Applebee's Blondie

I made this last night for a dinner party we went to and it was amazing!! If you have ever had the Maple Butter Blondie at Applebee's you will know what I am talking about! A friend of mine used to work there and whenever I would go visit him we would share one, I was craving it this week so I decided it would be a great thing to make for our dinner. Its super easy and WARNING so not healthy!! Yum Yum! Here's the recipe- I left out the nuts because Kreg doesnt like them and I always get nervous that other people wont like them either so I played it safe and it was still just ast good!
Applebee’s Blondie

ingredients
Brownies

* 1 cup flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup walnuts
* 1/3 cup butter or margarine
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 egg , beaten
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Sauce

* 1/2 cup maple syrup
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
* 1/2 teaspoon maple extract or maple flavoring

Directions

1. Brownies: Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. Add nuts, mix well, and set aside.

3.Melt butter, add brown sugar, and mix well.

4. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.

5. Gradually combine with flour mixture, mixing well.

6. Stir in white chocolate chips.

7.Pour into a 9-inch square pan and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

8. Sauce: Combine syrup and butter, cook over low heat until butter is melted.

9. Stir in brown sugar until dissolved and remove from heat.

10. Beat in cream cheese and maple extract until smooth.

11. Heat again in the microwave until it reaches desired consistency.

You can use the left over sauce as fruit dip!

My Valentine~

I sure do love my Kreg! He is so sweet and thoughtful! I could never ask for anything better, he is always so helpful around the house and with Cecily. There is no such thing as gender roles in my house and I love it! We are a perfect match in every way. I am so thankful for him and for all he does for our family! Before we got married we bought all of our furniture in California, there was a small mishap where we received the wrong bed, after months of Kreg using his negotiation skills we finally just got a refund. We ended up using the money for something else, anyway I have been wanting a bed for so long ever since (we had a mattress and box spring, don't worry we weren't camping out on the floor this whole time. We were planning on getting one when we move, we just figured that would be easier to have delivered, anyway to my suprise Kreg got me a bed for valentines/my b-day!! I am so excited, its probably better than the one I wanted from IKEA or at least less feminine! HE also gave me flowers a couple of weeks ago for no reason, just because he felt like it. He is always so thoughtful and giving! I am seriously so lucky to have a guy that knows how to love me, push all of my buttons, and make me laugh all in the same minute! He is by far the BEST husband and father I know!

RSV

Poor CC, I took her to the DR. yesterday because I was worried her cold was something worse....Sure enough she has a case of RSV. I was so careful ot to take her out in this bitter cold and she still got it. Darn! She now has to be hooked to the Nebulizer every four hours for breathing treatments. so sad.

6 month pictures

6 month check up and sick baby

Cecily had her 6 month check up yeterday, She got weighed measured and of course the dreadful shots (I've come to realize the shots are a bigger deal to me than they are to her!) She weighs a whopping 13 lbs and 5oz (8th percentile) and she is 26 inches (60th percentile) long, I was sure she would weigh closer to 15 lbs but I was wrong. She is just tall and skinny I guess. She did great with her shots like always. She cried for about a half a min and then was totally fine, while I still had to pull my self together for another min or so! My poor CC is also sick for the first time in her life (minus the tramatizing birth situation) She has a little cold that her daddy and I are i'm sure blowing way out of purportion. She was however up alot during the night coughing due to what kreg calls a "flem throat" and a stuffy nose. Poor girl is being a champ and only fussing a little when I'm sure if she could talk she would tell me she is very tired, her body hurts all over, and she is so done with me using the green squishy thing to suck out the nastys out of her nose! I know most of you have delt with sick kids alot but bare with me Im a first timer and it is a sad site no not her me! The top pic is of cc she is telling me a sad story about how its no fun being sick:(

Rexburg Temple Dedication

Today was a day I will never forget.... I have been to other Temple dedications before but this one was so different, for one I am now endowed so I know more fully how amazing and importatnt the temple is in our lives, and two I was able to attend with my wonderful husband. I loved President Monson's talk and the relation to how important families are. It was so neat to think of my husband and little Cecily who was at home and even our children to come. I am so so blessed to be a member of this church and to have the gospel in my life. I am so grateful for eternal families I just dont think I can say it enough. I was so touched today after the dedication prayer when we sang my favorite hymn "The spirit of God" the spirit was so strong I was brought to tears! I am so grateful for temples and for our faithful prophet, for his diligence and worthiness to lead and guide us on the path to righteousness. I am so excited for my opportunity to attend the Rexburg Temple for a session, it has been so neat to see it built and dedicated I have been here from the start and I feel so blessed to see the Lord's work in action. It will be so great one day to share my experience withmy children and even grand children. I can not express to you how lucky we all are to be living on earth during this time when there are so many blessings given to us and so many opportunities we have to serve and bless other's lives!

