christmas cupcakes - take one

I made these Christmas tree cupcakes for a Christmas party I had with my friends. They turned out really cute, but those trees broke like crazy. I made 3 times as many as I needed, and I still had to put some broken ones on my cupcakes because they were just so fragile! Here is a picture of my Christmas tree graveyard, and then my cupcakes.

chocolate orange cupcakes

My sister-in-law requested these for her birthday cupcakes. I was at a loss on how to invent them myself, so I took the easy route.

First, get a chocolate cake mix and two chocolate oranges (I got one dark and one milk chocolate). Prepare your cake mix according to package directions. Take 1/2-ish of one of your chocolate oranges and chop it into little pieces. Stir those pieces into your cake mix, and bake them.

While they are cooling, make some orange chocolate ganache. Ganache is super easy, and super delicious.

In a double boiler (which, to me, is a silver bowl placed over a pot of simmering water), melt 4 oz of your chocolate orange (I don't remember how many ounces a whole orange is, but I know that Mr. Webb and I just ate a couple slices and called the rest good). Stir in a 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Stir until the ganache looks nice a smooth. Then dip your cupcakes in the ganache. Let cool, and then enjoy!

6 month stats and videos

6 month check up:

Length: 25.5 inches (+1 inch since her 4 month)

Weight: 12.6 lbs (+0 since her 4 month)

Since she didn't gain any weight, we're trying some new things, and we'll take her back in a month for a weight check and a second round of her flu vaccine. We've jumped to trying to feed her solid food once a day, to making her eat it 3 times a day. I know she's probably fine (my mom said that all of her kids had similar growth patterns, we were all just long and skinny), but I would feel a lot better if she'd put on a pound or two!

Here are some of the most recent videos of baby.

The first one is baby talking and making gurgly noises.

The next one is baby talking and reading a book.

And these last two are of baby telling her 2 1/2 month old friend the ways of the world. :)

breakthrough!

After 3-4 weeks of trying to get baby to eat some cereal, fruit, or veggies...

She willingly opened her mouth for some oatmeal today! Hooray! Hopefully things will keep getting better, because I have a lot of baby food in the freezer for her!

caramel apple cupcakes

Yesterday we celebrated my nephew's birthday. He turned 7 at the end of October (hence the '7' candle).

I usually let people choose what kind of cupcakes they want for their birthday, but this little guy wasn't very picky. He said he didn't care what kind he had. So, I made caramel apple cupcakes.

I've been wanting to try these cupcakes for a few months now, so I was happy for an excuse to finally make them! Plus, I pretty much made them up on my own! I'm more than a little bit proud of that fact.

Would you like to make them? Because it's incredibly easy!

First, mix up a white cake mix according to the package directions. Then add in some toffee bits (I used Heath brand).

Peel and finely dice 2 or 3 green apples, toss them in some cinnamon and sugar, and add them to the cake mix as well. I used 2 regular sized apples and one small one, but I probably could have just used the 2 regular ones. It was a lot of apples!

Fill your cupcake wrappers about 1/2 way full, and bake at 350 until done (I almost never time my cupcakes).

Make some magical toffee sauce. No, it actually is magical. You have to plan ahead to make this. It takes 8 hours. I started mine on Saturday night before I went to bed.

Take a can of sweetened condensed milk, and take the wrapper off. Put it in a crock pot and cover it with water. Cook it on low for 8 hours, turn off the crock pot, and let it sit until the water and can cool to room temperature. Open the can and be amazed! It turns into a delicious dulce de leche tasting sauce (I've never had dulce de leche, but Mr. Webb said that's what it tasted like).

You can make it on the stove, and it takes only 3-4 hours, but I've heard stories about cans exploding...so I went the safe route with the slow cooker.

After they are completely cooled, top with your magical toffee sauce, drizzle with melted chocolate, sprinkle with more toffee pieces, and stick a popsicle stick in (I used mini popsicle sticks).

For birthdays, I've started making regular sized cupcakes, but then I make a jumbo one for the birthday person and put it in a cute glass goblet that I bought at the thrift store for 50 cents.

