Merry Christmas!!

Just wanted to wish everybody a Merry Christmas. I hope the holiday finds you and yours happy and healthy! May all be well and enjoy our family Christmas picture and Christopher's Santa shot this year.

At the Toastmaster yearly Christmas Party. 2009


Christopher and Santa 2009 (Christopher walked right up to Santa and climbed in his lap. He was so excited to see him, big smile on his face the second he saw him. He asked Santa for a turtle in a box... we'll just have to see how that got interpreted.)

A trip to Minnesota

At the beginning of last month we went on a car trip... driving from our home to the mid-west to visit with family and friends. This gave Adam the opportunity to go deer hunting with his dad, for Chris to meet many relatives he hadn't yet and for us to spend many many hours in the car.

It was actually quite fun, we stayed in Bozeman MT where I ate some of the best gluten free meals I've had out in a long time. Montana Ale Works, thank you so much for being an awesome place stop at. Christopher was great in the car, but he always has been and even got to sit forward facing for the last leg of the trip, which in itself made for a great ride... watching him react to all he could see had us laughing for hours.

We had an early Thanksgiving with Adam's family which was a great time. Adam's family is HUGE so even though a very small number of them were there it was still more than my ENTIRE family when we gather. Pretty crazy.

Christopher loved being outside, there was no snow yet so even though it was cold he was able to enjoy the weather. Leaves were the activity of choice on a couple of days.

Here he is helping Grandma Lee rake.

and here he is helping to "unrake" the pile.

Adam went hunting a few of the days we were in Minnesota. He did manage to put some venison in the freezer for which I'm grateful. I even got to go out and sit in the stand one evening for a bit. Nothing like sitting in a tree stand with a bow, but sitting in a little house with a heater isn't a bad way to go.

Here is the landscape Adam had to deal with. There is a deer in this picture, can you spot it?


Adam even got put to work taking down the satellite!

We spent our quite time in the evening sitting in the living room gabbing and listening to crazy Baldwin tales. Christopher would sometimes even sit quietly although most of the time he was running around like crazy trying to burn off some of his ample two year old energy.

Grandma read Christopher his bedtime story while grandpa sleeps soundly close by.


Christopher shows off his running form. This was a nightly ritual!

All in all it was a great trip. Adam's parents will be coming through in the spring and we'll make sure we get out and about around town, try to wear out the child and maybe taste some wine should be fun!!

Trick or Treat

Halloween was super fun this year. We had our annual party on the 30th, with great friends and family in attendance. Very kid friendly this year! Ah, there were many little ones running around, all very cute in their costumes. Christopher was Superman (he kept yelling "Superfast, superpowers!!" Josh was a dragon, Sam was Batman, Eileen was an adorable kitten and Emily was a cat.

On the big day Christopher woke up and the first thing out of his mouth was "Trick or Treat!" loudly over the monitor... then, "MAMA, let me out!!" He was excited all day long because he knew we were going over to see his friends Beckett and Grason and trick or treat with them. His costume was that of a skeleton and he wanted to wear makeup so I tried... but little boys don't sit very still. We had a great night and lots of fun with the Mitchell's and Stanley's.

Here are a few pics of Christopher.

Checking out his makeup in the mirror. He kept going "rawr" and trying to be scary. It was cute.


Chris being "scary" for the camera.


Christopher's costume meets Adam's costume. He was a hillbilly skeleton. Chris loves wearing those dang teeth.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

We've been busy here, running a business, being run by a 2 year old (yes the fun has begun) getting the homestead winter ready and tying up some loose ends. We can't wait for Halloween! Christopher has been practicing saying "Trick or Treat" and is excited to go out with his buddies Beckett and Grason to grab some candy.

We had another fun day at the pumpkin patch this year... and what a difference a year makes. Christopher was much more able to enjoy what the Pasco Country Mercantile at 2 and 1/2 than he was last year; hay maze, corn maze, tractor ride, pumpkin picking, bounce house, hay towers (these were fun) and petting zoo.

We ran around, tasted many yummy goods, bought some cider and fudge, Christopher fell into a couple of rotten pumpkins... stinky, very stinky, hah. Here are some pictures of the fun. Hope you all are enjoying fall as much as we are.

Climbing the tower of hay, as unaided as possible.


Sitting with daddy in the barn.


Smile!


Super fun tractor ride!! Don't you wish you were there.


Taking our bounty to the car.


The corn is so tall!!

A sick little man.

