Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Last Thursday we went to a local pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins and do something fun with Grandma Ratliff! It was Gwen's first outing that wasn't just going to a store, the doctor, or taking Becca somewhere.


Becca loves the tractors and ran up to them first thing!


And climbed on the BIG ones with daddy.

Picking a pumpkin!

A pumpkin for Gwen!

Becca was loving finding small ones she could pick up.

Gwen in the wheel barrel with our pumpkins.

I think I'll buy all 6 "pumpkins".

Our family of four!

I love this girl so, so much!

Look how big!



In the little corn maze...

Took Gwen too (should have known better cause it was a pain to push the stroller around, but I wanted to go, since we didn't do the big one at Cornbelly's this year!)

Cute girl...

And both my cute girls!

Our whole family.

With Grandma Ratliff!

It was a great day, and really nice to do something fall-ish since I have been so out of commission this October!

Welcome to the World Gwendolyn Grace!

On the morning of October 3, 2011 Tyson and I woke super early in the morning to prepare going to the hospital to welcome our new baby girl to this world.

We were very excited as we snuck out of the house, leaving Rebecca home with Grandma Bowen, both of them sleeping.

One last belly shot before we got to meet our baby girl was in order, and we were off to the hospital for my planned c-section.

I was excited and nervous, but mostly ready to meet our sweet girl!

Daddy got on his duds...and about an hour later...

Our sweet baby girl was born at 8:12 am! Gwendolyn Grace Ratliff, 8 lbs. 15 oz., 19 1/2 inches long! Healthy and oh so cute!

Daddy was in love from the start.

As was mommy.


She already made the cutest faces.

And was oh so sweet.

We just love her to death!

It was so wonderful to have quiet moments with my girl!

And felt even better to have Becca meet her sister and be instantly in love. The first thing she said was "She's so cute!" And then climb up (carefully so as to not hurt mommy!) and give her a kiss!

It was love at first sight!

It was great to have Grandma there!


And see daddy so in love with both of his girls.


It was truly an amazing momentous day. Sweet Gwendolyn has been such a good baby and such an amazing blessing in our lives. We are now a happy family of four!

The Time Has Come!

In 2 1/2 hours I have to be at the hospital to have our second baby girl. I am excited and nervous to the point that I have not slept a wink tonight. I have tried, but tossing and turning just doesn't help.

This new page in our lives is a strange and exciting one. I am both scared to death but super excited.

Right now, I just want my sweet Becca to know how much I love her. Tonight has reminded me a lot of the night before I was induced to have her. Very little sleep, very much anticipation. She has been the biggest joy in my life and I can't imagine life without her.

Becca, I love your sweet tender heart and your love for all people. You make friends easily because kids flock to you as you flock to them. I have so loved watching you grow from a tiny helpless infant to a strong-willed and loving little girl. I love when you sing. It makes me so happy and so proud as a mom that you could share my love for singing. Never give it up.

I also have been so happy that you have shown so much excitement and love for the coming of your sister. As a little sister myself, know that she will love you and look up to you in ways you can never imagine. Be kind to her. Be her friend. Lead her with a gentle hand and she will always be there for you in return.

I love you baby girl. Now and always. More and more each day.

Life is going to change for us, but I know it will be for the best. I am so excited to meet this new little one and the anticipation of having my heart grow 10 times all over again (think How the Grinch Stole Christmas) has literally kept me up all night.

I love my little family so much. Tyson is such an amazing father to Becca. He is her best friend and her hero. He is just amazing with her and I know he will be the same with this sweet girl as well. Tyson, know that your girls love you more than anything. We would be lost without your love and kindness and patience.

Well everyone. I need to TRY to get some rest...or maybe just go shower and get ready. Either way, the next time I'm on here, we'll be a family of 4!

Becca's First Day of Pre-school!

So today was Becca's first day of pre-school! She was super excited.
We got up and had muffins and eggs for breakfast (and of course she had to be in her princess stuff)

Then we got ready for school! She was very excited about her new apple dress.

A few cute shots of her all excited and ready!

This is her "princess" pose.

Getting up in the camera. Just LOVE my girl!

Then she got her father's blessing. It was very sweet. Daddy even teared up. I couldn't sleep almost all night long cause I was so excited for her! Our baby girl is growing up!

Cute girl!

All decked out with the "pack pack".

A little nervous on dad's shoulders with the backpack.

Ready to go!

Showing off her stuff.

With mommy!

In the car and on the way!

So excited to go in.



Cheese! It's pre-school!

Found her cubby and put her bag in.

Playing puzzles!

