Monday, October 3, 2011

Gearing up for Halloween!

Corn Maze time!


My city girls LOVE hay... go figure.

Sneak peek at our Halloween costumes... we're going as a family of bugs, with the baby dressed as a caterpillar! All he needs is a tiny hookah!

7 Months!

Enjoying some "smashy food"

Rocking his new 2T sized clothing...

More Teething!

And he's off! Big man is cruising the furniture.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Lions and Tigers and Bears.... Oh my!

Zo and the Tiger
One of the best things we ever did as a family was get a Zoo membership! We totally get our use out of this pass.


Em's new BFF




Toddler Prairie Dog Tunnels

Fruit Bats!

Collin and his buddy Linda... "enjoying" the zoo, too!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Photos!

Our first ever professional photos are back and WOW are they cute.
Some of my favorites:




Photos by: http://www.tricialeighsphotography.com/

6 months old!

24 1/2 lbs  and 28 inches tall.

His hobbies include nursing, sleeping, playing with the cat and more nursing.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Wordless Wednesday- Easter 2011

Last year

This year

Collin's first Easter.

Monday, April 11, 2011

30 before 30- DONE.... sort of.

So yesterday was my 30th birthday... 28 out of 30 "to do" list items completed since I made the list in August, not too shabby. 

1. Learn to make caramels
2. Learn to make French Macarons

3. Go to an LSU football or baseball game

4. Go to a Renaissance Festival

5. Buy a new car

6. Attend an outdoor music festival

7. Create a personal cookbook of family recipes

8. Tour a brewery

9. Pay off my credit card

10. Make a pie from scratch, including the crust

11. Learn to knit and complete a project

12. Adopt a Pug or French Bulldog from a rescue
13. Build a sand castle with my girls
14. Go on a family trip

15. Fly a Kite on the levee

16. Get a professional haircut/style
17. Spend a day at the spa
18. Cook a 5-course meal and have a dinner party with my friends
19. Read 10 books in 10 weeks
20. Visit a State Park
21. Have a baby (this is a topic for a future blog post, but we're expecting a surprise #3 in Feb, 2011!)
22. Go to a Comedy Show
23. Clean out my closet and donate all the clothes I never wear to Goodwill
24. Paint the House
25. Do a 30-day Yoga experience
26. Go Fishing
27. Take the girls to the New Orleans Children's museum
28. Visit a Zoo outside of my city
29.  Design and build a chicken coop for my "urban chickens"
30. Volunteer with either Habitat for Humanity or the Humane society

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

2 yr old Stats-

Emily- 28 lbs (birth weight- 2 lbs 9 oz)
            Height- 35 in

Zoey- 30 lbs (birth weight- 2 lbs 10 oz)
           Height- 35 in

1 month old!

Little brother is 1 month old!

Weight- 10 lbs
Height- 22 in

Monday, March 28, 2011

Two?!?!?! Already?

I can't believe my little girls are 2. It doesn't feel possible. I swear it was only moments ago that we brought them home from the NICU. I'm in awe of these two little people who share my life, they're so funny/smart/loving/caring and such a joy.
So far the "terrible twos" have been pretty awesome.
Brobee cake





Zoey
Emily


Collin makes a friend.





At the Zoo

Friday, March 4, 2011

Getting ready for Mardi Gras-

We're skipping parades this year but that doesn't mean we're skipping the King Cake!
Below is my "go-to" king cake recipe and it's delicious. The dough is the perfect buttery brioche and the filling is divine! You can also add some sweetened cream cheese to the filling for a praline cream cheese king cake that's to die for.
Fresh out of the oven

All dressed up!
If you're making this for kids, skip the bourbon in the glaze. ^_^

For the Brioche:

1 Envelope Active Dry Yeast
2 Tbsp Warm Water (115 degree F)
1 tsp Iodized Salt
2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
2 tsp Orange Zest, minced
2 Cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 Eggs, beaten
1 1/4 sticks cold Unslated Butter, cut into very small dice
1 Egg beaten and 2 Tbsp water, for the eggwash




Dissolve the yeast in the workbowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, let stand until frothy.

Dissolve the salt, sugar, orange zest and milk in a small bowl. When dissolved combine the milk mixture with the yeast mixture. Mix the cinnamon with the flour.

With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, then gradually add the flour, until all is incorporated. Knead on low speed for 10 minutes, or until a smooth elastic dough is formed. A little more flour may be necessary.

With the motor running, incorporate the butter into the dough, a little at a time but rather quickly so that it doesn’t heat up and melt.

Turn the dough into an oiled bowl, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour in a warm spot.

When the dough has doubled in bulk punch it down, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll the dough out to a 6 x 18 inch rectangle. Spead the Pecan filling (recipe below) out in the middle of the rectangle along the whole length, leaving about 1 1/2 inch on each side. Place the baby trinket somewhere with the filling. Fold the length of the dough over the filling and roll up tightly, leaving the seam side down. Turn the roll into a circle, seam side down and put one end inside of the other to hide the seam, and seal the circle.

Place the cake on a baking sheet and let rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Brush all over with the egg wash, then place the king cake into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

When the cake cools, brush with some of the glaze (recipe below) thinned out with more cold water. This will help the sugars adhere. Decorate the cake with the colored sugars and drizzle some of the thicker glaze onto the cake.



For the Pecan filling:

1 Cup Pecan halves, broken up slightly and roasted until fragrant
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Allspice
1 pinch of salt
4 Tbsp Steen’s Cane Syrup

Combine all of the ingredients together.


For the glaze:
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tbsp Bourbon
Water (enough to make a paste that can be drizzled)

Combine the sugar and bourbon, whisk in enough water to make a glaze that can be drizzled.

Recipe from: http://www.nolacuisine.com/2007/01/06/king-cake-recipe/

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Finally here- Collin Thomas.

My little bean was born on his due date 2/22/11 at 13:13 pm. Weighing 6.6 lbs and almost 21 inches long.

 




Heading home


On the top- Emily's footprints. Bottom- Collin's.


For anyone who's curious- Having a single full-term baby after preemie multiples has been a breeze. (so far). Only having to wake up and feed one baby is laughably easy... I spent the first 3 months of the girls' lives in "survival mode" as I'm sure many parents of multiples can attest to. By the time both babies were fed, changed, burped and back to sleep, it was time to start the whole process all over again... with Collin, I'm getting more sleep now than I did in the last 2 months of my pregnancy !