10/31/2009

Happy Halloween!!

Raegan Crawling

Halloween Costume Pictures

Looking back

I thought I post a picture of Raegan from last year and this year. Looking back at the last year I am amazed at how much Raegan has grown. (5lbs 7oz then, 18lbs 3oz now)

Pumpkin Pie Bites

I came across this recipe for these pumpkin pie bites and thought I would try it out. I just got done making them and they turned out great. I hope everyone will like them.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that I used ready to roll refrigerated pie crust. It comes two to a box and if you roll each round pie crust a little bit thinner with a rolling pin, you can get 24 mini pumpkin-shaped pie crusts out of them. Make sure you use all the dough scraps and re-roll to maximize quantities. Then, stuff each one in a mini muffin baking pan. This one holds 24.

Press the dough down, in and around the edge of each muffin cup. Make sure the stem for the pumpkin stays sticking out. You’ll notice I alternated cups above. I did this mainly to make sure the pie crusts didn’t touch each other. So I ended up baking these in two batches. Fill each pie crust with pumpkin filling all the way to the top.

When they come out of the oven, they’ll be puffed up like this. Too bad they didn’t stay that way. That would be pretty darn cute. But no, after they cool for a few, they’ll fall and be flush with the pie crust.

Pumpkin Pie Bites

2 refrigerated ready-to roll pie crusts

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Use cookie cutter to cut 12 pumpkin shapes from each pie crust. You will need to roll the dough thinner than it comes out of the box.
Press dough shapes into a 24 cup mini muffin tray. (Make 12 at a time, alternating cups to make sure pie crusts don’t overlap each other.)
Apply egg whites from one egg to the top edges of each pie.
Mix cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until thoroughly combined.
Spoon mixture into each pumpkin-shaped pie crust.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Remove pies to cool and repeat with second pie crust. Place the muffin tray in the freezer to cool it quickly for re-use.

Makes 24 pies. Keep refrigerated.

Pumpkin pie spice is a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.

Enjoy!

You can check out Bakerella.com for the full recipe.

Christmas Countdown

I found these great tips for Christmas over at Simplemom.net. They are posting a new article every Friday counting down the weeks till Christmas. Only 9 weeks left!

Love Christmas, but hate the chaos? I’m with you. It’s a shame that the holiday created to focus on the birth of Christ somehow means overspending, crowded malls, and constant busyness. It shouldn’t be this way.

I’m all for holiday traditions, but only if they’re done sanely. Each year, Simple Mom starts exactly 12 weeks before Christmas and delivers one small task to do each week. In doing this, we’re eliminating the need to do these tasks all at once in December, which makes the holiday of peace much too stressful. You can still enjoy the height of the season and relish in the little delights that Christmas brings. You just need to plan ahead, so that those things don’t make your end of the year a chaotic train to Busyville.

Plan ahead, and enjoy the season sanely.

2009 Checklist

12. Prepare Your Holiday Budget – October 2
11. Gather Your Addresses and Plan Your “Greetings” – October 9
10. Start (or finish!) Gift Shopping – October 16
9. Make Plans to Give Back – October 23
8. Inventory Your Decor and Watch for Sales – October 30
7. Finalize Your Family’s Holiday Calendar – November 6
6. Prepare a New Family Tradition – November 13
5. Get Your Christmas Cards and Address the Envelopes – November 20
4. Decorate for Christmas – November 27
3. Make Meal Plans; Batch Cook and Freeze Meals – December 4
2. Make and Freeze Cookie Dough and any Food Gifts – December 11
1. Prepare for guests, or Prepare to be a Guest – December 18
0. Celebrate! – December 25

Build A Bear

Today we went to Build a Bear to build a very special bear. We wanted to go today too celebrate Raegan being home for one year and to make something the Raegan could remember her grandpa by. I wanted Raegan to be able to take grandpa where ever she went. So I put some of my dads ashes in a special container and then when we built the bear we put the container inside the bear. Now Raegan can hug grandpa whenever she wants.

Dear Raegan,

Today marks one year since you came home from the NICU. You spent 105 days there after being born 10 weeks early, weighing only 1lb 9oz. Today you weigh 18lbs 3oz and your 26in long. You have come so far in the last year. Your birth 15 months ago was the most painful, intense, passionate and beautiful experience of my life. I can hardly remember what life was like before you arrived. A little more empty, a little more selfish I suppose.

This last year has been the greatest and most challenging year of my life. All my life I worked for others - as a student I worked for my parents and my teachers, then once I graduated I worked for bosses and employers. It wasn't until you arrived that I found true happiness and peace within myself, gaining a sense of fulfillment and meaning that no report card or annual salary could ever provide. Becoming a stay-at-home mom was the best decision I ever made.

You are a thriving, beautiful, strong, bright, happy little girl who is deeply loved. You bring to much joy to my day. I am less stressed, less anxious, and more myself than I have ever been. We have not been perfect parents, but parenthood is life's greatest learning experience and you cannot learn without making mistakes. It's been quite an adventure since you arrived. We've shared sleepless nights, loving bottle feedings, and countless firsts, tears, giggles, cuddles and more firsts than most people thought you would have. Your my miracle.

My dad told me the love I'd feel for you would be unlike any other love, and it wasn't until you were born that I truly understood. My love for you is stronger, purer, less selfish, more giving, and more forgiving than any love I've experienced.

As you grow and become the brilliant, kind, beautiful woman I know you'll become, I have only a few hopes for you. I hope that you are able to know yourself and stay true to yourself no matter what. I hope you find happiness in life no matter where the road may lead. I hope you are fulfilled, balanced, spiritual, and at peace with who you are and the decisions you make. I hope you make tons of mistakes but that you aren't too hard on yourself for them, as it's really the only way to learn and to live life to the fullest. I hope you know that I will always love you - no matter what.

As for me, I hope to give you the freedom to express yourself, to make your own decisions, and to make plenty of mistakes. I hope to encourage you every step of the way, even if what you want for your future differs from what I want for you. I hope to teach you to explore, to learn, to trust your instincts, and to stay true to your beliefs even if they conflict with my own. I hope to nurture and guide you as you grow, to help you find yourself so that you know and love who you are - not who I want you to be.

I have tried my best this past year to be the parent you deserve. I thank God every single day for blessing me with you. Thank you Raegan, for showing me who I am, what I want to be, and what it really means to live life.

Love Always,
Mom

Raegan Video

My goal is to get a video of Raegan everyday. I may not post a video everyday, but I will try and post one at least once a week.

We went last Friday to Bizi Farms to get are pumpkins. Raegan really enjoyed the pumpkin patch. I think that Bizi Farms is where we will be going for years to come to get are pumpkins.

Long time

I know it has been a while since I have blogged, but life has been nothing but busy. Over the next few days I am going to be updating my blog, and I am going to start blogging on a regular bases again.