Christopher is finally getting better after having a very serious fever for five days and a cold/cough and runny nose for many more days than that. I relented and took him to the Dr. on the 6th and sure enough the night before we went in his fever broke. He has a borderline ear infection, meaning he doesn't have one yet but is working on it if his congestion doesn't clear up. So Mucinex is our friend right now. Everyday he's getting better and better, he's not giving any indication that there is an impending ear infection (ear pulling, crying, acting like he can't hear me) so I think we're in the clear and get to avoid antibiotics. I've yet to give him any and I certainly don't want to start now if I don't have to.

Thank you to everybody who was concerned and wishing him well. All that positive energy flowing his way really helped. Lots of love to all of you.

Wisdom from Christopher

Adam: Where does food go?
Christopher: In my mouth.
Adam: Then where does it go?
Christopher: In my tummy.
Adam: Where does it go after that?
Christopher: In my shorts.

Me: What do brothers do?
Christopher: They walk.
Me: What else do brothers do?
Christopher: They talk.
Me: Do they do anything else?
Christopher: Play with toys.
Me: What do sisters do?
Christopher: They in kitchen.

I love the things he comes up with sometimes, Christopher really makes us laugh. His answers are all unprompted and completely derived on his own, most of the time amazing us with what he comes up with. We can see his little mind working away as he comes up with some of the greatest things. Can't wait to share a little more wisdom from Christopher with you.

What can I say...

Christopher is 2 1/2 now. I can hardly believe it, time has gone by so darn fast. His wit amazes me along with his understanding of the world around him. Most days I can ask him a question that I'm sure he won't have the answer for and low and behold he gives me the cutest right on the nose answer almost every time. We really are blessed to have such a smart, funny, loving little man in our lives.

This summer we went through a lot of stickers. Most of which were stuck to Chris at one point or another.

Christopher enjoyed many an ice cream sandwich with his daddy after dinner. This always results in quite a mess and lots of smiles.

Another breakthrough we've had is that Christopher now "smiles" for the camera. I laugh my butt off every time we try to take a picture of him now as he does it without us asking.

We're off to the Fair!

We headed to the fairgrounds Ssaturday, bright and early at 9:00 a.m. in order to beat the heat. Our goals were simple; take Chris to see the animals, get some food, see some booths, and send the little guy down Big Pink. Adam was volunteering in the Elephant Ear booth the rotary club runs at noon so we had three hours which was plenty of time.

I'd forgotten how active the animals are earlier in the day during fair week we always seem to go in the evening and by then they are hot and tired. As we walked through the pig barn more than a couple of pigs were eager to check us out, sniffing and talking as we let Christopher take it all in. He got a little scared when one big snout touched his leg but was enjoying it otherwise. He pet quite a few bunnies, but was much more excited about the chickens. He kept saying we were at the circus. He had fun in Old McDonald's Barn and loved running on the hay barrels that surrounded the duck pond.

After the animals we went through the booths and non-living exhibits rather quickly. I even purchased my first duck ever. The next stop was funnel cake, Christopher's very fist taste of one. It was cute we pretty much had to tear it away from him. He found it very very tasty and was trying to finish it off by himself.

Then we headed over to Big Pink. Christopher loves slides so we had to get him on this one. Adam volunteered to go down with him. Chris loved it and was beaming by the time he got to the bottom of the slide. He even tried to walk back up it, silly boy. Next year we'll try to get him on more rides, he saw the strawberries and really wanted to get in one, however he's a bit short to get on most of them and we were pressed for time.

We meant to get turkey legs however they somehow were forgotten at the end of the day. Twitter saved us however. You see a friend of Adam's was still at the fair, we knew this because of her tweet and she graciously delivered turkey legs to the house, saving the day.

August, come and gone...

Not much new going on in the Baldwin household. Christopher is 2, and acting every minute of it. While he's exploring his environment and figuring out the workings of his world I'm trying very hard not to scream and hide in my room. It's hard to stay upset at him for all the naughty things; painting my desk with lotion, writing all over the couch, bending a beater beyond recognition, pouring flour all over the floor, and wreaking general havok... when you've got this looking back at you during most of it.

He's very charming when he wants to be and for every bad thing he does he also does something extraordinarily darling or smart. The time out step/corner is getting a lot of extra use right now, which I hope will slow down one of these days.

Adam is very very busy with nGenuity. He was featured as a young professional in the Tri-Cities Journal of Business this month which was a great achievement, here's the article. If you can get the actual print it has a very nice picture of him in it. Our friends Jennifer Mitchell (Account Sense) and Adam Brault (&yet) also were chosen, kudos to you!!

