Harper's Newborn Pictures

It's been a nice break from the heat here in Rochester.

A good friend and co-worker retired today, so Harper and I went into my work for a visit. While we were there, Stacy gave us the pictures that she took of Harper when Harper was about two weeks old...there were so many that I liked, it was hard to pick a favorite, but here are a few. Have a great weekend!

Happy 4th of July!

      I hope you had a good 4th of July! It was definitely warm here in Minnesota, but we were thankful for air conditioning! Our thoughts have been with everyone around the country that havn't had electricity and those that are fighting the fires.
      I wanted to share a recipe that I tried out on my family who joined us for lunch. I had found several cake recipes online but still ended up experimenting a little on my own. I love cake from scratch, but with a four week old, I knew I wouldn't have the time. So this was what I ended up with... (the pictures aren't great, sorry! I need to work my photography skills)

This is a simple white cake with a yummy buttercreme frosting. I decorated the top and sides with blue and red M &Ms, but next time I will probably try blueberries and strawberries.  I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
• 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 3/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 egg whites
•  red food coloring
•  blue food coloring
• 1 cup butter-flavored shortening
• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon clear imitation vanilla extract
• 8 cups confectioners'  powered sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray 3 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray and dust with flour.
2. In a large bowl, beat the cake mix, instant pudding mix, water, vegetable oil, and eggs together with an electric mixer to form a smooth batter. Divide the batter equally into 3 smaller bowls; tint one bowl to your desired shade of red, and one to your desired shade of blue. Pour each bowl into a prepared cake pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the cakes are set and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about  10 to 15 minutes. The cakes will start to pull away from the sides of the pans when done. Remove the cakes, allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the pans, and then set onto a work surface to finish cooling.
4. While the cakes are cooling, beat the butter-flavored shortening, butter, salt, and vanilla extract in a large bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Mix in 1 cup of confectioners' sugar at a time, beating in each cup well before adding the next. Mix in the cream until the frosting is smooth and spreadable.
5. To decorate, start with the red layer and gently turn over onto a cake plate. Generously frost the top of the red cake, then place the blue cake on top. Frost the blue layer, then top with the white cake; use remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake.

Note: I ended up with a ton of extra frosting that I plan on using on cookies later this week. But I probably could of gotten away with half of what I made.

Good luck and enjoy!

And here is Harper to also wish you a Happy 4th of July!

Feeling patriotic!

      So this is a post that is a little late-it all started the week before I was scheduled to be induced; I started working on a few patriotic decorations around the house. I wanted a few things to put out in the house that would celebrate Memorial Day and I could leave out until 4th of July (since I can't see myself having lots of time to put out decorations with this little one around the house as well).  I wasn't scheuled to work any more on a regular basis but I was going in and working half days and then came home in the afternoons to rest. However, I was feeling pretty good and most days I would get restless and anxious walking around the empty house. So I got a few little projects done.
   I went to Michael's and walked around until I got a little inspiration and that led to a trip to the fabric store next! I started by working on a "wreath" made from fabric scraps that I got from the bargin bin at the fabric store. For anyone who hasn't made one of these before-it is so EASY and it's  the type of project where eveything doesn't have to be perfect...my type of project!

 I started with this 12 inch empty wire wreath from Micheal's (it was only $2.94!) Then I needed to get my fabric ready...

I had five different fabrics and I cut them into peices that were between 9 and 10 1/2 inches long and about 2 1/2 inches wide.  In total I think I purchashed about 3 yards of fabric. I think its important to think about the patterns on the fabric you pick out. If you have too many patterns going on, it will look just like a bunch of messy fabric. I had two patterns and then three solid colors and I think it was well balanced.

This was the fun part! All you have to do now is tie the fabric on the wire randomally. It's a totally mindless task that I did while we watched a movie one evening. It is time consuming though, almost two hours of tieing knots!

 The back of the wreath needs to look like this, so that all of your fabric is turned toward the front.

 This isn't the greatest picture of the finished project, but it gves you an idea :-)


Lastly, I picked up some scrapbooking paper and wooden letters at Micheal's. After a little cutting and some modge podge....viola!

So there you have it...my patriotic spurt complete! Hope everyone has a great week!

Harper Elaine

The last week and a half have brought so many changes in our household! On Wednesday June 6th, I went  in to be induced with our first baby. I was exactly one week past my due date and feeling great! I thought maybe I was having really mild contractions throughout the week, but continued to feel good. Although the induction was long and much more uncomfortable than I anticipated, it was all worth it in in the end when our little girl was born at 12:10pm on June 7th. She was 8lbs 1 oz and 21.5 inches long. I had amazing support from my husband, my mom, our doctor, and the nurses at the hospital-definently couldn't have done it without them..

