Yummy!!

I made these the other day because I didnt have any chocolate chips, and they are not healthy, but they turn out really pretty and delicious!

Rasberry Almond Shortbread Cookies

COOKIE
1 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened*
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup raspberry jam

GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

Combine butter, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour. Beat until well mixed. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Make indentation in center of each cookie with thumb (edges may crack slightly). Fill each indentation with about 1/4 teaspoon jam.
Bake for 14 to 18 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let stand 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely.
Meanwhile, stir together all glaze ingredients in small bowl with wire whisk until smooth. Add an additional teaspoonful of water if desired for drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

Happy one month Brynne!!

Brynne is one month today! I know this is a little cliche, but I really cant believe how much she has changed already. It has been a fun, exhausting, sweet, exciting, scary, loving and messy month! I am so happy that I have the opportunity to stay home and get to know this sweet little girl! My mom stayed with us for about 10 days after she was born, it was so nice to have her around, it was a little bit of a shock when I realized that she was going to go back to California and Taylor and I would be on our own. It really is amazing you don't have to have a licence to take home a baby...I think you should have to! Then Taylors momma Ann came out last week, it was fun to get to know her better and I was so in need of her help! Yesterday Brynne and I went and hung out with Brenna and Jade, it was so great to get out of the house and talk to Brenna and play with Jade!! Brenna gave me some good advice to "Surrender to
Motherhood" and with that piece of advice and Ann's advice to just "Go with the Flow", and my moms, "Keep the Main thing the Main thing" I kind of feel like I have had a epiphany! I was thinking about this and I'm a mom, so therefore that's what i'm doing all day is being a mom, so when I think I'm just feeding and changing all day, its o.k. because that's what moms do, so therefore I'm successfully accomplishing something...being a mom! Today I have felt so much better that the house is messy and that I wasn't dressed till 1:00p.m. because at least I am accomplishing the most important thing, and anything else is icing on the cake! Plus I'm not pregnant anymore, so life is GREAT!!

Brynne sometimes sleeps with her hand stretched out, so funny! In this picture she looks exactly like Taylor I think!!

Brynne hardly ever spits up but on Monday she spit up EVERYWHERE! It was all over her, me, the couch, pillows, you get the idea. But afterward she was just so happy with herself, and content. I would like to say I just got her first smile on camera, but I think it was just one or her cute faces she has been pulling, still waiting for a real smile! P.S. She had three baths on Monday...

This is the picture that we are going to use on our baby announcement. We went to get her pictures taken and she seriously screamed the whole time and I couldn't take her hand mittens off because she kept scratching herself, It was a frustrating experience! But Taylor took this one when she was about a week and a half on the love sac, and I think it's pretty cute.

She made it!

My sweet baby finally made it to earth on Jan 29th, 2009. Taylor and I went to the hospital at 5 am on the 29th for an induction. We were both super nervous, but excited that we were going to meet Brynne that day. They put the IV in with Petocin and an antibiotic since I was positive for strep B. I was dialated at a 2 when they first checked me. They told me I was in for about a 14 to 24 hours of labor since it was my first baby. I made it to about 8 o'clock before I decided it was time for the epidural. I was in sooo much pain, and I was kinda having a nervous break down because I knew it was going to get worse! I was so nervous for the epidural because you hear so many horror stories, but it really didnt hurt bad at all, I loved it! After that the dr. broke the water and gave me a cathetor, and this may sound wierd but I was grateful to have it because finally I didnt feel like I had to pee literally every 3 minutes! Around 10:00 they couldnt find the heart beat, so they checked me and I had already dialated to a 8, then a hour later I was a 10 and completly efaced! The nurses were so suprised, and so were we! I was prepared to be in labor for at least 14 hours, we were so excited it was going to be happening soon! The dr. decided to let me contract for a hour before we started pushing. Then around noon I started pushing, and at 1:03 Brynne Elizabeth was born. They put her on my stomach right after, which I didnt think that I would want them to do, but it was the most amazing experience, everything became a reality when I saw her..there really had been a baby in there that whole time! It was so amazing to hear her first cry and realize she was ok! She weighed 8 lb and 5 oz, I was happy about this, I thought for sure she was going to be a 9 pound or more babe. Taylor was such an amazing support though the whole labor, he was so calm about everything, I really dont know if I could have done it with out him. It was so cute to see him holding our new baby, he will be a great daddy! I tore alot during the birth, he wouldnt tell me how many stitches I had, but it took them about 40 minutes to stitch me up, that was deffinatly the most painful part....and still is, yikes! But it was worth it. I am sooo grateful that everything went smoothly and that my baby is here and healthy! It amazes me how much she changes everyday, and how much I love her!