Wits' End? Um, we must have missed that exit by a few hundred miles.

I. Am. Exhausted. Aiden, who just turned six months, still wakes up 3 times a night. We're working through this phase by giving him bottles of 1/2 water 1/2 breast milk during the night so it "tricks" his brain into thinking he doesn't need those calories at night; thus, he'll drink them all during the day instead. This, in and of itself, makes me/us tired. But, on its own we could deal with it fairly well, I think.

Attempt at a family photo on the Reese vacation . . . you can see how cooperative Asher was ;)

However, the storm on Friday night totally threw Asher for a loop as far as sleeping goes. The constant thunder terrified him - understandably - to the point where he cried horribly every time we left the room. So, we tried having him sleep in bed with us. Bad idea. We never have him sleep with us, so he was just laying in bed awake . . . and so were we (especially because Asher kept kicking my leg). Finally Dusty brought him back to his crib to try again. Asher bawled. Final solution: Dusty slept on the floor next to Asher's crib so he would finally settle down and sleep. Clearly, that was not the ideal solution, but honestly we were too tired to care. Well, it happened again last night, except there was no storm, so we let him cry for 20 minutes (which feels like 3 hours if you've ever tried this method). I ended up sleeping on the floor next to his crib. Sometimes tiredness wins out, but Dusty and I both know if it happens again we'll have to do things differently.

On top of these two things the "terrible twos" are hitting H-A-R-D. Who knew independence was so important to someone who's not even 2 yet? Ok, probably everyone who has ever parented a toddler knows that, but the extent of the independence is what is surprising to me. It's really frustrating because Asher has learned the word "self," so it's clear as day when he does not want Mom or Dad to help. The frustrating part is that he's clearly conflicted - on the one hand, there are things he simply can't do by himself and when he realizes it he says "help." But, try to step in and help and he scowls at you and says "self, self, self." And this cycle continues until he either yells at us for just doing it for him, or we're able to distract him with something else. Distraction is working less and less frequently, however. So, not only are the nights exhausting, but the days are tiring us out, too! We keep telling ourselves it's just a phase (I can hear my mom's voice reassuring me with those words on a daily basis), but sometimes it's hard to keep that in mind. We like to call Asher "sour patch" ("first sour, then sweet" is the catch-phrase on the commercials) because he can be so naughty one minute, but the next he'll be saying "Mommy, kiss; Daddy kiss; Aiden kiss." He melts our hearts on a daily basis.

Aiden is growing so fast - he's a big boy just like his brother; 93rd percentile for weight and 97th for length at 6 months. He's so busy all the time, too, grabbing anything in reach or getting a kick out of Asher's antics. He's our little tough guy - he's taken some accidental knocks from Asher, and he didn't cry at all when he got his shots at his appointment. Before we know it he'll be crawling around and talking. His smile is the sweetest thing - it makes it much easier to get up with him at night when he looks up at me with his big, dark eyes and smiles like he's the happiest boy in the world.

 Ok, so we're past Wit's End, but we keep on trucking knowing the end of this phase could be right around the next curve.

Moments like these make everything else worthwhile.

PB Cookies for Lilly

Our niece, Lilly, happened to tell me that her favorite kind of cookie is peanut butter, so when she came to visit a few weekends ago I was determined to have some yummy ones ready for her. They are now my favorite peanut butter cookie of all time, and I think Lilly liked them, too. While some prefer a crisp texture, I like mine soft and chewy. My "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook" provided the perfect base to which I added a couple of yummy extras.

Peanut Butter Cookies
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. (2 sticks) softened butter
1 c. light brown sugar
1 c. sugar
1 c. extra-crunchy peanut butter (we only had creamy on hand, so that's what I used)
2 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
Mix-ins: I used 3/4 c. mini Reese's Pieces candy and 3/4 c. peanut butter chips. Deeelish.

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat butter and sugars together on medium speed until ligt and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated. Beat in vanilla and eggs, scraping down bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low, and slowly mix in flour mixture until fully combined. Stir in candy and chips, or whatever mix-ins you prefer. Drop dough by tablespoons onto greased or parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until the edges are golden brown, approximately 10-12 minutes.

It's Wedding Season! Part 2

This summer I was lucky enough to be asked to make cupcakes and cake balls for a friend's wedding reception: cue nervousness. But, it was the good kind of nerves that makes you excited, not terrified. I made 160+ cupcakes, and 180+ cake balls. I was also asked to make a small layer cake for the top of the cupcake stand so the bride and groom could have something to cut. All in all, I was really proud of how it all turned out. I so appreciated having the opportunity to do something like that. It was stressful (especially with my paranoia that Asher would get into the decorated cupcakes), but really enjoyable.

