sugar. Bake for 8-8 1/2 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk, room temp
Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake tray with liners. Sift together first 4 ingredients. In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar for about 2 minutes on low speed. Add eggs in one at a time. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture in 4 parts to creamed mixture. With two of these parts, alternate adding with milk. Fill cupcake liners to about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from trays and let cool.

Oh! And to decorate! Pipe! haha...and sprinkle the top with your leftover cinnamon sugar! =D

It's Too Cute Tuesday...

...with my cousin Tara http://taytay9385.blogspot.com/ Join our fun!
The little ham on the left is my nephew Cameron. And the goofy little guy on the right is my little brother. This was a couple years ago. We went for a short visit to see my sister and her little men. I'm so glad I caught this moment on film cuz Micah (bro) and Cameron (nephew) weren't really getting along. A slight age difference led to a really annoyed Micah. But it was great fun anyways!

2nd Anniversary Poem

I wrote this poem for Brent a couple days ago. Thought I would share:

I love you so much -

This much is true.

Wherever you're headed,

I'm headed there too.

Your love is so tender;

Your love is so true.

My love I've surrendered

Forever to you.

Two years married together,

Many more to come.

Because our love is forever,

We'll live forever as one.

Our love keeps on growing

As the time passes.

We'll live forever knowing

That our love surpassed:

The mountain's height,

The ocean's wave,

The bird's flight,

And, finally, death's grave.

Song of Songs 8:7 "Many waters cannot quench love; neither can the floods drown it."

Cupcakes and a Cute Girl

The first picture...well, isn't she just so darn cute?! Couldn't help myself...she's my little cupcake!

Finally made my cupcakes today. They are just for me. My reward to myself...actually more like I needed to satisfy this craving or I would die. Lol! I did take the time to decorate them. Nothing special though. Oh, the adventure I had with the frosting...let me tell you! It took 3 times before the frosting worked. The first two times, well...those people's recipes were jacked up! WAY too much butter and/or milk. So I adjusted. Anyways, here is the outcome...very yumm-o!

Too Cute Tuesday

I joined my cousin in this too cute tuesday! It's just a picture that I believe is too cute!!! This was taken at about 1 week. I didn't put it on facebook because I don't want to get in trouble for having partial nudity on there...even if it's just a baby. But she was just sunbathing and enjoying it so much. My mom said this looks like an Anne Gedes picture. I think Aveeno baby should pay me for this picture. Lol! Enjoy!

Baking...

completely relaxes me. This is why I studied it. This is why I earned my Certificate in Baking. Because whenever I feel stressed, I know baking something completely mouthwatering will make me feel better. Autumn was having a rough afternoon yesterday. Fighting sleep is a common thing for her around 2-6pm, depending on the day. I put her in her crib and she was crying, but I needed some time. So I put some headphones in, listened to my ipod and started baking. Is this mean? I think it depends on the type of mom you are. It's not mean if it means that you are not going to lose your patience with the baby. So, it wasn't mean. And it was, again, completely relaxing to listen to Buble while baking Banana Crumb Muffins. YUMMMM! And even now as I sit here drinking my coffee and eating a muffin, I feel completely relaxed. =)

Because I have had many requests...

I'm going to share my labor and delivery story. So many people have asked me about it. I'm not going to mention anything nasty or anything like that. But I don't know if men necessarily want to read. I know Brent probably wouldn't choose to read something like this. lol!

I walked into my labor and delivery room at 4pm on the Feb 11th. All the procedures that were to take place were explained to me in complete detail. By the way, I have to say this: Pres is the BEST hospital in Albuquerque. I don't care what anybody else thinks on this matter. haha! At around 5pm, they gave me the first dosage of med that was supposed to soften and stretch my cervix. I was 1cm dialated at the time. The med was a pill that went straight into my cervix, not through an IV. I was supposed to get a dosage of that every 4 hours for 10-12 hours. Then they were going to start the Pitocin to induce contractions. Well, I didn't need that.

My contractions started almost immediately. They didn't start to hurt until about 9 or 10pm. They gave me some pain meds through an IV that would not affect Autumn at all. In fact, it helped me for only about 30 minutes. It was supposed to help for 2 hours...no way!

Around 2am I got myself an epidural. There was no way I was going to go through needless pain and I needed sleep. I was 3cm dialated. While putting the epidural in, most doctors will send out all family. Well, that didn't happen. Brent wasn't watching. He was holding my hand as they were putting it in, but he peeked at the end. Not seeing anything, he still knew what was going on. He got really white and almost passed out! Stupid doctors for not sending him out of the room! They made him sit down and drink some juice and I said, "Breathe through this contraction with me. It will make you feel better." And so he did. lol! He felt better a little while later.

I fell asleep. Yay...except all the machine beeping and freaking out woke me up quite often. Around 8am a nurse came in to check on me. I was 10+cm dialated, ready to practice push. After one "practice" push, we realized I was ready to push. She saw the head. I pushed for an hour. I was told I was a great pusher. Yay me! I had to get an oxygen mask because mine and the baby's oxygen dropped while I was pushing. It helped! I'll remember that for the next time. They had to start a small drip of Pitocin because when I started to push, the contractions slowed down. Weird, huh? Yeah. They asked me, "Would you like to touch the head?" My answer: "No! Gross!" lol! Brent was asked to cut the umbilical cord. He had told me before he didn't want to. I didn't mind. It was his choice. So when asked, " Would you like to cut the cord?" His answer: "No!" All the people in the room except for me started to give him a hard time. Then I got on them, "Don't make him!" My own mother cut the cord. Oh! People that were present: a midwife (my OB was called to an emergency c-section), a nurse, Brent, my mom and my step-mom.

Autumn Grace Conner was born at 9:01am on Feb 12. 4lb. 13oz. 18 1/2 in.