A carving pumpkin=pumpkin bread

I bought a carving pumpkin for Collin to carve and to get seeds out and bake. But I burned the seeds so I bought a different pumpkin for 3.50 at sprouts and did not want to waste the flesh of it. So I cleaned out the insides and cut the pumpkin into several pieces and laid them flesh down on two baking pans at 350 for 90 minutes. Then I let it cool and cut all the meat out and stuck it in my kitchen aide to blend it all. From there I had four cups of pumpkin to do what ever I wanted. I made four loaves of this bread and it was a hit. I used this recipe below which I found on allrecipes but made some changes to make it healthier. I think you could use whole wheat flour and it would taste just as good. 

This makes three loaves 

Ingredients

• 3 cups canned pumpkin puree/ I used fresh pumpkin 
• 1 1/2 cups applesauce 
• 1.5 cups white sugar and 1.5 cups brown sugar 
• 6 eggs
• 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon/ I add more 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg/ i add more 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves/ i add more 
  
  Original recipe yields 3 - 9x5 inch loaves
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

3 year anniversary

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17

I have been married to my best friend, husband, father to our children, and most importantly the spiritual leader to our home. God is so gracious to gift and bless me with this amazing man of God. I never imagined a marriage that could be so sweet! I remember the day I married Brian and the incredible love we had for one another but the crazy thing is I am more in love with him today than ever before. I used to think it was crazy when people told me they grew closer in love by the day or year. It is how Brian and I are. I am so thankful God blessed me with Brian. He is everything and more than I ever imagined. Thank you Jesus!

My friend Hannah and her sister came over to watch our kids. Asher takes bottles of my milk which is a blessing. The kids had so much fun while we were out. Brian and I went to Outback and then we went on a shopping spree just walking around and picked up a couple things and finished the night off at Claim Jumper for amazing desserts! 

Love you Brian 

Asher is a month old

It is hard to believe a month has gone by since God blessed us with this little man! He's the most gorgeous, perfectly round headed boy! He slept his first three weeks away. And recently has had about 2-3 hours around 8-12am where he is pretty fussy and doesn't sleep great at night because he sleeps most of the day minus waking up to eat. Brian and I are pretty tired but we know this is just a season. He loves being in his car seat and going on walks. That is a huge blessing. He is not attached to his pacifier like Abby was. He rarely wants one. That may end up being a blessing. He pretty much will sleep in anything any where with any kind of noise. Asher is about 11lbs and a total chunker. He is gaining lots of weight and adding one roll after another to his thighs and chest. He is a great eater:) This also means he is in size two diapers already!!! 

I love watching the other two babes with him. They absolutely adore him. Abby kisses him and wants to hold him a lot. And Collin is the best helper I could ask for. He is so good with both of the kids. I wish he was around 7 days a week for so many reasons. 

We love you Asher!!!! 

Our baby girl turns 2!

Abigail turned two yesterday October 18th. She has had such a great week long celebration. We had so much joy watching her big smiles and excitement during each moment. Abby is loved by so many people. We tied balloons to her crib after she fell asleep. I watched the monitor as she woke up in the morning. I wish I could have recorded her sweet smiles and joy. She got a huge Elmo balloon that sings when you hit it. She's been walking around the house punching it so hard so it plays the bday song to her:) She had a super fun party with her friends at the park. I think it took her an hour to eat her mini cupcake. She licks the frosting off very slowly before making her way to the bottom. She was so excited when we got home she couldn't nap so I let her skip it. When daddy and Bubba got home we went to dinner and a pumpkin patch and had a fun time, the kids went on rides. Abby is such a big girl going on rides by herself. Uncle Jon then met her at the mall and got her a Jamba Juice which is another favorite treat! Praising God for our sweet girl. She is so funny, talks up a storm, sings all day long, loves kitties, and playing mommy to her babies, she loves her brothers, she loves taking very long walks every day, she loves to read books, she is starting to eat more, she goes pee pee on the potty whenever we ask her and bribe her with candy, she has also gone poo poo twice and gets gum or a sucker, she still does not have her last molars, and is still using her pacifier for bed times. Abby brings so much joy to our lives just as her name means! We love you Abby and pray you grow to know and love Jesus!!! 

Update from doctors appointment. Abby is 25lbs. She is in the 27th percentile for weight, 34th for heights, and 53rd for her head! Oh my little girl! 

She was so surprised when she woke up 

Debbie did a great job setting up Abby's bday party!

Our precious 2 year old! 

A police officer was in the neighborhood and stopped and gave them stickers:)

Sweet princess! 

Daddy took her to Mary's donuts for the first time! Yummy! 

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch 

Professional Pictures!

My friend Kate who has a blog at  http://gonebeforeweknowit.blogspot.com/ , took these amazing pictures of our family! We are so grateful God has blessed her with this wonderful gift! These pictures are priceless! Thank you Kate for blessing our family! Our sweet boy is two weeks old in these pictures. He slept non-stop these two weeks. He is starting to wake up more now and needs a lot more attention which I am happy to give him. Although some sleep would be great:) 

 

Week one with baby Asher

Yesterday marked our baby boy being a week old. So far he has been the easiest baby I could have asked for. It may not last long but week one was wonderful. He has pretty much just slept the week away and when he whines a little it is because he is hungry, cold, or doesn't like his bath. He wakes himself up every two hours to nurse, poop, and pee. We feel very blessed I was able to recover this week with a sleeping baby. He gained almost a whole pound in four days. He is now 8lbs 5ounces. The boy loves to nurse! He is really sweet and I just adore him. He has already moved up to a size 1 diaper because he goes potty so much his diapers have been leaking. He will be out of newborn clothes any minute now. It's really been shocking. We expected a small baby like Abby. She wore newborn diapers for what seemed like months, she was so tiny. Asher sleeps any where and every where. His first trip to church he cried a lot in his car seat so we were a little nervous that would be a pattern but it has not been the case.He has had a lot of attention from his siblings who adore him, his daddy, and all of our family and friends.

Brian has been super dad. He has done everything and has been so wonderful with Abby as always. She is going to have the hardest time with daddy going back to work:( It's been such a wonderful week enjoying our family! I am so grateful for a husband who has been at my side for everything. I was looking over into the kitchen today and Brian was putting dishes away! It has all been such a blessing. I could tell all week Brian just wanted me to rest.
We love our family of five and I am already so excited to have another one:) Who ever thought I would be saying that! I just love our babies so much!