I definitely couldn't have done it without Dusty, though; he watched the boys pretty much all day on Thursday as I frosted and decorated cupcakes, and dipped cake balls, and he didn't complain or seem annoyed once. THANK YOU! My mom and sister, Hannah, also came down that weekend to watch the boys while Dusty and I went to the wedding and reception - big thank you to them, too!

The cupcake flavors were white with buttercream frosting, chocolate with Kahlua frosting, and red velvet with cream cheese frosting. The layer cake was white with buttercream, but the frosting between the layers was a raspberry buttercream - yummy.

If you haven't heard of cake balls, they're the new thing in the cake world. You take a warm, 9x13 cake and mix it with approximately 2 c. of frosting. Form the mixture into balls and pop them in the freezer. You can freeze them like this for a while as long as they're in an airtight container. When you're ready to use them, take them out, let them thaw a little, and dip them in either chocolate bark or chocolate chips, or a mixture of both. Totally simple method, and it's so fun because you can literally make any combination you want! Genius. I was asked to make chocolate cake mixed with raspberry buttercream, dipped in white chocolate, and yellow cake mixed with peanut butter frosting, dipped in milk or semi-sweet chocolate. Both were delicious - I'm partial to the PB ones because I love the peanut butter/chocolate combo.

Chocolate Cupcakes
I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe for the cupcakes, which is Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake. You can find the recipe here. The Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Frosting is delicious, too, but I didn't use it for the cupcakes.



Kahlua Frosting

6 tbsp. butter
1 lb. powdered sugar
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
3 tbsp. Kahlua

2 to 3 tbsp. hot strong coffee or hot water

Cream butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and cocoa. Mix slowly until combined, then increase speed to medium and add Kahlua. Continue beating as you add the hot water or coffee, and mix until a thick, smooth consistency. (You can adjust the amount of Kahlua to your taste. I used slightly more Kahlua, and hot water instead of coffee so the Kahlua flavor stood out more against the chocolate cupcake.)

White Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

For these, I used the same recipes that I posted last time, with the exception of leaving out the almond flavoring in the cake. This time I tinted the frosting pink because the bride and groom's colors were pink and gray - so cute. You can find the recipes here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

1 box German chocolate cake mix with pudding

1 c. sour cream

1/2 c. water

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 oz. red food coloring

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add all ingredients into mixer. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl, and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Pour batter into greased or lined cupcake pans (you'll probably get about 20 or so from 1 batch). Bake appr. 22-25 minutes, or until the cake springs back when pressed lightly with your finger. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. pkg. softened cream cheese

1/2 c. softened butter

3 3/4 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until thoroughly combined, 2-3 minutes. Slowly add powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 more minutes. Use to frost cake of your choice!

 

 

It's Wedding Season! Part 1

I love weddings. June seems to be wedding month in my family - one of my younger sisters and her husband celebrated their 1st anniversary on June 12, my husband and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on June 22, and my parents celebrated their 33rd on June 24! Whoa - lots of love to celebrate . . . not to mention Father's Day, which I missed posting on because I was busy-busy baking for a wedding (more on that in a later post)!

First, a note on Father's Day. I am really blessed - I have a great dad. I think I probably take him for granted sometimes. I guess it's easy to do because I know he'll always be a strong support in everything I go through in life. He's proven it time and time again, and it's something I am so thankful for. I definitely get my love of reading from him, and my taste in books. Also, my sarcasm . . . and possibly my lack of patience, haha. It's a great feeling to know I can always call with any problem, and that I'll get honest advice and helpful advice.

Let's not forget about the father of my own boys! I have the world's greatest husband. Dusty is such a wonderful dad. He loves our boys so much and is so attentive to them. I rarely have to ask him to help out with them - he just does it . . . and he enjoys every minute (well, for the most part - there's the occasional tantrum from Asher that's not very fun, and the nights when Aiden refuses to sleep for more than an hour at a time). But, if I do ask for help with something, he never complains. He loves playing with them, and he loves cuddling them - he's the perfect mix. Asher, Aiden, and I are so very blessed to have him.

Personally, I'm thankful that there's a day honoring dads everywhere. I know it's something I should do every day, but it's nice to have a reminder so I really take the time to thank them for everything they do that I often don't remember to say on a day-to-day basis.