Friends! Becca has been talking for MONTHS about how excited she is to be in pre-school with Cameron (he lives down the street and they are in the same nursery class in church).

On this special day, I just want to leave a message for Becca.

Becca, I hope you love school and learning as you always have. I am so excited for you to grow and strengthen in your relationships with other kids and to learn to behave as you should. You have an amazing spirit and beauty that attracts others to you. Continue to be the happy you that I know you are and you will shine! I love you forever sweetheart. Today is just the beginning of amazing things to come!

Mary Kay Sale!

Hey everyone!

I am currently running my Fall Sale! All in stock items 20% off, some discontinued items 60% off!

e-mail me at staera [at] gmail [dot] com for product inquiries!

Key Lime Cupcakes!!!

Yes, they are THAT good. I was very impressed with this recipe (with the tweaks I made to it). So here is what I did!



First, I found this recipe and link online. Using suggestions from the comments I tweaked the recipe some and came up with a great product!

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2008/09/key_lime_cupcakes#commentAnchor_bonappetit_1000000000032955 This is the original recipe...If you take a look the first thing that struck me was that is NOT a good looking cupcake! What convinced me to try this recipe then? The comments and the pictures loaded by others who made them at home. Much better!

So...What did I do differently? Here is the recipe as I made it!

Ingredients
CUPCAKES

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (plus about an extra 2 or 3 Tbs flour...I don't know if it's the altitude or my flour but it seems like I am needing a bit extra in all my baked goods lately)
1 1/8 tsp baking powder
large pinch of salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel (took about 3 limes to get this much peel)
3/4 cup milk with 1 Tbs lime juice in it (set aside to make "sour milk")
A SMALL amount of food coloring to get desired lime color. I used my Wilton Gel "leaf" color and just a tiny bit of it since that is so concentrated. The original recipe calls for a lot more food coloring, and I like the lighter color.

FROSTING

6 oz cream cheese, room temperature (used the reudced fat)
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1-2 tsp milk as needed for texture preference
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

As you can see my frosting was vastly different from the one they posted. I tried just halfing theirs (cause it seemed like way too much for a dozen cupcakes) and it hardly tasted of anything but lime cream cheese and was a funky frosting texture, so I tweaked it as I made it and this was an awesome combo and a good texture.



Preparation
CUPCAKES

Preheat oven to 350°F. (I set my oven to 340 because it cooks hot) Line standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Whisk both flours in medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then next 3 ingredients (batter may look curdled).

Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions.

Spoon scant 1/3 cup batter into each liner. (*** note, this fills the muffin tin cups pretty full...next time I will fill LESS full and use extra to make one or two more cupcakes, or as another comment suggested a little pan of mini cupcakes. These would be AWESOME in mini form since they are so rich!)

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool. (I would be sure to get them right at 10 minutes or maybe even a little less. Since my cupcakes had a big "top" on them I had to use a knife to loosen them from the pan before I could take them out since I let them sit a titch longer).



FROSTING

Beat cream cheese, butter, and zest together. Add vanilla. Add powdered sugar a bit at a time, mixing in milk as needed for the texture you like.



ENJOY! You will probably need a glass of milk! But as you can see from Becca enjoying them, they are kid tested and approved!

Blog Slacker and Updates

Hey everyone,

I have been a huge blog slacker lately. I just find it so much easier to post to Facebook directly. I will try to post some more pics soon, but here is a brief update on us!

Becca-

• Started dance for a short summer camp...the jury is still out whether she will love it, but she's signed up for the fall.
• Completed pre-level swim class and was passed off for level 1, I might still do a pre-level and THEN a level 1 next summer...we'll see.
• Is a big girl using the bathroom and wearing underwear!
• Is very excited for her baby sister to come and for pre-school to start in the Fall!

Tyson-

• Busy with work and helping me out as I get bigger and less able to do as much
• Is very excited for our little girl to come
• Is just the best, most supportive husband ever as I have my manic episodes of needing to plan everything and get everything done before the baby is here!

Me-

• getting bigger every day as I should be
• my hip hurts, I have no motivation to physically do anything, but tons of desire to have it all done
• Can't believe my little one will be here in 12 weeks (most likely a c-section on Oct. 3rd) but at the same time can't believe I still have 12 weeks to grow and get bigger and more uncomfortable!
• Had to take the 3 hour glucose test...don't have the results yet

Baby Girl

• We still have no clue what we're going to name her
• she is growing and moving a ton
• Oh she's still a girl at my week 25 follow-up ultrasound, so pretty darn sure I will get to use the pink bedding I bought. ;)
• She likes to move tons until daddy puts his hands on my tummy...then she stops.

So we're all doing good!