Chanukah, Oh Chanukah

So we have been on our whirlwind tour for the holidays... We left last Saturday around noon (at least 3 hours later than we intended, of course).

First stop was somewhere in South Carolina around 3am. We finally had enough of the road. Rachel was wonderful the whole way... until we stopped the car. She decided 3am was the perfect time to wake up and be playful. So, Tommy and I had roughly 3 hours of sleep, and then we hit the road again.
Sunday afternoon, our first REAL stop... a visit with my cousins Billy & Macy in Maryland. That was great. We got to visit with them and their kids for a while.
Next stop on our journey was PA... we arrived at my friend Jodi's house sometime around 9pm or so... Jodi's family was absolutely wonderful. I'm crazy about her kids!
We stayed with Jodi & her family until Tuesday morning. Then we were off to NJ to visit my friend Beth. We actually got an earlier start for a change, and we got up into Beth's neck of the woods sooner than we thought we would so we stopped for a little snack... WHITE CASTLE!!! Yippee!!!
Our friend Zulema came to Beth's Tuesday night and we all had dinner together. It was great. Wednesday was Xmas Eve... so we left Beth's house late in the afternoon and headed to NY to my cousins Bill & Barbara. What a great time... Rachel got to meet Santa Claus! My cousin Renny dressed the part and was great. Rachel also got LOTS of wonderful presents! I think her favorite was Elmo Live from my cousin Gina (ok, so maybe it's MY favorite!!) Elmo is just too cool for words... most of all, it was SO great to see the family. I miss the big family Xmas Eve celebrations we always used to have.
So we went back to Beth's house to sleep Wednesday night, and woke up xmas morning to start packing for our next adventure.
We stopped in Manalapan NJ to visit our friends Jack & Cherry... it's been about 4 years since we saw them. The biggest shock was seeing their granddaughter Ashley, who has grown into a beautiful young lady. What a nice (but very short) visit.
We left Manalapan and headed to Keyport, NJ to spend xmas day with Tommy's family. What a terrific time we had with them! Everyone was taken with Rachel. She was the star of the show for sure... Even Tommy's Uncle Chuck asked if she was ALWAYS so well behaved or was she just being special for family! LOL... it was so nice to see them all. And great the Tommy's mom was finally able to meet her granddaughter! Rachel's Uncle Danny was also thrilled to play with his new niece. Oh... and we got to play with Mary's Wii !!! That was so much fun even Tommy wants it!
We left NJ Friday afternoon & headed to Cape Cod. Got to Marla's a little later than we wanted to, but we finally got here. I'm especially glad since I am FINALLY able to get online!!! This is the first time I was able to take some time and also the first time I was able to get a WiFi hook up...
Tonite we went to our favorite restaurant up here. Shanghai Tokyo in Natick. Oh man, I am stuffed to the gills... and Rachel had a great time! She had Miso soup, Dumplings, a little seaweed salad, some Pad Thai, and Mango ice cream! and she had all the waitresses playing with her (thank goodness, because I was dying to eat my yummy sushi!!!!)
We are staying here a few more days... then its back to NJ! I guess I will update more then. We can usually get a connection at our friends house, so I will do my best to keep updates coming. Especially pictures. Speaking of which...

Rachel gets a kiss from her

cousin Noah.

Santa Claus was a big hit. Good thing he is such a STRONG Santa Claus! Renny is perfect for the part

Uncle Chuck even gave her

his stamp of approval!

He wanted to know if she was always

so well behaved! I had to tell him

the truth.. YES

Rachel finally gets to meet her Grandma Shaw.

It was a great day for everyone!

The Best Way to Travel

Well, I'm finally starting to feel like myself again. My leg is still numb, but at least there is no more burning pain down my leg.

We are getting ready for our big trip up north. The house is a mess and all the luggage is half packed and sprawled out across the floor of the family room. Since we are leaving in 2 days, we really have to get on the ball!

I'm also making lots of Pizzelle's so that has been taking lots of time. Since I can only make 2 cookies at a time, it takes forever.

Yesterday was picture day. I decided it was the only time I was going to get to take some decent shots of Rachel before we leave, so I dressed her in her red silks and took her to her grandparents since their house is decorated nice for the holidays... so here are a few of the shots...

I Fall to Pieces

The holidays are coming a little too quickly for me. Especially since my back has been so bad, making me move in slow motion. Tonight was the real kicker... I am currently laying on the couch waiting patiently for Tommy to get home from work so I can drag myself over to the ER and get an exray on my ankle. I was getting Rachel out of the car. She was sound asleep (thank goodness) when I stepped back away from the door and somehow managed to fall flat on my back with the baby still in my arms! Luckily, I had my napsack on my back so it cushioned the fall a bit, and thru it all, Rachel stayed asleep!!! in the meantime, I heard a "crack" sound in my ankle, so there is a really good chance something broke in there. Not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing, but because my back has been as bad as it has, I have been numb on my left side... so I'm thinking if my back wasn't out, my ankle would be hurting a heck of a lot more than it is! At the moment, I don't really feel anything. but when I try to move the ankle, I definitely feel pain... so we'll see...
Other than all the medical drama around here, everything else is pretty good. Rachel is gorgeous, and still keeping us laughing every day... tonight she was having an absolute giggle fit at my mom's house. This, naturally got me and my parents all laughing too... it was pretty funny. If I didn't know better, I would think the kid was on a sugar high! But as son as we got home (and I got myself off the front lawn) I put her into her crib and she was asleep almost before she hit the matress... she is just too cute.

