Christmas Eve and Christmas

We really simplified this year- which made Christmas so much more enjoyable. We started Christmas eve off with making gingerbread cookies, which filled our little house with the smells of Christmas. Maddie LOVED helping me roll out the dough, and although it took me 20 minutes to clean up the mess, it was worth it :)



I then started making a cake for our Christmas eve dinner- and here are the results. I'm not that great at icing cakes obviously- I should have cut it around like Ace of Cakes to make it more even, but what matters, is that this cake was DELICIOUS! White cake with berry filling. YUM.


For our Christmas Eve dinner, Steve made his traditional ceviche-- shrimp, avocado, lemon, cilantro, tomato... so yummy!


We are lovers of lamb, so we bought a roast...


Really simple green beans..
Our little family... my dad came for Christmas!!

Oh- here are how the cookies ended up looking like! They were so good.

My plate.

For Christmas, we went the simple and healthy route and did a fruit platter with some of our favorite fruits:

We relaxed for most of the day (Maddie took a 4 hour nap?) and then went over to our house in construction, and opened/assembled Maddie's big present-- a kitchen and fridge from Land of Nod. It is sooo cute- and she loves it.



MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Y chromosome

Up until my adult life, I was a firm believer in the "equality" of sexes. I used to think that women and men were identical and that it was just "nurture" and not "nature" that made women and men act the way they do.

But- after being married for almost ten years, and being a mom of a little girl, I have to admit, that nature has more to do with it than I thought.

Steve is a wizard when it comes to building things, creating things, and is pretty darn strong. No matter how hard I try at these things, he will outdo me- every time. But, he is kind of oblivious to things that I find almost innate. It is at this time, where I am speechless. "You think what?" I just have nothing to say. It's almost as if he sees a blue apple when I see a red. He probably thinks the same of me.

Example #1: This morning we were asking Maddie what she wanted for breakfast. Steve is not really a traditional fellow, and often eats dinner leftovers for breakfast, which I find really weird- so he offered her lasagna from the night before. Of course I knew that Maddie would not eat lasagna for breakfast, but I let him try. The second he put the lasagna in front of her, of course the tears started coming and she refused to eat it. I gave her the normal oatmeal... and she was happy.

Is this the Y chromosome? Maybe not, maybe it's just a personality thing. But, here's another example...

Example #2: Maddie was having a hard day and having a two year old tantrum- so Steve decided that she need a time out and put her in her crib. With her shoes on. I got very upset because 1. her shoes were filthy, 2. I would have to clean all of her sheets and put new sheets on... which would take me forever. He thought I was crazy.

"How would you like me to put your shoes on your pillow?" I asked. He responded, "I wouldn't care, I would just wipe it off."

Wow. I just can't comprehend that.

Example #3: A while ago, I picked out all of the paint colors for each of the rooms for our house. He started to paint Maddie's room- which is a very faint pink. Later that night, he came home and said "the color that you picked for Maddie's room is way too much. I can't believe that you picked that color." Very worried, I rushed over to the house the next day and checked it out.

I almost started laughing. The reason it was "way too much" was because he painted the whole room pink. Including the ceiling!!!?? He had no idea that ceilings stay painted white.

But to his credit- I can be very irrational especially as I approach my 9 months of gestation!

As we finish our house, I can not fathom moving in without interior trim around our windows and doors. Is this necessary? Absolutely not- but if I don't have it, I just feel like I'm going to die! How irrational is that? So, I went to the trim store, bought a lot of trim, and will now attempt to put in all of the trim of our house as I am 8 months pregnant.

He thinks I'm crazy. And- perhaps I am.

But- that's why we're human. I really believe that there is something to the woman/man making each other whole concept. There is some sort of ying/yang that happens, where one lacks, the other makes up for it, and makes a solid unit.

I guess the trick is to hold your tongue when the opposite sex says something you find completely ridiculous and try to understand what they might be saying. And, if you can't understand it (which may be most of the time), pick your battles. It probably isn't worth it :)

Beautiful Tables

Decorating tables is an art.. and I'm not super good at it. But, hopefully when I'm 50, and I've collected the type of dishes/glasses/silverware/napkins etc that I want... I'll master it.
I just came across this photo a second ago and LOVED it. Reminds of France, or even Northern California... how nice would it be to sit here with your great friends and family and share a meal?


I thought these were beautiful as well..

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

In years past, I have to admit that I was not a huge Christmas fan. It is mostly my fault, I guess, with too much to do, and focusing on what isn't important. Christmas can be too stressful!!

But, this year, I have been looking at Christmas through Maddie's eyes as I have tried to simplify and appreciate the joys of the little things.

Also, we usually travel during Christmas time, which doesn't really help with the stress, but this year we are staying home! For the first time. And- we are excited. Of course, we are sad that we won't be able to spend time with extended family, but on the up side, there is so much to discover here and we are trying to make it peaceful.

These are a couple of things that we've done so far-

1. Christmas at the Park

Maddie and I have gone down to Christmas at the Park in San Jose! They have little figurines, rides and an awesome carousel:

She, of course, is obsessed with carousels and could ride this thing all night. I am wondering if I can brave ice skating? They have an outdoor ice skating rink, but I'm not sure that 1) a pregnant woman and 2) 2 year old should be going out there together?

2. The Christmas Parade

Yesterday, we woke up early, put on our scarves and headed down to see the parade... it was so easy to find parking!? Ooops. The parade was today not yesterday?! We still had fun, though, because many of the dancers were practicing out on the streets, and Maddie loved to hear the music and watch them move around.

