Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

My in-laws are in town this week so I wanted to have something sweet on hand for them to munch on if they were in the mood. Especially my father-in-law, who has a sweet tooth just like me. Ive really been into making cake mix cookie recipes lately because they are just so darn easy! I ran across this one and thought I would try it since it would be something a little different than just the usual chocolate chip cookie. They turned out pretty good and I was surprised with how moist they were. 

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies (www.sallybakingaddiction.com)

Ingredients

• 1 box ( 18.25 oz) strawberry cake mix
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and baking powder. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla by hand. Add the egg mixture to the cake mixture and stir to form a dough. Stir vigorously until all if the pockets of dry cake mix are gone. Gently mix in the chocolate chips.

Drops round balls of dough, about 2 tablespoons each, onto prepared baking sheet. Make sure the balls of dough are taller than they are wide.

Bake for 10 minutes - do not let the cookies get brown. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes, they will be very soft at first. As they cool, the tops may settle down. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Can store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Dan tried these before his parents arrived and said he thought these were the best cake mix cookies I had made so far. Plus they are pretty! Would be great cookies to make for V-day!

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Baby Shower with my Residents

For those of you who know me well, know that Im not into being the center of attention. You could probably tell that by how I did my wedding... super small and low key! So having a baby has been an adjustment for me since I know that I need to have baby showers to help with all the "things" that a baby needs. I will be having several baby showers coming up in the next few weeks that I will share with you, but the first one I had was very heartwarming for me and one I will remember always.

My supervisor planned one which included all my residents at Aspen Trace. I had 45 residents show up for the shower which was a great turn out and made me feel super loved. The room was packed full with my ladies smiling faces. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

Now, there will be very few pictures since I am not allowed to post pictures publicly of my residents but I will try to include what I can for you. No presents were given since it is company policy that residents are not allowed to give employees gifts. But... what there was a lot of was punch, cake, games, laughter, love, and support from these ladies I have come to love much like family.

Party favors with the "HE" or "SHE" colored in!

Baby Rhoton cake!

Punch!

Room decorations!

Games! We played a games where the residents had to make a list of A-Z girl and boy baby names, finish off the nursery rhyme listed, and baby items price is right.

Me and my supervisor who threw me the shower :) I look horrible in this picture... uhhhgggg!

The one gift I did receive "from my residents" was a book called The Real Mother Goose. Inside they had all signed their names and written me little notes. I will cherish it forever! It truly was a very special time with some very special people!

Very thankful for all who shared it with me!

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P town Ohio Baby Showers

After I had the baby shower with my residents at Aspen Trace, I had two other beautiful showers. One with the Fowler side of the family in P-town and the other one with the Rhoton side of the family in Ohio.

First, the P-town shower. Sadly, I dont have nearly as many pictures of this shower as I do the Ohio one. Obviously, I wasnt thinking.

Cake...

Me and the cake...

Three generations of moms! My Grandma Saxman, me, and my Mom.

My P-town shower was very nice and low key, just as requested. I am so thankful for all the people that came to show their support and love for Baby Rhoton already. 

Remi could not believe all the baby goodies we got! He thought they all were for him :)

Then the week after that shower I had my shower in Ohio with Dans side of the family. Once again it was super nice and we felt so blessed with all the family and friends that attended.

Dan and I... 37 weeks pregnant.

Blue and pink cupcakes!

Miss Mallory and I

Table settings... and Mallory :)

The kiddos... (from left to right) Gavin, Elliott, Alex, and Mallory

Lizzie and I

Alex, Boo, me and Dawn

Mallory, Ali, Elliott, me, and Bryce

My sister-in-law Ali and I

Dan and I with his parents, Bruce and Pam!

Even though Im not the "party" type, both showers were really nice and I enjoyed myself very much.  Baby Rhoton got a lot of nice things and we actually feel as prepared as we possibly can at this point in time. BIG thank you to everyone who has thought of us along the way during this exciting and scary time in our lives!! We are blessed beyond words!

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Week 7

#52weeksofRoarke

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Baby Rhotons Dog Themed Nursery

I am now almost 38 weeks pregnant and Dan and I have been busy trying to get everything done that needs to be completed before Baby Rhoton arrives. One of the biggest things on my list of to dos was the nursery. Yes, I know that babies dont really need much when they are born, but for my own sanity I wanted things finished and organized as much as possible beforehand. So without waiting any longer I present to you Baby Rhotons Dog Themed Nursery!

