Nutella Fudge Cookies

This recipe is going on the top of my cookie recipe pile!

These are the easiest cookies I’ve ever made. And they are good.  As in super rich, fudgy in the middle, good. As in you can whip these up, give them to your friends and pretend you labored over them for a few hours, when in actuality they took about 15 minutes, including baking time. Yup, honestly only takes 5 minutes to prepare, and 10 minutes to bake. Couldn't get any easier! 

Oh, and did I mention it's only 4 ingredients?

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Owl Mobile for the Nursery

I'm so happy with this owl mobile that now sits in Ellie's room above her crib :)
I knew that Ellie's room would incorporate many homemade items, and a mobile was always on my list of things to design.
In keeping with the owl theme that I imagined for my nursery way back in this post, I decided to brainstorm ways to make my own owl mobile.
Although I have a sewing machine now, I didn't have one when the brainstorming began, and sewing by hand is not my forte, so I ixnayed that idea, leaving me with the option of knitting or crocheting.

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Mini Thank You Cards

This post is feeling looong overdue!

Not that there needs to be a timeline on when I post scrapbooking cards or pages, but these cards were made before I had Eleanor... and that seems like a looong time ago. 

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Independent Consultant as a Business?

I love scrapbooking. 

The idea of recording memories and photos on paper to last a lifetime :)

Handmade for me to enjoy now, and for my kids to look at and enjoy later (and by later, I mean when they are old enough not to ruin them with their sticky fingers! lol). 

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Our Baby Nursery

We did it!
I completed the beautiful nursery for Miss Ellie.
Aside from a few picture frames that are yet to be filled and a couple of art pieces unfinished, it's all done!

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Moments

My baby is already a month old! How is that possible?!

She's already growing out of some of her adorable outfits. 

She's already holding her head up for minutes at a time. 

She's already experimenting with new sounds. 

She's already keeping her eyes open for long periods of time during the day.

The moments are fleeting. So I'm trying to hold onto them. Trying to store them in my memory. 

Trying to remember to take a few pictures along the way :)

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13. Make an Angel Food Cake - Check!

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I figured it was the perfect time to complete another (delicious) goal from my 14 of 14 goal list. 

I was not wrong in assuming that an angel food cake can be difficult to make! 

Apparently they are temperamental. Egg whites not beat enough? Doesn't turn out. Little bit of yolk in the mix? Doesn't turn out. Cooking time not exact? Doesn't turn out. Ingredients not mixed at the right time? Doesn't turn out. 

Bahh! How does one succeed with these recipes! 

I didn't hit it out of the park on my first attempt. You can see from the photos that it didn't quite rise enough and was a bit heavy. But it was still delicious!

It was the perfect time to make this cake. It's almost mandatory to have sweets on Valentine's Day, and angel food cake is a fairly healthy cake (although that's a total oxymoron!), and still tastes decadent. 

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Valentine's Day Candy Boxes

Aren't these adorable?!

I had so much fun making them! Just one more reason I love a holiday - party favors!
Although this time it's not my party….
But I had my creative juices flowing, I had the supplies, and [miraculously] I had the time.

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Chocolate Bar Love Letter

Valentine's Day - the holiday of love. 

With a new baby at home for Valentine's Day, I knew I wouldn't have a chance to run around town looking for gifts for my husband. In lieu of something new, I decided to make something sweet (no pun intended). 

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Love Day

This year marks my third Valentine's day with the husband. 

As were was thinking about our past Valentines we remembered getting all dressed up, going out for a fancy dinner with multiple delicious courses, drinking delicious wines, and being up for hours. 

That's when I said, "we are never going to be able to do that again… <insert sad face>".

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Valentine's Sorbet

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Twine Letter for the Nursery

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Daddy's Little Frog

Baby girl playing in Daddy's favourite frog jammies :)
A few days shy of 4 weeks old. 

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I'm a Sewing Machine

Ever since I got my amazing new sewing machine for Christmas, my head has been swimming with projects that I need to learn to sew. So far, I've only learned how to make one project, and I am perfecting my skills! 

This week I found some time to make a few more baby receiving blankets while mom worked on a crocheted blanket for my baby girl :) My skills are slowly improving! 

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The Long-Anticipated Crib!

I cannot, in any way, take credit for the beauty that is this crib. 

My husband IS a handyman. 

He built this beautiful work of art, and I'm so proud that our kids will all get to sleep in it. 

This crib will certainly be an heirloom in our family, and hopefully we will get to see our grandchildren sleeping in it one day! 

Here's the finished product in baby Ellie's nursery: 

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Goodbye!

Well… Oma is officially gone :(

Opa left a week ago, and husband is back at work. 

I was so spoiled to have my husband home for  two weeks, and then get a wonderful couple of weeks with my parents. 

Time flew by incredibly fast. 

I can't believe my baby girl is over 3 weeks old already! Can't believe I have to start cleaning my house and cooking my own meals. Can't believe I'm going to be all alone each day - just me and a baby that can't talk yet... I'm definitely going to miss my family! 

Enough writing for now, here are some lots of snippets from my last couple of weeks:

Warning: the following contains many, many photos of people holding Ellie :) 

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"I LOVE U" Baby Room Frame

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My Doula Experience

I figured I should write down a few of my thoughts from my experience hiring a birthing doula before I forget everything. Ellie was only born three weeks ago but I already feel like the labour and delivery are a distant memory.

An even more distant memory is the internal debate I had about whether or not to hire a doula (you can read my thoughts on that in this blog post). Obviously we decided we would hire one, and if we can afford it, we probably will again for future babies. 

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