Christmas Pictures 2017

It's obvious if you follow me on social media that I am obsessed with my daughter. So when my mom pitched the idea that we set her in a basket at her house by the tree for some Christmas pictures I jumped on it! I'm blessed with a fun-loving little girl who is absolutely beautiful (in my opinion).

While I am not a professional photographer, I am pleased with the pictures. Mind you I snapped close to one hundred in order to get my nine pictures featured here. And I had my mother (Liv's Nana) dancing and singing behind me to get the expressions you see below. But I think we did pretty darn good! I think professional photographers take numerous to get a smaller amount of post-worthy pictures but I doubt their raw image to edited and frame-worthy image ratio is quite like mine. Ha! Anyways, all that to say, "Let me show you my beautiful baby in all her Christmas glory!" 

I told you she was cute, right? The last three pictures get me every time. They show off her little personality! She's a hoot. And thank you, Mom, for the great photo set-up idea! 

Olivia is such a joy and I count my blessings every time I look at her sweet face. It is so much fun to have her around for the holiday's this year! I can't wait to snap some pictures of her on Christmas as she experiences the fun times we all know and cherish! 

The BEST & EASIEST Blueberry Muffins

I am a muffin girl. I love that they aren't too sweet like most desserts. I love that I can grab one to have with my coffee or consider one as a dessert after a meal. I LOVE muffins. And I LOVE this blueberry muffin recipe. (And so does the hubs!) I found the recipe here and have been addicted to my modified version ever since.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it requires ONE mixing bowl and a small liquid measuring cup like this. Nothing worse than having to clean up multiple mixing bowls!

The Best & Easiest Blueberry Muffin Recipe 

Recipe makes 8 jumbo muffins or 10 regular muffins.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup frozen blueberries (you can of course use fresh but frozen is so easy and convenient) 

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F and line your muffin tin or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in your mixing bowl and set aside. 
3. In a measuring cup that holds at least 1 cup add the egg, vegetable oil, milk and vanilla. Then mix with a fork until combined.
4. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until just combined. Your batter will be thick! Don't use an electric mixer as it can over mix the batter. You just want to stir the ingredients together until all the dry ingredients are married with the wet. 
5. Gently fold in the blueberries.
6. Sprinkle a little granulated sugar on the top of each muffin. (Makes them extra tasty!)
7. Scoop batter into muffin tin and bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

***Personally, I've noticed my muffins take closer to 23-24 minutes to bake and I make the 10 standard size muffins. I don't know if this is my oven or not but just be sure to check your muffins with a toothpick. Another tip: try not to peak at your muffins by opening your oven. This can cause the muffins to sink in the middle. Give them at least 15 minutes before opening your oven to check them. I learned this the hard way and had gooey, sunk in muffins. Yuck! 

While I am not claiming to be a good baker, I must say these muffins make me appear as one. So add them to your recipe book! You'll thank me later. :)