Two posts in one week...

Wow this is rare, two post in one week. Must be all the snow we have gotten and will be getting over the next few days :p Oh living in New England. We were supposed to get hit pretty bad but only got a couple of inches and some rain. I also have some more updated from my 101.
I gave blood for the second time. Anakin had originally scheduled one for my when the Red Cross called because they said it was at John Hancock. I found out later it was not at my build and I was not walking 4 miles to donate so I waited. There was one at my work last Friday so I went down during my lunch I even got a free pound of dunkies coffee, score since we were out..
We also hosted our annual pancake social in October it was great for all of our friends and family to get together and we got see Bill and Tara's little one for the first time. Amidala got very jealous when I held him, I can still remember when she was that little.
Our family also voted in our local and state election right before Amidala's birthday. We took the 5 minute walk over to the American Legion. WE were the youngest people there by 50 years but it felt good. I'm also glad to see the boy scout learning about civic duty and trying to sell me stale popcorn as I'm leaving.
Anakin also got to go on a midday date over Thanksgiving and we got to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1. It was nice to see a movie and have lunch together.
I have also watched two movies that I would not normally pick. Both were picked by Anakin and I have to say I really did like them. We watched Predators and Kick Ass.

Hopefully more posts this week as Amidala is in bed by 8 now yay!

-Rachel

Hobbies

So we all have hobbies and they can come and go. One of my newer hobbies is crocheting, my MIL originally taught me while were there on vacation in 2007. After I learned I made a couple of blankets, scarf, basically anything square. I only knew how to do single and double crochet never mind read a pattern from a book. So one year for secret santa low and behold I receive a crochet book, and I then got a couple more for christmas. I never made anything from them when I got them. I kept thinking this stuff is way to advanced for me.
My MIL came out to visit when my Nephew was born, I had wanted to make Amidala a baby blanket while I was pregnant but I never could find the time or concentration. So on this visit I asked if she would help me read some pattern so I could make a blanket. I do not have pictures of Amidala's blanket as she sleeps with it every night and is very protective of it (I can hardly even take it for a washing unless I sneak it away.
After this I became much more confident in my patter reading abilities and eventually make a blanket for my nephew, one for a friend's baby shower. I even made one to donate to a hospital along with a hat (my first non square thing, and I found and followed the pattern myself) I was so excited when I finished it and it looked like a hat
On our most recent trip to visit my In laws I learned how to make and Edla blanket. My MIL made a pink and antique white one for Amidala when she was born and it is beautiful. This pattern was given to my MIL by a now former co-worker who's mother made the pattern. This woman had a bunch of them from when her mother passed and would give them to people but never made one. I'm not sure if it was because she didn't crochet or the pattern wasn't written in its entirety. But she gave it to my MIL to try out, so now my MIL has made one for my daughter and nephew. I have made one to give to my cousin and his wife for their sun.
Also I have an update for my 101.
Since Anakin has gotten into photography I have wanted to learn more about it. I decided I would learn to use the camera. I went with him a couple of weekends ago to a wedding shower as a second shooter and I have to say I picked up a lot and my pictures didn't look to bad. So I took some pictures of my crochet tonight and did the editing myself with Anakin looking over my shoulder. Here are some of my shots.

Baby Hat


Detail shot of Edla's Blanket


This is the full size of the blanket.


Full detail shot


Edla's Blanket


Shell pattern blanket in blues and white to be donated to the hospital


Detail blanket shot.


My first baby hat!

Thanks for stopping by everyone and I hoped you liked my pictures! I had a lot of fun taking them.

-Rachel

It's been a long long time

Well the last 3 months have come and gone faster than i know what to do with. Amidala is now 1 and is running and talking up a storm. She started walking about 3 weeks before her birthday. Anakin was playing blocks with her one day and all of the sudden was walked over, took the blocks and went back to the block container. She has also been talking and repeating everything. Her latest is Good Girl and I want it.

