Austin Kite Festival

In all the years I've lived in Austin I have yet to attend the Kite Festival. Well I'm a virgin no more!!! Last weekend we took Taylor down to Auditorium Shores with some friends to experience it first hand. Although the wind didn't really pick up until we left we had a great time. We were way overdressed (the day started out cold!) so we ended up stripping Taylor down so she could run around. Good thing she wore a onesie! Taylor was really cute. She kept waving "hi" to all the kites! 

Happy 5th Anniversary

Yesterday Paul and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. Pre-baby we would have gone for dinner at a fancy restaurant but now a days we enjoy the simple things (don't get me wrong! I still LOVE fancy dinners). Paul gave me some beautiful flowers and we popped open a bottle of wine we bought last year in Napa. I couldn't have asked for a better evening. Happy Anniversary Paul! I love you!

Queso

Taylor loves cheese (who doesn't?!?!). I showed her how to dip her quesadilla into the queso, but she much preferred dipping her fingers and licking them. Ahh! The simple joys of being a kid!

Playing Catch-Up

Wow! Have I really not blogged since Valentines Day? Things have been busy around here! Besides keeping up with my almost 15 month old I hosted a baby shower and went to a bachelorette party. 

My very good friend Whitney and I threw a baby shower for a friend who we met in our neighborhood. Whitney and I being the bakers we are went all out! 

Whitney created a beautiful vanilla cake layered with raspberry cream cheese frosting and lemon curd, and then covered the cake in fondant. It was nothing short of amazing!!!!!

Whitney also made vanilla cupcakes to accompany the cake and I made chocolate. 

For the party favors I made sugar and chocolate cookies and packaged each one in a bag for every guest to take home.

Last weekend I attended a bachelorette party for a friend of mine from high school. She is moving this weekend to Paris with her fiance for 3 years so we needed to do the party before she left. The wedding will be at the end of summer in Aspen which I am WAY looking forward to. My friends are always commenting on my baking photos so I wanted to make them some special treats since they all live in Houston and haven't tasted any of my creations. 

I made lingerie sugar cookies since we threw her a lingerie shower the night before. I didn't have a "butt" cookie cutter so I used a dog bone and cut off the straight part. They turned out pretty good for my first try. I made bras, thongs, briefs, and regular panties. As much as I enjoy making sugar cookies I don't think I'll be making more any time soon! It took me 4 hours just to decorate them!

And since I loved Whitney's cake soooo much I wanted to bake cupcakes just like it! She was so kind to let me have her leftover lemon curd and borrow some raspberry jam. I put a squirt of lemon curd in the middle of each cupcake before icing them with the raspberry cream cheese frosting. They turned out beautifully!

Ok! No more baking posts for a while! I'm taking a break from sugar!

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

I've spent the last 3 days making sweets to take to the bank I used to work at pre-baby. I know how hard they work and all the  crap  stuff they have to put up with so I hope this puts a smile on their faces!

I packaged up individual bags for each person so everyone gets their own special Valentine.

I made assorted cupcake and heart cookies in sugar and chocolate flavors





And of course I made chocolate cupcakes with fondant heart cut outs

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!

Growing Baby

I am currently in awe of the person Taylor has become. I feel like I blinked my eyes and she morphed into a little girl! She knows what I say to her and actually responds! It's amazing. And her vocabulary... don't get me started! 

She is a happy  baby  child through and through and I couldn't be happier than to be her mommy, which she finally started saying! I took these photos in her room after her nap. This is always a special time where we play in her room, read books, sing songs, and dance. 

Her hair is becoming an obstacle. I put a bow in or put it in pony tails and she pulls them out! What's a girl to do?!?!

Snow Day

We had snow in Austin today! My sister and I bundled up the kids and took them outside for probably less than 5 minutes because it was sooooo cold!

Taylor doesn't have many warm clothes so I basically bundled her up in layers. Socks make good mittens!

Then Taylor took a tumble... oops! And that ended our outdoor fun. She wasn't upset, but the snow quickly absorbed into her clothes making them wet. 

My sisters dog Elvis with snow on his wiskers

Max and Elvis are a little "frisky" from the cold weather

Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap any photos of Jackson (following Taylor around is a full time job!). I'm sure Jamie will post some on her blog!