My new favorite cookie!

I'm pretty certain I have just discovered my new favorite cookie. Prior to today, I probably would have said that my mom's peanut butter temptations were my favorite [peanut butter cookie with a reese cup in the middle..yum], but I think I might have a different answer if ever asked what my favorite is. Now, the chocolate turtle cookie has taken over the top spot in my book! [Don't worry, the peanut butter temptations are a very, very close second. I don't like ties or I might say it's a tie.] Here's a play by play of how to make them, with my cute little helpers, of course!

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

5 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/4 cup butter [1/2 stick]

1 [14oz] can sweetened condensed milk

2 [7.4oz] packages chocolate chip muffin mix

2/3 cup pecans

48 chocolate covered caramel candies [I used caramel hershey kisses.]

STEP ONE: Place chocolate and butter in microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until butter is completely melted.

STEP TWO: Mix chocolate and butter until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth.

STEP THREE: Add can of sweetened condensed milk and stir until well blended.

STEP FOUR: Add both packages of chocolate chip muffin mix.

STEP FIVE: Stir until well blended.

STEP SIX: Put pecans in blender and finely chop.

[Somehow, I lost my picture of this step. I'm sure you can imagine what it looks like. :)]

STEP SEVEN: Spoon about 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into balls. [Leyton wanted me to prove I knew my letters. :)]

STEP EIGHT: Dip the bottom of each ball into the pecans.

STEP NINE: Place pecan side up on greased cookie sheet [or wax paper if you choose to dip them all at once.]

STEP TEN: Bake in 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until centers are gooey and cookies are crackly looking.

STEP ELEVEN: While still warm, place caramel kiss in center of cookie. [After trial and error, I learned it's better to allow the cookies to cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet before placing them on a cooling rack. Otherwise, you'll have pieces of cookie rather than a whole cookie.]

STEP TWELVE: Eat and be merry! [Be prepared for a yummy mess if you eat them warm. ]

You'll love them, I promise. I plan to share mine with my co-workers in a cookie exchange. I'm tempted to make a second batch all to myself. This whole being 29 weeks pregnant thing would go great with an entire batch of these cookies!! I'll refrain.

What a weekend!

We had a great weekend, packed full of fun! It all started on Friday with our ultrasound for baby #3. Guess what?! It's a girl!! :) I'm hoping this baby is a laid back, calm little girl, but will be happy with just a healthy little girl. One thing we did learn about baby #3 is that she has bilateral choroid plexus cysts. The choroid plexus is a gland in the brand and since it's a gland it is capable of producing cysts. In #3's case, hers have produced cysts. Alone, these don't mean much. In combination with other problems, these could indicate chromosomal issues. Thank goodness, she does not have any other problems. Her heart is perfectly healthy, as well as her kidneys and every other vital organ for that matter. The dr says that 5% of babies are born with these cysts and live with them for the remainder of their lives and have no side effects from them. The majority of the cysts go away on their own by 32 weeks gestation. We have a second ultrasound scheduled at 32 weeks to check to see if the cysts are gone or remain. I'm praying they'll be gone, just for the sake of my sanity. :) Feel free to pray along with me.

On Saturday, I had my first of many 29th birthdays. [I plan to be 29 for quite a few years now. Not sure how I'm going to like turning 30.] We headed off to the pumpkin patch with my parents and sister. The kiddos had fun seeing the animals and picking out pumpkins for themselves.

Leyton riding the pony at the pumpkin patch.

Josh and I waiting for the trolley to the pumpkins.

A windy trolley ride.

Afterwards, we had some great pizza from LaRosa's in Batesville. It was quite possibly some of the best pizza I've had in awhile.

Me and sister waiting on yummy pizza.

We ended the night with pumpkin carving and a bonfire at my parent's house. It was a great birthday!

The weekend was topped off with Jada's 2nd birthday party. We decided to host a costume party and what a great decision that was. I originally just expected the kiddos to come decked out in their halloween costumes, but my family went above and beyond. My parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even my grandpa joined in the festive fun and dressed up! They've now decided this needs to be an annual event. :) Jada had a great time as did the rest of the family. Needless to say, it was a hit!