I've Been Tagged

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people, and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged, and asking them to read your blog.
Here we go:

10 years ago:

I was almost thirteen- I'm sure nothing to amazing was going on in my life at the time...typical seventh grader obsessed with boys and my friends! I swam and danced in my spare time.

5 things on my to do list today (Well tomorrow because today is sunday and there isnt a whole lot on my list for today):
1. grocery shop
2. Take CC to her six month appointment (weight and height stats will be posted after!)
3. CLEAN!!
4. Go to the gym
5. Do hair appointments

Things I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
1. Buy a house
2. Pay for Kreg's law school in cash
3. Buy a new car
4. Travel
5. Invest

3 of my bad habits:
1. Being a control freak
2. Over-emotional
3. Not looking on the positive side

5 Places I have lived:
1. Rexburg, ID
2.Salt Lake City, UT
3. Ogden, Ut
4. Seattle, WA
5. South Carolina

All Jobs I have had:

Life gaurd at five different pools including Raging Waters; Nanny twice; Cosmetologist; Server at The Hut; Working with people with disabilities; Cashier at Target; phone surveyor; Wife; Mom; student; daughter; aunt; sister; grand daughter!

Things most people don't know about me:
I Love being preggo; I hate the snow even though I have always lived in it; I love to learn; I love cleaning and organizing; I hate driving;

I am tagging:
Brittnee, Camille, Aunt Shari, Tara, and Kassie G.

Cecily is five and 1/2 months

It is so crazy how fast these babies grow up! Cecily is doing new things everyday! It is so fun to watch her and I feel so blessed to have her in my life! Here are just a few recent pictures of my little doll!


I went in the other room for a few minuets and when I came back CC was undressing herself!

Yay for Scheduling!

Ok so everyone who knows me knows I am ultra organized and a schedule queen, so it might ba a shock to you but I never had Cecily on a schedule until NOW! While we were in Cali for three weeks Cecily got a few bad habits such as going to bed with a bottle and then waking up once during the night to eat.... I was not going to let this go on any more, we were doing so good. She started sleeping through the night on her own when she was three weeks old and I was so BLESSED so in order to keep my blessing I talked to my friend Jen and decided to put Cecily on the BABY WISE schedule. I tried doing it for the first week she was home from the hospital but we just had so much company and were constantly going to visit people I felt like I couldnt let her cry so in essence I gave up... But, while talking to Jen I decided to try it again so for the past few days Cecily has been put on a schedule and once again I am BLESSED! It has worked wonders and she corporates amazingly! No more bottle to bed, no more waking up in the middle of the night, and good naps during the day. So for all of you who think you have missed your time in scheduling your baby, its not too late! and for my friends who are still expecting (Megan and Melanie) you have to get the book Baby Wise and read it because it is amazing! Thanks Jen for sharing Ellis' schedule

Wagner family photos!

Here are just a couple of photos the Wagner family took in cali over christmas. This is the whole family, and just the sisters!

Green beans and Peas!

We started Cecily on solids this week, She turned 5 months yesterday we just couldn't wait any longer she is going through formula like its going out of style. She is still tiny as ever but hungry all of the time. Lucky girl has her daddy's metabolism! She loves green beans and I gave her peas this morning and she loved them too! I'm so glad she likes her veggies already! Kreg makes yucky faces when I feed her because he hates veggies, I tell him he'd better stop or she will follow his example. I've got to have someone in this house that is healthy with me!

the past month was so fun, watching her learn and grow, she is rolling over in all directions now, she is talking and laughing a ton more and blowing bubbles all of the time! She went through a faze where she did not want to be held and I was disappointed because I could never cuddle with her, now she has flip flopped, she just wants to be held, and not only that you have to be standing up so she can look around. I cant decide which is better _ no cuddling but getting things done or lots of cuddling getting nothing done! Its a good thing I'm so in love with her so either way I'm happy!