The little nephews especially enjoy that I do this!

Mr. Webb and I sampled one before we went to the party. We were just making sure they tasted good, honest!

tags

Baby loves tags. I give her a stuffed animal, a crinkly elephant toy, a cloth book, and she messes with the toy until she finds the tag. Then she stuffs the tag in her mouth and makes many happy noises.

So I bought her a Taggie blanket. It's just some nice soft cloth with loops of ribbon sewn into it like tags.

Results? She has orange, pink, blue, and green tags to choose from. Her favorite? The REAL tag with the washing instructions.

*Sigh*

Silly baby!

cleaning updates and recipe updates

We'll discuss recipe updates first. Remember when I started that recipe blog? And how I actually did pretty good for awhile? Yeah. That fell apart. I do want to try it again soon, though. And I've still been trying new recipes, even though I've not been posting about them.

And remember when I said I was deep cleaning my home? If you don't, that's okay. I forgot, too!

Just kidding, I didn't really forget. I was hoping to get it done by the end of October, but I started with my kitchen. That was a bad idea. After cleaning out and reorganizing all of the cupboards, I was exhausted. But I am almost done with the kitchen. I just have the oven left to clean, and the blinds also. Then the easy stuff like sweeping/mopping and wiping down the counters.

I've also finished the hallway (even though it wasn't that hard, I feel good about it)! And I've cleaned the ceiling fan and blinds in my living room. And Baby has just sat by and been so good while I do it!

Today has been productive, too! I have taken a nap (thanks, husband, for letting that happen), I've cooked, mashed, and put in the freezer some sweet potatoes for baby. I also made a pumpkin roll for ME! Oh, I guess Mr. Webb can have some, too. :) If you've never had a pumpkin roll, you're missing out. If you've never had a frozen pumpkin roll, you're doubly missing out! They are delicious either way, but I love them frozen!

Tonight I'm hoping to clean the blinds in my kitchen and the ceiling fan in our bedroom. Who knows when I'll finally get the guts to tackle that darn oven...

what am i supposed to tell sunday?

Today on the way to the grocery store, Mr. Webb and I saw this sign in a construction zone:



Double Lane Closure

Tell Sunday Night



Really?

this is not the visitor i wanted to see outside my door...

Apparently, this little fella...okay - BIG fella - is called a cat-faced spider. And it is NASTY! I found it outside on my porch yesterday, and it was the size of my big toe. SICK! The only reason I know what it's called is because my brother saw one yesterday, too, on a campout. And one of the boys he was with knew what it was called. I looked them up, and they're harmless (but I'm not believing THAT), I guess. But it was huge, and it looked like a crab, so I trapped it underneath a cottage cheese carton so Mr. Webb could see it (and kill it) when he got home.

They're called cat-faced spiders because their puffy abdomen (which I thought was an egg sac, but isn't) has little indents that look like eyes and pointy bits that look like ears. You can google it for better pictures that really do look like cat faces.

Goodbye, cat-faced spider. Please don't come again. You're creepy!

baby updates!

Lots of pictures in this one!

First off, my baby met one of her pre-birth friends. Just half a year ago, my co-worker and I were both pregnant! She finally had her baby, and we went to show our cute girls off at our old place of work. Look how cute they are! They are going to be best friends.

We gave baby her first rice cereal. Are you wondering what she thought about it? These pictures will answer that question.

Today was day 3 of trying to feed it to her, and now she won't even open her mouth. I'll keep trying for a few days, but if it doesn't get better, I might give up!

She also got her first taste of applesauce. It's canning season, and my mom has 2 apple trees in her yard. So on Friday night we picked apples, and pretty much all day Saturday we cooked and smushed them into the yummiest applesauce ever! I dipped the binky in the applesauce, and you better believe that baby sucked that binky very vigorously! She liked it, I think! Also, we canned 83 quarts on Saturday. More to come this weekend!