We have been home for a week and although there is still no routine, we are all adjusting pretty well and learning to function as a family! I can't believe this little girl wasn't in our lives ten days ago because she has fit in so perfectly.

Her dad was even in a wedding this past weekend and Harper was a great party guest.  

Now that I am off of work for the summer, I hope to get to know this little girl even better and also hope to have the time and engery to make some changes around our house that I have been wanting to tackle for some time.

Thrifty Finds!!!

Last week I stopped by our local Goodwill on Thursday (Thursdays are 50% off all infant and toddler toys and clothing). I was thrilled with my findings for our little girl-it was a good trip! (sorry about the reciept being upside down, I couldn't figure out for the LIFE of me how to make it right!!!)

Four items in great condition! The pumpkin on the butt is my favorite though :-)

Grand total: $5.45-thank you ma'am!

In other news...I am now 36 weeks pregnant! Starting next week, my baby will be considered term so she can offically come any day. We are still putting the finishing touches on the nursery, but are feeling fortunate for how great this pregnancy has gone and we are anxious to meeet this baby girl :-)

April Showers...bring a May baby?

Last weekend my husband and I were blessed to truly be "showered" by good-wishes and gifts from family and friends. It started on Friday with my amazing co-workers over our noon hour. Our work has had a lot going on with people getting married, having babies, retiring, graduating, etc-yet they found time and energy to put on a great shower for myself and baby Harper. They even went with our owl theme and served pink owl cupcakes!!

Saturday morning, I woke up early and intended on heading to my mom's house to help her prepare for a birthday gathering for my cousins. My husband however was doing an excellent job of distracting me by making my favorite breakfast, scrambled eggs! Then my mother called and gave me the task of picking up a last minute cake, so I didn't make it until almost 11am, a hour later than I intended.  I was kind of stressed and mad that I was late, but my mood quickly changed when I walked into a surprise shower from my family! Again, they ran with the owl theme..

We spent a fun afternoon playing shower games that my aunts and Grandma had worked on coordinating. I am not usually a fan of games, however these were a blast! Espeically when my teenage boy cousins got involved in them!

Sunday came and I had one more April shower! My friends Lindsie and Amy had coordinated an amazing shower totally through email and having never met each other! We gathered for desserts and more owls!

It was a great afternoon with friends! Harper got lots of books so she has a more complete library. I came home and tried reading some of the books, but found myself sitting on the floor of Harper's nursery crying :-) I love children's books!


I can't thank all my friends and family enough for helping us celebrate our little girl. We can't wait for everyone to meet her soon! Stay tuned for nursery pictures and some thrift store finds :-)

From Old to New...

So today I am 32 weeks pregnant!  The excitment of the new baby is really kicking in for me as we finish preparations for her. I can't say that nesting as completely kicked in, but I do find myself engrossed in little projects around the house and trying to stay on top of things at work, so I think that is my way of "nesting."
    One of my new found "loves" is thrift stores and garage sales. I have an aunt who has been going to thrift stores and sales for years but I never really got into it myself. This winter though I found myself at Saver's one day looking for some baskets to use for a fundraiser. About a hour later I was walking out with all sorts of fun finds! I now have hit all the major thrift stores in Rochester and even know their sale schedule so I have specific days I go to certain stores. I am also hoping to take full advantage of garage sales this summer, espeically since I will be on maternity leave!
   Recently, I was in Saver's and happened upon a baker's stand in the furniture section. They had a $12.99 price on it, but I had a 25% off coupon, so I decided to take this darling little peice home for the hefty price of $9.98....

Now, once I got it home and unloaded into the garage, I wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. I hated the white color so that needed to be changed and I wasn't so sure about the grapes at the top. So  left it for a week until I was walking through Hobby Lobby and they had a sale on spray paint for $2.50/bottle. I found some chocolate brown spray pain, found matching stain, and went home in a hurry!!!
   Once I got home however, I realized that I was not suppose to be around paint or stain during pregnancy. So I preped the baker's stand and gave very specific directions to my darling husband...

I will spare you the details, but it did take twice as much spray paint as I had anticipated and the stain was kind of a disaster. However, the entire project cost me less than $35 and I am pretty happy with the end result:

I'm still looking for little items to add to the shelves, so I'm hoping my next thrift store/garage sale adventure turns up some more fun finds!