Raising Z and Lil' C: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

A Quiet New Years

New Years has never been my favorite holiday. I always feel like there is a big build and lots of expectations, which never become reality. We've gone to crowded clubs in downtown Boston, took a disappointing Boston Harbor Cruise and I spent 1999 sick as a dog with a fever of 103 while people celebrated around me. Don't get me wrong I have had some fun New Years Eves, I even spent one in Virginia Beach at a Dave Matthews Concert. But thinking back, my favorite memories are of the quiet evenings with a few friends, family or just S and I.

This year we were hoping for a quiet evening with friends but unfortunately our bodies have decided otherwise. S's hectic schedule over the last year has finally caught up with him and he now needs to take some time to get healthy. I have a stomach bug, Lil' C has had a fever the last two days and all four of us our coughing and have been for weeks. So tonight, we are laying low. We will eat a yummy dinner, fill out our New Years Family Interviews, pull out our New Years decorations, watch some home movies and ring in the new year at 7pm with bubble wrap and apple juice. S and I will go to bed at our normal time and we will start 2012 off rested and hopefully feeling better. Tomorrow we will feast on the cinnamon rolls I was suppose to make for Christmas morning and make our New Years resolutions :)

Whatever you are up to tonight, I hope that you are safe and that all your expectations come true!

Happy New Year!!!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Things I Loved About Christmas

-Spending so much time with family and friends....so many laughs, stories and hugs

-Hosting family at our home this year and not having to travel

-The delicious food....oh the food....so much food

-Seeing Z so excited about Creating and GIVING gifts

-My children's excitement as they came downstairs to see what Santa had left

-LEGOs....I love that Z is into them now and love that Auntie A was here to help put them all together.

-Seeing my two little cherubs all dressed up on Christmas Eve

-The warm glow of our pellet stove as well all ~~melted~~ gathered in front of it

-Cuddling up and watching our new movies (Wall-E, Ice Age 2, Cars 2 and for the adults Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles..the live action one and the complete season of the BRADY BUNCH)

-The fact that my husband got me the Complete Season of the Brady Bunch so that I could have A Very Brady Christmas on DVD ;) I LOVE HIM!!!

-Listening to Grandpa read Twas the Night Before Christmas to his grand kids

-Christmas lights....I am just not ready to take down my tree or lights. I love the glow of this time of year

-giving all of our homemade gifts....Z's vanilla, our salsa, S's holiday beer, the kids gifts from us and the ornaments

-Lil' C's dollhouse...it is now completely furnished and the family has nicer furniture than we do ;) I've always wanted a dollhouse...can you tell??

-Z and C's matching Christmas pj's....they look so darn cute in them

-The fact that our elves got to stay until the 26th...Thanks Santa, we owe you!

-The wild and Crazy Xmas Eve party at my mom's...this year we had to write a play and I am happy to say that my team (and script) won!!

-Uncle A throwing reindeer food at the window on Christmas Eve so that Lil' C could participate...it was too cold for her to go out with her cough.

-The little British Duck that my dear friend Ben brought back for me....he lives there now and we have a thing about ducks ;)

-Christmas Cards....love seeing all the photo cards on the board in my kitchen

-Gifts from our beloved angels...thanks to Mimi we were all blessed with gifts that use to belong to two very special angels. It made for an emotional Christmas morning.

-The fact that we started the Christmas Pickle game with the kids this year at Mom's. They each have their own to find at this point and each got an "extra" present but it was soooo much fun.

-The Magic that this time of year brings

-Tradition.....I LOVE Tradition

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas in Photos :)

Here is a photo montage of our holiday!

Christmas Eve at Mom's

Christmas Eve Morning Dance Party

She loves that hat!

Z's Kindermusik Glockenspiel!

Legos for Lil C

My nephew trying to throw everything away...including his presents

Playing with one of his two big wishes...dinosaurs!!!

My Niece in her new princess cape

Daddy got Snow Shoes from Neene and Chi Chi

New Toys!!

Playing with Uncle M

All ready for the party

Spreading Reindeer Food with Uncle A, Auntie A and Grandpa J

Grandpa reading Twas the Night before Christmas

Santa Came!!!

The kids got snowshoes from Santa!! Now we all have them :)

Z's big Santa Wish!!!

Auntie A painted that for Lil C

Good Guy Star Wars Jammies!!!

A Race car from Uncle B

George in the cradle

A PONY!!! From Uncle B

Christmas Dinner Table

Auntie A got to spend a couple of extra days so we took her to the planetarium!!!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

An Unforgettable Moment

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, I know we did. Ours was filled with family, friends, laughs, good food, smiles, warm fires, hugs and very special gifts. It was an unforgettable holiday but the moment I am about to describe is by far my favorite.

Christmas Eve we had Mimi, Grandpa J, Auntie A and Uncle A sleeping over. We pulled Z's mattress into our room to make room for our guests and so he slept in our room. The adults went to bed on the later side and hoped and prayed that the kids would sleep in (past 6) so that we could get some much needed rest. Lil' C was up once around 5:00 am but after a drink of water and a diaper change, she went back to sleep. I was woken up at 7:18 by Z going to the bathroom...7:18....It was AMAZING!

I waited for Z to run out of the bathroom full of the excitement that Christmas morning brings. Instead I watched my sleepy son, climb back into bed and fall back to sleep. For the next 8 minutes I watched him come in and out of consciousness as he slowly woke up. He'd open his eyes, look around and then fall back to sleep. At 7:28 the child's eyes grew wide and a giant smile crept over his face. Our twinkling eyes locked and he said in voice filled with glee, "It's Christmas!"

I hope to never forget this moment. This moment of innocence, joy, excitement and love. My children helped to make this holiday so special for all that encountered them and for that I am truly grateful.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

December Photo Project--Making Memories

Merry Christmas Everyone!! I hope you have a magical day filled with love, laughter, family and smiles. We are busy celebrating with our extended family but I wanted to share some highlights from the past month.