20 Weeks

I am officially halfway through this pregnancy! It's so crazy to say that, I feel like I JUST found out! It's already gone by so fast. 

I am not really tired, but I have no energy if that makes sense. Making cookies seems impossible just about every day, but I have so many ideas that want to be created! The mr got me a sewing machine for Christmas so I plan to start on my lengthy list of crafts instead! 

I bought this picture frame over a year ago and painted it in a lovely mint green shade. It's been sitting in our spare room for ever! After finding Charlene's blog Becoming the Barrs, I decided I was going to use the frame to document baby's growth month to month. 

We're currently super excited to watch the NFC championship game today! GO HAWKS! 

I can't even remember how many of these cookies I made this week! Seattle is a great place to live and a great place to watch football!

So here is how I am doing this week, 

• How far along: 20 weeks on Sunday, already halfway done baking! 
• Baby is the size of…: a mango, a banana or an eggplant depending on which one of my pregnancy apps you believe
• Weight gain: 10 pounds
• Baby Bump: Oh yes! Been showing for several weeks now and my belly button is getting close to being an outie!! 
• Stretch Marks: None yet!
• Exercise: I try to get at least 35 minutes on the elliptical and low intensity stretches and weights several times a week.
• Cravings: Fresh fruit, loft house sugar cookies, girl scout cookies, waffles, starburst, dates, anything grapefruit...
• Mood: Happy and tired, but mostly HAPPY :D
• Sleep: A little more would be great, I am sleeping pretty well at night, but having CRAZY dreams and waking up sore. 
• Wedding Ring: On
• Baby Name?: We've got baby girl covered, but not for a boy...
• Gender Prediction: Girl
• Movement: I think I am feeling movement, several times a day and at night!
• Maternity Clothes: I found some great maternity clothes at Pink Blush and luckily scored some awesome deals on cyber Monday. 
• What I am looking forward too: Finding out who baby will be 
• What I miss: Sleeping through the night (on my back!)
• Favorite thing this week: A totally sweet mint and gold surprise from my awesome friend Natasha! It's so perfectly perfect and unexpected and I just can't wait for baby N to get here and enjoy it!

1. Bringing up Bebe, 2. Pinterest, it's really helping me keep everything organized these days! 3. Fig Newmans 4. Belly Butter, 5. Jessica Simpson maternity leggings, 6. Pink Blush Maternity sweater, 7. Origins Clear Improvement Charcoal Mask, 8. Yogi Mother to Be tea, my sister gave me some when I was visiting her and I love it!

I m seriously in love with the cocoa butter belly butter! It's AMAZINGLY smooth and rich and my skin is so soft!
I am getting really excited to see baby's room come together! I'll share my ideas soon :)

Samantha
Flour De Lis

Brownie Bottom Raspberry Coffee Cake

I could eat coffee cake every day, it's one of my most favorite things. It's delicious any time of day, and it's a perfect portable treat for office parties, brunches or just because you feel like baking and want to share it! I really love the crumb topping and soft texture of the cake. Extra points for fresh berries or a ribbon of cream! This recipe pairs the perfect texture of coffee cake, with a delicious crumb top, a ribbon cream cheese, fruit preserves and (that's right AND) a rich, decadent brownie bottom! What could be better?!

This coffee cake is super simple and absolutely delicious! You can start with any brownie recipe you like, or even grab a box mix if you really want to simplify! The other half is my favorite coffee cake recipe. It's so tasty and so versatile!



For the brownie bottom,

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the coffee cake,

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup raspberry jam

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. For brownie base, combine butter, sugar and vanilla in mixer bowl. Add eggs and mix until well blended.
3. In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa baking powder and salt. Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture and beat well between each addition.
4. Spread brownie batter evenly into bottom of greased 9x12 pan or 18 muffin cups.
5. For coffee cake, combine flour and sugar in a medium bowl. Add butter and blend with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles course crumbs. 
6. Set 1 cup of crumb mixture aside. 
7. Add baking powder, baking soda to mixture and blend.
8. In a separate bowl mix sour cream, vanilla bean and 1 egg.
9. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until just moistened.
10. Pour mixture on top of brownie base and spread evenly.
11. In another bowl, combine the cream cheese, vanilla extract, 1 egg and 1/3 cup sugar. Beat until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture on top of cake batter. 
12. Spoon dollops of raspberry jam onto top and gently run the spoon through the batter to swirl in.
13. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture generously on top of cake.
14. Bake for 40-45 minutes or about 20-25 minutes if making individual coffee cakes in muffin pan.
15. Coffee cake will be done when edges turn golden.

