Happy Mom Day

This is how was greeted by Amidala when she awoke from her nap with some help from dad. It was the cutest thing ever. If this kid could get any cuter she did here.
This being my second Mother's day it was great. We were planning on make homemade donuts for breakfast but after Amidala spent the better part of the morning getting sick we decided it was best to stick to cheerios. Poor munchkin had some bad post nasal drip that resulted in her getting sick.
After a laid back morning and lunch we took Amidala to the playground near us again. She loves it there and had a ton of fun on all the slide. We had to cut the trip short due to some parents not watching their older children who decided to climb up the slides. Since it was no longer safer for little miss to be on them, we came home where Anakin made some great curried pineapple chicken! And we ended the day with ice cream cake!
Here's a picture from the park

-Rachel

Now there you go again you say

What a long and emotional month it has been for me. I know May has just started but it has already been super busy and eventful. Amidala needs to get ear tubes. We went to a pediatric ENT last Friday. She had been on new medication for 5 days and still had a bunch of fluid in both ears and one was still infected. They did a hearing test, she is fine and her hearing has thankfully not been affected by the frequent ear infections. The doctor we saw was more than nice. She said she would highly recommend the tubes but said we could wait out the summer if we wanted. We decided it was already long enough for her to be in pain and on a ton of medication. She will have the procedure done a week from Friday.
We also went on a family vacation to visit family in NYC. It was a great time, I was nice to go and see some site and enjoy a new place with family.
the lack of post has not been with out cause, I've been busy with Amidala, had a vacation, had a lot of sorority volunteer events going on and of course working on my 101.
Here is the update:
#2: We visited NYC, I know I have been before but it was for less than a day plus I didn't do much other than be on the bus to and from. We had a ton of fun, got to see a lot of iconic sites, relax, spend time with family and each other. NYC is so different from Boston. It's hard getting around a city I didn't know and sharing a room the size of my bedroom with 2 other people.
#16: Anakin and I watched Tron:Legacy. I have never seen the first one and thought this looked so stupid. We didn't even give it thought to see it in the theaters. I was good, engaging. It has made me want to see the original at some point.
#27: Take Amidala to the zoo. While in NYC we went to the Central Park Zoo. The original plan was the bronx zoo but the ride would have been way too long. In the end the Central Park Zoo was perfect. It was small enough to not be all day but enough animals to hold her interest. She loved it. Her favorites were the snow leopard, and fire fox.
#29: Person #2 for the hand made challenge is done. They are not here yet. I made some things for some friends who are expecting in July. Pictures to come once I have given them the gift.
#55: Learn to make 10 new recipes. Anakin and I made our own pizza dough. It was not the one I grew up making with my grandfather. I only know how to make that one on an extremely large scale. We also tried to recreate the risotto we had from the Lodge in Williamsburg. It was a Vegan risotto with caramelized onions and apples. It came out great and will be made again soon.
#60: Visit 3 museums. While in NYC we went to the MET. It was huge. It reminded me of the Louvre, there is so much you never feel like you see all of it. We really enjoyed the Egyptian and Renaissance wings. Amidala loved this blue hippo and said "hippo" every time she saw it.
#66: Own all the Disney Classic movies. Anakin and I have been buying the classics as they are released from the vault and are up to current on them. I'm not sure that there are anymore classics to get gotten.
#89: This is one of the first Lenten seasons where I faithfully abstained from meat on Fridays and holy Days for the whole time. While it was challenging when we just wanted to order out but it was not that bad.
Check back soon to see how Amidala's is doing and thanks for stopping by. Also look for some more photography by me soon.
-Rachel

