Christmas in Pictures

 So, here are Christmas pictures of all of us. Most of them are of A discovering presents and that there was paper in the bags. She loved bags because the tissue paper went straight to her mouth. :) We would have to take the paper away from her after she pulled it out of the bag so that she'd continue to get the paper off the top of the present. Now let the formatting of a blog post begin...

Wait, there's paper I can gnaw?

A and Great grandfather

Trying to figure out how to get into the box.

Having tea with her cousin

Making sure there is nothing left in the bag

Baby's First Christmas

Well, we are having a good go of seeing everyone we need to see in our families. It has been quite different this year having A. We still have quite a ways to go, so hopefully we'll get a lot done the next two days. I have a ton of pictures, so Thursday or Friday expect a ton of pictures. We have A with almost everyone, so it may be a " with A" post that is a mile long.

She has been an amazing baby girl this entire trip. She's managed to only get super fussy when she's super tired. She's also tried several new foods like a champ, and much to my chagrin at times. We've discovered her favorite "solid" food may be the butternut squash soup. She has reverted to not sleeping through the night as much, but that's okay as everything is so new to her. She's crawling and getting herself caught in her clothes as we tend to put her in holiday dresses. She ultimately isn't fond of these.

We are constantly reminded of how amazing our families are. While we do live so far away, we do miss them all.

Well, I need to find something to eat before we go for breakfast. Check back later this week for a real picture post.

12 Days of Baking, Abbreviated

Well, with the cookbook my friend loaned me I tried to bake 12 new things in it in time for Christmas. I'm not going to make it, but I did make 6 new things, or will by the time it is all said and done. Naturally I altered the daylights out of every recipe I used, but it was nice to have a starting point. I've also done a fair amount of sewing and have finished several stockings. :) This week has been busy as A and I went to the Shedd (Aquarium) on Tuesday. I got in free with my zoo pass, so it was a lot of fun. She really liked the fishes and was excited to get to stand up next to the tanks. Here are some pictures of our recent adventures.

Outside of the Shedd with the Sears Tower in the background. 

See, I can stand and watch fishes myself.

Our candy thermometer when we made fudge

Continue to pray for us as we work out job situations. We're facing a lot of difficult challenges right now, so it would be great to have extra support.

Graham Crackers

First let me say that I love graham crackers. I love that you can put peanut butter on them and make sandwiches. I love that you can crumble them and form all sorts of good stuff with them (crusts, in soups, etc). I love that you can dip them in things and it just adds to the flavor, not subtract anything. I just never thought that I would ever be able to make them. As with most stuff though, it really isn't that difficult! So happy and they are so tasty! A friend of mine got a gluten free Christmas cookie cookbook and I saw a graham cracker recipe inside. So that I can have it again once I return the book to her, I will put the recipe with my modifications here:

1.5 C brown rice flour
1/2 C cornstarch (I'd like to try tapioca or arrowroot starch next time)
1/3 C packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder (or about 1/4 tsp baking soda)
3/4 teaspoon xantham gum (I used guar gum)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I would definitely use more next time, probably closer to a tsp)
6 TBS salted butter (The recipe actually calls for some salt and unsalted butter, but I just use salted butter)
5 TBS whole milk (I used about 3 TBS 2% milk with about 2 TBS cream)
1/4 C honey (I used maple syrup since I can't have honey. I'd suggest using slightly less milk if you use maple syrup since the syrup is a bit thinner than the honey. Alternatives I want to try: molassas and agave nectar)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (I used about 1 tsp of my vanilla)

Mix dry ingredients together. Add in butter like you would for a pie crust (small pieces slowly), it should resemble course meal when it is ready to add the liquid. Mix the milk, honey, and vanilla together in a small cup (I used the measuring cup, it worked well). Slowly drizzle the liquid over the dry ingredients and blend until completely incorporated. Separate into 2, wrap each section and chill.

Chill this dough for a long time (overnight, it says up to 2 days) -- it is very important to roll out cold dough.

Once chilled, preheat oven to 350. Roll out until fairly thin, recipe says a quarter inch. I found I liked them thinner so they were crispier. Then cut into squares, circles or whatever you like as it works similar to a sugar cookie. (This is the one time I've ever wanted to have cookie cutters) Place on a cookie sheet (I used parchment paper under them and it worked well) and bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown and your desired crispness is obtained.

They pass the Chris test as well: I had to try the second half after baking to make sure they were thoroughly done. Chris had already brushed his teeth and rinsed his mouth, apparently the graham crackers were still good after that. :)

Now we will see if they last long enough to be put into crusts or sandwiches or whatever as opposed to simply being eaten since it has been so long since I had graham crackers.

We Are in Trouble Now

Well, the day has finally come. A has started crawling. She's been inch worming for a LONG time, but today she started really crawling. We're talking a 4 point stance and off she goes. She's been getting into a lot of stuff for the past few weeks, but now we really do have a crawler on our hands. Here's to it becoming more and more fun!