Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

 

Tim and I had stayed up after we returned from Christmas Eve dinner to finish setting up Marco’s presents. I wanted everything to be perfect for the kiddo to run out and see his gifts!

Christmas morning dawned, and still the Dicksons snored. Marco woke up at 8am, not exactly happy with life. He insisted that Daddy hold him on his chest. The three of us stayed in bed and passed out for an additional 45 minutes. Then, we decided to have breakfast before Marco discovered his treasures.

Marco loves his eggs

Look at his excited face – and his adorable holiday jammies!

After breakfast, we let Marco run out to the living room to discover what was there. He was SO excited to see his tunnel tent!

There was even a special note from Old St Nick

Tim had piled Marco’s gifts into the tent so we could all hang out with Marco in his new digs.

I gave Tim two sets of cuff links (one that is reminiscent of a circuit!), and a cool book by Brian Cox, and the accompanying BluRay documentary. I also gave him a few silly things for his stocking, like binoculars, candies filled with Sambuca, and such.

After a pleasant morning and early afternoon lazing around, we got ready for our Christmas dinner with the Dicksons.

 Marco looked so handsome! Vest, tie, slim fit jeans and Converse.

I made my special baked Brie for an appetizer (by special request), and it went fast! I was only able to get a few bites before it disappeared. We had a delicious dinner, and I spent a lot of time talking with Dad and Tim about photography.

My body wasn’t thrilled with me that day, and I was losing the battle to stay awake and comfortable., so we left around 9 so I could get home to bed.  Overall, a very good and quiet Christmas.

Happy New Year!!

I know I’m kind of behind on the holiday posting! It’s already 2012. Whoops.  I felt so disconnected from the holidays this year, because of how much pain I was in, how tired I was, blah blah blah. Anyway, Marco had a wonderful holiday, which is the most important thing! It felt good to be able to bring such smiles to his face.

The Friday before Christmas, my amazing best friend Micaela came up to stay the night and keep me sane. We sipped a little bubbly (delicious Lucien Albrecht Cremant d’Alsace Brut Rose – YUM) and discussed life in general, exchanged gifts (I’ve held onto her gift for several months, I was DYING for her to finally open it! I found this beautiful vintage locket in the shape of a book; the cover had a cameo on it. It was part of an estate sale that ended up in a shop near my house; the clerk estimated 1950s). Micaela gave me a beautiful raspberry colored scarf/shawl, and an awesome crafting book full of neat ideas that I feel like I can actually do! It’s like Pinterest, in book form

After the fun present part, Micaela helped me chop pistachios and candy canes so I could make chocolate bark:

Dark chocolate with pure orange oil and pistachios

Milk chocolate with almonds (my grandma’s favorite, I made it especially for her)

Dark chocolate, white chocolate and smashed bits of candy canes (micaela took a meat tenderizer to the super-size candy cane)

I also baked some cookies, molasses and ginger snaps, and dark chocolate and mint cookies:

The next morning, Christmas Eve, we enjoyed coffee and conversation, and Marco engaged Micaela in a few rounds of tag and hide-n-seek.

Tim, Marco and I headed to the Gomers for our usual Christmas Eve lunch (2009 & 2010). Marco was really excited to visit and open his gifts:

Woo hoo! Marco loves racing cars around the house, and this one is his new favorite.

Marco and Belle decided to take their mid-day siestas, so the grown ups lounged around. We exchanged our gifts (I’m excited to start reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami ! Timmy got a Wii golf game – at least he doesn’t have to wear the weird plaid to play lol!), and I tried to feel less tired.

When Marco woke up, we made the trek to San Jose for my family’s dinner at my uncle’s house. It was good to see everyone, and I was happy to see my grandmother in good spirits. She’s been so frail for so long, it was a relief to see her smiling and laughing again. Marco was free with hugs, and my cousin Tony made an appearance (I haven’t seen him in several years). Overall, a good night. We couldn’t stay very late, because we had to drive back up to Napa. The drive home was difficult for me; I couldn’t get comfortable and the Motrin wasn’t doing anything for the pain.Poor Timmy was exhausted too, so we were relieved to finally make it home.

Christmas morning and day to come in the next post!

Been sick a lot this past week, plus have had many errands to take care of (Christmas and non-Christmas related), so my posting has become more sporadic. I’m tired all the time, my back is killing me, I am having trouble sleeping, I have too much to do and not enough time to do it in… any working mom knows the breaks. Tim helps me so much – I have more help with taking care of Marco than pretty much any mom I know; but I have a difficult time delegating much else. My patience has worn so thin that I feel like I don’t say anything at home without the word ‘no’, or with a threat of ‘time-out’ attached to it.