Ok, back to weddings.

Last summer I made my first-ever wedding cake for my sister's wedding - LOTS of pressure! Not from her, just from myself. A wedding cake? That's a big deal - everyone looks at it, take pictures of it, watches the bride and groom cut it, etc; I was honored that she and her husband trusted me to do it. I wasn't worried about taste, but I was worried about appearance because decorating isn't my strong point. I'm more of a "Who cares what it looks like as long as it tastes good" kind of girl. Needless to say, that approach doesn't work with a wedding cake. BUT, I think it was a success. They were happy with it, and that's what mattered most to me.

Looks like they're enjoying it, right?

For the cake, I used this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, courtesy of foodnetwork.com.

White Cake

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix (recommended: Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)

1 1/3 cups water

3 large eggs whites

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 teaspoons almond extract

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using an electric mixer, beat the cake mix, water, egg whites, melted butter, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a large bowl for 2 minutes, or until the batter is well blended. Pour batter evenly in greased and floured 8 inch cake pans. Bake the cakes until they are very pale golden on top, about 24 minutes. Cool cakes in the pans for ten minutes, then cool completely on a cooling rack. You can find the original recipe here, which with the raspberry cream is deeeeelicious.

**Side note - this obviously isn't a "from scratch" cake, but the added ingredients give it great flavor, it holds up very nicely when decorating, and is super moist.

Buttercream Frosting

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

1/2 c. vegetable shortening

4 c. powdered sugar

1 T. vanilla extract (if you really want frosting to be as white as possible, use clear vanilla)

1/4 tsp. butter flavoring



 1-2 T milk or cream

Beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Slowly add in powdered sugar and flavorings and beat for 1-2 minutes on medium speed. Add the milk, and beat on medium/high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. At this point, you can determine whether you want a thinner or thicker consistency and add more milk or powdered sugar to achieve what you'd like.

Assembling the Cake
Place one cake layer on plate or serving dish.
Spread with 1/4 c. of seedless raspberry jam, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge.
Mix 1/3 c. of toasted, slivered almonds with approximately 1/2 c. of frosting, and spread over jam layer.
Place top layer of cake on the frosting.
Frost and decorate as desired.

Parenting Is One Crazy Rollercoaster

Well, it's been a little longer than usual between posts. We've had quite an emotional ride the past couple of weeks. Sad news for little Aiden, but complete excitement and enjoyment with how the boys have started to interact with each other. We'll start with sad. 



Happy-go-lucky!



Aiden went in for his 4-month appointment and our doctor told us we'd have to take him to an opthalmologist to look at his eyes. He tends to just focus with one eye at a time, and we were told that often they'll put a contact in one eye to help correct it. Putting contacts in our baby's eyes?!?! Sounded crazy to me. I can put them in my own, but a baby? We didn't even understand how that could work. Dusty's usually more of the worrier with these things, so he was absolutely dreading the appointment with the opthalmologist, but I wasn't too concerned because I assumed it would be an easy fix . . . not so much. After the doctor held a few lenses in front of Aiden's eyes, dilated them, and looked more closely at them, he said Aiden has congenital exotropia. Basically, one eye strays outward. The solution? EYE SURGERY. Since that thought never crossed either of our minds, I was surprised at how well Dusty and I kept it together while the doctor was explaining it to us (although I was tearing up big time . . . I almost lost it). We were told that nothing else can fix it and it would be detrimental to his eyesight to leave it as is. We go to the University of Iowa on June 16 to have him looked over and will get the surgery scheduled that day. Since we found out, we've had a lot of support from friends and family, and also a lot of encouragement from people who have had the surgery or know someone who has. It was rough at first because every time I looked at him he would be his smiley self, and it would break my heart thinking of what he has to go through. It's definitely one of those times when I wish I could go through it for him. But, we're staying positive knowing that it's not an uncommon surgery, and we thank God that it's nothing worse. I remind myself every day that there are a lot of parents out there who have seen their children go through much worse and my heart goes out to them. On to HAPPY!

Asher mimics so much of what Dusty and I do, and one thing he has picked up on is how we talk to Aiden. He'll run up to him and tickle him on his tummy and Aiden laughs! It's the cutest thing. I was hoping to post a video, but Asher refuses to perform when he knows he's on camera. :) Aiden just stares at Asher and takes everything in, and Asher makes sure he includes Aiden in almost everything he does. If he's dancing to music, he'll say, "Mama Dada Mama Dada" until he gets our attention and we start dancing with him; then he runs up to Aiden and says "Aiden Aiden" and grabs his hand and swings it so he's dancing, too! When we just had one child it was great, but there is nothing I love more than watching Asher and Aiden interact as brothers. It really doesn't compare to anything else I've experienced as a parent and I am so excited to see how this bond grows and changes (I think I've said that before).



