Food Fridays!!!

I love Fridays. I love food. It seems only natural to combine the two! Fridays will now be the day that I share my passion for food, some choice recipes and all my kitchen endeavors with the blogging world. 

There is nothing quite like the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the morning, the way the aroma wafts through the air enticing any passerby to indulge in its cinnamony goodness. The only downfall to these delightful treats is that they are really only at their peak warm, right out of the oven. I wanted to experience those heavenly smells, and cinnamon roll scrumptiousness but I didn't want to be limited to enjoying them to one moment. I decided to make cinnamon roll cookies, all the beauty of a cinnamon roll wrapped up in a cookie! If you find yourself hankering to try something new and equally delicious, I strongly encourage you to try them out! :)

Cinnamon Roll Cookies


Vanilla Cookie Dough
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


Middle
1 egg white
1 Tablespoon water
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Cream together sugar, butter, salt, and vanilla. Add flour till dough comes together. 
Flatten into a disk and refrigerate for at least one hour. Roll dough into 9x12 inch rectangle.
In a small bowl, whisk together egg and water. Brush onto dough, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar evenly over the dough. Carefully roll the log, sealing the edge. Wrap in plastic, and freeze until firm. Gently cut it into 1/2 inch slices. Bake at 350 F on greased baking sheets for 12 to 15 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool completely.
Whisk together cream, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon to make a smooth icing. Dip each cookie into the icing for a smooth finish, or drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies.

Weigh-In Wednesdays!

Aiden and I have decided to step onto the Wii once a week together and find out how our weight is changing.Wednesdays are now going to be deemed "Weigh-In Wednesdays." I am using the Wii-Fit to track his weight gain and will be trying my best to measure his growth so I am not guaranteeing accuracy. Here is hoping that his number continues to go up, while my number continues to go down. He is growing like a little weed!

Aiden Stats

Date: March 28, 2012

Weight: 13 pounds

Length: 24 inches

Date: March 21, 2012

Weight: 12.3 pounds

Length: 23 1/2 inches

Bucket List

This Bucket List will be constantly added to and updated; as there will always be more things I want to do and hopefully I will be checking some of them off!

Amber's Bucket List

• Visit all 50 states + Washington D.C.
• Get Married
• Return to Italy
• Take My Mom to Ireland
• Make a Wedding Cake
• Be a Bridesmaid
• Go Skydiving
• Pay off all my debt
• Kiss my man on the top of the Eiffel Tower
• Perform on stage
• Build/Spend the night in a tree house
• Be a Head Coach for a Volleyball team
• Have a house with a hidden room behind a bookshelf
• Watch my son open presents from Santa
• Make a "Thanksgiving" meal all on my own
• Do Mardi Gras in New Orleans
• Go White Water Rafting
• Win a call-in radio contest
• Buy a bed (I've never had a new bed...)
• Enter a baking competition 
• Attend Culinary School
• Become Fluent in Spanish
• Go Deep Sea Fishing
• Host a Dinner Party
• Picnic in Central Park
• Learn to dance (salsa or swing etc)
• Hit goal weight
• Fly an airplane
• Read the top 100 Books in Literature
• Own my own house
• Write a novel
• Get something published and widely distributed
• Be an extra in a movie
• Scuba dive
• Learn to sew/ actually make something usable/wearable

I think that Bucket Lists should be full of big and little things, some that are easily attainable and others that it will take greater lengths to check off.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Hooray St. Patrick's Day also happens to be the day my little Aiden turns one-month old! I cannot believe how fast the time is already progressing, it seems like only yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. Aside from a few hiccups, literally and figuratively, Aiden has been an amazing baby. We took him out to Babys 'R' us, Sports Authority, and Target to show off our little leprechaun to the world. We were out picking up stuff for him, in honor of his little milestone, which included a brand new mobile to help him feel more comfortable in his crib. Up till now putting Aiden in his crib wakes him right up, he preferred sleeping in his bouncer, Pack 'n Play, or someone's arms. I will keep you updated on his reactions to the mobile! Since we have the little one we stayed in for St. Patrick's Day, Aiden was a little angel while I prepared the meal. We had corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes and carrots. I had to keep the carbs to a minimum since Dave is on a special diet, next year we will go crazy with scones, breads, and pies like the rest of my family. This is Aiden's first official holiday, I loved putting him in outfits! This is going to be one of my favorite parts of motherhood, dressing my little boy up for all the holidays! Happy One Month Aiden! 