It took so long to feel so right

So if you think you recognize the title above a song lyrics, you are right. It's from Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts" I am completely obsessed with this song right now. Even Amidala loves it! A lot has been going on for us. Amidala has another ear infection, her 7th. We are going to see a pediatric ENT specialist at Mass Ear and Eye/Children's Boston. The poor little kid, she hadn't had one in a month. There is clearly something up other than cold and flu season causing this. I just want to be able to help her. I by any means do not want her to have a procedure just to have it. But if in the long run she will stop getting ear infections I'm ok with that. How healthy can it be to keep giving her anitbiotics and tylenol/motrin for the pain. So we are going to go in and see what they have to say and hopefully help our little munchkin.
Other than that Amidala is doing great, talking more, running, doing more sign language. One good thing is her doctor said her speech has not been slowed by the ear infections and in fact she is speaking more/better than most kids her age. She is a gabber and is still a parrot. When she plays with "her" iPhone she says hi and then oh ok I gotta go. So cute!
Anakin and I have started to diet a bit. I want to get back down to my wedding weight. I have already lost all of my baby weight, I did that over a year ago! It helped that I lost 23 of the 27 pounds I gained when I left the hospital. I'm not loosing weight with the goal of being thin. My goal is to be healthy and active. I have the goal of my wedding weight because it seems attainable and then I will see and go from there if I want to loose more. We are doing a modified south beach diet. We are not doing the 2 week cleanse, as it is too drastic and we don't have the time to commit to it. Also since Amidala eats the same as us, I would be making her separate meals which is crazy. I will keep up on the progress we are making.
So here is also an update for my 101!
#4:We finally went a week where we didn't order food for dinner one night. This one was much harder than it seem but we did it and it was nice to save some money.

#30 I took Amidala to play date number 3. As I mentioned in some earlier posts I was in a sorority in college that I currently help advise. A lot of the girls have had children and we try to get together every month or so. So the kids can play and we can talk mommy. Amidala and I made the drive out and got to meet some new friends. She had a lot of fun and went to bed at 7!

#55: I made and served recipe #6. For Anakin's birthday I always make him a cake either boxed (when we were in college/first married) or from scratch(more recent years). This year's was a lemon cake with a chocolate ganache frosting. Let me tell you the frosting was delicious. The cake was good too. Amidala was not a fan, I think she preferred the cupcakes I made for when family came over the Sunday after his birthday to celebrate. Here is the recipe:
Lemon Cake with Chocolate Gloppy Frosting
Recipe courtesy Alex Guarnaschelli

Prep Time:
25 min
Inactive Prep Time:
30 min
Cook Time:
45 min
Level:
Intermediate
Serves:
makes 1 (9-inch) cake


Ingredients
Cake:
1 stick butter plus 1 tablespoon for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain, whole milk yogurt
3 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon and a few grates of zest
2 to 3 grates whole nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
9 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon almond extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch square cake pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter.
For the cake: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or an electric hand mixer, or by hand), cream the 1 stick of butter and granulated sugar together until smooth, 5 to 8 minutes. As you are creaming the butter and sugar, scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula so you are sure to be combining the butter and sugar as it mixes.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
When the butter and sugar are integrated, blend in the yogurt. Add the eggs, one by one. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the dry ingredients. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake, undisturbed, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before inverting it on to a plate and allowing it to cool for an additional 20 minutes.
For the frosting: In a small saucepan, combine the water and granulated sugar and bring to a simmer. Stir to make sure all of the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl to cool. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir to blend. Set the syrup aside to cool.
In a small saucepan, heat the cream. Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. When the cream simmers, pour it over the chocolate chips. Whisk to blend. Set aside to cool.
In the bowl of the food processor, combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, and almond extract. Pulse to blend. Continue blending for about 30 seconds until the ingredients are mixed together. Use a rubber spatula to scrape every bit of the chocolate mixture into the processor and mix again to blend. Transfer the frosting to a bowl and allow it to sit a little before frosting the cake.
Transfer cake to a serving platter. Use a pastry brush (or spoon) to put some of the syrup on the cake. Do not make too wet or the cake will be soggy and fall apart, use just a little bit here and there. Carefully spread the frosting over the cake starting in the center and working it to and around the edges. Make sure there is enough frosting to coat the top and sides of the cake. Serve.