I love how Asher's trying to hold Aiden's hand in this one







Why I Love Fantasy

Well, I claim to be a readoholic, so I thought it was time I post something about literature. I LOVE THE FANTASY GENRE - I always have. When I was growing up, I was (and still am) in love with The Chronicles of Narnia, The Chronicles of Prydain, and I think I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was in middle school. Remember Disney's Beauty and the Beast? At the beginning Belle talks about her favorite book and how it has, "far-off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise!" Well, I focused on to that part of the movie and literally went to a book store with my mom to see if they had any books containing those things. As a youngster, I loved how easy it was to become attached to the characters, and that's kind of how I measure how much I like a series now that I'm older. For example, the Harry Potter series is one of my favorites - so much so that I wrote my Master's thesis on it. Every time I read the series, I almost feel depressed at the end because I miss the characters and wish I could keep reading about them. My dad is the one who introduced me to fantasy and I think I must get my love of reading and my taste in literature from him. Thanks, Dad!

My love of fantasy is something I've never been ashamed of. You know in high school when you're insecure about pretty much everything? (Well, I was at least.) I never cared if people thought I was a nerd for what I chose to read. And I read a lot. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of favorite books that aren't fantasy (Pride and Prejudice, The Kite Runner, and The Notebook, to name a few). But, honestly, fantasy is usually my go-to genre because it makes me feel good when I read it. I admit I read for pleasure and rarely for knowledge, but that doesn't mean I don't learn something every time I pick up a book. I just see it as an added bonus! To me, fantasy provides something that no other genre can - not just an escape, but a connection to characters who live in totally different worlds, but still experience similar trials and circumstances.

Currently, I'm reading A Storm of Swords from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. It's excellent. It was crazy because I had been intending to read the series for a while, and right after I finished the first book, I found out that HBO was turning it into a TV series! I think they've done a great job with it so far. I can't wait to see how the rest of the season goes. Anyway, this series is definitely R-rated. Don't let your kiddos read it until you think they're ready for very graphic, adult content. I was excited to see that Martin finished the last book of the series and it comes out in July! Yay.

I Think "Terrible Twos" Should Be Considered False Advertising

Ok - when did my little sweetheart of a little boy turn into Mr. Attitude? Asher, almost 21 months, has really started testing the waters over the past couple months. If I tell him "no" he screams at me. If Dusty tells him "no" he screams at me . . . somehow that doesn't seem quite fair. Little stinker - I guess Mom has to be the bad guy even though Dad is just as much the disciplinarian. I'm really thankful that the disciplinarian role is pretty equal so Asher doesn't expect one of us to always give in. We'll leave that to the Grandmas and Grandpas - I don't think they mind. :) We've started putting Asher in timeout for 1 minute when he does things like screaming at us or hitting. He was on a hitting spree for a while there, but that seems to have calmed down for now. The screeching, on the other hand, is totally naughty . . . and unfortunately, funny. I think that's one of the hardest things of parenting a toddler - the things Asher does that are clearly naughty often tend to be the funniest because he's totally trying to assert himself. We mistakenly thought this phase wouldn't kick in until closer to his 2-year birthday; feels like we got the short end of the stick with that, but it seems as though it isn't all that uncommon for the "terrible twos" to hit early.

So far, this is definitely the hardest phase of parenting because we're stll trying to figure out how to stop Asher's bad behaviors. (I'm sure that doesn't ever end.) Also, Dusty and I have to make sure we're on the same page as far as how we react to his naughtiness. BUT, this is definitely the most fun we've had, too, because he picks up on things SO quickly and you never know what he will say or do next. For example, when we were taking Asher to get his haircut a couple weeks ago, Dusty sneezed and all of a sudden we heard "bless you" from the back seat. So precious. I also love that he calls the playground "wheeeee" because he loves the slide and that's what he says when he goes down it; and when we lay him in bed at night he whispers "night-night" and "love you" to us; and he'll bring a puzzle over and sit in our laps and put it together over and over again waiting and watching to see how proud of him we are. He's still my little sweetie-pie . . . with a "wheeee" bit of an edge. :)