These last few pictures are her sad face (I still think it's even more sad when you see it in person), and her 5 month old pictures. She turned 5 months old TODAY!

recent happenings

1. I've decided to "Spring" clean my house. In the fall. I'm getting closer to being done with my kitchen - hopefully the hardest room in the house! It's a mess right now.
2. Even though I drink it year round, I am glad to welcome back hot chocolate weather! I love the rain and gray skies. I wait for this weather all year. My favorite.
3. Our battery for our much loved MacBook died...and I probably shouldn't say it...but maybe it knew Steve Jobs was going to also. Oh...that was horrible. But seriously, what a coincidence! Anyway, I'm waiting to post on my recipe blog until we get our new one, because I don't want to put my pictures on this computer. Also, my recipe blog is kind of on hold while I'm cleaning my kitchen. because I can't really cook until it's put back together.
4. My baby is so big! She's about 5 months old now, and she can roll all around the room. I will probably start her on rice cereal in the next few weeks.

That's pretty much it.

are you kidding me?

So, Mr. Webb and I were talking the other day. We had just seen a commercial for Hershey's Air Delight. Have you seen the commercial or the candy bar in the store?

We just laughed and started joking. I'm not sure if this is exactly what we said, but it was along these lines:

Mr. Webb: "Can you just imagine the pitch meeting for that?"

Me: "Hehe...we're going to put some AIR in a candy bar and sell it!"

Mr. Webb: "You know what would make our chocolate taste better? AIR!"

Me: "We're going to charge people for air."

Both: Hysterically laughing

Anyhow, you get the idea.

I just can't believe that Hershey's stuck some air bubbles inside some mediocre chocolate and are (probably - I haven't actually seen it in stores) charging even more than a regular candy bar for it.

Silly people. Don't spend your money on air. It's already free! Just breathe in and eat some chocolate.

Same thing, people. Same thing.

baby laughs

Sorry about the angle, but she won't laugh if she can see the camera.

4 month stats

24.5 inches

12.56 pounds

She did really well with her shots. She had about 4 I think. And this evening when I was rubbing them like the doctor told me to, I was afraid she was going to cry. Guess what? She started laughing. Sometimes (okay, ALWAYS) I love my little girl!

The doctor basically left it up to us to decide when we want to start "solid" foods (I love how they call them solid foods - it's kind of funny). I bought a box of rice cereal on the  way home. I'm going to try and hold out until 5 months, but I'm really excited to start her on cereal!

Also, Mr. Webb got me a present a few days ago...

Look how little and cute they are! And also, delicious! Chocolate frogs are welcome at my house any time! 

sitting up and helping in the kitchen

my baby is so cute!

Getting a haircut tomorrow. Yay! I've been getting really bad headaches for the past week or two, so I'm very excited to get my hair cut and get rid of those bothersome aches! Yay!

Also, I've started a new blog. I know, I know. I do this too much. This one has been a goal of mine for a long time, because of Julie and Julia (great movie). It's a try-a-new-recipe-every-day blog. So, if you'd like to look at it, you may. But it's pretty much just for me, so you really don't need to. I'm just kind of proud that I've tried 6 new recipes in 6 days! :)

First video is one of baby's favorite games. You blow in her face, and then she sniffs and smiles. I don't understand it.

Second video is her ALMOST laughing. She always laughs, and then I pull out the camera, and no more laughs. Story of my life...

today

recently

My baby wants to grow up too fast. Within one month, she learned to roll from her back to her tummy AND roll from her tummy to her back. She's a pro at the first, and getting scarily good at the second. This mommy needs to baby proof ASAP.

One problem we have with the rolling is that she does it in her sleep. And then mommy gets a rude awakening when baby screams because she doesn't want to be on her tummy. She's getting better, though. Most mornings when I get her up, she is asleep on her tummy.

She's a very, very happy baby. Especially in the morning. I walk in, see her little face, say "Hi!" And I get the biggest smile ever. I love it!

In non-baby news, I am very proud of myself. For the past few weeks, I have not only planned menus, but have actually made dinner almost every night! My recent favorite was one I made just today. Crispy orange beef. So amazingly yummy. Mr. Webb LOVED it! Instead of using plain white rice like the recipe said, I made some brown rice, and then added carrots, snow peas, green onions, an egg, and some soy sauce and sesame oil to make some very yummy fried rice. The recipe took a lot of work, but was definitely worth it!

