5 Minute Photoshoot

I have needed to take a picture of Macyn for her birthday invites, but it has been cloudy and rainy all week. Today has been absolutely beautiful out so we decided to go take some at the Harvest Village thingy in here in town. Here are some of my faves - for the record, she was pretty dang wet from splashing in the bird bath! I'm not sure which one to use for her invitation, but I will have to see which ones looks best. The invites will be coming to a mailbox near you!

Sunday Best (and Worst)

Went to church and Macyn wore her Sunday best:Came home, and changed into her Sunday Worst:'nuff said. At least the Vikings are on the road to a good draft pick.....

11 Months Old

Macyn is now 11 months old and it is hard to believe shes almost 1 already! She is crawling around like crazy and has become a professional waver, clapper, and peekabooer (made up word, I know). She also likes to jump in her crib and cruise around anything and everything in the house. She will sometimes even let go and balance for a few seconds. But I don't think she will be walking any time soon - she's pretty content with crawling. I also think this is the last month of her "laying down" shot. Its just too hard to get her to lay still! Case and point:
She also loves looking outside and eating "big girl" food. aka,anti baby food! She will eat a couple bites of baby food, but after that she wants nothing to do with it. Some of the attitude she throws around makes me wonder if shes thinking, "Mom, I'm an independent big girl, I can feed myself, and I don't need that baby food." So she eats whatever we are eating, or a Gerber Graduate meal. She also loves the carrot and apple dices. We still haven't gotten the sippy cup down yet, but we are working on that.

She continues to sleep well through the night (11-12 hours), and is an overall happy girl! She wears 12-18 month clothes and also went up another diaper size this month. You would think she would be a chunker with all the food she eats, but she must have a pretty fast metabolism.

Its soooo hard to believe she is this old already! But we are looking forward to planning her party in a month!

I did it!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte, here I come! I decided that since my small group got canceled tonight, I would attempt to make the torte. It turned out pretty well, except I kinda messed up the filling, but it still tastes amazing! And the best part is, it took me maybe a 1/2 hour tops to make. Here are the pics:First, get some torte pans from the Pampered Chef. They create a well in the middle of the pan which makes for easy filling. You can also use these for ice cream cakes!Chopped peanut butter cups for the topThe first peanut butter chocolate brownie ready to be filled...........with a peanut butter/marshmallow combo! This is the step I screwed up, but you won't see it anyways since there is another brownie that goes on top!Here is the final product! Add the other brownie on top, fill the well with peanut butter cups and drizzled peanut butter (I'm not so good at the drizzling). But this is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Soooooooo good. I cannot wait to make more recipes with my torte pan!

First Ride Down the Slide

We went to the fair on Sunday, and after walking in the heat we thought we would hit up some rides. However, each ride cost about $3 each person and it was definitely not with it to me! So we opted for the $2 per person giant slide that we could all enjoy together!Here we are at the top (after catching our breath from lugging a 20lb baby up a lot of steps)All locked and loaded and ready to go!WHHHHHEEEEE! The slide actually goes pretty fast, and I'm pretty sure I got some air on one of those "humps". Macyn didn't cry, nor smile. I think it went by too fast for her to know what was going on. But we can always tell her that her first ride was giant slide because Mommy & Daddy were cheap-o's.

All in all the fair wasn't too bad. Except the part where a Carny yelled at me and told me I looked like her cousin Ashley. 'nuff said. It was time to go.

Bargains or Bust, Part II

Here are the rest of our garage sale finds....and the most I spent on anything for Macyn was $4! Some bargains were the brand new black velvet dress, a sweater from Old Navy, a winter puffy coat for $2 (in case she grows out of hers), and some pink ugg slippers. Since I went crazy for garage sales this past spring, I didn't need as much stuff this time around.

Here is a rundown of what I got at the fall garage sales, part II:

8 long sleeved onesies
1 long sleeved shirt
1 winter coat
1 hoodie
1 tshirt
1 pair of overalls
2 outfits
1 sweater
1 puffy vest
1 pair of jeans
3 pairs of tights
1 pair of shoes
1 pair of church shoes
1 pair of slippers
1 hat/mittens set
2 fleece sleepers
3 non-fleece jammies
1 dress

And here are the other things I found:

Bath Ring: $1

Disney Princess Mega Blocks: $5 (was originally $8, but I got them down to $5)...I thought this would be a great toy for Macyn to play with, and something that Daddy would play with too. Turns out, these are Macyn's go-to toy right now. She loves to empty the bucket and throw them, and try and shove them into other toys (even when they don't fit). I may just have to get her some more Mega Blocks for her birthday!Potty Chair: $5. That's another day.....I think we will practice walking first!Bike Helmet: FREE!! Can't go wrong there. Maybe next year it will fit her head so we can ride bike with her in her trailerBaby Gate: $5. Made of plastic, and swings open so you don't have to take it down all the time or step over it. Haven't installed it yet, but its a lot cheaper than buying them at Wal Mart!My new purse: $16. I loved this the instant I saw it - even better yet, it was made in Tanzania. The person I bought it from has gone on mission trips over there, and they bring these bags back here, sell them, and bring all the money they make back over there. This reason alone made me fall in love with it even more. The prints they had were amazing.... and I figured I could treat myself to something knowing I was helping out other people as well. And for the fact that I am still using the same purse I got at Maurices last year at Crazy Days for $5, it was time for something new.Home Sweet Home Sign: $1. I hung this when I was dead tired with my eyes half shut....which is why its not centered, or aligned with the light switch cover.

I also bought myself 3 shirts for $2 each at a sale and I LOVE them!
Since DH had to work, he wanted me to get him something. The last rummage I got him Chicken Soup for the Golfer's Soul, and he hasn't touched it. I also got him a pool table at the same rummage (but that's his b-day present). So, I found him this time around an unopened Frank Sinatra CD ($3), and a Rocky Mountain High T-shirt ($.25). And 2 water bottles. Random, I know, but does he love it? Absolutely.

Early Christmas

My mom went to a Pampered Chef party and asked if I needed anything. Since I had a Pampered Chef bridal shower,there wasn't much I needed. Except, I still have the image in my head of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte recipe in one of the Pampered Chef cookbooks....which requires a Torte pan. I couldn't find one anywhere, and my mom decided to get me one. And let me tell you, I cannot wait to make this:mmmm....even if mine doesn't turn out as pretty as this one, you can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate! ....I'll let you guys know if its really as delicious as it looks!