December 27, 2009
I can not stop eating these brownies! I’m not sure whether I should love Erin right now or hate her 
* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 cup butter (I used 1/2 cup canola oil)
* 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 2 cups white sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
***chopped up chocolate bar!*** or some chocolate chips.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan. In a heavy saucepan combine the 1/3 cup of flour and water. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thick. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside to cool.
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter. When butter has melted, add the cocoa and mix until smooth; set aside to cool. Beat the sugar and vanilla into the cooled flour mixture. Stir in the cocoa mixture until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stir into the batter until just blended.. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.
***if you have some chocolate chips, or a bar of chocolate. chop it up and throw it on top. (i didnt mix it in because i’m a noob. halway through baking i got a fork and mixed it while it was still gooey–so it gave a yummy nice bubbly texture ontop) ruuustic. oooohhher.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool before cutting into bars.
They’re a big hit with 2 year old boys 
December 24, 2009
Wishing you a happy and relaxing holiday season!
December 21, 2009
There’s really not too much I can say about witnessing a child coming into this world. It’s an experience that has left me speechless and I’ll let all the photographs do the talking.
He was born at 11:04 am:
Weighing 7 pounds and 6 ounces:
Measuring 20 inches:
Congratulations to Brady & Mandy!
December 16, 2009
I’ve started to go through baby Cooper’s birth pictures and I am so in love with this one that I couldn’t wait to share. I absolutely love the huge smile on Daddy’s face.
December 15, 2009
My newest nephew, Cooper Jared, was born yesterday. What a wonderful new addition to our family.
December 14, 2009
11:04 am
7 pounds 6 ounces
20 inches
Stay tuned for a few pictures from the home birth in the next couple days…
December 7, 2009
I can’t believe how busy I’ve been and I haven’t even been “working”. My days are packed with cooking, cleaning and stalking my phone waiting for my sister-in-law Mandy to call and say she’s having her baby. The cooking seems to be getting a little easier. I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of making recipes work for us by substituting ingredients. I’ve managed to spend all of today cooking and have enough cooked up to last us a couple days. We’ve also been a household of sicklings this past week. Justin and I both have nagging colds but Finley is being treated for both pneumonia and bronchialitis. We did have to make a trip to the ER for poor Finley but I’m so thankful we’ve been able to treat him from home rather than being admitted to the hospital. Layla appears to be as healthy as they get. It appears that our baby girl is quite healthy too. Since I’ve been measuring small at my doctor appointments I’ve had two growth scans done on the baby. At the first scan, she measured exactly right and at the second scan two weeks later she measured 1 1/2 weeks ahead. Only 5 more weeks until our sweet girl gets here!
