Merry Christmas, everybody!  See Jovie (our elf) hiding in the Christmas tree?

 On Christmas morning, Gabriela woke up and asked if it was Christmas Eve still.  We told her it was Christmas morning, but she insisted it was still Christmas Eve, so I told her to go to sleep so Santa could come. 

I never knew how exciting it would be to be a parent on Christmas morning! I kept waking up and wondering when Gabriela would wake up so we could start our morning fun.

Here's our tree, right after Santa left.

 Gabriela so excited for Christmas fun!

 Yes!  Hello Kitty undies in her stocking!!  Now she can be just like Captain Hook! (her Build-a-Bear)

 Checking out her stocking loot!  She got new toothpaste, socks, undies, big-sister gum, gummy life savers, Christmas pencils, stickers, a Hello Kitty note pad, fruit twists, m&ms, and 3x 5 index cards cos she LOVES drawing tiny pictures on them.

Easton was very happy with some of his gifts. He got super cool socks from Mommy's friend, Katie.

 And this adorable bear, hand knit by Auntie Adie.  Gabriela got one like this for her first Valentine's day.  The funny thing is that we had no idea Adrienne made Easton a bear and right in the middle of gift opening (before we discovered this cutie bear), Gabriela went and got hers to play with.  Now the teddy bears have each other.

 This was, by far, the biggest hit!  Hello Kitty sparkly chapstick (or lipstick if you ask Gabriela). She opened it and squealed!  She put her arms up in the sky and cheered victoriously! And then she said, "He knowed!!!  Santa knowed even though I didn't tell him!" Phew, thank goodness we wrote him that letter. 

Overall, this was Easton's reaction to his first Christmas:

 He woke up later that night though and enjoyed some time looking up at the Christmas tree.

Overall, we had a very sweet and calm Christmas at home.  Gabriela got to pause from gift opening to play with her presents, there was no rush, and I stayed in my jammies all day.  We watched G's new movie, Matilda (of course, we had already read the book), played with gifts, and started reading a new book, Alice in Wonderland. I cooked a gigantic ham, brussells sprouts and sweet potatoes for a simple, yet delicious Christmas dinner.

Christmas Eve

I was really nervous about driving down to Hollister for Christmas Eve since Easton is not a fan of the car seat at all.  I mean, big time.  He considers it a form of torture and cannot handle even a 5 minute trip to the grocery store unless it is magically timed for when he is totally full of milk and super sleepy. 

Despite my fears, we decided to make the trip and stop for a visit in Gilroy on the way.  We drove about 5 miles before stopping because of poor baby Easton.  We made several help-the-baby-stop-crying stops along the way, but we made it!!

Gabriela had some good visit time with Grandma Janice

Grandma got some snuggles with Easton.  

(check our our awesome new burp cloths from some DC friends of ours)

 Easton was having fun with Grandpa and flashed him some sweet smiles.

 Cousins!  Easton and Nolan had a sleepy photo shoot in their cutesie Christmas outfits.  Can you believe they are only one month (and four days) apart?  This was the best shot of the boys, despite Nolan's hand gestures :)  Whoopsies.

 Easton was a champ on the 20 minute drive from Gilroy to Hollister and didn't cry once!  Yay!!  We got to my brother Tim's house to help make tamales and found that they were all on the stove already.  I love a good tamale making session, but I'm not about to complain if I just get to partake in the tamale eating fun.

Caeti is still in love with Easton and wanted to hold him, put his hat on for him, and remind other people to be quiet because the baby was sleeping. 

 The (big) cousins in front of the tree before the present opening madness started.

 My baby girl, who is clearly not a baby anymore.  How did I get such a big girl?!??! 

Andrew loved his Woody dress-up gear from Nana!  Look at those excited eyes!

Gabriela got the cutest Snow White dress up outfit handmade by Auntie Kristie!  She loves it. It's a giant tutu, and we had some trouble convincing her that they weren't pajamas.

After the family fun, we left with a stash of tamales and presents, bellies full and happy family time completed.  Gabriela AND Easton slept the whole drive home.  phew.  Merry Christmas to us!!

Gabriela had some trouble falling back to sleep once we got home, but she finally did before Santa came.

Christmas Tree Lane

A few blocks away from us is Alameda's Christmas Tree Lane. It's an entire block full of Christmas cheer.  All the houses on the block are decorated, and apparently this is a tradition that's been going on since 1938! It's recommended that you walk up and down the block to enjoy the decorations in all their splendor.  Now, we totally could have walked there, but we drove - I was nervous about how cold it would be with a baby and whether or not Gabriela would fuss about the walk.  

When Gabriela woke up from her nap on Saturday, the first thing she said was, "I'm so excited to look for decorations and drink hot cocoa and eat candy canes and listen to Christmas music!"  