Nicknames

The best I could do at capturing "Baby Bird's" little beak!

When I was a little kid my parents gave me the nickname "Pumpkin Head." I have no idea when it started or why they first started using it for me but it has stuck through the years. A number of different nicknames have been given to me by family and friends throughout the years, some stuck and others faded but nearly all of them were given out of love and affection for me. Before Aiden was born, I wondered what kind of nicknames he would be given and what ones I would bestow upon him. I was curious how they would come about and if they would stand the test of time like "Pumpkin Head" has with my parents. I am sure that he will acquire many nicknames along the years, including a few more from his parents but his first official one is "Baby Bird." 
I call him "Baby Bird" because he purses his lips into what looks like a small beak and pecks at me. He bobs his head against me like a bird when he is hungry, it is the cutest and funniest thing I have ever seen.    I don't know how long this nickname will last, if it will stand the test of time, but I do know that it will always hold a special place in my heart and remind me of this wonderful time in his life. I love my little "Baby Bird!" :)

3-Weeks Old!

  My baby is three-weeks old today, it has been a roller-coaster of a ride.  I have never thought of myself as a paranoid person but motherhood changes things. All of a sudden you are worried about every single thing because this little person is completely dependent on you. Already my little man has given me plenty  to worry about, it has been a non-stop drama since Aiden was born.  

It all really started when Aiden was 4-days old; during a diaper change he decided to pull off his umbilical cord!  Honestly, I was much more traumatized than he was. He did not even cry when he did it, it was just something that happened and he was over it. I cried, freaked out a little, googled like crazy but eventually just settled down and decided to wait till the morning to take him to an already scheduled doctors appointment.  

Aiden was a little jaundiced so they tested his bilirubin levels, and also had to postpone his circumcision because he had lost some weight since birth. Overall the doctor said that everything looked good (including his belly-button area), Aiden behaved perfectly and they sent us on our way. The next day however, we got a call from our doctor that we should head to the local children's ER because Aiden's bilirubin levels were abnormally high. Thankfully, our ER here is amazing and the wait is under thirty minutes so my freaked out self did not have to wait too long for admittance. Right away we got good news, Aiden was just an ounce or two away from his birth weight. We were put into our own room, everyone was really nice and our little man was a champ. His bilirubin level had plateaued and we had nothing to worry about. They told us to take him out in the sunshine for 10 minutes twice a day and it would all clear up. I love that we got a prescription for sunshine, why can't all prescriptions be like that?

When I phoned our doctor with the news she told us to bring in Aiden at the end of the week for his circumcision since his weight was back up. Tears streamed down my face in the waiting room as his procedure was done, poor little guy. We heard him cry, heart wrenching sobs for a few seconds and then they stopped. Aiden is incredibly tough, he only cries when he is in serious pain and when it is done, so is he. He is a whole lot tougher than his mommy, I guarantee that I shed more tears than he did. The doctor gave us some instructions and things to look for, and again sent us on our way. I am not going to go into circumcision details, but let's just say that it gave me plenty to worry about and I was happy when that little ring finally fell off.

Just a few days ago we made another ER trip because Aiden had thrown up a couple times, seemed to be having some trouble breathing, had a little bit of a cough and was crying in pain. We got him checked out in the ER again, they told us that he seems to be okay just has a cold. He didn't have a fever and they said that the vomiting was probably due to overeating. The only thing they really did was put silver nitrate in his bellybutton to get rid of some excess skin in the area, Aiden did not like it but he put on a brave face. 

It is a good thing that Aiden is such a tough little boy because his mommy's heart breaks every time he cries from being in pain. He has spent more time in the ER in his first three weeks of life than I can remember spending in them my entire life. Here's hoping the next three weeks are a little smoother than the first and completely ER free!

Like Father Like Son

For the most part we have been told that little Aiden looks like his Daddy. I am okay with that since I think his father is a handsome man.  David wants him to look more like me and is overjoyed when the few people have commented that our little one has my features. Funnily enough, we were watching Bones last night and they said that babies tend to look like their fathers in the first year of life so that the fathers will be more likely to form a connection. I am not sure how much truth that holds, since I am getting my information from a television show but it sparked some hope in David's eyes.  I know that no matter who little Aiden grows up to look like, he will be a handsome little man. He has already stolen my heart and the hearts of many who have laid their eyes upon him. I did catch both of my men in pictures where you can really see their likeness, hope you enjoy! :)