Christmas in Cali

We went to California for 3 weeks to celebrate the holidays with Kreg's family, it was so relaxing and really fun, especially because the weather was so warm compared to Rexburg aka ICEBURG! We did lots of shopping and Kreg did lots of golfing. We went to Napa the day after Christmas to celebrate Grandpa W's B-day, Kreg went golfing with his dad, grandpa, and brother and I went shopping in San Fran with my sisters inlaw and Kreg's cousin, while Cecily stayed home with Grandma W and Great Grandma W it was a fun break to go shopping with the girls and enjoy the city life for a day considering the lack of shopping in Idaho!While in Cali Cecily and I really enjoyed going on walks again, we have been going everyday ever since I was pregnant and up until about thanksgiving but it is way to cold and snowy in Idaho so it was nice to take advantage of the warmth and get our walk on! We went to a couple of movies, Kreg and I went on a date and saw I am Legend I about peed my pants I was so scared in that one, and my Mother inlaw and I went and saw PS I Love You, it was not the best movie to see with your mother inlaw, there were a few questionable scenes and it was really awkward, not to mention so sad.
Christmas was fun we were spoiled by both sets of parents and Cecily had fun with all of her new clothes, toys and books. I know she will be more excited next year and even more so the year after! Thank you to everyone for the gifts you gave us and Cecily we really appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity. And thanks especially to Mom and Dad W for letting us come and stay for 3 whole weeks and for all that you do for us!
New years was pretty lame Cecily and I went to bed at 10:30 pm. Once you are married with kids there is nothing cool about new years, plus I like my sleep to much to stay up that late on purpose! Kreg and I got to go on a little getaway to Santa Cruz, It was my Christmas present from Kreg he is so thoughtful. He knows how much I love the beach and I always beg him to take me to Santa Cruz everytime we are in Cali so he planned a little getaway for the two of us. Thanks to Grandma W for watching CC for the night. We stayed in a super cute bed and breakfast, We went to dinner at this really nice restaurant which was a wild experience we decided since we were eating by the beach that we would try lobster, well needless to say we wasted a lot of money on a dinner practically untouched. We both usually love seafood and I am obsessed with sushi but for some reason the idea of having to crack open the shell and pull out the meat just grossed both of us out! ha ha we both took one bite and hated our lives. We ended up going to 7-11 and getting junk food to take back to our place for when we got hungry!

Mother of Two (for a week)

Ok lets talk about CRAZY!!! I inherited my sisters two year old little boy for the week and let me tell you I have learned a lot about myself, 1. Im so not ready for 2 kids; 2. I used to think I was a pacient person; 3. I am so not ever going to win Mom of the year. It has been so fun to have Ashton with us here but at the same time I can totally understand why my sis went on a cruise to have a break. Two year olds are HARD!!! They are so busy and I know all of you are thinking DUH because you deal with your kids, I guess I just was niaeve to it. anyway I think if Cecily were a little older and able to defend herself or at least run away then it wouldnt be so bad but, I have seriously worn out the phrases "please leave her alone", "lets jump on the couch CC is not laying on" and "please be a good listener". There are times that I just want to scream and (maybe I even do) ha ha... but then I calm myslef down and remember he is onle two and he is a precous child of God and he is only trying to help or love or play and he doesnt do it just to aggravate me (well most of the time). I Def. think that Heavenly Father made kids so dang cute or else we would want to as my friend laura says "throw them in the trash"! It has been a blessing to have this special visitor to teach me that I need to work on my pacience before Cecily is two and before we have another baby join our family! So thanks to my sis for going on the cruise and her dear husband for having crazy work hours so that I could take the opportunity to be a mother of two for a thankfully very short time!

Cecily is Four Months!!

TIme has flown by so fast since the day we had our sweet little girl! It has been so fun and such a blessing to have her in our life! She is so cute with all of her jabbering and her super cute giggles! The love that I feel for her is so amazing and it grows more and more everyday. I am so blessed for the opportunity to raise one of God's Children and I am so grateful for the trust he has in me. I hope to be privileged with more children in the future but for now I just love my CC girl! Her four month stats are 11 1/2 lbs 13th Percentile 24 1/2 inches 61st percentile and I forget her head measurement but it was the 15th percentile! I'm glad she is growing slow so that she has time to wear all of her cute tiny clothes!