It's official people, this is my child. 

Here she is all ready to look for decorations - candy cane in one hand, hot cocoa in the other! 

 

 We went with Heather, Serkan, and Rowan.  See Rowan with his elf hat? I tried convincing Gabriela to wear her elf hat, but she wanted the purple one that matched her jacket instead.

 Imagine Gabriela's excitement when she saw Walter, Kermit the Frog and (not pictured) Miss Piggy decorating a tree!!  

 The elf workshop

 Santa and Mrs. Claus

And to give you a little size perspective, Gabriela and Mrs. Claus

There is something about the holidays with kids that makes them one bajillion times more magical. There is nothing quite like hearing them squeal with excitement at the decorations.  

 While we were there, the famous Dancing Christmas Trees danced up and down the street.  Gabriela asked how the trees could dance, and gave a knowing, "OHHH!!!" after I explained that they were people wearing costumes.  She also asked if they were careful while they danced in the street.  Oh yes, very careful. I was sure to point out the people stopping traffic for the trees so she didn't get any ideas about dancing in the streets herself. 

 

People were selling baked goods and hot cocoa, there was a brass band at one house playing carols, elves were passing out candy canes, and this car (??) drove by while we were there too!

 And every night Santa is at Christmas Tree Lane. Gabriela was so excited to see him and happily climbed into his lap, but in the big moment froze and didn't actually tell Santa what she wanted. She thought about telling him.

    Smiling with Santa

Of course, after we were done waiting in line and had finished our visit with Santa, Gabriela announced that she was finally ready to tell Santa what she wanted.  I reminded her that we had written him a letter, so he would get it and know what she wanted.  Did you know Christmas Tree Lane has a special Santa Mailbox???  Santa even writes back.  That is, as long as you deliver your letter by Dec 18th. Maybe the elves will take pity on us and write back even though we delivered ours on the 19th. Whoops. 

We had a great time. In fact, Gabriela, Easton and I walked to Christmas Tree Lane on Monday night and walked up and down the street before Daddy came home from work. It's so pretty and festive, we just might take another walk or two down Christmas Tree Lane before the end of the week.

Smiley Boy

 Easton has started to have longer periods of alert time.  He has been giving random smiles for quite a while now. But in just the past few days, he has been looking right at us and giving grin after grin, along with some heart melting coos, also new for him.  I could just stare at him and smile all day long.

Flashing a mini-grin while hanging with his bud, Rowan

Our Tree

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We have decorated our tree, gone to a cookie decorating party, attended Alameda's tree lighting ceremony - complete with dancing trees, an elf band, a Santa sighting, candy cane eating, and close up views of the symphony playing Christmas songs. 

 Here's our little tree - how do you take a good pic of a tree with lights?!?

 We watched Elf.  Gabriela LOVES Buddy the Elf.  She saw it twice and is constantly coming up with new random quotes from the movie.  Here is our little elf, herself.

 Santa's Little Helper Sleeper

 We also wrote a letter to Santa. Here is Gabriela with Santa. She wanted to be sure she drew the "ringing bells of Santa's sleigh" on her hat.  This year, Gabriela asked for lipstick, chocolate, a book, and if she could please have words in her book.

 

Gabriela named our Elf on the Shelf  Jovie, after Buddy's Love.  Every day Gabriela wakes up and searches for where Jovie has hidden.  This morning, we found her like this:

Jovie and Don Quijote

We also watched The Polar Express.  We have read a ton of Christmas books.  Gabriela's favorites are Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas, The Polar Express, and Corduroy's Christmas.

We still need to wrap presents, bake (more) goodies, visit Santa, go to Tilden Park to see the lights there, walk and drive down Christmas Tree Lane in Alameda, buy a present to give to Toys for Tots, catch a few more Christmas flicks, and just enjoy this fun time of year together as a family. 

We

One Month Old

I don't know where the last four weeks have gone, but we suddenly have a one month old!

Like most babies, Easton pretty much slept the first few weeks after his arrival.  Since about two weeks old, he's been GIGGLING in his sleep.  What baby does this? And what is so funny to an infant?  He smiles and made the cutest little laughing sound.  I wish we could have captured this on film for you.

Easton makes an adorable snorting noise when he is hungry.  It's even more adorable because it's exactly the same thing Gabriela did when she was his age.

He is so strong and lifts his head up for long stretches at a time, easily turns his head from one side to the other, and sometimes even puts weight on his legs and feet for just a moment.

We had our worst night a few nights ago.  Gabriela and I have been a little sick recently, so we shouldn't be too surprised that Easton started getting really congested in his nose.  Which doesn't sound too bad, but when you are an infant and you only breathe through your nose and can't drink milk even though you are really hungry, it can be pretty rough.

