Pumpkin Love!

What is the best thing about fall? Cooking with pumpkin! Here is my most recent pumpkin treat: pumpkin bars and cream cheese frosting! The link is as close to the recipes I used as I can find. My recipe came from an old magazine from my grandma. I used 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of granulated sugar rather than 2 cups of granulated sugar.

We also had baked parmesan chicken for dinner. Again, this is a similar recipe, because I couldn't find the one I used online.  Delicious!

Blake the Talker!

Well, Blake has learned to scream. All the time! It is pretty cute, but VERY loud! Normally, I would feel really bad for our neighbors since we are currently living in an apartment, BUT they are way louder than us... so, I secretly enjoy it! :) He also has become super talkative which we love. I am not sure he knows what he is saying, but it is cute no matter what! Here are some recent pictures of Blake being adorable, like always. :)

Hanging out at Olive Garden.

Lots of teeth!

Chillin' in my robot shirt!

Fall Food

I love fall. Football food and pumpkin-flavored food are some of the best things to cook up in the kitchen. We have not been able to watch all of the Colts games here in good old Massachusetts, but thanks to Sunday night and Monday night football, we have gotten to watch the last two! Here are the staples of our football food line-up:

Pigs-in-a-Blanket and Chips with Rotel-Velveeta Dip.

I also found a delicious recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. So good! You can see the recipe here.

Of course, I can't forget our favorite thing to make: Crab cakes with lemon-dill sauce! (We don't use the crab cake recipe that is linked with the lemon-dill sauce because the other one is better.) By the way, the fresh green beans with bacon are a great compliment to this dish!

Grandma Cindy's in Town!

My mom came to visit us this weekend! We had a great time, and we all loved seeing her. Blake was happy the whole time and was very vocal. He has started screaming (for fun!) and talking. He will have a screaming match with me and Alex occasionally, and he will always win because Alex and I end up laughing too much to scream anymore. The weather was not very cooperative while my mom was here, but we had a good time anyways! Here are some pictures of our visit.

Blake's new Northface jacket and hat!

Napping with Grandma.

We ate a Fuddrucker's while my mom was here. I had never been to one of these restaurants. The Coke machine was insane! It was all digital and had tons of different pops and flavors. The restaurant was located in a mall which had a trapeze school, colored and musical fountains, a furniture store, and BeanTown (a Jelly Belly area/store). There were Jelly Belly candies everywhere!

Driving around the mall.

Trapeze school.

Flowers made out of Jelly Bellies!

Jelly Belly ducks.

A giant Jelly Belly sundae.

Awesome fountains.

Testing out the furniture.

So many options!

On an unrelated note, Alex and I now are official - We have Massachusetts licenses and plates. Stupid Massachusetts requires a front license plate. Rather than drill holes in the front of our bumpers, our plates are zip-tied on. I would post a picture, but it is a little embarrassing.

Halfcourt Bounce Shot!

Well, it was a beautiful evening, so we took advantage of it by heading to the park! We went on a nice walk, had fun with Blake on the swings, and then Blake and Alex spent some quality time shooting some hoops. Alex pulled off an AWESOME trick, and I was just lucky enough to get it on video. Enjoy!

I can stand!

Blake is getting so big! I think I say that a lot... His new thing is standing up against things. Here he is standing like a big boy!

The weather has been kind of rainy here lately, so we haven't gotten to spend much time outside. Here are some pictures of Blake hanging out throughout our week:

Cooking, again!

We have really been busy cooking different dinners! Here's what we have had this week:

Homemade Panera Broccoli and Cheese Soup

Almond Chicken Dijon

Easy Pleasing Meatloaf

Recipes as follows: Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup, Almond Chicken Dijon, and Easy Pleasing Meatloaf. Enjoy!