Due to last of posting I've been working on my 101 a lot and have gotten a lot more done.
#6: I finally made a baby hat. I will have Anakin takes of pictures, or maybe I will since we are shooting a wedding shower together this weekend and I need to learn to use the camera.

#24: I finally entered all of our recipes after Amidala decided they were a toy and was pushing them off the keyboard shelf and throwing them around the office.

#47: I can now make baby hats, yay for non square thing. I'm also going to tackle booties sometime in the near future.

That's all for now. Come back and look for some pics later this week.

-Rachel

Also Anakin, I and some other contributors have started another blog, it's all about electronics and tech related things so go check it out at:
www.electronicchronicles.com

Also check out: blog.everythingthelighttouches.com for some of Amidala's first birthday pics

Construction

So currently I am sitting here blogging while my street is being torn up for Lowe's (Thanks a lot). They just cut a hole in front of our house and are now putting the metal plate over said hole. Amidala is napping and by god if they wake her neither her nor I will be happy. So you may be wonder why I'm home today. Amidala had a fever yesterday and was sent home early from daycare. Her fever went down after we gave her some motrin but she still had a slight one today. So since she had to stay home from daycare I brought her to see Dr. Vonnegut. She will most likely be going back tomorrow unless her fever is over 101 again. So onto todays' post.

Amidala is almost walking, she took five steps about two weeks ago and has taken a few more unassisted here and there. It's just a matter of time and in the mean time Anakin and I are trying to baby proof as much as quickly as we can.

Here's the 101 in 1001 update

#72: Anakin and I had our second date, 5th overall since Amidala has been born. We went to the red sox game. It was the first game I had gone to since last August when I was very pregnant. I have to say being at a red sox game while pregnant is one of the worst experiences ever. I barely fit in the seat and was up every minute to pee so to say next time I am pregnant I will not be going to any games.

#55: Ok ever since fall came I have been a cooking machine, ok well not really. But I did try 4, yes 4 new recipes. The first was a home made sloppy joe. If most of you are like me the thought of this made me a little sick but it is surprisingly good. Amidala had them at daycare and loves, loves, loves them so I decided to try and make them. And they came out great
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/sloppy-joes-ii/Detail.aspx

Recipe #2 was an apple cider stew. It is as simple as the name sounds. Literally all it is is apples, potatoes, carrots, beef and cider in the crock pot. and IT is very good we made it again this weekend for friends. For a random find online it is very good.
http://www.familycrockpotrecipes.com/AppleCiderSTew.html

Recipe #3 is something special I am making today for Anakin. Anakin is a huge pumpkin fan and had said over the weekend he would like some pumpkin bread. A friend of mine mentioned on facebook she had made some with chocolate chips in it. Alas she did not a recipe so I found this one online and just added some chocolate chips to it. I have yet to taste it as it is just sitting in my oven for now. http://dcist.com/2008/09/30/eating_in_spiced_pumpkin_beer_bread.php

Recipe #4 was maple butter and it is exactly as you would as it sounds maple syrup and butter mixed together. We made it as a pancake topping and enjoyed it very much.

That's all for now folks.
Rachel

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Sorry for the recent month long absence but a certain nine almost ten month old has been terrorizing my world and lately at night I haven't felt up to blogging. Amidala is almost walking. She will stand on her own if you put her down, she is pulling up on everything imaginable include my self and Anakin. She walks around holding only one of our hands. Our world is about to turned upside down any day now by a certain cute munchkin. Anakin had posted 9 month pictures at www.everythingthelighttouches.com so go and check them out. Also a plug for him, if you want an pics done please let him know. There should be a new post up there soon as there is a current backlog of photos on our iMac.

Now for the updates:

#12, While you maybe thinking when did Rachel go to Europe, well I didn't, I'm changing this one. While I would love, love, love, love to go back and see some more it probably won't be in the finances for a bit here, so I'm changing it to just taking a vacation with Anakin alone, sans bebe. Hopefully it will be for our 5 year anniversary.

