Weekend Recap.

Oh, hi there!

Heeeey!  Another Monday and Cooper didn't wake up until 7.  Quite the victory for him.

First up, remember how I said I was crushing my diet?  Well, I got a little too confident and spoke too soon because I ate cake pops on Friday night.  Let me tell you, they were delicious.  Like, amaaaaazing.  I told my sister that they were totally worth it because they were just that good.  Then I told the other ladies (we were at a baby shower) that they were so good I wanted to take them home and plant them in a garden and grow little baby cake pops so I could eat them forever.  You guys, I seriously gained like two pounds.  Dun dun duuuun.  Now I feel like such a loser.  So I did the right thing and dragged my butt to Planet Fitness on Saturday and proceeded to work out so hard my ear phones were practically falling out from the sweat (I hope that's not TMI, but I promise it's no exaggeration).  Then I step on the scale, hoping to be rewarded from my efforts and I've actually managed to somehow gain another half a pound!!  This is personal cake pops.  They were delicious but man, I didn't think they would affect me that hard.  For the record, if I could go back in time I would still eat them.  They were that delectable.  

Saturday night we dragged the kids to, where else, Target.  Duh.

I think Eric has waited his whole life to be able to have a son who can wear baseball caps with him.  It really would have been the icing on the cake if it was the Superman cap he wanted him to get, but Cooper elected to get the Lighting McQueen one instead.  That boy loves his Cars.

Saturday we also finished cleaning our room.  I know!  Exciting times.  Please don't be jealous of our domestic adventures.  Not everyone can be going on vacations and to theme parks or Europe and stuff. Some people have to hold down the fort.  Inside.  While cleaning that fort.  

Blurry.

And while we were cleaning, did the kids care at all that we put on Finding Nemo?  No.  They wanted to run all around our room, picking back up things we were putting away, playing with Mommy's phone, unfolding blankest (how annoying!) and playing with the plunger.  Gross.  Don't fret, Eric and I were quoting the movie.  "We're having fish tonight!!"  "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming swimming swimming."  P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way."  "Escape (said in a French accent)."  "Why are you sleeping fishy??"  You can't let a good movie like that go to waste.

Hopefully this time next week I'll be telling you all about our adventures at the Beach.  I hope.  Isn't next weekend Memorial Day?   I love dressing in red white and blue and eating patriotic food (which obviously is hamburgers with a side of cupcakes with red white and blue sprinkles, duh). 

I hope your weekend was as exciting as mine.  Or more so.  :)

Friday's Letters

Ain't that the truth.  Via.

Dear God, thank you for teaching me (once again) that I need to have faith in your plan and your timing and not my own will.  Dying daily isn't easy.

Dear Birthday, you are coming for me next week!  Sophia told me earlier this week she was "so excited" for my birthday.  She asked me who was going to sing my Happy Birthday.  Haha!  I think I want this cookie recipe made into a cookie cake (double layer) and then frosted like this.  Does that not seem amazing?  YUM.  I suppose I am awful lucky I have such a great husband who can make this for me :)

Yummmmmmmm.  My mouth is watering.

Dear Friends, I am making a list of birthday goals for the next year and I would looove a few suggestions.  Do you have any for me?

Dear Gym, I do not think pizza commercials should be allowed to be played on the TV's while we're running.  It just seems wrong.  Also, pizza is my kryptonite and I feel like I somehow loose less when I'm drooling over stuffed crusts while I'm working out.  Boo.

Dear Diet, despite the gyms efforts to lead me down the path of destruction gluttony, I am still crushing you!

Dear Summer, I am so ready for you!  The only thing more perfect that 90 degree weather would be experiencing full time in Florida.  One day....

Dear Beach, I need you in my life.

Btw, are any of you guys HIMYM fans?   Did you see the finale?  I DIEEEEEE!!!

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Review of Cuisinart Bread Maker

I have been wanting a bread maker for quite a while now and about a month ago we were given some money and decided to put some towards this little beauty.

Purchase.

First of all, this is not a sponsored post.  I just truly love this product and want all my friends to know why.

Like I said before, I had been toying with the idea of buying a bread maker.  I've always loved the taste of fresh home baked bread and to be honest I can't believe I never bought one before.  Frankly, I bought this for two reasons:

1.  My sister's MIL has one and told me she liked it.

2. It was at BB&B and I had a coupon for it.

I have used it several times now and I can't get over how much I love having it in my life.  It comes with a kneading paddle, a measuring cup & spoon, a loaf pan, and a recipe book.  All the parts are dishwasher safe and the recipe book includes over 50 recipes for some of the most delicious sounding bread you have ever heard of.  

I am not a baker or a cook.  In fact, I'll let you in a little secret.  My husband cooks.  He bakes too, and is really good at it.  Like, really good.  I wanted something that would be so simple and easy that even I could do it.  Let me tell you how easy it is.  My favorite recipe (so far) is the French/Italian style bread.  It only requires four ingredients.  Water, flour, salt, and yeast.  You measure out everything you need and pour it into the loaf pan that should already be secured into the machine.  Simply select the option for French bread, choose whether you want light, medium or dark crust, press start, and let it bake!  There is the optional instruction to remove the kneading paddle, but it is not necessary.  Literally, if you want you could pour your ingredients, press start, walk away, and a few hours later you would would have warm, delicious, home baked bread.  

It also has a function that will allow you to make just dough that you can then use to make rolls, pizza dough, cakes and other things.  

I was talking with my mom about this recently and she said she is surprised I was keeping up with making all my bread and I told her it was because it was so easy.  Once I explained to her just how easy it is she completely understood and I have a feeling she may be considering getting one for herself.

