Family Photos Round Two: AJ and Liv

Remember last time when I said the post would be photo-heavy? I lied. It was impossible to narrow it down this time, but I tried my hardest- so forgive me if you get annoyed by our faces by the end of this truly photo-heavy post.

These are our engagement/wedding/family pictures all rolled into one, so they are definitely very special to me. We had such a great time taking them and the wonderful Amy of A Moment Photography did an amazing job as always. I hope you love them as much as I do!

And this one just because I had to:

5 Minute Apple-Cinnamon Spice Cake

Happy Monday, friends! I'm doing something new on here today, and I'm a little nervous. But I'm pretty excited about this little gem of a dessert, so of course I can't just keep it to myself.

I don't consider myself to be a great baker by any means. I love to bake and experiment but I'm no expert. But when I stumbled across a recipe for a cake small enough to eat the entire thing completely guilt-free, I was sold. After many, many tries, I think I've finally come up with my own version I feel good enough about to share with you all!

This cake is perfect for couples or for a quick dessert fix. Because if you're anything like me, dessert is a necessity, but I don't always have time to make a whole batch of cookies or an entire cake. Mug cakes to the rescue!

So without further ado- my very first recipe on the blog: my 5-minute Apple-Cinnamon Spice Cake!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons oats
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
dash of ginger (optional)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/2 egg

Step one: Mix all the dry ingredients together. You can always add more or less of the spices. I like mine with a little kick, so less might be better for you.

Step two: Add in the applesauce and brown sugar. It will be really thick and sticky- thats ok for now.

Step three: In a separate bowl or mug, whisk the egg. If you're making two separate cakes, you can split the egg into each, otherwise just use one half.

Step four: Pop it in the microwave. I start off with a minute and then go in 10 second increments from there. (Be sure not to overcook it or it gets too spongey :/ )

And bon appetite!

See how easy that was? Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Evie: 3 Month Update

Three months already? How did that happen? I know I'm going to be saying that everyday for the rest of my life, but I just can't get over how quickly she is growing! I may or may not have taken my three month old out to coffee yesterday to celebrate. Blame it on being stuck in the house all day, or blame it on my absurd need to celebrate every little thing, either way, it happened.

She's definitely out of the "newborn phase" and becoming her own little person which is SO much fun to see. She does something new almost everyday- I'm scared that if I look away for just a second I'll miss her newest trick. Watching her learn is truly amazing.

The pictures this month are extra special and I'm completely in love with how they turned out. My parents bought us family pictures as a wedding present and we finally got them taken a few weeks ago by my wonderful friend Amy Minshull who owns A Moment Photography and is incredibly talented. She captured Evie so perfectly. She also did a separate shoot for AJ and I, but I'll save those for another post.

Warning: this post is very picture heavy. Sorry (not sorry), I couldn't hold back.



Here are a few family pictures. We haven't had many pictures taken of all three of us since E was born, so it was really special to have this session and to see our tiny family unit all together :) (minus Roxy of course).

 

Now on to the main event: Evie at three months!

 

Growth:
- I'm not completely sure actually. I'm guessing she weighs around 13-14 lbs now. Judging by the rolls on her thighs, she's a healthy, heathy girl :)

Likes:
- Chewing on her thumb. She hasn't quite figured out how to suck on it yet, but she tries really hard. Usually both fists find their way in too.
- Eating. That probably goes without saying, but this girl loves to eat. I'm pretty sure breastfeeding should be a full time job in itself.
- Holding her own hands.
- Sleeping! She started sleeping in 6-7 hour stretches at night and I am one happy (and much more rested) mama.
- Clicking her tongue.
- "Talking". She just discovered her voice a few days ago and now its constant coo-ing, squealing and babbling. I absolutely love it because I can see her learning to communicate in her tiny baby way. So fun. She has laughed a total of two times in her life (once for AJ and once for me), but its very unpredictable. I can't wait till its a regular thing.

Dislikes:
- Not being held. She is a bit of a mama and daddy's girl lately and cries if anyone besides us tries to hold her. Kind of a bummer, but also kind of makes me smile inside, not going to lie.
- Being on a schedule. Our feeding/sleeping schedule is very baby led. I don't have an around the clock schedule because she just does what she wants regardless ;) She eats about every three hours, but her naps during the day are pretty unpredictable ranging from 15 minutes to a few hours.

 

Aren't these pictures great? I love them all and can't wait to share the rest. Thanks, Amy!

And one more for good measure.....

Happy weekend everyone!

Simply,

Liv

A Week at Mimi and Papa's

I tend to get a little  (a lot) stir crazy in the repetitive-ness of the day to day. I have always been that way, but my new job as a "stay at home mom" has definitely heightened it. The days have been especially long since AJ has had to work a lot of late nights and sometimes wont get home till 9 or 10. So things can seem pretty lonely around here.

We were planning a weekend to go see my parents and get family pictures taken (a wedding present from my parents), so I just decided to take Evie and go a week early, and have AJ come that next weekend like we planned.

It was SO great to be home for an entire week, instead of just two or three days. The week was very relaxing and I came home refreshed and grateful to have the stir craziness out of my system for a while. I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I intended to (famous last words), but I have a few gems that sum up the week nicely.

I love her little stank face ;)

Miss Lucy loved the extra attention all week. 

My brother Sam working on his Valentine to his sweet girlfriend 

Jess basically lives in this corner

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She is going to hate me for this, but how CUTE is that little but?!

Bath time with Mimi :)

We had such a great time. E got to meet one of her two great-great grandmas and we took a five generation photo to commemorate the special day. I'm so excited to share our family pictures and the shoot of AJ and I in a post to come.