He loves bouncing on the exercise ball as well as his baths, but doesn't care for changing in and out of clothes.  Easton isn't a big fan of sleeping by himself either.  He just wants to cuddle up, and I'm happy to oblige.  Easton does not care for spending time in the car seat, which is rough when we have to go somewhere.  If I can time it just right, he will sleep in the car, otherwise he sobs and it just breaks my heart.

We are glad to report that the Moby has not lost its magical powers, because Easton falls right to sleep in it. He also likes the Ergo carrier.

On Friday we took him to a party in a noisy restaurant in San Francisco.  He was such a good sport and just slept the whole time.

Easton is starting to smile more when he is awake and also has begun practicing using his little voice to make the cutest, sweetest sounds.  Melts his mama's heart.

We have been doing cloth diapers for a few weeks now.  Loving it.

Adventures of a mama of 2

I called my mom the other day to tell her that this whole two kid business is kind of tricky. She immediately started laughing, which I guess is the appropriate response if you've raised six kids.  I never thought it was amazing or even somewhat remarkable that my mom raised all six of us, with my dad working late hours, with no family around for support.  Now, I wonder how the heck it was humanly possible.

The other day, I had Easton in the Moby and was sweeping the floor while Gabriela slept.  I thought in that moment how I never realized how easy it was having just one kid, and how if someone had ever suggested such a thing that I would have never believed them.  Because, let me tell you, there is nothing easy about trying to figure out how to be a parent and console your tiny new baby.

Things are mostly going well.  The other morning Gabriela and Easton were both snuggled up to me on the bed sleeping soundly - and it was after 8am!  Such sweet bundles of love. Fast forward to this afternoon - Gabriela was overtired from a totally fun cookie decorating party, throwing a supreme tantrum, kicking and screaming and pulling her own hair because I took Easton out of the car seat before her, acting like I had betrayed her by moving our family to Alameda when she just wanted to live in Oak-a-land.  Knowing she had just lost it, I didn't get angry, but picked her up (along with Easton and the diaper bag) and carried her into the bed for some snuggles.  She was sobbing on one side of me, and Easton was doing the same on the other side. It was a rough afternoon.

Sometimes I don't think we can handle going to the grocery store together (which is why we have no eggs, milk, or bread, among other things at the moment), but other times I feel super courageous and do crazy things like make a trip to Ikea all together.

There I was with Easton in the Moby, lugging around the diaper bag, a giant Costco sized grocery bag full of stuff, and a six pack of wine glasses, trying to keep track of Gabriela. This mostly worked until she disappeared from me for about 3 minutes. I knew she had wandered away, but didn't want to go too far in case she came back looking for me. And she did, right away, bursting into tears when she saw me.  We talked about what to do when you get lost again and she was sure to stay next to me the rest of the time.  Then Easton had a mini melt down in line, and as soon as we sat down to nurse him, Gabriela announced she had to go potty.  The fun never stops, people.

I'm nearly to the point where I feel brave enough to start going on outings with the kids and just me.  Wish us luck. It's a tricky adjustment, but I love this new life. 

Extra Cousin Fun

We went back to the East Bay the day after Thanksgiving so we could spend more time with Ian and Adie  (the Santa Barbara Grovers) and Nate & Meliss.  Thank goodness because Gabriela was so devastated when they returned Thursday night that she wouldn't hug her cousins and she sobbed forever about them leaving.  Luckily, they were reunited less than 24 hours later. As soon as we arrived in Oakland on Friday, the kids all disappeared in the Rumpus Room (the basement/our old bedroom) and played for hours and hours. 

Gabriela, that sneaky little devil, just got dressed in her pj's at bedtime and tucked herself in - not even asking if it was okay for her to spend the night.  Uncle Ian asked her if she was going to sleep in her bed, to which she responded that she doesn't have one and that she sleeps on the floor.  Wow, anything for extra cousin time.  

So they played all day, had movie night (and candy canes) together and just enjoyed some serious cousin fun. Gabriela had two sleepovers in a row!

She also went to her first movie in the theater ever, along with her cousins.  We saw The Muppets.  It was a fun first kids movie. It was Easton's first movie at the theater too.  We got there, I changed him, nursed him, and put him in the moby. He slept the whole time.  Gabriela still talks about how big the "TV" at the theater was.  She loves those cousins to pieces.

 the boy cousins

 

Candy Canes and Family Movie Night

 Uncle Ian finally got some Easton time

 Cousin Toothbrushing Time

 

Cousins dinner.  

Meliss made an amazing lamb dinner on Saturday night. Lane made Pumpkin Crunch and we all feasted together. So nice to have some time with the grown ups too.

We had some late nights, driving back to Alameda with a baby around midnight, but Easton was a party animal and a great sleeper, so he made it possible!  I know Lane was happy to have extra brother time too!