Playing with Daddy

Bean loves her dad.  She especially loves playing with her Daddy.  Here is a cute video we got over President's Day weekend.  I love how she stops to try to love Tigger, then goes right back to it.  Good times :)

Bean's words and signs

Little Mom

Everyone told me that having a girl first was the best.  I was told that girls are much more helpful with siblings than boys.  Since Bean doesn't have any siblings yet, I can't verify these statements, but I suspect they are going to be true.  My little girl has some very cute, interesting, and funny inclinations that make her seem like a little mom.

One thing Makaila does is she meticulously picks up after Jack.  Anytime she sees stuffing or pieces of fur on the floor from his toys, she either picks it up and throws it away, or has me come get it and throw it away.  These "fuzzes" drive her crazy, and she only watched me pick up after Jack once, so I'm not sure why she is so worried about it :)

Another nurturing habit that she has is caring for her stuffed animals.  After Bean's last doctor appointment, I learned that showing her what was going to happen on a stuffed animal made it seem less scary.  So when she didn't want her diaper changed one day, I thought I'd put a diaper on her stuffed bear so she would see that it wasn't so bad.  What a can of worms that turned out to be!  Since then she wants diapers on all of her bears, her elephant, and even her seahorse!  She will even help "wipe" them with wet wipes before putting the diaper on...haha!  This has also evolved to attempted baths for her "babies", though I have yet to find one that can be washed.

Wearing her bear's shirt

Kaila also loves to give her animals rides, and put them in her high chair and feed them cheerios.  She is super sweet with them and will often give them kisses and hugs for no apparent reason.  She gets worried when they fall over and helps them sit back up too.

Yes, I think this little Bean is going to be a great helper to Mommy in the future :)

Rides

One of Kaila's newest activities is to ask for rides ("rai") in the laundry basket or her stroller.  She also loves giving rides to her pets and her toys.  Here are a couple of pictures and videos that I have managed to get of her "rides".

Best Brownies...ever!

I did it.  I finally made brownies from scratch for the first time ever.  This might be surprising since I love to bake so much, but the boxed brownies are just so easy...and I had no idea what I was missing until I made these beauties.

  
These are super fudgy.  The frosting isn't really necessary, but it adds some extra creamy, fudgyness that I would highly recommend!  (Interesting side note: spell checker keeps wanting to replace fudgy with pudgy...go figure!)  I found the brownie recipe online and modified the frosting recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens Baking Book.  

Brownies
Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 pan (I used metal).  Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up and overhang slightly on both ends.  Butter the parchment.  (This just helps prevent the brownies from sticking to the pan.  It isn't necessary, but I did think it was worth it)
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Remove from the heat and add the sugar; stir to combine.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.
3. Mix in the cocoa, baking powder and salt.  Add flour and stir just until combined. (The batter will be a bit lumpy)
4. Pour into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Cool completely in pan on a cooling rack.

Frosting

Ingredients:

• 4 3/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup boiling water*
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Combine powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
2. Add butter,  boiling water, and vanilla.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined.
3. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed.  *At this point I found the frosting to be too stiff so I added some more hot water.  I added at least another 1/3 cup, but since I'm not sure exactly how much, just have extra on hand and add until frosting is smooth and spreadable.
4. Frost brownies and allow frosting to set. (Refrigeration isn't necessary to make it set, but it will speed up the process.)

The finished product

Mmm...makes me hungry just looking at them!

These don't take much more effort than boxed brownies and were seriously so much better!  Even Makaila helped me make them, that's how easy they are :)

Running around in her modified apron

Who doesn't need a boot when baking brownies?!

Cleaning up is very important

Loves helping Mommy in the kitchen