Annie is 2!

I am awake cleaning my house at 1am preparing for Annie's little party tomorrow(or I guess today). So I thought I would share a little about her since thats what is on my mind.

It is crazy how time flies! I feel like a blinked and she was 1 and now she is 2. Annie is one of the biggest parts of my life. She makes me happy everyday. 

We were on our way to the doctor today for her 2 year check and the whole way there she kept saying "mommy I'm scared". I didn't even know she knew what being scared was. I am happy to say we both got through that appointment because she didn't need any shots so it wasn't as traumatizing as I thought it was going to be. 

Stats from the appointment

Height - 98th percentile

Weight - 17th percentile

Head Circumference - 67th percentile

Brent compared her to a lollipop??

I am amazed everyday at the amount of things she knows. How she is able to put together 5 or 6 words and it makes sense.

- Annie loves animals. 

- She loves reading books. 

- She loves to play with her dollies. 

- She loves to be outside and kick the soccer ball.

- Annie loves to play with Maycie.

- She is getting better at sharing her toys.

- She loves to lay on her tummy while we read books before she goes to bed.

- She can say her prayers all by herself.

- Annie loves to go to nursery.

- She loves to do puzzles.

- She loves to draw.

- She loves to dance. I cant believe how much rhythm she has because I have none.

- Her favorite shows are Dora, Olivia, and Max and Ruby.

- She is so sweet and happy most of the time. 

- Annie LOVES fries and sauce. She balances that out with her love of broccoli, peas, and corn.

I love everything about Annie and her personality and everything that makes her who she is. I honestly am sad it is going by so fast but I am excited to watch her learn new things and grow into a bigger little girl.

I am now going to bombard you with pictures. . .

3 days old. . .

Annie's first Halloween costume. . .

We survived RSV. Annie was in the hospital for 3 days. We left the hospital on Christmas Eve. . .

Christmas Day. . .

6 Months Old. . .

1 Year Old!

2 Years Old!

We love you Annie! We love to watch you learn and grow and teach us how to be better everyday.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I have been looking at this recipe for a while now. It looked like it was too much work because I have never made cookies with melted chocolate in them. But it wasn't that hard and the end result was totally worth it. These are the softest cookies I have ever had. 

I had to take the picture outside because I told Annie I would take her outside and I wasn't moving fast enough. It turns out the lighting is much better outside than in my house, so now I am going to have to retake all my pictures of the food I have posted outside.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

**Resist the urge to bake the cookies longer than indicated; they may appear underbaked at first but will firm up as they cool.**

2 cups Flour
½ cup Baking Cocoa
2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
16 ounces Semisweet Chocolate, chopped (it is best not to substitute chocolate chips since they melt differently; I use Baker’s baking chocolate usually found in the baking aisle above the chocolate chips)
4 large Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
10 Tbsp Butter, softened to room temperature
1 ½ cups packed Brown Sugar
½ cup White Sugar
1 ½ cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave (50% power for 2 minutes, then stir and microwave in 20 second intervals until chocolate is melted – be careful not to overheat or chocolate will sieze). In a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla lightly with a fork; set aside.

Beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds. Beat in the sugars until combined, about 45 seconds; the mixture will look granular. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Finally add the chocolate chips. Do not overbeat. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is fudge-like, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners (this is pretty important – if the cookies are baked on a greased baking sheet only, they will probably stick). Roll the dough into 1 ½ inch balls and place them on the cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 ½ inches apart.

Bake until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets about 5 minutes or until set and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Recipe Source: www.melskitchencafe.com

2 Years & 6 Month Pics

I got pictures of my girls. Annie will be 2 next week and Maycie is 6 months. My sisters best friend took them, and they turned out really cute!

Some of Maycie. . .

Some of Annie. . .

and some of them together. . .

also Annie's famous words, ALL DONE!

Annie's Baby Quilt

Because I just posted Maycie's quilt I figured it was only fitting that you get to see what Annie's looks like. 

 

Once upon a time I found out I was pregnant. I also found out it was a girl, but I was too nervous that the ultrasound lady was wrong and she might come out a boy. So when I decided to make this baby a quilt I did it very generic. Now she has a cute quilt but its not girly at all.

 

Maycie's Baby Quilt

Maycie is 6 months old. Approx. 5 months before she was born I started working on her quilt. So it has taken me about a year to finish this quilt, but I am really happy with it.

Lots of squares and rectangles later I tried to figure out the pattern. . .

I got it quilted at American Quilting. They always do something cute. This time they put a flower in the middle of each of the stars. . .

This is the finished product. . .

Its pretty cute, if I do say so myself. On to the next project!

Sunday Night

Our Sunday night consisted of dinner with the fam, dessert, and games. We played catchphrase. The reason for this post is simply because my dad obviously didn't listen when the clues were being given, and it made me laugh.

Example 1:

The clue was, 'time to get out your watch'. His response was 'Annie get your gun'.

We all laughed really hard because, well, that doesnt make sense. Then it was his teams turn again, and he really wasnt listening.

Example 2: 

The clue was, 'you float with these when you go swimming'. His response was 'a metal detector'. 

It was a really fun night!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

I seem to have trouble making cheesecakes. They are never very smooth. But this one turned out so great. You have to make it, it is totally worth the effort!

On a side note, I know the picture looks like there is cauliflower on top of the cheesecake, I forgot to take a picture the day we had it and turns out whip cream the next day looks a whole lot like cauliflower. When I make it again I will fix the picture.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Crust:
4 Tbsp Butter, melted
2 1/2 cups Chocolate Cookie Crumbs (I used Oreos)

Filling:
4 (8-ounce) blocks Cream Cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup Sugar
4 large Eggs
1 tsp Flour
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Sour Cream (I used light and it worked just fine)

Cookie Dough:
½ cup Butter, softened
½ cup Sugar
½ cup packed Light Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Water
2 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Mini Chocolate Chips

An additional 1 cup mini chocolate chips to fold into the batter with the cookie dough balls

Garnish:

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, whipped to stiff peaks (add 1 tablespoon powdered sugar while whipping if you like a bit of extra sweetness)
Mini Chocolate Chips, for sprinkling (I forgot and ate all of my extras while it was baking)

For the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, combine the butter and sugars for the cookie dough. Add the water, vanilla and blend. Mix in the flour, salt and the chocolate chips. The dough will be fairly soft. Gently roll the dough into small balls (about a teaspoon size) and place them on a wax paper lined plate or baking sheet. Place them in the freezer to harden while making the rest of the cheesecake.

For the crust: Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, combine the butter with the chocolate cookie crumbs (you could easily use a food processor to crush the cookies and incorporate the butter). Press onto the bottom and about halfway up the sides of the prepared pan.

For the cheesecake: Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and flour until smooth. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix just until blended. Be careful not to overmix – incorporating too much air into the batter can contribute to a cheesecake cracking on top during baking.

Pour half the batter into the prepared crust. Gently stir in the cookie dough balls and the additional 1 cup mini chocolate chips into the remaining batter. Pour into the pan, spreading the batter to the sides of the pan and evening it out across the top (it is ok to see bumps of cookie dough here and there, smooth it the best you can). Bake the cheesecake at 325 degrees for one hour. Turn off the oven and prop the door open several inches. Let the cake sit in the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate until chilled (ideally, overnight). To serve, cut into slices and top with whipped cream and mini chocolate chips.

Recipe Source:www.melskitchencafe.com