Happy Baptism Day, Wes: Baptism Cookies

We have been blessed to make some pretty great friends here in San Antonio.  I met Erin through my play group that I joined in those early months of motherhood when you are desperate for adult interaction.  She has since become one of my closest friends here and our husbands have hit it off as well, which is a HUGE added bonus! 

Erin and her husband PJ have an adorable son named Wesley.  He is such a little ham and he cracks me up with how animated he is.  My favorite thing he does has to be when he gives his plastic dinosaur a drink by dipping his head in the water and smacking his lips.  You really have to see it- it is too cute! 

Wes got baptized today and Erin wanted cookies to celebrate the big day.  We searched through Pinterest, Etsy, and Flickr for inspiration and finally settled on crosses and monogram cookies.

 

Congratulations on this big day, Wes!  We feel so blessed and honored to have joined in the celebration!

Birthday Cookies: Happy 80th Birthday!

Most my blog posts are pretty lengthy and I love giving the back story behind the cookies, but this one is going to be short and to the point.  At least, as much as I can keep myself from going on and on...

A special lady, who wishes to remain un-named, is turning 80.  Her sweet sister wanted to get her cookies to celebrate this milestone birthday!

Happy 80th birthday, mystery woman!  Your secret is safe with me!

 

Baby Cookies: Pretty Baby Girl Cookies

Kim (now making her third blog post appearance and becoming a regular celebrity around here) was showing off the firefighter cookies to her co-workers and one of these said co-workers, Elizabeth, liked my cookies and wanted to order some to surprise her friend who is expecting a little girl.  At this point you may be wondering if I need to put Kim on my payroll, but she does all of this out of the kindness of her heart. :)

Elizabeth gave me some inspiration pictures and then just gave me free rein to run with it.  Which, by the way, I LOVED and had so much fun doing.  And after making these cookies, as much as I love being a mom to a precious little boy, I need a girl that will fulfill my need for frilly, pretty things.

Now, you are probably looking at these pictures and wondering to yourself, "Melissa, you are normally such a wonderful photographer, what happened?" (heavy sarcasm intended here).  I'll tell you what happened: procrastination.  Since the photography isn't my strong suit, I tend to put it off.  Next thing you know, it is time for the cookies to go to their rightful owner and I have no photo documentation of them.  So these were taken in the wee hours of the morning when the desperately needed natural light had yet to arrive.  Add that to a very novice photographer with a sub-par camera and you get very grainy pictures.  Hopefully, I will actually learn my lesson this time!

Thank heaven for little girls!

Wedding Shower: Mr. & Mrs. Cookies

Right before we moved to San Antonio, our good friends Trey and Erin moved to Cleveland.  We've done a great job at staying in touch and keeping close by chatting on the phone regularly, "facetiming" occasionally, and we've visited each other in our new home towns.  It's definitely not the same as being in the same city, but we're making it work!

Erin's sister, Ashley, is getting married!  Erin is helping host her shower and asked if I could make the cookies for it.  She scoured through Pinterest and stumbled across some "Mr. & Mrs." cookies.  While I am stuck coveting the cookie cutter used in the picture she showed me since it is sold out on Karen's Cookies and costs way more than I can justify spending on a cookie cutter on Copper Gifts, I had to come up with my own version.  Since I didn't have the added elegance of the cookie cutter, I added a border and used cursive instead of print.

Erin, give Emma a big hug from James.  I hope you had a great shower, Ashley! Congratulations! 

Baby Shower Cookies: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Big News! My friend Kim is my first returning customer!  You may remember me talking about her in my Firefighter Cookies post.  Her sister-in-law Jordan and her husband Michael are expecting a precious baby boy this summer and Kim was helping throw a book-themed baby shower for them. 

I first met Jordan at Kim's bachelorette party.  She was so fun and you know how sometimes you just meet someone and you instantly click?  That's how I felt with Jordan.  Now, if she only didn't live in College Station... But, back to the cookies.  Kim and I discussed several ideas and she asked if I thought I would be able to make the mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  I honestly was a little concerned because it was another one of those feared character cookies.  Also, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie just happens to be Jordan's favorite childhood book, so no pressure, right?!  But, this cookie journey has been about taking on new challenges and improving every day.  And, oh boy (pun somewhat intended), am I glad that I took on the challenge! 

To complement the mice (there's a statement I never thought I'd say), I had the idea to do onesies with a chocolate-chip cookie with a bite out of it.

The following pictures are courtesy of Kim from the shower.  She also made the super yummy chocolate-chip cookies to really bring it all together.  After all, what is the mouse without his cookie?



Kim with the beautiful mom-to-be, Jordan, at the shower.


Jordan, I am so excited for you to be Grayson's mom!  Little boys come with their challenges, but they are also so much fun.  I know you are going to be an amazing mom, but remember that it takes a village and fortunately you have an amazing, supportive family around you.  James can tell you from experience how much Aunt Kim is going to spoil that baby!

Happy Father's Day: Father & Son Silhouette Cookies

Father's Day is almost here and I wanted to do something special for one of the best fathers I know, my husband Kevin.  Kevin is an incredible father to James and I am so blessed to have a partner who shares the load and helps so much.  James goes crazy every weekday when he hears the garage go up because he knows that "Dada" is home.

One of James's favorite places in the world is sitting on his Dada's shoulders.  I still remember the first time I saw him up there (the picture on the right).  I was inside "cleaning" (at least that's what I told Kevin I was doing) and I hear a knock at the front door.  I go to answer and I see this adorable, chubby face smiling down at me.

Since then, we have captured several photos of James in that same spot.  One of my favorite pictures of Kevin and James is one taken at his 1st birthday by my friend Krista of Event Identity.  It is the picture on the left above and on the right below.  He just looks so content up there.

I also can't believe it's been a year already since Kevin's first Father's Day, picture on the top right.  James was smitten with his Daddy from the get-go.  I even joked that now was the time that James was supposed to be obsessed with Mommy and that Kevin would get his time later when James got into sports and what-not.  

These beautiful photos were captured by my friend Lynnsay Macey of Lynnsay Macey Photography.  It just melts my heart when I look at these and see the joy in James's eyes. 

Kevin, since James is not yet able to express it to you, I want you to know that he already adores you and can't get enough of spending time with you.  Every day when you get home from work and y'all play outside together is one of his favorite times of the day.  He loves bonding with you and I already see him wanting to be just like you.  You are his hero, his supporter, his mentor, his provider, his biggest fan, his teacher, but most importantly, You are his Dad.  

 
We love you!

 

Baby Shower Cookies: Bowties and Onesies

The very first friend I made when moving to San Antonio was Christina.  As fate would have it, she was pregnant also and our due dates were within two weeks of each other.  If that isn't something that can create an instant bond, I don't know what is!  Christina's neighbor Gretchen was pregnant at the time as well and we actually ended up having our babies on the same day.  Thus leading Christina to forever have the dilemma of two birthday parties to attend on the same day. 

Fast forward to now and Gretchen is pregnant with her second!  How exciting!  Christina asked me to make some cookies to celebrate the occasion and we had to go with a "little man" theme because they were thrilled to find out they were having a boy after having a girl the first go-around.

And they are naming the sweet boy....

Congratulations, Gretchen!  Having a "little man" is the best!