Weeks 15, 16, and 17

Weeks 15, 16, and 17 recap:
Total weight gain/loss: 4 (From 125 to 129)
Maternity clothes? Finally caved into maternity pants at 16 weeks.  They are AMAZING!
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: I HATE sleeping on my side, and now my back hurts.  I can't help thinking they are connected.
Best moment from these weeks: Starting our Baby Registry.  That was fun to do together, but exhausting!
Miss Anything? I really need a good tan right about now.  I miss fake-n-bake.
Movement: Not yet!
Food cravings: Orange Juice still.  I have to have it every morning with breakfast or I go crazy.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes! People are starting to notice
Gender prediction: ???
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In...but slowing heading out
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Feeling the baby move, I hope it's soon!

Baby Belly Timeline

I totally stole this from Pintrest, which in turn means I stole it from this amazing blog!  My husband hates taking pictures of me every week, and as you can tell from the early ones, we needed more practice.  I think we have it down good enough now :)

I thought about doing this every week, but I just don't have time for it! I'm already so far behind! So I am going to do an update every 3 weeks. I like it better because then you can actually see if my belly is growing :)

Enjoy!

 

Week 12, 13, and 14 recap:

Total weight gain/loss: 1 pound (From 125 to 126)
Maternity clothes? Nope, my jeans still fit
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Sleeping great...but sleeping on my back like I'm not suppose to
Best moment from these weeks: finally hearing the baby's heartbeat
Have you told family and friends: Finally, yes!  That was a hard one to keep.  Everyone found out week 12 :)
Miss Anything? Sleeping through the night.  I have to pee at least 1 time a night.
Movement: No, but I'm not expecting it anytime soon either
Food cravings: Frozen Yogurt, Orange Juice
Anything making you queasy or sick: The kitchen smell still gets me sometimes
Have you started to show yet: Just a little
Gender prediction: ???
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Feeling the baby move!

Oh Baby!

I've been slacking on my baking and cooking as of late.  But at least I have a good reason! I am pregnant, and early on I could not stand the smell of the kitchen; the food, the sink, the trash...uck! Now that I am in my second trimester, smells don't bother me as much and I can finally cook and bake again!

Now that my life is taking a new turn, I will be posting preggo pictures, updates on baby, as well as life with baby come August.  I hope I can keep up on my cooking and baking, but mostly I hope I remember to take pictures of what I'm doing in the kitchen.

Baby Chittenden: Due August 10th!

My adorable nephew Dean.  Love this kid!

I hope you follow me on my new journey!

Andrea

Cinnamon Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

It was love at first bite.  These cookies are (in my professional opinion) absolutely amazing.  They might even be to die for.  When my wonderful friend Jenna dropped by my work with a sample of these, I just had to have the recipe!  (You can find the original here.) This past Saturday, some of us girls got together and made 400+ of these for Church on Sunday.  They were a hit!  We paired them with Spiced Apple Cider and everything tasted magnificent.  I LOVE these cookies!

Cinnamon Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

Cookie Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 heaping teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened (i use unsalted)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Glaze Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk, depending on how thin you want it
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until creamy.  Beat in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla until combined.  Add the dry flour mixture and mix until just blended.

Drop spoonfuls of dough into your cookie sheets.  These cookies don't expand much, so don't make them too little and you don't have to worry about putting them far apart.  Great, huh?!

Bake for 7 minutes, then turn tray and bake an additional 6-7 minutes. Don't let them get too brown!
Cool on a rack.

Combine all the ingredients together for the glaze and stir by hand.  Dip cookies face down into the glaze and let them drip a little before you turn them back over.  Place your glazed cookies on foil or parchment paper to dry.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Chipotle Baby Golden Potatoes

While I was in Texas last month visiting my brother Greg and sister-in-law Sally and their new baby Dean, Sally's mom Christy made some delicious baby golden potatoes.  So I found out how she made them, and I was already making some Raspberry Chipotle Chicken, so I thought to myself...why not add some glaze to the potatoes as well.  So I did, and they turned out great!

Raspberry Chipotle Baby Golden Potatoes

Ingredients:
24 oz. California Baby Golden Potatoes (I got mine from Fresh & Easy)
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/2 Tbsp. Garlic Salt
1 Tbsp.  Butter, melted
2 Tbsp. Raspberry Chipotle Glaze (I got mine from Fresh & Easy)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.  Add potatoes, and continue to boil for 10 minutes uncovered.  Drain and wait until potatoes have cooled. Cut in half and place them in a bowl.  Add olive oil, garlic salt, melted butter, and glaze.  Mix until well coated.  Transfer potatoes to a baking sheet, and bake for 10 -12 minutes, depending on how crispy you want them.  Remove from oven and serve warm.

Enjoy!

Oreo Brownies

Oreo's are pretty much the best things ever...and brownies are so yummy and gooey, why not combine them?!

Oreo Brownies

Ingredients:
1 Box of brownie Mix
1/2 package of your favorite Oreo's

Directions:

Mix brownie mix as directed.  Crush as many Oreo's as you think you will need (I used half the package) in a bowl and press them into the bottom of your baking dish.  Then pour brownie mix over the Oreo's and bake as directed.  I always under-bake for extra gooeyness :)

Enjoy!

World Series Cookies

I love baseball.  I've had a pretty healthy exposure to the world of baseball my whole life but it was while I was in High School that I really started paying attention to it and I have been in love with it ever since.  Especially when it's a blue and white uniform and hails from the city of Angels.  Yup that's right, I'm a Dodgers fan.  Love, love, love my Dodgers.  Can't get enough of 'em.  Did you see Matt Kemp get the Hank Aaron award tonight for the National League? You guessed it, he's a Dodger.

Anyways, back to baseball and the World Series.  Last year I made some tasty cookies while we watched the World Series.  I rooted for Texas.  Why? Because I would never, ever, ever, root for the Giants.  Even if they were the last baseball club on earth.  To say that I don't like them would be an understatement. Seriously.  So I made these adorable Texas cookies.  This year Texas made it again, so it only seems fitting to show 'em off.

I'm super particular about my sugar cookies, because I like sugar and I want them to taste good.  After searching high and low I found the best recipe ever! I found in on a blog called Skip to my Lou.  You can check it out there.  It makes a lot of dough!

World Series Cookies

Ingredients::
2 cups butter (I use unsalted)
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
8 Tbsp. cold milk
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
8 cups flour (I use half regular flour and half pastry flour)

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar together in mixer.  Add in eggs and vanilla until blended.  Add in salt. Add baking soda to milk and add the milk mixture alternatively with the flour.  Divide the dough in half or in fourths.  Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

After dough is chilled, remove from refrigerator and let stand for about 15 minutes.  Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Roll out until desired thickness is reached (usually about 1/4 inch) and cut with cookie cutters. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, rotating the tray half way through (my trademark!).  Cool in a wire rack before frosting.

Enjoy!