He went to Defcon at the beginning of the month and hacked his way through some fun with the mystery challenge. There are talks and things to learn... but I'm not sure he did any of that. Beer was drank, codes were broken, friends were made.

He's been talking to realtors and is looking to expand into some office space. This is a big and positive step forward. We'll see how this pans out over the next couple of months.

In between those things he's working very hard, he's out and about networking and making sure that he's doing all he can to have nGenuity be successful. While we miss his presence at home sometimes were hoping all the hard work now will enable him to be home/present more later.

July... whooosh!!!!!

Well ladies and gentleman, July is almost gone and it feels like it just started. The Baldwin household has been a bustle this last month and barely have had time to breath. Here are some highlights:

Adam: Was asked to speak at Toorcamp at the beginning of the month. Getting things to a roaring start for him. Camping in the desert for a few nights left him dirty and a little worse for wear but he had a great time and made plenty of new contacts.

Adam is even now, as I type, driving down to Vegas with his business partner and friend Aaron and another friend to play at Defcon for the weekend. He goes every year (for the last few at least) and has a blast. They participate in the mystery challenge and really enjoy all the fun stuff that gets thrown at them, lock-picking, coding, social engineering and more, they thrive in it.

Rachel: I just got back from cheerleadership camp, doing my thing in Ellensburg the 18th through the 24th. I had 28 girls this week and had a lot of fun. It was hot, there was no AC, and I got pretty dang sick on the 22nd which I'm just now pretty much over. It's hard to be a "mommy" to that many girls when you're running a fever and can't keep your meals down, but I did it. Yay me. Now I'm dealing with allergies which are leaving me sleepy beyond comprehension. So, I'm napping every time the little guy does.

On Monday I started a three month chiropractic treatment that will hopefully restore the curve in my neck and halt the degeneration taking place (starting to fuse), correct the twist in my spine, and maybe (it would be a miracle but I still have hope) relieve some of my many other ailments. So for now it's three days a week in the Dr.'s office for treatment and daily stretches at home with lots and lots of water. I'll keep my progress posted.

I'm addicted to my Kindle, I'm now reading no less than three books a week and I don't see myself slowing down. It's just so easy to pick it up and start reading, and I have a endless library at my disposal. Definitely one of the best gifts Adam has ever given me.

Christopher: This little man is so great, he's growing well, talking and conversing and showing signs of just what an awesome little guy he's going to be. He has his days where I wonder just how I'm going to handle his very stubborn slightly OCD tendencies, but for the most part is just a normal, fun two year old. He laughs at all the appropriate times, like when you've discovered the grossest diaper ever is the one you get to change and when he's completely fooled you into thinking he's asleep in the back seat, a large boisterous "AH HAHAHAHAHA!!!" laugh usually accompanies these feats. I love that he thinks if he moves slow enough I can't see him being sneaky either, always makes me laugh.

He's going potty on the potty for me at least once a day now if not more, I lost a little ground being gone during camp but I'm sure we'll make it up again very quickly.

I love how conversational Christopher has gotten, he's such a smarty (most of the time not a smarty pants). He's also a little particular (we joke that he's OCD), everything has to be in it's place and he'll let you know if he doesn't like where you've moved it. If you ask him what color something is he'll tell you it's green and give you "the eye," even though he knows what color it really is. He's gonna be a handful.

The Animals: Dart managed to bore a pretty nice sized hole in our pocket when he got loose in our bedroom and decided to eat everything he could get his maw on. We discovered over the course of two (almost three weeks) that he had eaten, not chewed, just swallowed, four pairs of underwear out of my drawer, a pair of Christopher's knee high socks, and two or three hair ties. Ended up taking him to the vet as he tried to pass the last of it as he was getting very dehydrated and couldn't keep any meals down. The vet suggests a cage muzzle to prevent further incidences until he's gets the idea. At least he's not eating rocks anymore.

Happy 5th Anniversary Honey!!

Today my dear husband, we've been married 5 years. I remember that the cloudy morning of our wedding day cleared just before we got started, raining sunshine and a cool breeze on us while we stood on the beach, sand in our toes looking to our future as husband and wife. I found our vows and read them through, what a great reminder to love each other. I'm sorry you have to be away from home right now, just know I'm thinking of you and missing you.

Hands of the Bride and Groom

BRIDE
Rachel, please face Adam and hold his hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you.

These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant with love, that are holding yours on your wedding day as he promises to love you all the days of his life.

These are the hands that will work along side yours, as together you build your future, as you laugh and cry, as you share your innermost secrets and dreams.

