Monday, December 10, 2012

Let the Christmas Celebrations Begin!

This last weekend we traveled to Missouri to visit my mom's side of the family :)  It is one of four Christmas's that we will be celebrating this year!  It was a quick trip, but we had a really good time seeing everyone!  I was worried about traveling during the day with Dawson (we normally travel at night while he sleeps!), but he did great!  I think it helped having a car full of people to entertain him! Here are pictures from the trip :)


Playing with grandma's toy kitchen!

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Hanging out with Aunt Ky and Lucas
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Dawson can fly :)
Playing with cousins!!
 
Dawson liked the piano!

Present time :)

Dawson and Noah....they will be good buds once Dawson gets a little bigger!


More cousin time :)

Great Grandpa and Grandma :)


Dawson with his Great Aunt Karena & Uncle Nick and second cousins Kaylee and Noah!

Loving on Great Great Grandpa :)

 We waited until the last minute to get pictures with everyone (which is why most people are still in their pjs!), so we are missing photos of Dawson with his Great Uncle Kevin & Aunt Penny and Great Great Uncle Galen & Aunt Marsha.  We will have to be sure to get pictures with them next time!  As always, we wish the visit could have been longer, but we are thankful for the time we had!  Now, on to our next Christmas celebration next weekend! 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping

I found this recipe for pumpkin bread in a really old magazine that I had and decided to try it out yesterday.  I tweaked the recipe a bit and added a streusel topping to it.  Let me tell you, this is now my new go to pumpkin bread recipe :)  Here is the recipe if you want to try it out! (Note: This recipe is also really easy to cut in half and make just one loaf of bread, which is what I did, but it is already almost gone, so I should have made two loafs!)


Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping 
(Makes two loaves)

Ingredients:

Bread-
  •  2 cups canned pumpkin
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Streusel Topping-
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts,etc.)
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar, water, vegetable oil, and eggs.  Beat until well mixed.

Measure the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and ground cloves into a separate bowl, then stir until combined.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth.

Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans and dust them with flour.  Evenly divide the batter between them.

To make the streusel: In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, flour, and cinnamon together until thoroughly combined. Stir in the nuts. Drizzle the melted butter over the mixture and stir. Do not break up the clumps too much.  Divide the streusel evenly between the pans, sprinkling it over the top of the bread batter to cover it completely.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Serve plain, with butter, or with a cream cheese spread :)

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

First step!

Today marks the day that our little man is officially growing up!  Dawson took his first step today over lunch while daddy and mommy were both watching :)  Such a sweet little guy to wait until we were both around to take his first step!  Dawson was pretty proud of himself and took a couple other steps on his own, but it was almost nap time, so he tuckered out fast.  Here are a few pictures of Dawson on this special day!  He even dressed up a little for the occasion :)

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Thanksgiving :)

Dawson had a wonderful first Thanksgiving visiting all of his wonderful family members! I would say that this Thanksgiving we are probably most thankful for our little man :)  We feel very blessed and humbled that God has allowed us the privilege of being able to parent him.  Here are some photos of our Thanksgiving festivities!

Dawson wearing his "My First Thanksgiving" hat :)

Kitchen fun with Grandma and Uncle Jordan...and his spoon!

"Talking" to Uncle Jordan on the phone :)

Thanks for getting me dressed Aunt Ashlyn!
"Fishing" with daddy :)
Pap-paw and Grandma getting some Dawson time!

The babies of the family! Dawson is going to miss his Uncle Ben when he is away for Marine training. 
More Grandpa and Grandma loving :)

Family!! 
The boys getting ready to play sling slot paintball!!  Crazies!  I forgot to get an after photo, but believe me it looked lots different :)  They are excited for when the little boys will be old enough to play!

The ladies watching the crazy boys and their paintball extravaganza!
The babies!  These boys love their cousin time :)

Grandma with two of her great grand babies :)


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Dawson is 10 months old :)

Here we are again, another month already past and my baby is now 10 months old! (Well, technically Dawson isn't 10 months old until tomorrow, but we are heading out to see family tonight for Thanksgiving, so I decided to post this a day early!)

10 month photo shoot!
 




"I am done mom...get me out of here!"

Here are a few of the things Dawson was up to during month 9:
  • Standing on his own for up to 15 seconds at a time!
  • Cruises around everywhere!
  • Pulls up to everything
  • Loves to stack cups
  • Uses the signs "all done", "drink", and "more" from time to time
  • Enjoys flipping pages in books
  • Dances when he hears music
  • Raises his hands in the air when we say "touchdown"
  • Sticks his tongue out a lot
  • Very curious and wants to touch or get into everything
  • Gets into a sitting position from the floor
  • Shakes head "no" when he doesn't want something
  • Said his first actual word "dada"!!  (He has been saying dada for a long time, but finally understands who dada is!  Sooo adorable when he points to Brandon and says "dada"!)
  • Loves to open and close drawers and cabinets
  • Always takes daddy's hat and sunglasses off when he gets home from work
And here are some cute pictures from the last month!

"Cheese"

Watching football with daddy!  Ready for K-State to play!

"Reading" the bible with daddy!

Laundry time!

Not feeling well :(  Sick with a cold...again!

Helping aunt Ky study for college algebra :)

Dawson's favorite place to stand!
Bath time fun!

Dawson helped mommy and daddy vote!

Stacking his cups :)

Good morning!!
If this isn't cool, I don't know what is!

Happy boy :)

He started out standing against the loveseat at the other end of the room.  Showing off his "cruising" skills :)  (And messing with daddy's bible!)

He LOVES to turn the light on and off!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Mommy & Daddy's Little Pumpkin

Dawson had a not so happy Halloween :(  Poor guy has come down with a bad cold again, but that didn't stop him from dressing up and visiting a few neighbors!  Here is our sweet boy on his first Halloween!

Not feeling too well :(




I didn't know pumpkins could move!

"Hey, this looks like me!"