Check back soon for more updates!
-Rachel

Just waiting

So Amidala had an appointment with her doctor today to check her ears again. He said since the weather is getting nicer, he thinks her ear infections should stop. Which is hopefully what happens. She still has fluid in her ears but no infection which is good. Also her speech is not impaired, and he thinks she is talking very well and clear. This morning she even asked Anakin, "Where is you iPhone?". Hopefully little miss is done with ear infections, if she does get another we will be going to see a specialist that her doctor recommends.

Hopefully another post this week.
-Rachel

oh oh oho, oh oh oh, oh oh oho, the right stuff

Thought it would be nice to start it off with some old NKOTB.
So a lot has happened since my last post. Amidala has another double ear infection. She got it 2 days before her 3 week follow up to check her ears to see if they were draining. So clearly they are not. So we got another Z-pack and it is working well. This is after the doctor we saw said they don't work....hmmmm I wonder why they would even make and prescribe them if they didn't work. Sorry for the sassy comment but I do not like the doctor we saw on Wednesday. This is the same one we saw when Amidala ended up having a bronchial infection and needed to go to the hospital to figure it out. Ya, a big thanks for telling me to wait it out with my, at the time, 11 month old. Who by the way was miserable and I missed 4 days of work.
So onto to happier notes, as you may or may not have guessed, Amidala is singing the above song. We do parts, i do the first and she the second, and so on. She loves to sing and dance. She can even do happy and you know it along with the actions at the appropriate times. She also loves Evacuate the Dance Floor. She shakes her little booty to it all the time.
Amidala is getting so big and so smart. She understands too much sometimes. But she is a good goober. She learned two new signs at day-care recently, please and thank you. Such a polite little munchkin. Potty training has halted a bit, she likes to sit on it and still tells us when but that's about it. At least she is keeping up with telling us and is aware what is going on. She even woke up the other night and eventually got me up to tell me she had to go. I told her it was too early to use the potty and it was alright to just go. But I thanked her for letting me know she had to. She snuggled for a few and went right back to sleep.
If anyone has some potty training tips I'd appreciate it. She's a little young, only 16 month, but she is interested and strong willed.
I've also been working a lot on my 101. It's nice to just be able to work on it when I want but I like that I put some long term stuff on it, gives me something to do long term. I have quick update!

#16: Angels and Demons. Anakin and I watched this a couple of weekends ago. He has read both book and I've only see the first movie. It was a good movie.

#55: Chicken Soup. I made the family some chicken soup when Anakin had the horrible stomach bug that was going around 2 weeks ago. It was just the one off the chicken broth box. I've made soup before but just kind of did it as I went. This one was extremely good and I would make it again.

#29: So as part of my 2011 handmade challenge. I have finished one item. I will not say what as I have yet to send it to the person who it is for. I want to take some pictures of it before I send it. I kind of made up the pattern for it and I'm really proud of myself for being able to do that. I just hope they like it.

#21. On Wednesday, when I was home with Amidala we had to go pick up Anakin from work since we had the car for the day. I usually stop and get him coffee before I get him. So we stopped at Starbucks to get the usual order. Feeling in a nice mood and since there was a line a mile long at the drive through. I decided to pay for the person behind me. The cashier was extremely surprised by my gesture. She even commented she had heard of people doing it but never witnessed it. So I'm not sure if the car behind me decided to pay it forward or not , hopefully they did. And if not at least they got some free coffee.