These are the hands you will place with expectant joy against your stomach, until he too, feels his child stir within you.

These are the hands that look so large and strong, yet will be so gentle as he holds your baby for the first time.

These are the hands that will work long hours for you and your new family.

These are that hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.

These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief wrack your mind.

These are the hands that will tenderly lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into his eyes: eyes that are filled completely with his overwhelming love and desire for you.


GROOM
Adam, please hold Rachel's hands, palms up, where you may see the gift that they are to you.

These are the hands of your best friend, smooth, young and carefree, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as she pledges her love and commitment to you all the days of her life.

These are the hands that will hold each child in tender love, soothing them through illness and hurt, supporting and encouraging them along the way, and knowing when it is time to let go.

These are the hands that will massage tension from you neck and back in the evenings after you've both had a long hard day.

These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times.

These are the hands that will comfort you when you are sick, or console you when you are grieving.

They are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.

These are the hands that will hold you in joy and excitement and hope, each time she tells you that you are to have another child, that together you have created a new life.

These are the hands that will give you support as she encourages you to chase down your dreams. Together as a team, everything you wish for can be realized.

Mmmm Mmmmm Good

Thank you Banta's!! Those were some yummy cupcakes.

My super awesome birthday!!

This last Monday, June 1st I headed up to my big sister's in Skagit County. You see she'd been working on a surprise birthday getaway for me as I'm turning 30 this year. All I knew was that we'd be going to Seattle and I'd need some good walking shoes, a swimsuit and a good book to read.

In my head I'd been flipping through all the possible things she could have planned: a day at the zoo, the food tour walk of Pike's Place, or just a nice relaxing couple of days hanging out by the pool enjoying the company of a good book and each other. How wrong I was.

Monday night when we got to her house after watching my very talented nephew play some basketball I got to open the big box waiting for me. I untied the string and pulled the bag away, out popped a big mickey mouse balloon... I didn't think much of it, I love Disney stuff so thought it was cute. Then I read the scroll she'd attached to it. Many heartfelt sentiments, the kind that bring tears to your eyes were written (I love my sister very much, she's my best friend) and the last line, "I decided we should celebrate your first magical 30 years at the Magic Kingdom!!!"

I was in shock and disbelief. No way would my sister surprise me with a trip to Disneyland, but sure enough she did. I haven't been since 2005 (which I know doesn't sound like long, but trust me it is) and didn't think I would be going for a while, you see my little man is a little bit short, he'll be six before he can get on most of the rides. I was so excited I couldn't even show it properly. Theresa you're the best sister a girl could have, thank you for the trip and the effort you put into it. I loved the shirts you made us too!! I will treasure this memory always.

Here are some pictures.

The reflection of the castle in the "moat" at night was gorgeous.

We decided to get our faces painted.


I'm celebrating!! I'm celebrating!!


Our last day. We were sad but had a great time!!!


Even Christopher got to share in the magic.

My family and I had a great dinner on the 10th. My mom always does such a great job and it really is all I need to warm my heart, getting to spend precious quality time with my family. We joked and giggled over a great gluten/dairy/pepper/tomato/citrus free dinner. I know, crazy right.

Adam took me out to Bonefish on the actual day of my birth and got me a Kindle with a cover for my gift. I'm very excited to get to using it. I love to read and this was the perfect thing to get me. Thanks honey!!

I also want to say thank you to all my loved ones, family and friends that touched base and said hello to me on my birthday. It meant a lot. Thank you so much.

I'll leave you with this for now and will post again soon. Love, Rachel

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to me!!
Happy Birthday to me!!
Today I turned 30!!
Happy Birthday to me!!

Going as local as possible.

This month I was thinking hard about how I wanted to feed my family this summer. We're self employed, and while my husbands business is doing well we're on a pretty strict budget. We eat at home 99% of the time, going out maybe once a month.

I know I want to support my local agriculture and farming community and I've got a good start. I signed up for my local CSA. This is the first time I'm participating in a CSA. While I lived in Eugene for four years I got exposed to the idea as a few of my friends were doing it. We moved back to the Tri-Cities however and I was sure we didn't have anything like that. I was wrong Schreiber & Sons provides a wonderful CSA service for my area.

I received my first box last Thursday and was extremely happy and very excited to put it to use. They are even able to work with those of us with allergies/intolerances and will make sure (to the best of their ability) your box doesn't include those. I can't wait to blog throughout the summer sharing the foods I make with my farm fresh fruits and veggies.

