walker

Lots of baby sessions lately. A joy indeed. I love newborn sessions. That skin....and the curl of a newborn as he snuggles. There's just nothing like it. I recently spent the morning with Emily, a dear friend of mine from college who was one of my bridesmaids, and her precious son Walker.
Children love Emily so it's no surprise that she is such a sweet mother. She's so natural at it. The hardest part of this session was not taking him home with me at the end of it!
Here are a couple of my favorites from our session. Click here to see more.

quick update

I've been meaning to get to the computer about this for about a week! But, I wanted to let you all who've been praying know that baby Brayden got to come home last week! Praise the Lord!
God has been so gracious through this long process. Brayden turned 1 month old yesterday. I hope to post some pictures of the cutie soon!
Thanks for all your prayers for him and for always checking in on him.

baking for the road

My darling husband is watching the boys all weekend while three girlfriends of mine and I head to Highlands, NC for a getaway weekend. Three of us are either pregnant or in the middle of selling our homes...so needless to say, we are really excited about a little R & R in the midst of the ongoing chaos!! We are each doing a little cooking beforehand and I thought I'd share the 2 yummy light recipes I'm making. The pound cake recipe is not originally light, but I tweak it a little and it was given to Jamie and I when we got married. It is divine! The muffins are from Cooking Light and I figure the lemon might help ward off some of our nausea!

Bon Appetit!

Triple-Lemon Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons margarine, melted
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, divided

2 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) carton lemon low-fat yogurt
Cooking spray
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

*I like to add a few shakes of poppyseeds to this recipe.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine margarine, lemon rind, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, eggs, and yogurt; stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Spoon batter into each of 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until golden.

Combine 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick. Brush muffins with lemon glaze; remove from pans.

Yield

1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 181(21% from fat); FAT 4.3g (sat 0.9g,mono 1.7g,poly 1.2g); PROTEIN 4g; CHOLESTEROL 37mg; CALCIUM 56mg; SODIUM 158mg; FIBER 0.6g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.6g

Cooking Light, MAY 1997

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Preheat oven to 325.

1 yellow cake mix
1 sm. pkg. instant choc. pudding-i use fat free
1 sm. pkg. instant vanilla pudding-i use fat free
4 eggs
1/2 c veg. oil-can substitute 1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce
1.5 c. water
12 oz. semi sweet chips-i use a little less

Mix all ingreds. except chips for 2 mins. w/ hand mixer set on high. Stir in chips. Pour into greased bundt pan and cook for approx. 1 hr. 15 mins. For my oven at home, I set it to 350 and take the cake out after 50 mins.
Garnish with powdered sugar and strawberries.

milk in the pantry

So...I'm 12 weeks pregnant and most of you know that, but if one can't tell from my already burgeoning belly, then maybe the stupid antics I've pulled of late would clue you in. It is amazing just how stupid I become once there's a bun in the oven...I mean, basically all my functional brain cells departed when Sumner made his glorious entrance into the world and I haven't really replenished them. But, being preggers just brings it all to the forefront.

For instance, I rushed home from a house showing a couple of weeks ago in Cahaba Heights...the showing was at 11:30 and ended at 12. I told Jamie he'd have to stay and talk w/ the folks b/c I had to rush back south right then to pick up the boys at school (and have time to stop for some lunch). I am starving, of course, at this stage, so I ran in Cafe Iz to pick up a quick bite-all the while impatiently thinking, "Come on people! I've got places to be!"
So, I pull into the school parking lot on the dot at 12:30 and see very few cars in the parking lot. I'm wondering, "Where are all the parents? Where's the carpool line?" Then, I panic, thinking, "I'm 30 mins late to pick up the boys...Oh my gosh! I'm a horrible mother!"...as if school ended at 12 noon. Then 5 seconds later I realize that I'm indeed 30 mins early. School gets out at 1 p.m. It has since the first day of school! Oh brother....

Or another example...sitting through an hour of conversation over ice cream at Bruster's the other night w/ some girlfriends only to realize at the END (instead of the beginning, which would have been helpful!) of our time that I had locked my keys in the Accord...thus causing a sweet and patient friend to have to drive me all the way home!

Previous episodes also include putting the milk in the pantry instead of the fridge, mixing brown and black in my wardrobe and not realizing it until after walking out the door (this is a major fashion faux pas, am i right, amanda?), going upstairs three times for something only to return without the item every time, and halfway preparing the pillsbury cinnamon rolls to go with dinner instead of the dinner rolls.

Maybe we could have a contest for the most ridiculous thing done during one's 40 week journey to motherhood?!!? At least I hope I can blame this on pregnancy....

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

The National Association of Letter Carriers along with the United States Postal Service is sponsoring their annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive this coming Saturday, May 12th.
Go here to get details and even an email reminder to put the nonperishable items by your mailbox. Check w/ your local P.O. to see if they are picking up the items at your mailbox or at the local P.O. This is a great way to get your kids involved in helping those in need, too!