I received a promotion at work a few weeks ago, which is great news, but it’s definitely keeping my brain so full that I forget more things at home, and then when I finally do remember, it is 11:30 at night. I want to be super-mom, super-employee, super-wife, super-friend, super-model. I am not any of these things.

ok

Sorry for the downer beginning. Here’s some of recent pics to get everyone off the bummer train:

fairy lights

Christmas card display – twine and clothespins – simple but it works

Santa and I are in cahoots! Muahh haa haa haa….

And this guy is getting majorly spoiled by both myself and St Nick.

I love Christmas. But, it has to be said that I can’t get merry until it’s actually the Christmas season…in other words, stop trying to force it down my throat the week PRIOR to Thanksgiving! I was not ready for Jingle Bells yet! Don’t despair that I’ve turned into a Grinch – I LOVE it – I am just not ready for it so early!

Anyway, now that I AM ready for decking my halls with boughs of holly (and glitter), I have to share some photos from our adventures at the Christmas Tree farm! Marco was so excited and happy, and we found a lovely tree.  We went to the farm with our neighbors, their daughter, and their new baby son (soo tiny!!), and the Gomers. It was great to share the fun with other families.

He’s such a big boy. Look how tiny he was last year at the farm (click link)

Belle was too busy to take pictures

My hubby

He should be a model.

Our tree!!

it was very windy that afternoon, hence my bad hair.

All gussied up

One of my favorite ornaments

 butterflies

wine grapes, of course!

The owl ornament Marco picked out himself

I can’t wait to put presents under the tree! I’ve been plotting my baking and crafts (yep, I think I’m getting a little crafty this year), and have purchased some presents that need to be wrapped. Our cards are ready to be addressed and mailed, and nail polish has been selected for the fun times ahead…

OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Aire

So, I might have bought some most of the OPI nail polishes from the Muppets collection… Tim, Marco and I saw the Muppets movie the day after Thanksgiving, and we LOVED it! We’re huge Muppets fans, and it was so awesome to share it with Marco. He laughed, giggled, and danced in his seat the whole time.

Our tree is decorated, and it is officially the holiday season (and Santa Claus has got a toy for every good girl and good little boy…)

Bring on the peppermint mochas peppermint schnapps.

I’ve been ordering my cards from Shutterfly for a few years now. I’ve used them for Christmas cards two years running, and also used them for Marco’s birth announcements and 1st birthday invitations. I love the designs and the quality, so I was even more excited to be invited to take part in their Holiday Card blogging deals!

This was our card design last year:

Here’s a few of the Holiday card designs that are catching my eye for 2011:

 I love the chevron stripes, and I want a sweater in these colors!

 Cute and simple design

This design is elegant. It can be customized as a flat or folded card, with different colors. I like that there’s room for plenty of photos.

Such a cute idea for an update on the year! The back has room for another picture and some more text.

So here’s the awesome part:

I am so thrilled to be able to offer three readers an online code, each good for 25 FREE CARDS! The savings! The adorable cards – all yours!

To win, you must be a follower through Google Friend Connect, and you must leave a comment letting me know which designs you like. Be sure to include a way to contact you with the code! Winners will be contacted Tuesday, November 1st.

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post with a code for free cards from Shutterfly. 

Cause, uhh… “This is how we do it… South Central does it like nobody does…” It’s friday night!! Brings back memories.

Good news: received my coupon code for the free Shutterfly holiday cards last week, I placed my order, and they arrived today! They look FANTASTIC! I can’t wait to mail them out!

And, speaking of holidays, that reminds me – I’m joining up with the Ornament Swap! It’s hosted by Laura of The Luckiest in Love. I love buying fun ornaments. One of my favorites is a taco ornament I won from a white elephant swap! Company holiday parties, LOL. If you’re interested in taking part, click on this handy-dandy button to find out how to join in the fun!

Last night the Gomers came up to Napa to visit. We had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Fume Bistro, to celebrate Justin passing his exam – with distinction! Woo hoo! He’s now free to start up his dissertation. He’s practically a doctor already!