Birthday Girl

We celebrated a birthday this week! Jada turned 2 on Monday. We had quite a day of celebrating and are looking forward to celebrating with a costume party with the whole family on Sunday. We had lunch at Fazoli's complete with strawberry cupcakes. After lunch we headed to the park to play and then we just had to try out the newest frozen yogurt shop in Marion, JuJu Berry. I've been looking for a good reason to go since it opened and I found one! [It was pretty tasty, by the way!] After all the afternoon fun, we headed back home for nap time. Jada is notorious for climbing out of her crib. [I know, I need to get her moved to her big girl bed.] After a couple hours of sleeping, I went to check on her and this is how I found her:

asleep in the rocking chair in her room. Apparently that looked like a more comfy place to sleep than her bed. :) Or, maybe she was just a bit too worn out to play one minute longer. Gotta love that girl!

Happy birthday, Jada! We love you!!

Leap Day

Well hello long lost friends! (If there are even any of you out there!) It's only been half a year since I last posted. That's not too bad, is it?! :) I'm sure much has changed since then. Let's see if I can remember the main things.

1. I think the biggest news is that baby #3 is currently baking. He or she will be making an entrance around February 29th...leap day. I'm praying this child listens and obeys when it comes to the date of his/her birth and chooses not to come on leap day. I have a feeling my wishes will not be granted though. Leyton arrived four days early, on Josh's graduation day. Jada arrived three days late, on the one day my mom had said she couldn't be born because she would be busy catering a wedding all day. See? It's gonna happen, just wait and see. (Feel free to hope with me that it doesn't, though!)

2. Leyton has started his 2nd year of preschool. He loves it, all except the cleaning up time. He's gotten in trouble twice that I know of for not being a good cleaner upper. Once he missed out on playing outside and the other time he had to sit in time out for two minutes. He's not very good at helping with clean up time at home either. We have a daily battle getting him to pick up his toys. His favorite line during that time is, "It's hard work, Mom!" Any suggestions on making this any easier would be greatly helpful!

3. Jada is going to be 2 years old in just a few short weeks. It's hard to believe, but at the same time, it seems like she's been around forever! She's quite the pistol. Definitely fits in with the boys better than the girls. Meaning, she's rather rough and tumble. She loves to climb, jump, run, play in the dirt and be mischievious. She's especially good at the last. Speaking of climbing, she decided it'd be a great idea to attempt to climb up Leyton's dresser a few weeks ago. You can probably guess what happened. The dresser toppled right over on top of her! Thank goodness she didn't get hurt, besides the rather large bruise over her eye. It definitely could have been much worse. Needless to say, it scared me to death!

I think that hits on the news for now. I'm going to attempt to be better at updating. Maybe I'll even try to update once a week. I won't make any promises, but I will do what I can. Have a great week!

Snowy Days

Of course, just like everyone else in the midwest, we have been snowed in this week. Not only have we been snowed in, but we've been dealing with a lovely stomach virus. It started with Jada last Friday and has finally [I hope!] ended with me today. Not a fun time to be snowed in, but I guess it worked out pretty well since Josh was able to stay home from work with the kids due to the weather while I was under the weather.

We finally ventured outside for a bit today. Leyton was itching to play in the snow and was pretty impressed that he could defy gravity and walk right on top of it! He had a great time racing his trucks over the ice covered snow. Jada? Well, she wasn't so sure of all the white stuff.

These trucks look like a cartoon version of Ice Road Truckers. Kinda makes me laugh...maybe it's just me.

[I think this might be one of my new favorite pictures.]

Happiness is...

...Leyton being old enough to play T-Ball this year!! I have never been more excited! I have been looking forward to him playing since we found out we were having a little boy. I mean, of course there were other things I was excited about, but coming from a family that grew up at the ball field and then haivng a husband who would spend every waking moment at the ball field if he could, it's something I have definitely been looking forward to! I'm sure there will be many, many stories and pictures to come regarding that!



...Jada learning new words all the time! She's 15 months+ already! She can say mom/mama/mommy, dad/dada/daddy, pa, papa, ouch [oush!], hot [ha!], cheese, please [which also sounds like cheese], mine [my!], go [doh], hi, bye, uh-oh...and others that I can't seem to think of.



...Leyton saying hilarious things ALL the time! The kid cracks me up every day. The other day he was looking at our wedding pictures and couldn't quite comprehend why he wasn't in any of them.

He asked, "Mommy, was I at you and my dad's wedding?"

To which I replied, "No."

Through tears he asked, "But, where was I!?!?"

"Well, you weren't born yet."

"Was I in your belly?!"

"No, son."



I didn't quite think it was necessary to give any further explanation at his age. Eventually he'll learn all about marriage and the birds and the bees...just not now. :)





...Jada "singing" songs. Here's an example of her rendition of This Little Light of Mine. I love that girl...

and that boy. :)