Also, I have been called as the Relief Society chorister, which I am loving. The rest of the ward loves it too, because they get to hold my cute girl. :)

I had some coupons for 50% and 40% off some bakeware items, so I purchased some things that I hope will make cake making a happier experience for me. I want to make pretty cakes, like this. But I've never succeeded. Hopefully I'll have an excuse to make a cake soon so I can try it out again.

Well, I'll try to put up some pictures next time.

Until then, have a wonderful week!

chocolate cupcakes with chocolate mousse filling

pinterest

Yes, I am dedicating an entire post to Pinterest. If you don't know what Pinterest is, I'll sum it up in one word. Awesome. Pinterest.com has nothing less than inspired me. It's basically a website where you can 'pin' things from any website to different boards. I think of it like having online bulletin boards. For instance, I have a board for recipes, one for crafts, and even one dedicated to cakes and cupcakes. All in all, I have 12 boards.

You can also follow other boards. So if someone has a lot of pins that you like, you can follow that board. The only thing I don't like about Pinterest, is that once in awhile, the website will just decide for you that you should follow someone. Then you have to go and unfollow all of their boards. But other than that, I have loved Pinterest.

Here are some of the things that Pinterest has inspired me to do:

1. Remember my last post, how I took 3 month baby pictures and had the letters above my baby's head? Got that idea from Pinterest.

2. Made THIS brilliant idea. Turn a 12-pack soda box into canned food storage? Although I found out AFTER I made it, that it doesn't fit normal sized cans. I wasn't aware that Campbell's soup cans were smaller than other cans. So that project didn't work out for me.

3. Made THIS no-sew jacket/wrap.

4. Made a bunch of THESE little bows, tied by using a fork.

5. Made Cinnamon Honey Butter. Delicious.

6. Made THIS pasta dish. Basically like carbonara, but instead of putting the egg with the cream sauce, you fry it and stick it up top. It was pretty much delicious.

7. Made THIS egg in a bell pepper slice. I made it for Mr. Webb for breakfast, and he rather enjoyed it. I didn't flip my egg though. I just cooked it a low heat for a long time.

8. Reorganized my cupcake wrappers. Luckily, I already had a container that worked wonderfully! Here are my before and after pictures of my cupcake supplies. See how much my container was overflowing before?

9. Made this paper star. I can't decide if I like it or not.

10. Used a weekly meal planner, and planned about a month's worth of meals.

So, in a nutshell, you should go join Pinterest. Because it rocks. :)

3 months old

One picture and 2 movies for you to see. I was trying to get her to smile for her pictures, so of course she decided to talk the whole time. But, at least I got some videos of her talking, finally!

baby talk

Things Baby learned to do this past week:

• Talk in "sentences." I can't seem to get a good video of this, because whenever I bring out the camera, she just stares at it. Even if I try to hide it. She always finds it. But she says "ohhhh" over and over and over and over. She said it to Daddy for about 15 minutes straight the other day.
• Reach for things and almost grab them.
• Stuff her entire fist in her mouth.
• Roll onto her side (about last Wednesday).
• Roll from her back to her tummy (just last night and this morning).

She's growing up way to fast.

And right now, she's carrying on quite the conversation with our ceiling fan.

need a new use for your muffin tin?

So, a few days ago I was just browsing around on the internet. I don't remember where I saw this idea, but hopefully I can find it again so I can give credit. But basically, it was called the muffin tin diet. Either at night before bed or right in the morning, fill each cup of a muffin tin with some healthy snacks (ex: carrot sticks in one cup, handful of nuts in another, a cup of yogurt in the next, etc). Then, every two hours you eat one of the snacks. Oh, and you probably only need to fill up 6 or 7. I guess you could fill all 12 and then you'd be all set for two days! Hey, look at that planning! :)

BUT...why put all your snacks in a muffin tin, you ask? That way, when you're ready for a snack, you have a healthy snack all ready to go, and you don't wander about your kitchen looking for something. Because I know that when I search my kitchen, I always end up with a cookie, some ice cream, or something else not good for me.

