We took Hunter out to a park this morning to take some official 1-year photos of him. It was tremendously difficult to work because it was super sunny out, and trying to keep this babe in the shade when he’s constantly on the move? Not easy. But that’s not his fault!
Kara and I looked (and sounded) like lunatics, trying to get him to sit, stand, stay, look at the camera, smile… all while trying to keep the newly-walking little guy from face-planting into the cement. During one particular shot, we both managed to step in the same pile of dog poop. (Thank you, sweet owners who do not clean up after their pups.)
It was exhausting. By the time we were done, I think we were all ready for a nap.
I haven’t done much editing yet, so I only have one to share. I just couldn’t resist posting it now instead of waiting until they’re all done.
I so seriously *HEART* him. Him and his gorgeous blue eyes and his perfect little baby lips.
I cannot believe that his birthday is next week.
This is a project we’ve been planning to take on for a while. The original plan was to re-tile the bathroom floor, and while we were at it, repaint and redecorate, just for something new.
After some evaluation and talking to our realtor about what we should and shouldn’t do to prepare to sell our place next year, we decided not to tile (booooo), but did decide to go ahead and change things up.
Once the decisions were made and things were picked out, this was an easy project–started by taping and painting edges on Tuesday night, and painting was finished by Thursday night (had to do two coats). We put everything back together and put the finishing touches on everything last night.
Without further ado, the before and after…
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I love how it turned out. It’s much “warmer” feeling in there now, and it’s a neutral color which is great for when we go to sell. For those who are curious, the color is Potter’s Clay by Martha Stewart (yes, Martha Stewart! It’s available at Home Depot).
This is just the first on a list of projects that we want to have done before the baby is born. We’ll see how we do with the rest!
It only takes one look at the recipe to conclude that these are not exactly “light” in the dessert category. Using a total of four sticks of butter, these are just about the least diet-friendly treat you can make. The one thing they’ve got going for them? They’re small, and since they’re “cupcakes,” you have built-in portion control.
Oh, and they’re delicious. That should be obvious, right? Brownie + cookie dough is just about as good as it gets.
Bonus: After frosting all of the brownies, I had a decent amount of leftover egg-less cookie dough. And who would ever complain about having THAT in the fridge? A spoonful here, a spoonful there… awesome.
This recipe makes quite a few mini cupcakes. And mine were bigger than traditional “minis”–I bought the mini Reynolds foil liners that are much smaller than a cupcake, but don’t fit in a mini-cupcake pan. For me, this made approximately 40 mini cupcakes. I’m bringing a bunch with me to my sister-in-law’s tomorrow, then the rest are coming with me to work on Monday!
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownie Cupcakes
(Source: Beantown Baker)
Ingredients:
– 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
– 2 1/4 cups sugar
– 4 large eggs
– 1 1/4 cups cocoa
– 1 tsp. salt
– 1 tsp. baking powder
– 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
– 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1-2 cups mini chocolate chips
Cookie Dough Frosting:
– 2 sticks butter, softened
– 1 cup brown sugar
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 1/2 cup milk
– 2 cups flour
– 1 1/3 cups mini chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place mini cupcake liners in pan.
2. In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, just until it’s hot, but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
3. Transfer the sugar mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl, if you’ve heated it in a saucepan. Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla.
4. Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth.
5. Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth.
6. Spoon the batter into mini cupcake pan.
7. Bake the brownies for about 8-10 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked.
8. Remove them from the oven and cool completely on a rack.
For cookie dough frosting:
Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in milk. With mixer on low, add flour and mix until well combined. Stir in mini chocolate chips.
To assemble:
Pipe or spread the cookie dough frosting onto the cooled mini cupcakes. Chill the brownies until the cookie dough is firm. Serve at room temperature.
For those of you who may have been getting frustrated with me–I want to point out that I have officially updated the Recipe Index! I can’t believe how behind I was; I had to go back and add every recipe I’ve made since the end of January. Oops.
Also, I know a few of you pointed out that it had been a while since I had updated my 101 in 1001 as well, so I went in and did some of that, too. Although I think I’ll have a few more items to cross off very, very soon!
And, for readers interested in all things baby, I’ve added a “Pregnancy” tab at the top of the blog for easy access. I’m thinking about compiling all of my weekly belly pics into one post for comparison purposes, too, but we’ll see. I might even share some of the early ones (from 5-12 weeks!) just so you can see how much I’ve truly grown. Only problem with those pics is that I look like garbage because 1) I took the pics early in the mornings, and 2) It was first tri, and well, expectant mommies just look (and feel) like garbage during first tri. But maybe I’ll get brave enough to share with you. So look for that, probably coming soon. :)
If there’s anything else you’ve noticed that is “broken,” outdated, or if there’s something you’d like to see added to make things more functional around here, definitely let me know. As always, there is a handy-dandy search bar (under the heading “The Directory” in the right sidebar) that allows you to search for anything on this blog.
That’s all for now, folks!
No, not the Roadrunner. It’s the registry scanner gun!
We tackled most of our registry last weekend, but we went again tonight to add/change a few things. It’s hard to stop researching baby products and reviews, and a lot of times, it’s hard to choose among brands because everyone’s experiences seem to be different depending on their individual babies. It’s pretty frustrating! Also, since we picked out the fabric for the bedding on Sunday, we needed to go back and add coordinating crib sheets, changing pad covers, etc. Fun, fun!
My baby shower invitations are being mailed this week (shower isn’t until end of June, but with it being such a busy time of year, my hosts figured better sooner than later!), so I suppose we just have to sit back and see what happens now!
I still can’t believe that we actually need this stuff, because I still can’t believe we’re actually having a baby. Whoa.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
