Easter Cookies

These possibly have to be some of the best cookies I have ever tasted. Mainly because it combines two of my favourite things- Cookie and Cadbury Mini Eggs! I have already gone through three bags of them and have just discovered the white chocolate ones- amazing!

This was also the first time I have made cookies completely from scratch, to save time I usually just buy a pre-packaged cookie mixture. Anyway on to the recipe, If you would like to make these for yourself.

You will need:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• a good amount of Cadbury Mini Eggs

Method:

1. Combine flour baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside. 
2. beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl (or mixer if you have one) until creamy. 
3. Add eggs, beating well after adding each one. 
4. Gradually beat in the flour mixture a bit at a time.
5. Add the Mini Eggs to the mixture.
6. Spoon, using a tablespoon, onto a cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. 
7. Remove cookies and place on wire rack to cool.
8. Enjoy! 

I managed to make about 15 cookies using the mixture. The large size of the Mini Eggs decreases the amount you could make if just using regular chocolate chips. 

Hello Play-Doh

Last time we went to Toy R Us I decided to buy Calleigh some Play-Doh to see what she thinks of it. I have never been a fan of it to be honest. From the short time I spent working at a nursery I came to only two conclusions when it comes to play-doh.

1. It gets everywhere you don't want it to! 

and

2. For some reason children just want to eat it- all the time!

However, they always loved to play with it and got really excited when it was brought out and I couldn't take that pleasure away from Calleigh just because I dislike the stuff. 

I picked up a little Minnie's Boutique set which came with two tubs of play-doh and some Minnie and bow cutters.

The first time Calleigh saw it all laid out on her table her eyes lit up! She loves to play with new things. This was also the first time Daddy had experienced play-doh too so he was more than excited to try it out!

She had so much fun and kept shouting "Calleigh make bows!" it was so cute! Although it did get everywhere as I thought it would do and of course she had the obligatory taste test, luckily she didn't quite fancy the taste of it and hasn't tried again since.

A Chilly Trip to the Zoo

Today has been one of those really great days that make me really happy to be here! 

It's been a bit chilly, the warm weather that we had in the past week has taken off but it didn't stop us from having a good day. 

We decided this morning that we would take Calleigh to the Zoo for the day. She loves looking at all the animals and she really needed a fun day out that was just for her. 

She had a great time, we all did! 

When we first got there it was still pretty cold even though the sun was shining. I found it so amazing when I saw the ice on one of the trees by the fountains. It was so thick and beautiful!

The reptile house was great but I think the animals scared Calleigh a little bit. In all the programs she watches snakes and crocodiles are always portrayed as "the bad guys" so she kept saying that they were going to get her. 

One of Calleigh's favourite places is the primate house. She loves watching them crazy monkey's! 

The butterfly house is always a good experience. All the beautiful butterflies flying around your head. You just can't beat it. I'm still waiting for one to land on Calleigh to see how she reacts. 

St Louis is 250 years old this year so there are a lot of celebrations going on. One of the things they are doing is placing these cakes in some of St Louis's most iconic attractions. We are hoping to get around and see most of them this year, so far we have only seen 3 but we plan to hunt for a lot more once the summer comes! 

Family Time

It's really important to me that we spend time together as a family at the weekends. 

Obviously we are always together but during the week things can get in the way or there on things on our mind that distracts one (or both) of us from Calleigh and each other. Sometimes it can feel as though we wake up, Paul goes to work, we eat and then go to bed again. In fact it has been feeling like that quite a lot during this never ending winter. 

So on the weekends we always make sure that we do something together. Whether it's going for a hike, having a picnic, going out for a meal or even just a trip to the mall. 

This week we had a particularly good time. We were all in a really good mood thanks to some nice weather finally showing it's face. So we went out for a meal at a place called Indigo Joes.
It's a family restaurant and sports bar and was the first place we went to when we came here on our first visit 2 years ago. We really like it in there and Calleigh loves that they have an arcade section. We actually have so many of the rubber balls from the grab machine it's unreal.. They are everywhere in our house!

It was quiet in there which was nice as Calleigh could play about a little and go the arcade bit whenever she wanted until dinner arrived.
We had a lovely time and enjoyed some great food!