I've also purchased a side of grass fed beef from a local rancher (also had to buy a freezer, :-) Thanks to a gluten free friend for the contact. I'm very excited to have done this, my family used to raise our own pasture fed beef for food, however my parents have gotten a little older, the fence is in need of repair and I don't think they have the energy nor funds to do it themselves anymore. The next best thing was for me to find somebody else local to purchase from. The freezer is now full of meat and we've have a steak from our grass fed cow. Very very tasty. Thank you Andrew Miller of Morning Star Farms in Pasco.

The last thing I'm excited to do is visit our local farmer's market. I go to the Pasco Farmer's Market. My mother used to take us there and I always loved the feel of it, and going now brings back fond memories for me. That is where I will continue to go with my family. I hope to get at the Farmer's Market those things that I don't get in my CSA box weekly.

While this is my plan, there are still some things I will have to go to the supermarket for. There is nothing wrong with that, it's simply a fact of life. I do shop at WinCo Foods, and our local healthfood store Highland Health Foods where I can buy my gluten free flours in bulk and other assorted gluten free items. Occasionally I will shop at Yoke's or Fred Meyer...

It'll be a fun summer and I plan on enjoying my weekly box of CSA goodies, and local produce from the farmers market to go with my grass fed beef. What are you doing to support your local market? I'm curious to know what avenues I may not have looked at.

Excited about this.

A quick visit.

On the weekend of the 24th I drove up to Skagit County. I had a quick planning meeting for leadership on the 25th (9-5) so I decided to drive up the day before and stay with my sister and her family. I don't get to see them nearly as often as I like so this was the perfect opportunity to do just that.

My nephew Landy turns 16 this July, my how the time flies. He LOVES sports and happens to be pretty darn good at them. I was fortunate enough to watch him play on the 24th, a double header. I got to see him bat, play outfield and pitch. I might have made a fool of myself while I screamed for his team, as I don't really watch sports so didn't know what to yell, especially for baseball, but I had a really good time.

Landy on the pitchers mound.

Landy up to bat.

I just happened to arrive at the same time as the tulips started to bloom. They are a little late this year due to the weather but beautiful and not quite in full swing yet. I took a few pictures, mostly from my moving car (I'm practically a local and have seen the tulips many many times, traffic is horrendous during the tulip festival.)

I had a good weekend with my family and can't wait to get up there again. Maybe next time I'll get pictures of the twins playing some sports.

Kathleen's Baby Shower.

On the 18th of April I attended a baby shower for my very good friend, of a very long time, Kathleen. Due mid-July she's looking great and you can just see how excited she is to be a mommy, she truly is glowing. That's one lucky little man growing in there.

Kathleen got some very cute gifts and many friends showed up to join in the fun. I loved getting to catch up and have a girls night out later. It was long overdue, the last movie I was in the theaters was Children of Men a couple of weeks before Christopher was born. Here are some pictures!!

We all loved this shirt.


Suzy, Kathleen and myself... how long has it been since we got a group pic. Too long.


Kathleen, glowing.

Being cute.

So, my friend Brandi recently gave Christopher this really cute clothes hamper. It's a frog and matches his room decor perfectly.

But it came with a suprise....

I thought it was cute and wanted to share. Chris is just into everything right now. I love how his little mind works. We didn't help him with this one, he did it on his own.

Hide and Seek

Christopher has really picked up on the concept of hide and seek lately. It's one of his favorite games to play... it actually a combination of peek-a-boo and hide and seek and very cute. I was making an apple pie a couple of weeks ago when he dissapeared on me. I figured he was playing hide and seek, however I couldn't find him no matter how hard I looked. Low and behold he'd been closer than I would have ever thought.

This little guy found the best hiding place ever, right next to me. I wonder where he'll come up with next.

I now have 2 books up.

I've started making some cute little scrapbook albums and putting them up on etsy.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6936585&ga_search_query=babyfro&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

Check it out. Even if you don't like my stuff I'm sure you'll find a handmade craft that you just love. It really is a neat site.

Happy Birthday Christopher

Happy Birthday Christopher! Today you turn 2!!!

I took this picture this morning first thing when you woke up. You were all smiles as you looked out the window and pointed at the trees, and the "fast" cars you could see in the distance. I love seeing you smile in wonderment at the little things. Seeing the world through your eyes helps me appreciate it more. I hope you

We threw you a birthday party last night. You had so much fun with the family, a blast with the birthday cake and even tore into your presents without much help from me.

I sure hope you had a fun night. I know we enjoyed watching you giggle and enjoy yourself. Here's to another year that will pass too fast, where you'll grow and learn and giggle yourself silly.


We love you Christopher.