Insta-Friday... San Diego Edition

Soo... I'm a little behind. Life has been super-duper busy with settling into the house, the big 1st Birthday party, and recent trips to the lake, and San Diego! I've got a whole lot of blog posts to write, and can't wait to share all the DIY goodness of Lovebug's party, and what we're working on in the house! In the meantime, here's a quick catch up & our week in sunny SoCal!

Just lovin' our sweet girl & enjoying Summer!

Landed with a sweet sleeping baby. LOVE my moby wrap! :: First stop? Brunch @ Cafe 222 in Downtown San Diego... GO THERE if you're ever in the area :: Introducing my girl to the locals ::

Passed out cold at Daddy's work dinner.

Sprinkles Cupcakes = YUM! :: Dinner with my wonderful San Diego friends that I missed SOO much in the last year! :: Beach Baby. Girlfriend loved it :: Baby's 1st burger had to be In & Out, duh.

 Just 3 girls hanging out at the beach :: Sand is apparently very tasty and we had to drag this little beach baby away :: Sister love- so helpful on Lovebug's 1st big trip! :: A date at our old spot with my Hubby thanks to my wonderful sister

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies... Yes Please.

It's been a while again... I'm definitely slacking in sharing all the yummy recipes we've been trying over here, and I feel bad for denying y'all the experience of some of said yumminess. In an attempt to make up for it... I'm giving you a doosy. I always try to find something over-the-top crazy good to bring to our Sunday night small group at Church. I mean when else can I make 2 dozen calorie-filled treats without gaining 10lbs? Plus we have like 17 kiddos in our small group, so there's no chance of bringing any home afterward.

There are two fillings for these cookies... the Jet-Puffed Marshmellow Creme apparently makes them taste like the real thing (Little Debby version) but they are messy, since the creme starts oozing all over the place within minutes. Since I need to bake and take my goodies later, I picked the less-messy option and fell in LOVE with the deliciousness that was the whipped frosting. Either way, I'm sure y'all will be happy!

Here's what you need...

Oatmeal Cream Pies                                                  Pioneer Woman

Cookies:
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (at room temp)
1/4 cup Crisco
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp boiling water
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups quick oats

Frosting:
5 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
      OR
Jet-Puffed Marshmellow Creme

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 350.

Grab your mixer and beat the butter, brown sugar, and Crisco. Smell the fat fumes. Now add the cinnamon & baking powder. Mix the boiling water & baking soda and add that in too. Slowly mix in the flour & oats... it'll be pretty thick!

Now use your cookie scoop to add little mounds of deliciousness onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on whether or not you oven likes to burn things. You want these cookies to be soft! Let 'em cool on a wire rack while you whip up the frosting...

Whisk the flour & milk together in a small pan over medium heat until it's really thick, then let it cool completely to room temp (this will seem like an eternity since you're dying to eat one of these babies.) Then add the vanilla.

In your mixer, beat the butter and sugar until it's nice an fluffy. Now add the flour mixture and in PW's words, "beat the living daylights out of it!" It will look like whipped cream when it's ready!

I used a heaping tablespoon in between two cookies... but you can use more or less or MORE. Just sayin'. Enjoy y'all!

Picture Project: The last 4 weeks!

Well folks, baby girl is a year old! I can't believe how fast it went! She's so very grown up, and although I want to cry sometimes wondering where my tiny baby went, I love her more and more each day. Bri and I are so proud of her and we just can't get enough of our sweet Lovebug!

On Fathers day, she FINALLY got her 1st tooth! We went out to lunch after church and on the drive home I felt it! It's still the only one she has, but it didn't seem to bother her too much, so I'm not too worried. She also tried a bottle of cow's milk for the first time that day.. she loved it and has had a little each day since then. I'm not really looking forward to the fact that she's beginning to wean... I'll miss that special cuddle time when it's gone.

She's picked up all kinds of new skills recently... shape sorting, holding her own bottles, sippys & smoothie pouches, running, stirring with a spoon and bowl, climbing stairs, block stacking, etc. She's also tried almost everything we eat and still loves it ALL! She can point to her eyes, nose, mouth, hair, and toes when asked. On her birthday, we asked her how old she was and taught her to hold up her finger for "One!" It's adorable and she does it all the time now and then beams with pride!

There were 55 people including kiddos and babies at her 1st birthday party... it was so overwhelming to have so many people celebrate our sweet girl! There will definitely be a post soon to recap all the DIY and crafty party goodness! Lovebug daintily picked at her cake... just like I thought she would!

We took a trip to the lake this past weekend and she did great driving down and back! Slept the whole way! Unfourtunately, she was up every few hours all night, everynight... which has us a bit worried about the trip to San Diego next week! At home, she's still sleeping about 8:30-7:30 or so.... and nursing once in the middle of the night.

She had her 1yr checkup... baby girl weighs in at a whopping 16lb 9oz! She's reaching all the 18mo skills and a few 24mo skills too... her Dr. was pretty impressed.

She got an adorable a frame tent from my BFF, and a Play Gym from my parents for her birthday... so our basement family room is now officially a playroom, full to the brim with toys! She runs around playing for hours and climbs her slide and the tunnels squeeling with joy.

I'm so excited to see what this next year holds for our Lovebug! Here are her last 4 weekly pictures...