I hope you enjoy these tasty treats as much as I did! These pregnancy cravings are bringing together some pretty delicious recipes ;)

*Tips*

The coffee cake batter is very thick, especially if you use greek yogurt, so I added a 2-3 tsp of milk to make it spreadable. You want the crumb mixture for the coffee cake batter to be pretty fine, but you want the crumb topping to be pretty chunky so when you reserve 1 cup of the crump mixture for the topping, I like to add an addition 1 Tbsp of butter and cut it in to the mixture to make the crumbs larger for the topping. I like to use coconut oil to grease my cake pans, it doesn't add any coconut flavor and it's so easy to rub into the pan.

Samantha
Flour De Lis

Happy New Year

Christmas this year was so fast and furious! I don't think I managed to take a single picture (aside from Instagram) of the 1200+ cookies I made! Between cookies, family visiting, traveling, and the holiday joy I am not sure I managed to get a much of anything productive done, but I sure had a lot of fun this year!
If you follow along on Instagram, you have probably already seen most of the picture to follow but I am sharing them here just to recap the past few months!

These were the very last set of Christmas cookies I made this season! Simple and festive!

600 gingerbread cookies for REI's holiday employee party! They smelled absolutely amazing and might be the most delicious cookies ever! If you haven't tried Sugarbelle's gingerbread recipe, YOU MUST! I am not even kidding when I say they are incredible :D

We put up our tree, hung our stockings and decorated the house, and on Christmas morning we had cinnamon rolls! Pretty much the same things we do every year, but this year we added a little something new!

An extra stocking!! Baby Ngy will be joining us in June and I am so darn excited!

We rang in the New Year in downtown Seattle, and watched the fireworks at the space needle! I may or may not have taken a nap around 10pm… Growing a person is tiring! At least that's what I tell my husband when he asks what I did all day ;)

Here's where we are now:

• How far along: 17 weeks, 18 this Sunday
• Baby is the size of…: an onion
• Weight gain: 10 pounds
• Baby Bump: Oh yes!! Been showing for several weeks now!
• Stretch Marks: None yet!
• Cravings: Fresh fruit, strawberry popsicles, miso soup, guacamole, cheesecake, cinnamon rolls, water (seriously, I can't get enough water!)
• Mood: Happy and tired, but mostly HAPPY :D
• Sleep: A little restless, I am a back sleeper and that's not working! Plus I have to get up at least once to use the restroom.
• Wedding Ring: On
• Baby Name?: We've got baby girl covered, but not for a boy...
• Gender Prediction: Girl
• Movement: None, I am so anxious! I spend a good part of the day checking ;) 
• Maternity Clothes: Yes. For about 3 weeks now. I can still fit in most of my tops, but not jeans. Leggings and maternity leggings are my best friend!
• What I am looking forward too: Finding out who baby will be and feeling some movement
• What I miss: Sushi! 
• Favorite thing this week: Spending time with my sister and seeing her new baby! It got me really excited to meet mine :)

1. Avocados!

2. YOU Having a Baby, by Dr. OZ. I finished it and it was great! 

3. Leachco Snoogle Pregnancy Pillow 

4. Vitafusion Prenatal gummies. I tried several other prenatals and these are the only ones I can stomach

5. No Bake Energy Bites from Gimme Some Oven. So delish!!

6. Organic Cotton Headwrap from Sweet Kiddo Co  on etsy.

7. Strawberry popsicles! I may eat like 3 a day! 

This year, New Years came pretty quickly! Maybe it always does, but it seems like the holidays just flew by today! I am not even sure I had time to think about a resolution!!  But I hope you did! They are fun and sometimes they work out ;)

I'll try not to let baby Ngy take over the blog, but I hope you don't mind if I keep you all updated in between cookies and crafts!

Samantha
Flour De Lis