Mommy Mondays: Sisters

Well last week we found out some pretty big news....Baby Hilosky #3 (who I was certain was a boy) is really a GIRL!  I cannot wait to meet sweet little Paisley Jean in 20 weeks or less!  You can read all about our gender reveal party HERE!

Now I have discovered that when you already have two girls, everyone has something to say about what they "hope" this baby would be...and most seemed to be "hoping" this baby would be a boy.  John and I were , of course, just hoping for a healthy baby.  Beyond that a boy would have been nice so that we could have had the different experience of raising a boy.  But deep down, I really was hoping that this little baby would be another girl.  Not for me, but for Lacie and Blakely.  Watching my two girls be sisters and best friends is the best thing about being a mommy, and I so wanted to give them another sister!  Once we found out that Baby #3 is going to be another girl, I spent a lot of time looking back at pictures of my girls and I thought I would share some of my favorites here today!

Lacie and Blakely meeting for the very first time!  

Sharing the secret that they will both be BIG SISTERS this year!

And finding out that they will become big sisters to a little sister! 

Drumroll Please - Gender Reveal Party

Yesterday, I went for my 20 week check-up and anatomy ultrasound!  Both Mama and Baby are super healthy!  And I found out some pretty exciting news...Baby Hilosky #3 is a

~*~*GIRL*~*~

Life really is Better in Pink in the Hilosky House!  

Introducing Paisley Jean Hilosky!  

I went for this ultrasound all by myself so that only I would know the gender of little Baby H during our big reveal.  We wanted to do something different...

With Lacie, everyone (I mean everyone) came to the ultrasound with us to find out at the same time!

With Blakely, John and I knew for a few days that she was a girl.  We had everyone over to our house, and had my mom cut into a cake to reveal a PINK center! 

So for this baby, we had both sets of Grandparents along with my sister and John's brother come over after I was home from the appointment.  I had already decorated a huge box to say "Blue or Pink? What do you think?"  We had everyone cast their votes.  Then, I filled the box with Pink balloons (yes we bought both colors ahead of time so I wouldn't have to run out to the store) and we opened the box while everyone watched! 

This was the box that I decorated for the balloons!  

I used my week by week chalkboard for everyone to vote!  You can see that my mom (that would be Nana Jane) cheated and voted both ways.  I wrote my guess on the board the night before since I would obviously know the real answer the day of the party!  As you can see I was wrong...I'm 0-3 at this point! 

The moment the balloons came out of the box and everyone started laughing because *of course* it's another girl!  Lacie was very excited!  She has been calling this baby "girl" all along!  

After the big balloon reveal was over, we did another reveal of what this Baby Girl's name will be...

Introducing Miss Paisley Jean!  Paisley is a name that John and I have had for a long time.  It's just a sweet girl's name that we love!  It sounds super girly and it sounds great with our other girls names.  We picked Jean for the middle name to honor my mother-in-law Mary Jean and her mother, John's Grandmom Jean!  It's the perfect name for our newest princess, and I am so excited that we will get to use this name! 

But the fun didn't stop there!  Being the dessert loving person that I am, I had prepared a few pink and blue treats for dessert!  Plus we ordered pizza!  It was such a fun and memorable night with family! 

My blue and pink themed dessert table! 

Dipped Oreos! 

Chocolate Covered Pretzels!

And Pink and Blue Whoopie Pies!  Recipe coming soon! 

And of course I'm already online shopping for some sweet little baby girl items!  

Lemon Whoopie Pies

Last Friday was my birthday!  And since I enjoy baking so much, I did just that and made myself my own birthday treat.  I didn't mind because John did the dishes!  I was so happy with the way my Orange Creamsicle Whoopie Pies turned out that I decided to make:

Lemon Whoopie Pies

And they did not disappoint!  They also are CAKE MIX RECIPE #41!!!

Your Shopping List for the Lemon Whoopie Pies:

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1/2 cup veggie oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 eggs
• buttercream or vanilla icing

Now Let's Make the Lemon Whoopie Pies:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the cake mix, veggie oil, water, and eggs.
3. Beat on low speed 30 seconds and scrape down the sides.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
4. Drop batter by tablespoon or cookie scoop onto prepared baking sheet, leaving room for the cookies to spread.
5. Take the back of a spoon or a knife to spread batter into flat circles.
   
6. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes (cookies should be soft but cooked through and just starting to get color on the bottom).
7. Cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely
   
8. Once cookies are completely cool, turn half of the pies upside down and frost the bottom.  For this I used my homemade buttercream icing but if you are short on time you could just use store bought icing to make it easier.  
9. Place the other half of the pies right side up on top of the frosting.
10. If desired, use a piping bag to pipe extra icing around the center edge.
11. Store at room temperature for up to 24 hours, after that wrap each whoopie pie individually with saran wrap and store in the fridge.

Can you tell that Blakely is very eager to eat a Lemon Whoopie Pie?!?  She wouldn't even help blow out the candle! 

Two very happy little girls! 

Soft and Chewy Butterscotch Cookies

This mama has been having a major BUTTERSCOTCH craving lately!  I mean a craving so strong that I baked not one but two batches of butterscotch cookies this week alone!  One type was the crispy cookie type, and I have shared that recipe with you before during my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies.  You can find the recipe for Blakely's Butterscotch Crispies by clicking HERE!

The other recipe I made is a new one!  And it's CAKE MIX RECIPE #40!!!

These cookies are honestly so so so easy to whip up and they were delicious!  Plus they only have five ingredients!  It doesn't get much easier than that! 

Your Shopping List for the Soft and Chewy Butterscotch Cookies:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 stick butter, softened to room temperature 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• two eggs
• 1 heaping cup of butterscotch chips

Now Let's Make the Soft and Chewy Butterscotch Cookies:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper
2. In the base of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter with the vanilla extract
3. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until thoroughly incorporated
4. Add the cake mix and beat until a soft dough forms
5. Pour in your generous cup of butterscotch chips and mix until the chips are evenly distributed
6. Use a small cookie scoop to drop dough onto prepared cookie pans
7. Bake 8-10 minutes until cookies are lightly golden
8. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 3-4 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely 
9. Once completely cooled store in an airtight container