Lean on Me

Today was cookie day... Every year I make batch after batch of Pizzelle's - a favorite recipe passed to me by my Aunt Gloria. They are a HUGE hit with everyone, so I always have to make LOADS of them. Well, with my back being as bad as it is, it was not going to be an easy task. But my girlfriend Rita offered to come play with Rachel so that I could concentrate on cookies. It was great. She couldn't stay long, and the baby was napping when she arrived, but we had fun working on the cookies for a while and when Rachel woke up, Rita changed her and fed her lunch before leaving.
She ended up coming back later in the evening with her grandson Nick. He was absolutly WONDERFUL with Rachel! He kept making her laugh, and dance, and he really seemed to enjoy playing with her! Then Auntie Rita and Nicholas gave Rachel a MUCH needed bath (being laid up like this, that is something I have not been able to do)
After bathtime, they both played with her and Rita helped me finish the last batch of cookies for the night. (at least 4 more batches needed to be done tomorrow)
All in all, the day was pretty terrific (despite all the pain). I told Nicholas he was welcome here any time he wants... because besides playing with Rachel and keeping her giggling, he also played with Penny and knocked her out for the night too!!! He's a pretty awesome kid! So thanks, Nichols... you are as terrific as your grandma!!

Needle and the Damage Done

So I finally broke down and went to the Dr for my back. Started out at the chiropractor. He was great as usual. He worked on me a little bit, but than said the condition is more than he can hande alone, so he sent me to the urgen care Dr that he knows. There, I got a shot (painkiller) and 5 prescriptions - 2 for pain, 1 muscle relaxer, 1cortisone med pack and another for my stomach which will probably be irritated from the others... anyway, at least now I am functional! I have to go back to the chiropractor. He wants to keep working on me in the hopes that I want need surgery down the line. I have at least 2 bulging discs.. what joy, what fun...
anyway, this is short since the drugs are starting to kick in and things are getting fuzzy...

and below is waht I think is my new favorite picture. Margie took it usinng her cell phone on Thanksgiving day...

Little Child

Once again, I am amazed at how lucky we are that we got such a perfect child. Today was a really bad day as far as my back pain. It got so bad I actually took 1-1/2 pain pills as soon as Rachel went down for her nap ( so I could try to lay down too ). The pain was so bad the pills did nothing for me... I was so afraid that once Rachel woke up, I'd be hurting too much to play with her... well, apparently she can tell when Mama is hurting. She sat with me on the couch, played most of the time gently with me, watched tv with me (I put in Rudolph the red nosed reindeer and frosty the snowman for her) and was just the most awesome baby all day until daddy came home from his holiday shopping trip. It was incredible...
After he came home, we went to the Chinese buffet with my folks and Margie & Charlie. Tommy carried the baby and really took care of her until we got to the restaurant... then my mom took over and it was great. She fed Rachel for me and the waitresses spent the entire time at our table playing with her and keeping her laughing between every spoonful!
She is just so wonderful... we couldn't be happier...

With a Little Help from my Friends

Well, I really did a number on my back yesterday. Had to wake Tommy to have him lift Rachel out of the crib and change her! But it's easing up just a bit now. He just left to go back and help Margie & Charlie get their daughters stuff out of the house and move it to her new place. I opted to stay home and heal. I just added some pictures to the birthday post for those who are keeping score... They are from her actual birthday.
Mom & I will be hitting Khol's again later... I have $65 in Koh'l cash I have to use up by today or I lose it, so I guess I have to make the big sacrafice and shop some more! LOL...
I'm glad I'm almost done... I really just have to buy for 6 kids now and I'll be totally finished! WOOHOO!

Movin Out

So I spent all day today and last night helping my friends move out of their house... It was nuts... and I am definitely paying the price now... my back hurts clear down to my ankles. But they are the most terrific people we know down here and I would do it again in a heartbeat...
My folks were MORE than happy to babysit, so that made it so much easier. Tomorrow Tommy will go over there to see if they need any more help. Our friends were moving into a new apartment down by the beach, and their daughter and her family were moving to a new house in the total opposite direction. Needless to say, it was not a lot of fun.
I already asked Tommy if he would rub my back tonite with icy-hot... boy, do I feel OLD.

Oh.. Rachel has a new little "trick". She has learned to whistle like Mommy! It started with her just puckering her lips and saying "OH" but then she kept watching me while I was whistling songs to her and this morning when she woke up, she puckered and puckered and finally started to blow and a whistle came out! She looked almost as surprised as I was!

She is also still having fun winking at people. Whenever she looks at her Grandpa, she winks at him over and over. It is hilarious...
Nothing much else happening here. Tomorrow I hope to have an easier day. Of course, I really have to get this house cleaned up so I will probably just take the morning "off" and start after the little dumpling wakes from her nap... the fun just keeps on coming.. :-)

Happy Birthday

Today is Rachel's first birthday... Happy Birthday to my precious little baby girl...
We are waiting for her Nana & Grandpa to get here so she can open her birthday presents!!! and have more cake, of course!!
Pictures later... I don't think we will have any more fun "smash cake" shots this time... Daddy isn't here to hose down the highchair! :-)