Blessed

Hi friends!  Nothing too exciting going on in the Gutshall house these days.  I just wanted to share a few pics of life lately.

Love those big brown eyes

Emerson has been becoming more and more fun lately.  Sometimes he gets in silly moods and will laugh a lot and you can tell he just has a lot of fun playing with us.  It is so neat to see our little unit transform into a family who loves to spend time together.  It makes me look forward to the days when all our kids are old enough to have family fun nights, but not old enough to be embarrassed of their parents yet :)

On an exciting note, we became a friendship family to two international students.  Both are from South Korea and we have had fun getting to know them!  We are excited about this opportunity to befriend them and welcome them into our family.  They love babies and Emerson loves them.

The Big 5 month old

So, Emerson is 5 1/2 months old at this point, so I figured I need to go ahead and post about his 5th month of life!  Here are a few highlights:

-Emerson loves solids now.  When I am fixing it, he sits in his high chair and cries because I'm not going fast enough.  By the time I sit down in front of him, his mouth is wide open.  And after he finishes it all, he cries.  This kid loves to eat.
-He loves his toys.  I sit him in front of his basket of toys and he pulls them all out one by one.  He will entertain himself for awhile when he has his toys.
-He loves tags.  He will work on pinching a tag between two fingers for the longest.  Workin' on his fine motor skills.  He sits there completely silent, trying to accomplish the task.  It makes me laugh.
-He sits pretty well.  At this point he rarely falls.  Except sometimes.
-He still goes to bed pretty early.  And this kid needs his sleep.  If he is tired, he will not be content until he sleeps.  We are always the first to leave play group, because Emerson has to get home for a nap.
-No teeth yet, but he acts like his mouth bothers him sometimes.  For awhile there, it seemed like Orajel was the only thing to calm him if he woke up in the night.  Maybe the teething process has begun.
-He likes to make this screeching noise.  He just started it about a week ago.  It's his new sound and he makes it all the time.

Well, that's all I can think of!  I'm still enjoying my little man.  It's crazy when I look at pictures from the first few weeks of his life.  He has grown and changed so much and I know he's not even close to being done!  What a fun experience.

Emerson the Outdoorsman

A year ago, on labor day weekend, we announced our pregnancy to our families on a camping trip.  This year, on labor day weekend, we camped with our little boy.  I have to say, I was a little anxious about the trip beforehand, because I know Emerson's sleeping isn't its best when we leave home.  Thus a cranky baby.  But I was pleasantly surprised when Emerson did great!  He LOVED it.  I really think he had fun.  No, he didn't take good naps.  But he loved being outside so much and spending so much time with the grandparents and family that he was as happy as can be! 

We camped at Devil's Den and I just love that place.  They have hiking, organized events (softball games, wildlife presentations, etc.), and great facilities. The weather was perfect and we were in a shaded spot, which was nice.  We did some hiking, some eating, some softball playing, some creek swimming, some s'more roasting, and lots of chatting!  It was great quality time with a great family.  The past few years Caleb's parents have joined us on our labor day camping trip and I hope it will become an annual thing.  I'm so thankful our families get along so well.  Emerson only spent a few moments not being held by someone, what with having both sets of grandparents there!  So, that's the recap and here are some pictures!  

All decked out in our Razorback gear since it was the first game

Happy Hog Fan

Love the footie PJs

On our hike- Emerson was only a little bow-legged afterwards

Our last morning there was quite chilly.  Emerson is sporting his fleece jacket.

Lemon Confession

Dear friends, I have a new favorite breakfast recipe.  Confession: I made it 3 times in about a month.  I have been loving all things lemon lately and I wish to share this delightful recipe with you.  This recipe is for Lemon-Poppy Seed Scones and it came from my Country Living magazine.  A-mazing.  Please, try this at home and enjoy :)

Mine aren't picture perfect but they are taste-bud perfect

Ingredients:
2 C flour
3 T sugar
2 T poppy seeds
Zest of 2 large lemons
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 C heavy cream
1/4 C plus 1 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 C confectioner's sugar

1.  Preheat over to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, poppy seeds, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  With two knives or a pastry cutter, cut in butter until mixture resembles very course meal (and I mean it.  don't be lazy with this because if you don't cut the butter into small enough pieces, then the scones won't hold together.  been there, done that.).  Pour in heavy cream, then add 1/4 C lemon juice, stirring just until dough forms.
2.  Using your hands, gather dough together and gently press into a ball.  Transfer dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet and shape into an 8-inch disc.  Cut into 8 wedges and separate onto sheet.  Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 12 to 14 minutes.  Let cool about 20 minutes.
3.  While baking, mix confectioners' sugar with remaining lemon juice in a small bowl.  Drizzle glaze over the cooled scones.

Eat 5 scones.  The end.