Its no secret that Dan and I are obsessed about our dog, and we were going to make sure that Baby Rhoton loves dogs just as much! HA! 

First is a bedside table that was my Grandma Fowlers. It has a picture of Remington on it, a glass dog, baby books in the basket below, a stuffed sheep dog that was my Great Aunt Siss, and a small book of baby advice cards.

Then you have the reading wall which includes books of all sorts. However, what you may not be able to see is that the "READ" letters are covered in scrapbook paper that says words like fetch, mans best friend, woof, bark, etc.

We also have a twin size bed in the nursery that has pillows on it all dog related :)

On the other wall we have different signs that relate to dogs and a glider rocking chair that was my Grandma Fowlers.

From there you have the "dog butt" wall. I love these things! Thanks Aunt Boo!

And last but not least you have the crib with a dog mobile attached and the decorated wall!

Overall, Im pretty happy with how it all turned out. The room is very small and we have a lot of stuff crammed in there, but we made it work for right now. Remi even has his own special dog bed in there during the time he spends with Baby Rhoton. 

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July Photo Dump 2015

Our best photos from the month of July!

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Week 8

#52weeksofRoarke

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Baby Wise Sleep Training

Sleep is an important commodity in our household. I have always had a hard time functioning without getting at least 6 hours of decent shut eye everyday. For Dan it is even more important that he gets good sleep because I want him to be alert and have a clear mind while he is at his job. And Remington... well he is use to sleeping at least 16 hours a day... usually 8 hours at night with me and 8 hours during the day with Dan. I know... he leads the toughest life of us all!

Anyways, before I had Roarke I had started researching the best techniques on how to get your baby to sleep well at night almost right away. The one I continued to run across was the Baby Wise Sleep Schedule. Several moms online seemed to swear by it when "sleep training" your baby. Since Im brand new to this whole baby thing I decided that I might as well give it a try. What did I really have to lose beside more sleep :)

So, after we brought Roarke home and had our first few bad nights of a baby crying ALL night long we decided to put the sleep schedule into action. And guess what! Almost immediately we had a baby that was sleeping 3-4 hour long stretches throughout the night and probably would sleep longer if I didnt I have to wake him up to eat every 3 hours. Ive read that this type of "sleep training" is looked down on by some because you are physically waking your baby up for periods of time throughout the day and most people say if your baby is sleeping let them sleep... but if you think about it, if you have a baby that is sleeping all day why will he/she sleep well at night? So, here is what an example sleep schedule would look like. For different ages the sleep and awake times would look a little different, but this helps you get the picture.

Doesnt he look teeny tiny in his crib!!!

BABY WISE SLEEP SCHEDULE 

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Daytime

7:00 - 8:30 AM : wake baby, change diaper, feed (remember the goal is to keep baby awake for entire wake time)

8:30 - 10:00 AM : nap

10:00 - 11:30 AM : wake baby, change diaper, feed

11:30 - 1:00 PM : nap

1:00 - 2:30 PM : wake baby, change diaper, feed

2:30 - 4:00 PM : nap

4:00 - 6:00 PM : wake baby, change diaper, feed (these two hours are the most important time to keep your baby awake... you might cheat on any of the other times, but dont on this one if you want baby to sleep well at night.

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Nighttime (during nighttime hours once your diaper change and feeding is done you put baby directly back to bed... no awake time is needed)

6:00 - 9:00 PM : bed

9:00 - 9:30 PM : wake baby, change diaper, feed

9:30 - 12:30 AM : bed

12:30 -1:00 AM : wake baby, change diaper, feed

1:00 - 4:00 AM : bed

4:00 - 4:30 AM : wake baby, change diaper, feed

4:30 - 7:00 AM : bed

A lot of what I have read say that by 8 - 12 weeks old babies will be sleeping clear through the night. Lord knows that is an exciting thought! After doing our own version of this schedule we have had good nights and some really bad ones. That is to be expected of course as you establish your sleep schedule. Everything takes time and right now I have all the time in the world to work on it.

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Celebrating Baby Logan

If you were to walk around our place of employment you would probably think to yourself... "Dont drink the water" because there is definitely several of us ladies who are pregnant and waddling around the building. One of the good things about this is that we have a lot to celebrate and recently we did just that for our Assistant Director of Nursing!! Here are some pics of her "work" baby shower.

Our building is very large and often times you really dont get to build relationships with your co-workers because you are constantly on the move and just dont see one another. It was nice to take an hour and celebrate Baby Logan and him coming into the world soon! Plus his soon to be momma is super sweet! Love you Jenny!

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