That is all for now. Hopefully another post after this weekend.
-Rachel

Long Short Week

What a week it has been. Everyone in my house is sick but me. Amidala has another double ear infection and may have had a stomach bug on top of it this past weekend. Now Anakin has the stomach bug. I hope I'm not next. Amidala finally seems to be getting over this most recent ear infection. The poor little kid, it's her fourth double ear infection in two months. So we have to go back to the doctor in three weeks here to see if her ears are draining or if she needs something to help her. They had originally talked about some nasal spray that they found to be doing wonders. I don't know about any of you but I think trying to get a 15 month old to do that will be not so successful and I will probably get to do it once and that is it. The next step would be tubes in her ears. They had talked to us about this in January but at the follow up her ears seemed fine so they didn't proceed with them. Also this go around the antibiotics didn't agree with Amidala so after a weekend of horrific diapers we took her back and they wanted to just start back up on it. I insisted they give her something else, so we got a Z-Pac and it seems to be good. Tomorrow is our last day on it so I guess we shall see.
So with everyone being sick, I have been a cleaning machine, trying to keep the house as clean as possible.
On a brighter note from this weekend, Amidala used the potty 3 times. She's getting so big. She went into the bathroom and took her pants off and said potty so I put her on and she did go a little. Since she has been wanting to use the potty we got some training pants. Not sure how successful they will be, but we figured it was worth a try. One of the only things I don't like is they are Dora. I know most people think its a great bilingual show, but personally I find it annoying. I think it's silly of pampers to put the character on the pants. Amidala doesn't even watch TV so she has no idea who this character on her pants is. She says pretty when we put them on but I'm assuming that because they are pink. She also says this about the overnight diapers and points to the purple top on them. So this weekend we will use her potty pants and see how it goes. She also tried at school but just sat there.
I've also been able to use the camera more which I am happy about. I mean we have them so why not learn to use them. That way there will be some picture of Anakin and Amidala for once and they won't be from my iPhone. I also got to take some pictures of Anakin in his new suit and give him the edgy treatment. Check out blog.everythingthelighttouches.com to see them.
Lastly a small 101 update:

#59: I sent out 5 cards today to friends. So keep your eyes open to see if you get one in the mail. They are nothing big but something to make them smile. Who doesn't like to get non bill mail. I know I do.

Hope Everyone has a great weekend and sickness leaves our house.
-Rachel

Sick Baby is no fun

From the title you probably figured out that Amidala is sick since she is the only baby in my life. Unless you thought of my first babies, the kitties. She has another double ear infection but the little kid has been a trooper and was her happy little self. She even finger painted for the first time at home with the Crayola color wonder paint. I have to say it is an awesome product. It really only gets the colors on the paper. She was a little hesitant at first but once she got into it had a blast. I will have to have her paint again tomorrow and take some pictures.
So Anakin and I have decided that after the mess of a diaper she had this morning that she needs to go back to the doctor. She has always been a bit off when on the Amoxillian but today was just horrible. I mean it was soup(sorry for being graphic) but I almost threw up on my child again(another story for another time).So after this we called the on call nurse, who seemed a little unfase and said to just skip a dose and fill her up on carbs. I know she felt like crap the past few day but hardly ate today. She didn't even want mashed potatoes so I know she felt bad. But hopefully tomorrow's appointment will be productive and she will feel better.
Also tomorrow Anakin is letting me take pictures of him in his suit so keep an eye out for pictures of him here and on Everythingthelighttouches. Sorry if you don't recognize him as he is beardless(sad sad day in our house). He did this while Amidala was asleep so she may or may not freak out tomorrow.
Here is a short update for the 101. I had planned on working on a bunch of ones from my list but with Amidala not feeling well it got put on the back burner for the time being. Maybe my little helper will be back tomorrow.

#38: Last night some friend came over for some drinks after they went out to dinner. I had picked up some wine at Rite Aid on Friday(I know it sounds horrid, but they have a great selection). I got Asti, Reisling and Sweet Red. They were having a sale of 3 for $20. Clearly I enjoy the Asti and Reisling. The Sweet Red was somethign enw for me. I don't usually like reds but I decided to give it a try beacuse it looked more like a white. It was really good. I would buy this one again. It was a tad bitter but it had wonderful notes of raspberry, pommegrante and cherries.

Have a great extra day off tomorrow everyone
-Rachel