#41: This one was quite easy, I'll admit it. Since Amidala has been eating more and more of our food, it's easier to eat the table then anywhere else. Plus there are hard wood floors in the dining room and that means super easy to clean

#64: Amidala is slowing learning some signs, she does more and sometimes mommy. We try to use them as much as possible, its a start

#41: 2 more wines tries at a wine tasting at one of my favorite wine stores, Bon vivant in Randolph. They had a Portuguese White and a Merlot. So I tried both and they were both so delicious we bought a bottle of both.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Check back soon for more post!

Rachel

Back to Reality

Vacation is good. We just got back from visiting the in-laws in North Carolina and boy was it hot and by hot I mean at least 90 each day. It even got to 110 on Saturday and the AC decided to break that day as well but that was our last day. Anakin, Amidala and I all had such a good time and Amidala loved spending time with her grandparents and I'm sure they did as well. We found out our little girl is like a fish and loves loves loves to swim. So much so that she was putting her own face in the water by the end!!

Anyways, I didn't feel like blogging while on vacation and didn't have the time either because Amidala kept 4 adults running around. I did manage to get some of my 101 in 1001 done so that was good. So here are the updates.

#78. I finally made something that wasn't four sided. I made a flour to accent a hat for Amidala. I am also working on two hats currently, one for Amidala and one for the hospital.

#9. This is still in progress, Amidala likes to get her face wet and kicks in the water so hopefully we can do some classes this winter/spring coming up to help her out more.

#38. I tried two new wines while on vacation. One was a mixed pinot gris and a reilsing. It was very tatsy, a little tangy but so so good. I also tried a Sweet wine, which by it's name you can guess is sweet, it's a blush wine which I do enjoy as well.

#72. Anakin and I got to go on a date while we were there as well. We went to dinner and saw Inception, which was a great movie. It was fun to go out together but also good to go back and see our little princess.

#30. Amidala had her first play date before we left. We drove up to Meuthen to see Katie and her little boy. Katie is a friend of mine from college and we met when we pledged our sorority. Amidala had a lot of fun and we can't wait to see them again!

Thanks for catching the update!
Racehl

101 in 1001 update

Hi All,
Sorry for the lacking blog post, or none at all for a few weeks here. I've been busy working on my list as well as trying to keep Amidala out of trouble (she's crawling and starting to stand now). Anyways here is the update.

#19. I last cut my hair in January and I have decide not to cut it again, aside from trimming my bangs, until it is long enough to donate it locks of love. I've always wanted to do this but my hairs gets about mid back and I chop it off. So this time I will try very very hard to not cut it, plus I've never had super long hair.

#6. I have completed a blanket to donate to Sturdy Memorial Hospital.I did a new stitch that I learned by myself, the fan stitch. I need to make the hat still but I have never made anything that is not a blanket so I'm going to have my MIL help me when we visit.

#26. On Tuesday night since I had no TV to watch since it's summer and there is nothing on, I took an hour and entered all of the address from our address book as well as the lists from our wedding and the baby shower. Now all of our address are in one central place. A boring task but now it's done and Christmas cards will be so much easier to send out this year.

#54 and #55. On fathers' day I made Anakin dinner since it's his day he just got to hang out with the princess and I cooked. We had mac an cheese with chicken from a recipe I found online and I just added chicken to it. I modified the recipe as we did not have heavy cream or sour cream so I just put milk and a ton of cheese.

#38. I tired one new wine a Savigon Blanc, which I've never had, I usually stick to reisling or a beer so I had this one because a friend brought the bottle over and left it. While I didn't not like it, it was a little dry for my taste but at least I finished my glass.

#76. We are taking a family trip to visit some family. I have put a lot of time into planning so we don't forget anything and if we do I'm sure we can but it there as there will be stores.

#84. On Wednesday I finally finished a crossword puzzle without cheating and looking up the answers. I ususally do one during my lunch as a way to destress and just get my mind off of work for about 30 minutes.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my update!!! Hopefully I will be getting a new layout soon so keep checking to see it.

Rachel.

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