Who do I look like?

After hearing people tell us that Arwyn looks like me or Matt, I decided do a comparison.  I've put a picture of Arwyn in between pictures of Matt and I as babies around the same age.  What do you think?

From left to right: Matt, Arwyn, Jessica

Snow and cookies (yes, still talking about cookies)

As most people are aware, we got a wee bit of snow yesterday and the night before.  When I say wee bit, I mean around 20 inches!!  We've lived in Virginia for almost 4 years now and have never seen this much snow.  We don't even own a snow shovel!  This is the second time we've had to borrow a snow shovel from our neighbor.  I'd say two big snows in 4 years isn't too bad.

NOW ONTO THE IMPORTANT STUFF....  COOKIES!

I think I'm done baking cookies until the new year begins.  Unfortunately, due to of the snow and a sleepy little girl I didn't make it to the cookie party.  You know what that means.  We now have more cookies than we know what to do with!  I don't really hear Matt complaining too much though.  Hee hee!

Below is a picture of all the cookies I've baked in the last couple of weeks.

From the top clockwise- Pecan Lace, Spritz (cookie press), Chewy Molasses Spice, Ginger-Lemon Pinwheel, Sugar with Royal Icing, Dark Chocolate Mint.

Our elliptical machine will be getting a lot of miles on it these next few weeks.  Not only do we have the cookies to eat, but we have our traditional Christmas fare coming up.  It's tough to try to lose this baby weight when we have pecan and pumpkin pie to eat for Christmas dinner along with Matt's Bubble Blitz (AKA Gorilla Bread).  Thankfully I only have about 7 pounds to go!

Regarding the baby weight, I've been pretty good (minus the cookies).  I've been doing cardio every other day.  I try to at least do sit ups and push ups on the days in between.  I have been working on my running again too.  Luckily on Friday, I was able to get in a mile and a half run before the snow started.  I don't know when I'll be able to get outside for a run again.  First, I'm dealing with the snow and icy sidewalks.  Second, I can only run when Matt is home to watch Arwyn.  She's still too little to put in the jogging stroller and he's leaving in early January for 3 months.  I'm hoping to try out the jogging stroller once she's 4 months old, but even then it's not highly recommended to be used then.  We'll see.  On that note, I'll finish up this post with a few pictures of the little one.

Shipping cookies...

So amidst my cookie baking frenzy, I keep getting requests from friends and family to mail them some.  I'm definitely debating on it in lieu of Christmas presents.  I do love to bake!

So thus far this holiday season I've baked Sugar Cookies, Dark Chocolate Mint Cookies, Pecan Lace Cookies (made some of them into sandwiches with dark/milk chocolate in the middle), Spritz Cookies, Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies, and Ginger-Lemon Pinwheel Cookies.

I will take pictures of the cookies when I'm done with my batches tomorrow.  They all taste great, but don't necessarily look like the pictures on the recipe websites.  I mean, I'm not exactly a food stylist!

If you do want some cookies in lieu of a Christmas gift, let me know and I'll get to baking.  I'll take requests too!

Baking makes me happy!

I did some baking today.  I chose to bake some Chewy Molasses-Spice cookies first.  These aren't for the cookie party, but for my own personal enjoyment.  For some reason, these cookies are hard to find in the grocery store.  You can imagine my delight when I came across a recipe for them!

I also prepared a dough for the cookies I will make using my cookie press.  I'll bake those tomorrow.  Tomorrow I'll also prepare the dough for the Ginger-Lemon Pinwheel cookies.  I didn't have all the ingredients to prepare it today.

I find baking therapeutic.  I was having kind of a down day.  So, instead of letting myself get depressed and wallow in my own self-pity, I baked.

I love being a stay-at-home mom...most days.  Other days, I can't wait to get back to work.  I am not likely going to even look for work until it's closer to April, when we're going to be moving to San Diego.  It's not just the financial aspect of working that I miss.  It's the adult interaction and the mental stimulation.

That's part of the reason for this blog.  I need to use my brain.  I can only play with a 2 1/2 month old for so long each day.

Tomorrow, I will hopefully complete a few more batches of cookies.  I plan on posting some pictures of all the cookies once I'm done.  That is, if they haven't been gobbled up yet!

Cookies, cookies, cookies!

I love this time of year.  The smell of a Christmas Tree, the cold winter air, the Christmas songs on the radio...  Most of all I love to bake cookies!  Sugar cookies, pecan lace cookies, dark chocolate mint cookies, oatmeal butterscotch cookies...  I'm not prejudiced.  Give me a tasty sounding recipe and I'll try it!

Next Friday, I'm attending a cookie exchange.

If you don't know what a cookie exchange is, here's a snippet from the invitation-

Bake a batch or two of your favorite holiday cookies and trade with your friends.
Bake your favorite pie to share with everyone at the party.
You bake your favorite cookie. You take home other great cookies made by your buddies. While you're selecting your cookies to take home, you can nosh on some of the tasty pie you and your buddies have made.
It's a wonderful way to have a nice selection of cookies to get you in the mood for the upcoming holidays.

 
I plan on trying a couple of new recipes for this exchange. 

This first recipe, Ginger-Lemon Pinwheel Cookies, I saw in my step-mom's copy of Cooking Light magazine and I was going to make them whether or not I had a cookie exchange.  They just looked so tasty!

The second recipe, Basic Butter Cookie Dough, I will make and finally use a present I got last Christmas.  Matt got me a cookie press last Christmas and I have yet to use it.  What a perfect opportunity!  I can't wait to make yummy cookies in all different shapes.

I'm excited to see what kinds of cookies other people make.  It's always a great opportunity to find a new favorite cookie or two and be able to get the recipe.

I hate when I find a tasty cookie or cake and not be able to get the recipe to make some for myself.  One kind of cookie that I'd love to find a great recipe for are the traditional Black and White cookies.

Feel free to share your favorite cookie recipes with me!  I'll try anything at least once!

A new chapter

Approximately 3 months ago I stopped working.  I was 38 weeks pregnant with our first child. 

It was definitely a shock to the system, going from working 50-60 hours a week to none.  Until the baby was born I kept busy doing puzzles.  I would easily do one 1000 piece puzzle a day.  Lucky for me, the puzzles I enjoyed doing only cost $4 at Walmart. 

On September 24th our darling daughter Arwyn came into this world.  Life has never been better.