Lots of sticky fingers have been happening around here from all the treats I’ve been baking up lately. Caramel apple pie, coconut cupcakes, strawberry buttercream, caramel apple pie bars, and maple chai snickerdoodles!

These maple chai snickerdoodles were fun to make! I dreamed them up and then made them a reality and loved every second of it. Recipe coming soon 😊

Okay, I’ll try not to totally overwhelm you with baking pictures at the front end of this post. I’ll alternate them with antics from our life.

Want to hear the cutest thing? Sadie lost her front tooth! She’s super shy about it, but she has the most adorable gap in her mouth and a little lisp. Precious. It’s so weird that Dakota is working on getting teeth and Sadie is working on losing them!

She won’t let me get a picture of her missing tooth but I can assure you it’s cute as can be!

I made some salted caramel apple pie bars. I’ve been working on making a baking comeback locally and these just might make it on the September menu 🍎

The kids were all playing in Mordecai’s crib and called me in to check out their fort. They played in there for quite a while!

I made my mom some coconut cupcakes to cheer her up! Sadly, my mom and dad’s dog, Reggie, recently died and she was feeling bummed (rightfully so!). We both read Ina Garten’s memoir and were enamored with her coconut cupcake recipe. So I made them!

I know cupcakes don’t make everything better when a pet dies, but hopefully they brought a little spark of joy during a hard time 💛

Recently, Dakota fussed every time we put her in her stroller that connected to her carseat. We finally figured out she was ready to be upright in an umbrella stroller. We made it through a walk around the block with no crying!

Hellooo salted caramel apple pie! I made the salted caramel sauce homemade and added a half cup to my favorite apple pie recipe.

Someone from the wedding Mordecai was in snapped this picture and sent it to me. I just love it.

He was so proud to hold the ring pillow and his bubble gun!

Here’s how the finished product of the salted caramel apple pie turned out. Cute cute!

My mom and I took the kids swimming on a particularly hot night this week. Sade was begging to go and I just didn’t think I could swing it by myself with three kids. I’m so glad my mom joined me and helped out!

We came home all tuckered out, with soaked towels, and smiles on our faces. It’s tough having kids in such different stages and being able to do things like swim. I know as they grow, their schedules will change and line up more. Every season is so different, challenging, and sweet in its own way!

My friend’s daughter turned a year old and she asked me to bake cupcakes to celebrate. She wanted simple vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with strawberry buttercream 🍓

I love a cupcake with a rose piped on top. So classy!

Mordecai did some painting this week. Mommy did some cleaning up after 😂

Recipe development looks like my favorite pen next to a knife, teaspoons, and apples.

I introduced Dakota to egg, milk, peanuts, cashews, almonds, soy, sesame, wheat, and walnuts with Ready Set Food allergen introduction baby oatmeal. She didn’t have any reaction–woo hoo!

See that stain on Dakota’s shoulder? We went to Target and I had her in her carrier against my chest and ordered a coffee. Guess what… the lid wasn’t fully on when I sipped it 😅

I was putting away dishes and opened our Tupperware drawer and saw Mordecai put Dakota’s toy in there. That kid!! Just the other day, he found our change bowl (we put loose coins in a bowl by the front door) and put them allll in Jimmy’s work jeans pocket and they fell out at 5:00 am when he was getting dressed! Oh, and the missing remote? It was in Mordecai’s play sink. He’s reminding me of toddler Sadie putting veggie straws in vases.

Okay, confession time. My hair is falling out so badly postpartum. Like clumps. It’s so thin. I realized it was super stringy on the bottom. Just look at it 🥴

So I cut it. I think I took off about 3 inches or so? It feels so much better.

I just asked ChatGPT how to cut my hair and went for it!

This cord-wrapped planter kit comes with two planters to craft. I did one and Sadie was super interested as she watched me. It’s definitely marketed to adults but I told her she could do the second one that came with the kit. I didn’t expect her to be able to do it but she did! She now has her very own faux succulent in her bedroom 😊

Other notes and thoughts:

• Mordecai helped me clean the bathroom this week! I read something along the lines of this: “Don’t give your kids things to keep them busy while you do chores. They just want you to include them.” and that’s so true with toddlers. Maybe he was just interested in my cool scrubber, though?
• Sadie has recently been fascinated by the fact that I wrote a book. She was delighted when we went to the library and found it on the shelf. She asked me to read her the back cover and she was like “Meh, it sounds kinda weird!” hahaha.
• Poor Mordecai has impetigo again. We will be heading back to the doctor for an antibiotic soon. Womp, womp.
• We went fishing again the other night and I bought mosquito repellent bracelets and they worked really well! They had citronella on them. Is it weird that I love that smell?! I’m glad mosquitos don’t 😉
• My current snack addiction: these. I hide them from the kids 😬

Alright, this post is mighty long! I will share fishing pictures and a snickerdoodle recipe soon!

Would you cut your own hair?