The Munchkin Turns One!!

Well her birthday and her party came and went. It was so much fun and I think she enjoyed it all almost as much as me!

Here she is the morning of her birthday. We were heading out to get supplies for her upcoming party. Yes, she still loves to carry around that silly fork.


My mom and I got her a little chair. She loves it.


I think her cousin loves it even more though.


Friday night my sister and her hubby came over to help us get ready for the party. They thought I was silly to hang so much crap from the ceiling, but I thought it turned out pretty good.





I made favors for all the little kids that came.


I made the munchkin a photo album filled with pictures from her first year, starting with her birth in the hospital. I left space at the end to add the pics from her party, and I am going to put a pic of her with her cake and 1 year candle in the front window of the book. I filled in the lines next to the pictures with the date the pic was taken and a little note about it. She didn't care too much about it when I gave it to her, but I think she will like it when she gets older. I am going to give her one each year.


Over all the party went great. She was a little crabby, because ofcourse, she chose this day to forgo her afternoon nap. Her dress ended up being a little too big for her too, and she would have a hard time standing up sometimes because it would get caught under her knees or feet. It was kinda funny, even if she didn't think so.

She is all ready to start opening some presents!


Ofcourse, the other kiddos wanted to help too.







My friend Anna took her son to Build a Bear and they made the munchkin a little owl. He is so freakin cute. And his name is Owlsley Houdini.


I made her little cake myself. And I gotta admit, it was really good. Even if it wasn't loaded with sugar.



This is as bad as it got. I really expected her to fling cake everywhere.


And here's the big cake for everyone else. Sarah did an amazing job as usual!


A couple of her friends that came to her party.


Hanging out with Grandpa!


Everything turned out so great and we had so much fun! We had a pretty big crowd, but luckily the weather was beautiful so we set up tables in the garage and back deck for seating. She really got some great gifts and has been enjoying playing with them since her party. It took me all day Sunday to get the house back to normal, but it wasn't too bad.

I just can't believe she's officially a toddler now. I miss my little baby, but I am definitely having lots of fun with her in this next stage!

One Week Left! And a Yummy Banana Nut Muffin Recipe..

I can't believe that in less then a week the munchkin is going to be a year old. Almost an entire year has gone by since she came into our lives. Holy Crap. She is walking more then crawling now and she looks so cute swaying around and catching her balance and "practicing" her walking.


Here she is eating some of her favorite foods recently. She has been loving the black beans, avocados and mozzarella cheese combo. I just lay it all out on her tray and she gobbles it right up.


So this also means I am down to only a week until her party. I haven't even done anything yet, other then buy her dress and some decorations. We are scaling things back from our (my) original plans. It will still be fun, but not quite as expensive. I just can't justify going crazy and spending all that money right now. This next week will be spent cleaning and decorating the house, grocery shopping and preparing the food. I can't wait!

I have decided that I am going to make her little personal cake myself. A little chocolate cake with chocolate icing. She'll never know that it's healthy and sugar free. And no, I will not be making it low fat, low calorie or using any artificial sweeteners either (dont want to be giving anyone the wrong idea)... just yummy and healthy!

Speaking of yummy and healthy.... last night I made some delicious Banana Nut Muffins. I finally got around to using the coconut flour that I have been storing in my pantry. They were amazing! Everything I have made from this chick's Blog so far, has been delicious. These muffins were no exception. Next time I will bake them for a little bit less time and cook them in the muffin papers.


Here is the recipe, directly from Lauren at the Healthy Indulgences Blog:

Banana Bread Muffins

Makes 10 muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sifted organic coconut flour
4 tablespoons organic unsalted butter, softened
6 large eggs
3/4 cup mashed banana (2 medium bananas, overripe to the point of being black)
1/2 cup erythritol
1/4 teaspoon good-tasting pure stevia extract
1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Beat butter with erythritol until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Combine coconut flour with baking powder, cinnamon, stevia, and salt, and beat into batter until there are no lumps. Beat in mashed banana. Fold in nuts, reserving a couple tablespoons for sprinkling the tops. Pour batter almost up the top of greased muffin papers (the shiny tins work best), and top with nuts. Bake 35 minutes, covering the muffins with a sheet of foil after the 30 minute mark. Let cool in pans for 5-10 minutes, then remove and let muffins finish cooling on a wire rack. When completely cooled, transfer to an airtight container. Store at room temperature for 24 hours, then move to the refrigerator.

I heated one up this morning and had it with my breakfast (scramble eggs and turkey bacon). Yum!!

Happy Friday Everyone!