You know what else I love?  That I know exactly every ingredient that is in it.  Go take a look at the ingredient label on your store bought loaf of bread.  Chances are it has tons of ingredients, over half of which you may not even be able to pronounce.  Considering what I make has only four components, I'm asking myself is it really necessary for all that extra stuff to be in there?  No.  Of course not.  If you are health conscience in any way you should definitely have a bread maker.  It's fun, delicious, and healthy.  A win, win, win!

Want to make a 2 lb. loaf of my favorite bread?  You need:

1 1/2 cups of room temperature water

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

4 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of yeast

You will love it!

One small issue I have had is it gets moldy really fast.  It's a general rule that things that go bad quickly are usually good for you, and things that stay "good" forever are probably bad for you.  I don't mind that it goes bad quickly.  After the bread is cooled I have my hubby slice it up and we bag it in the freezer.  We only have 4 or 5 pieces defrosted at a time.  The slices of bread defrost fairly quickly and I've noticed no difference in taste.  Is it slightly less convenient than store bought bread?  Yes.  Is it 100% worth it?  Absolutely :)

Dump Truck Cake

How to make your son the happiest birthday boy ever:

1. Bake him a cake.

2. Frost it.

3. Cover it with brown sugar.

4. Put some toy trucks on it and fill them with chocolate chips and more brown sugar. 

Accept his undying love, gratitude, and endless kisses.

You're welcome.

Weekend Recap

Sooo...the Once Upon a Time finale?  I won't give any spoilers except to say I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to see more of Neverland...which you can see why that is ironic if you watched it, lol!  Although I half called the ending.  Half score?  Good enough.  Seriously, if you aren't watching this show you need to get on it.  Like, yesterday.

Speaking of TV.  For the love of monkeys, please don't spoil any TV this week!!  Since I am an old lady mom, I don't always get to watch TV live.  I DVR it and watch it the next day during my kids naps.  Some of my FB friends think it's super cute to spoil the ending of stuff like...say.... Grey's Anatomy.  Not. Freaking. Cool.  Don't be that guy girl. Who am I kidding, guys don't spoil shows.  Girls do that crap.  I will delete you and call you names behind your back.  Possibly to your face.  It's not cool to get on FB and spoil shows.  That's what Twitter's for.  Go tweet something.

I found this video this weekend.  You guys.  Really, you guys.  It is out of control.  It's hilarious.  Like I could not contain my laughter had to make sure I didn't pee my pants funny.  LIPS!  Just watch.  You'll get it.  Even better?  This guy manages to be hilarious without using any offensive or crude language at all.  He keeps it PG all the way baby.  That's a rarity nowadays.  Enjoy, you can thank me in the comments :)

Saturday we went shopping for Cooper some presents with his birthday money.

1//2//3//4//5

We made him get pajamas because they were really cute...and he sorta kinda really needed them.  High five for responsibility.

Check out my cute kids.  

This kid is SO hard to photograph!

Me and both my babies on Mother's Day.

So you know how other bloggers seem to have husbands who jump at the chance to take their wife's pictures?  I'm always too embarrassed to ask my husband to take mine, but I finally sucked it up and asked.  Mostly because I thought my hair looked pretty decent and I loooove this dress.  Like, so much.  

I mean, he did a legit job.  I might have to recruit him more in the future.  Now that I've asked him once the next time shouldn't be so hard, ha!

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day.  I wish I could have given my mom a hug, but Florida is too far for me to reach.  

Happy Mother's Day.

Obviously I have the best Mom.  

Yep, she's better than you're mom.

And I really love being a mom.

I hope you all give the moms in your life a hug today.  They deserve it.

I found this poem about Mother's and I wanted to share it.  There are so many ways, many forgotten, to be a good mom.  I hope everyone has a fantastic Mother's Day.

To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you.

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you.

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you.

To those who experienced loss this year through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you.

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you.

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you.

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you.

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you.

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience.

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst.

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you.

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you.

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

Poem via The Messy Middle.

Happy Birthday Cooper!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest, most handsome little boy I have ever known.  

Let me tell you a little secret.  Having a girl was so natural to me, all the dresses and bows were so frilly and fun.  When I heard the ultrasound tech say it's a boy, I was so confused.  What was I supposed to do with a boy?  I was elated that he was healthy (Sophia had quite a few problems), but I didn't know what do to with those...parts.  Nevertheless, I was happy.  I just wasn't sure if I would be a good mom to a boy.

While I won't toot my own horn on my mothering skills, I must say that I adore my son.  He is so different from Sophia in almost every way.  He is social, and cuddly and he prefers for me to read his mind rather than actually tell me what he needs.  I had no idea what being a boy mom would be like, but now I know.  It's heaven.  

Cooper loves cars and trucks (like both his Papa and his Grandpa) and he loves watching the Cars Toons on Netflix.  He likes jelly but not peanut butter (so weird because I am obsessed with peanut butter).  While Sophia can't get enough cheese, Cooper doesn't like it as much.  He loves fruit snacks and pizza.  He still is a big fan of Mickey and Pooh, even though his tastes are "maturing" a little bit.  He won't say please, but he will always give you a kiss to get what he wants.  Lately he's been getting right in your face and waving and saying "Hi!" and it is the cutest thing you ever have seen.  I don't know what I'd do without that little boy.

I hope like pictures of adorable kids, because that's what you're about to get.

Newborn.

 Photo by Christina Block Photography.

Cooper's first Church service.

2 months.

Mommy's little monster.

Those. Eyes.

My little baby is 1! Photo taken by Melissa Payne.

His cuteness is out of control.  

18 months.  Photo by Tara Wilson Photography.

2!

Happy Birthday sweet boy.  Thanks for being my little man :)

Here's a little sneaky of the cake he'll be feasting on tonight.