I've also seen a lot of websites, like this one, that use muffin tins to make meals more fun for their little ones.

Anyway, I'm going to try this out for a bit and see if it helps me eat a little better. Wish me luck!

kiva

My sister told me about Kiva awhile ago. She said that instead of buying shoes for her birthday, she gave someone a loan. The cool thing is, these people work off that loan and you get the money back. Then you can turn around and lend it to someone else. And it literally changes their lives.

Some people need help starting up a fruit and vegetable stand. Some people need money to build a bigger working space. Some people use the money to get educated. Whatever it is, it really does change their lives. I'm sure they explain it better on their website, so you can read about it there if you have more questions.

Right now Kiva is letting you lend someone in need $25. And you don't have to pay a cent. How cool is that? My sister sent me the link, and I was able to sign up and lend $25. I've wanted to do this for awhile, and I've been waiting until we have room in our budget to do so. But I just got to do it for free!

So follow this link and give a free loan. It's worth it

I can't think of good titles for my blog posts anymore...

So...I'm basically in love with my baby. She is so cute, and she is learning so fast. She makes so many cute noises. Here are some things I love about her...

1. Even though I've been having a lot of trouble getting her to fall asleep at night, once she IS asleep, she stays asleep until at least 5 AM, sometimes 8 AM.
2. Once she does wake up in the morning, very often she will just lay in her crib, happy as can be, talking to herself and bouncing her legs up and down.
3. She has the biggest and most precious smile. It melts my heart.
4. She has the saddest sad face ever. Seriously. It makes me feel so bad for her. Best pouty lips I've ever seen.
5. Just tonight, she figured out that when she flails her arms and legs in the bath, it makes fun noises. So she'd splash, but then it would startle her, so she'd make a funny face after. Then she'd build up her smile and do it all over again.

So, yes. I'm bragging about how ridiculously cute my girl is. Deal with it. :)

And, just as a random thought...

I was driving home from a baby shower today, and I heard a song on the radio. I had heard the band sing this song live on tv a week ago, and if I didn't know it was the same band, I would have thought it was a cover of the song. Their voices had been changed so much. 

Sometimes I wonder if artists recognize their own songs on the radio...

And last but not least, some videos. You don't have to watch these, obviously. They're probably pretty boring, and they're mostly for my out of town sisters!

Video #1 is Emma in the bath tonight. Right around 12 seconds is my favorite part - where she splashes and scares herself.

Video #2 is Emma making some cute noises.

Video #3 is Emma rocking on her belly (just the very beginning).

before the baby...

Before the baby:

• I thought I could take a fast shower...and that I would get a shower every day after the baby arrived.
• I thought my house was messy.
• I thought I never saw my friends.
• I thought swaddling would solve all of my baby crying troubles (my baby hates swaddling).
• I thought baby swings and seats would help me with my housework (which, to be fair, they did until physical therapy).
• I thought that if my baby learned to sleep well at night, she wouldn't ever have trouble after that unless she was sick or something.
• I thought we would have more visitors - I am both grateful and sad that we didn't have more, if you know what I mean...

And now for some positives, just so you know that I love my baby! I didn't mean for this to sound so complain-y.

• I thought that I would be more naive about babies. I'm not trying to make myself sound like a genius or anything (I still call my mom a lot and look up things online), but I really thought that I wouldn't be as prepared as I turned out to be.
• I thought I knew what love was (awww... :D)

And now for some pictures. These are all during her 2nd month:

baby blessing

We had a beautiful baby blessing on Sunday. My brother told us that baby smiled through her entire blessing. What a good girl. :)

Here is baby in her blessing dress, and following (on a pink blanket) is me in the same dress.

baby pictures and a cake

Here is my baby at 6 weeks old!

She helped her uncle play Chronology...

And hung out with her Aunt

And now she is 7 weeks old! And soooo happy!

She is so beautiful!

And she's getting really good at tummy time.

In other news, I made this cake, which I think looks like it should start talking and be on Sesame Street...