My Baby Turns One

 I know everyone says it, but it's hard to believe she is already a year, but if any of you have your own children, you know what I mean.... How did I keep her alive for a whole year???

Custom bloomers from Breezy Oaks Designs

It has been the best and the hardest year of my life. There is nothing like having your own child to show you how much love you are capable of or how much patience, or lack there of, you can have for one needy little person. 

This past year I have never been so busy physically but at the same time, struggling mentally for things to challenge me. Since leaving my job as a Telemetry Nurse in a level II trauma hospital to be a Stay-At-Home-Momma, I have been fighting to find the balance between the independent me and my new role. Getting crafty, planning trips and parties, and filling our home with tons of out-of-town guests has been filling up my schedule.

 Tissue Paper Pom Poms by Dress My Cupcake 

 The weekend of Jemma's birthday was also the weekend that I co-hosted my baby sister's bridal shower. It was also the weekend that she moved into our guest room to live until her wedding at the end of September. I wasn't even sure if I was going to get to do a birthday party for Jemma with all the chaos. 

 Burlap banner from Amazon hand painted with acrylic white paint

My in-laws were arriving the following weekend and since Jemma had no idea that she had turned one, I decided to have a small, belated party... because let's face it, the party isn't for the kid, it's so that I can take all these fun photos!  

Cupcake flags made from Washi tape and toothpicks

All I can say is that I am extremely lucky for a tolerant husband who loves to help me host, for my wonderful friend Mary, my sister, and my in-laws who helped in countless ways.

Big balloon from Hobby Lobby

  

 My sweet little girl loves her bubbles 

Having a toddler opens your eyes to things we take for granted. Sugary foods for one. Jed and I committed to not giving Jemma any processed sugar until her first birthday, in hopes that she would be a good eater of healthy things. Since we have, thus far, only had one test subject, it seems a bit premature to say that our theory played out as we predicted since Jemma eats basically anything and lots of it.

We held strong until Jemma was 11 months old and we visited Oahu. Jed and I love Hawaiian shaved ice and couldn't keep it from little Jemma's grabby little hands. 

  

  Kisses for daddy

I have been dying to get Jemma working with paint! Though I knew she was probably a little too young, I thought it would be fun for her and the other babies to get messy.... Turns out, paint doesn't taste like frosting, even though it looks like frosting, and that doesn't make it as fun.... at first. 

Yucky paint

  

  

Really getting into it

  

Artwork by one year olds 

We realized afterword that we had forgotten Jemma's birthday hat!

It didn't last long anyways!

As always, I have a DIY to share. I made Jemma's birthday onesie that you see her wearing in the pictures above. The pictures below were taken on my iPhone and the clarity and colors aren't very good but here are the steps.

I used onesie that she already owned that had cute stitching around the collar and a little strawberry on the chest. Using a charcoal pencil to do a rough sketch, I drew a cupcake and the number one. Tip: Charcoal pencils work great because they leave a mark even when you press really lightly, making drawing easier, plus it comes off easily in the wash.

Next, using fabric medium paints, I made an outline of my picture, then fill it in.

Lastly, just add little details 

All that needs to be done now is to heat set the picture so that the colors stay and don't fade when they are washed. I explain the process of heat setting on my 4th of July Post. 

Have a wonderful week!

His First Father's Day

Yes, I do realize it has been weeks since Father's Day came and went, but I had to get this recipe out there. It's that good. And unbelievably easy. Which is basically all I require. As a new momma, I don't have a ton of time to cook...well, that's not true. While I consider myself to be somewhat of a "foodie"(thanks to my foodie husband), I don't love to cook. 

That being said, when I cook for a special occasion, I want it to be amazing....foodie husband, remember? Plus, this was his first Father's Day. It needed to be special.

 I don't even remember what I typed into my Pinterest search engine but somehow one of the first things I saw was a linked photo to Jenny Hobick's "Homemade Truffle Fries." The "foodie" in me was curious, while having major reservations about how long it would take to prep and make these fries. 

Once I opened up her page however, I was surprised to read that she used Frozen Fries!!! Now, even I was having doubts, but I pinned it and continued reading and found two other dishes she had served for a truly elegant dinner party. Cabernet & Thyme Mushrooms arranged beautifully around a Slow Roasted Beef Tenderloin. I couldn't have been more pleased to see that not only had she chosen recipes that were mostly hands off, but she had even been so kind as to provide a timeline for cooking everything! It all seemed too easy. As we were hoping to eat around 6pm, I started the mushrooms at 2pm in my Le Creuset Dutch Oven. It took roughly 5 min to prep, allowing me plenty of play time with my family. 

Once 5pm rolled around, I started on the tenderloin. I had planned on it needing about 30 min of cook time, but had gotten about 2lbs of the pretty thick beef cuts and it ended up taking about 40 min to cook to medium rare. Since I had only gotten two cuts and not the whole chunk, I wasn't sure what to do with Jenny's instructions about tying it tight with twine. I also didn't have cooking twine, just some rough craft twine that was fraying. However, I was not to be deterred, so I forged ahead and burnt off those frays as best I could, then I tied those two pieces together! I have no idea what purpose it served, but oh my word, it was the best tenderloin I have ever had.

The fries came last. I drizzled Truffle Oil on the pan, then on the frozen fries and popped them in with the other ingredients. Then I drizzled again when they came out. They may have been a little heavy on the Truffle flavor, and next time I would just drizzle the oil on the pan, mix the fries around, cook, and then drizzle for a second time once they came out. Regardless, they were paired perfectly with the tenderloin and mushrooms, had a wonderful flavor of their own...and definitely did not taste frozen. Fooled that foodie husband, I did!  

And, since dinner was turning out to be so easy, leaving me with so much free time, I decided to include a little appetizer!  Peaches, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and basil with a little basalmic vinegar drizzled on top. There is a lot of drizzling required on this meal!  

Trader Joe's came through with dessert! 

Anyone else put together the perfect meal recently?