3. Steve and I have miraculously gone out 2 nights in a row with a babysitter at home watching Maddie? Miracles do happen!! Yesterday, we made a little gingerbread house and won the best house at the party? I'm not sure how that happened, but here is the little masterpiece.

My favorite addition is the little car that Steve made! Really creative.

3. Baking.

Our house smells like cinnamon, spice and everything nice right now! I love it :) I made 100 little pumpkin/raisin/walnut cookies for a cookie swap party and for some people that I want to thank for being so nice lately.

I made them with real flour- so I can't taste them, but they smell good? I hope they don't end up being horrible!!

4. Finishing Christmas cards

I have had an influx of Christmas cards for my photography clients, and they are so beautiful! I get so exited when the proofs come back and then deliver them in little bags. Personally, I love getting Christmas cards and seeing kids grow, and reading how people are doing. So, it has been a lot of fun getting these together...

Confessions of a juice addict

Orange, grape, cranberry, grapefruit, apple... I can't get enough of drinking fruit juice. For an addiction, I guess it isn't as bad as others, but I'm not so sure drinking so many extra calories a day is such a good idea. Maddie's pediatrician reminded me of this yesterday saying that just cutting out juice will significantly reduce the number of calories you intake a day.

But- I seriously get in a fowl mood if there isn't juice in the fridge. When it has been a long day, and I am about at my breaking point, I love to pour some cold juice in a glass and sit down and recoup.

I do try to minimize the amount of juice we drink by adding 1/2 water and 1/2 juice in each cup, because I think most juices are too sweet to drink straight. So, this is my compromise.

But, I don't think it is going to cut it. I'm afraid that Maddie has also inherited my love of juice, which isn't probably such a good idea. So, I'm trying to get excited about water and milk. They are delicious!! (Right? Right.)

(FYI- I will be drinking my juice in a dark closet when no one is looking.)

Little M's birthday party!

I apologize in advance for posting so many pictures, but this is mostly to include the grandparents on Maddie's b-day party! We wish you could have been there!

We threw the party at the construction site- which put a lot of added pressure on Steve (sorry!)... so he was putting in 16 hour days painting, cleaning, putting in kitchen cabinets... (THANK YOU!) to get ready for the event.

I decided on a red/pink theme with punches of color... here are their little treat bags.


We hung these pom poms from string in the great hall-- I got them at Walmart and LOVE them. I want to use them again... maybe in our bedroom? JK.

For the party, we made stations- 1) playdough, 2) fingerpainting, 3) playing with rice and 4) building with blocks... I think it was a great idea (which I stole), and I think it kept them occupied!!


The guests..


Playing with the playdough.


So cute!


Maddie has never fingerpainted before, but I think she REALLY likes it.


My great friend- the cake maker extraordinaire made Maddie her cake. I LOVED it. I have a fascination/obsession over pigs... little piglets especially.


I was thinking about getting little milk cartons for the kids, but I'm glad I settled on Juicy Juice... there was no mess, and I think they really liked the straws...

Here's the cake!!!

In all it's glory!!! YAY! Isn't it amazing?



Too bad it went so fast :( But- they really enjoyed it!!!

You just can't have a party without a pinata. They are sooooo fun.

The spectators!

Loved the colors of the candy when they came out! But- I probably shouldn't have bought a pack with jaw breakers? Oops.

Maddie is definitely a foodie- of chocolate especially. While the party was ending, she sat herself down by herself in front of the cake and devoured what she could!

We had so much fun!

Of course, she loved the suckers...

I think she had a great time!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE!!!!

November 26th is Maddie's birthday!! For the occasion, I thought I'd post some recent pics I took of her and make a little list of why I love her so much. First, the list:

1. You are contagiously happy.
2. I love your independance. You don't smile at strangers when you don't want to and in fact give them frowns!
3. You love "High Ho" from Snow White.
4. You pat my face every morning and say "ma ma."
5. You sing beautifully- in the tub, while playing and when you wake up in the morning.
6. You can't run very well.
7. You HATE shoes. And socks.
8. You love yogurt, raisins, chicken, green beans and of course CHOCOLATE MILK. You have become a "choca" holic.
9. Animals are your favorite.
10. You are very tender, are good at sharing, love babies and especially sand.

We love you Maddie and are so blessed to have you in our lives.

Happy Birthday!!!Happy Birthday!!!Happy Birthday!!!Happy Birthday!!!

Oh- I'm so excited!

I went the grocery store this afternoon in preparation for our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday, and I got so excited. IT IS MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY OF THE YEAR!!!

My favorite part about Thanksgiving is the day after Thanksgiving sandwich with cranberries, turkey, maybe even a little stuffing. Oh my gosh- it is seriously the best thing on earth.



My second favorite thing (but a very close second) about Thanksiving is the stuffing! To die for. This is the one tradition in my family that we have had every year since I can remember. It may seem a little odd to some of you, but it is the best stuffing I have ever tasted: Oyster stuffing. It doesn't taste fishy, but is so moist and is not made from the mixes that are so generic. I am so excited to make it, that I'm going to make it early this year starting tomorrow!!!

Every Thanksgiving, we have tried to incorporate the "old" recipies with new ones. This year, I'm going to embark on Paula Dean's pumpkin pie recipe that 284 people on foodnetwork gave 5 stars?! (very impressive). Since she is the diva of all things sweet, I have no doubt that it will deliver the 5 stars... but of course, throw your diet out the window.

Can't wait to try it Paula!