Watch Your Mouth

It seems the time has finally come where we have to be really careful about what we say in front of Calleigh. Since she doesn't have her dummy anymore (you can read about that here) she is repeating a lot of what we say. Sometimes she will copy almost full sentences and other times just pic up on random words and repeat them again and again. 

It's really going to take some getting used to as we both kind of have a bit of a potty mouth and just blurt things out without thinking. The other day I caught Calleigh with her hand shoved all the way down her nappy and proceeded to ask her to "take her hands out of her ass" to which she replied "ass hahahaha". Luckily she doesn't seem to have remembered it and still refers to her bottom as her "bum bum". 

It also happened a few days after whilst we were out on a walk. As we were walking we came up to a big pile of dog poo and Paul told Calleigh to watch out for the dog shit. She turned to us and and repeated perfectly the word "shit"- horror! Again I luckily managed to convince her that dog poop was a much more fun thing to say and she hasn't said the word since. 

But it has had to make us seriously start thinking before we speak, especially when talking directly to Calleigh! 

We also just brought Calleigh a little drum set, it was on sale and she loves instruments so we couldn't resist. She could probably make a band now with all her instruments!

Thank You Fairies

Last Friday I decided to try something that was mentioned to me in regards to trying to get Calleigh to give up her dummy (pacifier/binky- whatever you want to call it). During her bath she threw it out and didn't seem very interested in getting it back, so I decided to hide it. When she finally decided she wanted it back I told her that the do do fairies had been and they had taken it back with them to live on the fairy tree. She seemed a bit confused and was looking around the room to try and find it. Eventually when she realised it wasn't anywhere to be found she got a little upset.

The first day she asked for it quite a lot but I stuck to my guns and didn't give in. Eventually nearer the end of the day she had stopped asking and seemed to forget about it.
Over the next couple of days it got better and better and although she still asks for it every now and again it's not half as bad as the first day. It seems that she is quite happy to go on without it.

We do give it her back at night because she does struggle to go to bed without it. Naps are fine and she doesn't have it then but it is a real comfort at bedtime and helps her sleep. Getting it back off her in the morning does require a bit of sneakiness. I need to make sure I get it when she is not looking because if she knows I have taken it, the jig will be up!

Since she hasn't had the dummy her speech is coming on so well. She's constantly chatting away, singing and has stopped slurring her words. I'm also really happy that I can finally take pictures of her beautiful face! The dummy was constantly in her mouth in photo's, which completely ruined it when she was smiling behind it!

The only problem we seem to have come across is that without the dummy she keeps licking her lips, all the time, which is making them really red and sore. I'm trying to keep it at bay with some eczema cream I have that's safe for use on her face.
You can see the redness in the photo below, It's not a shadow! Looks pretty bad.

Apart from that I am really happy with her progress and just wish I had tried it sooner.

Once she shows signs that she really doesn't need it anymore I will try and ease it away from her at bed time too, but for now I'll just take it one step at a time.

The Doc Is In

This is just too cute not to share! 

Calleigh has just recently started trying to sing along to her favourite Disney Junior programmes! 

This is the adorable result-

Outfit of the Month: March

Well she does love to dance! 

I Love to Dance top- Next

Tutu Skirt- Next

Calleigh is going for her first dancing class on Saturday. I'm so excited for her, she loves dancing and is actually pretty good a ballet, she can bust a few moves! 

Home-Made Treasure Chest

One of the programmes Calleigh likes to watch on Disney Junior is Jake and the Neverland Pirates. We recently brought her a Jake Spyglass and she loves going around the house, following her map, searching for the treasure. Only problem was we didn't have any treasure to find. 

So whilst we were out in a craft store I picked up a wooden treasure chest, some paint and some star stencils and decided to make one for her. 

I was really simple to do. Just a couple of coats of paint, I used a light beige colour because I wanted the pink stars to stand out. Then use the stencils to either paint or spray on your chosen design. I wanted to keep it simple so just opted for a few stars.

I'm really impressed with it and now Calleigh has her very own treasure chest which she loves! She dances around it with Jake and crew when they count their gold doubloons. I did want to buy more gold doubloons for her but after the incident on the video below I decided I had enough to pick up off the floor.