Hello Out There! (I’m Lost In The Newborn Fog)

Howdy, guys!  So as I explained previously in more detail than you probably needed, I just gave birth to another amazing little girl two weeks ago.  So far, she’s been an absolute dream of a newborn.  She only woke up every hour on the hour the first night we were home; since then she’s pretty much leveled out to waking up every 3 hours at night.  Which makes for a slightly foggy-headed Momma, but in terms of a newborn’s schedule – I’ve got it pretty easy.  Thank you, Danielle!  Thank you, God!!

Ugh.  Doesn’t this little angel just melt your heart???

Seriously.  The sleep deprivation was what I was dreading most about diving back into the Land of the Infant.  I do not function well without at least 6 consecutive hours of sleep.  Lauren’s crazy schedule of being up 5 or 6 times a night for those first couple of months was absolute torture, and I really didn’t know how I was going to make it work with Lauren during the day if Danielle decided to be a night owl, too.  But God is good, and so far, Danielle likes to sleep at night.

But I’m still stretched a little thin between the two girls (holy never-ending diaper changes, Batman!), and getting back into the breastfeeding swing of things (ugh…) and Lauren’s ever-evolving shenanigans – yesterday she learned how to remove her diaper and then immediately climbed into my bed and peed.  Lovely!  All this to say that I keep thinking about my Blog, and I have things to blog about, but I just don’t have the brain power to put together one focused blog post.  So here’s a sampling of everything that I’ve been doing lately!

The week before Danielle was born, I made these absolutely adorable Cherry Coke Float Cupcake Cones (man I’m horrible with dessert names – I just can’t come up with something short and cute!):

I got the recipe for the cupcakes from Coco Bean.  Cherry Coke is one of my favorite treats.  I try not to drink a lot of soda, but when I do – it’s Cherry Coke all the way!  Especially at the movies.  Fountain Cherry Coke and buttery movie theater popcorn = YESSSS.

I made up the frosting recipe by modifying a basic buttercream: 1 stick softened butter, 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup milk and probably about 1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice.  I’m not sure exactly how much cherry juice I used – I know it started out at 1/4 cup and then I just kept adding little pours until it tasted cherry enough to me.  How’s that for not real helpful??  Sorry.

I love the way these looked – I seriously don’t think they could be any cuter.  They tasted good, too – but only if you like SUPER sweet.  I think I went a little overboard with the cherry icing.  The cake was a little too dense for me – I think the cones kept it from being able to get airy.  Does that make any sense?  Don’t you hate, love, hate my lack of technical terms??  Anyway, I may try this recipe again but in regular cupcakes instead of the cones.  I think there’s potential for greatness here!  Moving on…

Also before Danielle was born, I attempted to make an ice cream cake for my brother’s birthday.  With a sword-shaped piece of cake in the middle.  Ahem.  I’m not even going to post pictures of that cake-tastrophe.  I’ll leave it up to your imagination how it turned out.  It was tasty, but there was much….sword….mocking.  Oops.  But look, my Dad made a pretty salad for the birthday dinner:

I sure do love my Dad.  He puts thought and consideration into everything he does – even throwing together a salad.  And he did not make fun of my cake-tastrophe.

Finally, blueberries are in season and I just can’t get enough!  Last week when I picked up two pints of the blue gems, I got to thinking how great it would be to have a white chocolate/blueberry treat.  So I got my Google on, and found this recipe for a white chocolate sour cream bundt cake.  I dreamed of it for days, and finally got the chance to do some baking Saturday morning while Danielle snoozed in the kitchen with me:

and Lauren ran amok played nicely with her new toys (she’s been spoiled rotten by everybody since she got a new sister!)

I pretty much followed the White Chocolate Sour Cream Cake recipe exactly, with the addition of a cup and a half of fresh blueberries rolled in a dash of sugar.  I made a white chocolate glaze, using 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips and a tablespoon of milk melted together.  I drizzled that over the top of my cake and sprinkled some crushed walnuts over the top.  Voila!

Yes, I realize this was not the best photo in the world – especially with the green curtain giving things a green cast.  I had to grab the light when and where I could – and be quick before Lauren dove head first into my cake.  Which was quite good.  It would be a great brunch food, if you’re the sort of person whose life has time for attending brunches.  If you’re like me, it’s a good breakfast, lunch and snack cake. 🙂  Really, it is very good with coffee, and it is super easy to make – it’s basically a one-bowl recipe.  How can you not love that?!

Oh!  And for Father’s Day, I finally played with some polymer clay – so fun!  I will certainly be doing more with the Sculpey Clay when I’m able.

“Why a cheeseburger?” Umm.  Because David LOVES cheeseburgers.  And he’s the Big Cheese.  And because I had given birth 5 days before and was still quite medicated it was cute. 😀

OK I think that’s all I’ve got for now.

Love ya,

Becki

P.S. – he really is a great Dad.  And Husband.  <3

Tagged as: baby, blueberry, blueberry white chocolate sour cream cake, bundt cake, cherry coke, cherry coke cupcakes, Cupcakes, ice cream cone, infant, polymer burger, polymer clay, sculpey, white chocolate