I was bored on Polyvore again, so here’s some more loveliness:

I hope your weekend rocks!! XOXO

Christmas Eve we visited with the Gomers and exchanged gifts. Belle crawled up to me and gave me a hug and that made my day. Afterwards, we drove to San Jose to visit with my family. My uncles were all a little tipsy by night’s end, resulting in interesting conversations!! Lots of conversations about the baby, of course. Much advice given against our desire to have just 1 child, which shall most likely be ignored. But, it was great to see my family and lots of yummy snacks! I got a gift card to Macy’s from my mum, and a book for the baby!

Christmas Day we slept in a little, and exchanged gifts. Stabler was SO excited with his new toy mouse! It makes a realistic mouse noise just by tapping it, and he was chasing it all around the house. He still hasn’t left it alone! Luckily, the noise isn’t annoying. Chloe was happy with her doggy treats, and less than enthusiastic about her PetiCure grooming tool. Timmy suprised me with a Bose Wave system for my record player, complete with an iPod docking station! I can’t wait to get it all set up. His mom sent us a surprise gift, a Flip Video HD camera! It takes 120 minutes of video, perfect for fun videos of the baby. I gave Tim his Nikon Coolpix, as well as a nice leather camera case. He also got a few surprises in his stocking, including a copy of Oregon Trail!!

I had to whip up some bruschetta to take to Christmas dinner at his Dad’s house, and even though tomatoes are no longer it season I managed to make a tasty appetizer, complete with fresh baguettes from Bouchon Bakery. Things got derailed when I failed to eat enough breakfast before taking my prenatal vitamin, which resulted in me leaning over the sink, expelling everything. We had a nice, relaxing time at his parent’s house, and received some fun gifts. I got the black suede gloves from Nordstrom that I’d asked for, as well as the calendar. I ate way too much food, but it was hard to stop snacking!!

After work on Saturday morning, I came home and Tim and I took naps and lazed around a bit. He finished putting up all the doors, and then we went to dinner at Siena, at the Meritage Resort here in Napa. The food was good, but not great. I probably wouldn’t go back, because there are much more fantastic places to eat at here, and some are a little less expensive. We’d had a $50 dining cheque from OpenTable.com, so it was almost completely paid for. I love opentable! I use them all the time to make free dinner reservations. I get points for each reservation, which I then turn in for dining cheques that I can use at any restaurant listed with them.

Here are a few pics taken with Tim’s new camera, after dinner:

Today I had lunch with my boss and co-worker from the insurance company. We went to Bistro Don Giovanni. I love their food! I got the linguini con vangole, but without the clams of course. It was a lovely lunch, and afterwards we exchanged gifts. Later, I took a small nap and finished wrapping presents. Our tree looks so nice and full with all the presents! That is one thing I don’t like about the end of the holidays; the tree looks lonely without packages, boxes and bags!

Timmy is out running secret Christmas errands…for me!! I love presents. I know its not kosher to say that, but I really do! I love giving AND getting things. I always end up spending way too much money on my friends and family, but I love picking out presents for my loved ones. Then, it adds to the fun to get presents too.

My Christmas present from Tim is a record player. I can’t wait for it to arrive! I have just two vinyls right now, but I am hoping that I can lay my hands on the records my mom and I had when I was a kid. I bought Tim a new digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix S620. Don’t worry, Tim and I always tell each other what our main gifts are. He doesn’t know whats in his stocking, or the other small gift I have for him. Our vacation next month is our main gift to each other. I CAN’T WAIT!! I’m going to have a tan in January, lol.

Yesterday I wrote letters to children from ‘Santa’. A local organization collects the letters to Santa from the post office and mails replies back to the kids. I was asked to help with a stack of letters. Some of the letters were funny, some were demanding, and one letter stuck out as being very sweet. A girl wrote to Santa to ask that he “be nice to my teachers, because I like them. Even Mrs. Graham, who isn’t very nice. Maybe you could make her nice for Christmas?” The same girl also asked that her new friend, Jeanie, be given especial care, as she had just moved there and she wanted Jean to be happy in the new town. What a sweet letter! She didn’t even ask for anything specific for herself.

Another girl asked for “a microphone, guitar and drumset, please. Also, a globe so I can find where my cousin lives”. I hope she starts an awesome band.

I liked coming up with fun things to write back to the kids; most of them asked how the reindeer fly, and if Santa had eaten enough cookies and hot cocoa. One girl asked if Santa was well-rested, and if Mrs. Claus ever yelled at him. A boy asked if Santa could tell him exactly how many elves he had, and “Do you like playing Nintendo Wii? I have been good, so please send me a Wii because I’ve never had one for Christmas before.”

I can’t wait until our kid is old enough to start writing letters to Santa. I am going to make someone I know write replies back to him/her every year.