Christmas Day 2013

This post has a lot of pictures. I just couldn't choose which ones I wanted to share from the huge amount I took, so I'm just throwing a whole lot of them together.

On Christmas Eve, Ten got home a little earlier than usual, so we spent the afternoon getting ready for Christmas. I think Ten and Mia watched "The Grinch" and "Frosty" while I got dinner ready. We also went to the park and quickly realized it was just way too cold and almost came straight home. Seriously, our coats weren't helping...and Ten was only wearing sandals and a hoodie...no idea why he thought that that would be a good idea.

Anyway, after our failed park attempt we came home and started getting our Santa cookies ready. We decided to go with the pre-made gingerbread men, so we could just enjoy getting to decorate them.

First cookie out of the bag...he didn't last very long.

Ten icing a cookie for Mia so that she could add her candy.

Going much better than the gingerbread house!

Our finished products...Mia's is on the top and by far the best. Ten's has two green gloves, and I'm not sure what is going on with mine. Sorry this picture didn't rotate properly.

After Mia went to bed, we tore down the train track and reorganized the apartment a little bit so that we could fit everything under the tree and still have space to move in the morning.

Like I mentioned before, everything was wrapped and ready to put under the tree. Saved us a bunch of time.

Ten did have to stay up pretty late putting together Mia's table and chairs along with this kitchen though. I don't think he got to bed until 2:00 a.m.

Mia's Minnie table and chairs.

Mia ran in first thing in the morning and went straight to Totoro. We knew this would be a big hit with her.

Followed by a rush over to her new kitchen. This things keeps her so busy, and she is picking up so many words from it. We all love this toy. Once again....sorry this didn't flip when I added it to Blogger.

Treats in her stocking from a good friend in Japan. Thank you so, so, so much.

The beginning of the unwrapping marathon.

Deciding to have a tea party with Totoro in her new socks....midway through unwrapping.

After we unwrapped a good amount of presents, we took a break for breakfast. We had this really good casserole, and you can find the recipe here. I decided to make something sweet because I thought we may have a better chance for Mia to eat some.

Of course, Mia wanted us to all eat at her new Minnie table.

Mia in her first outfit of the day. She seriously had to put on every article of new clothing that she opened.

It just isn't Christmas without a toy drum.

....Mia enjoying her afternoon tea with her new tea set.

After all of the unwrapping and cleaning, naps were much needed. We then got up and ate a really late Christmas lunch. I honestly didn't have the time to make everything that I wanted too, but it all turned out pretty good.

Tossed spinach salad, deviled eggs, rolls, spiral ham, green bean casserole, and an apple pie. Notice that we actually had serving dishes this year. Thanks Ten for the Christmas presents...and thanks mom for the matching dish set!!

My plate...so full we had to skip the pie. We also had baked potatoes, and I love putting salsa on mine. Not very traditional for Christmas, but very good.

So, that is a glimpse of our Christmas morning. I was so exhausted once the 26th rolled around. Anyway, now just to get the New Year's post up!

Catching Up

I've decided to do a post of a hodge podge of things. I just wanted to get caught up with a few little things that we have been up to so that I can start blogging a bit more regularly.

First off, Mia got invited to her first birthday party, and she had a wonderful time. The theme was Sesame Street, and the parents did a great job of decorating the park house as well as having a lot of nice appetizers and breakfast choices for both the parents and kids. In all honesty, we were hoping to leave about an hour into the party because we had a swim class after, but it was pretty clear after about 15 minutes that it would be better to stay. We also ADORE the birthday girl, so we wanted to be there to help her celebrate.

Eating some fruit at the sticker/coloring table. Mia chose to wear a Cookie Monster hat and Ten couldn't resist putting on an Elmo.

The parents also hired the music teachers from Mia's school to perform at the event. They sang some Sesame Street songs as well as the birthday girl's favorites. Mia was on the makeshift dance floor having a great time.

The party was a really good time, and they also got great little gift bags to take home. The parents did a really excellent job! It got me to thinking about what we should do for Mia's second birthday. In all honesty, she will still be at the age where she doesn't need a party with lots of people and friends....and her birthday is only a week after Baby #2's due date....decisions. 

In other news, Ten made two trips to Target/Aldi over the weekend. This is a big deal for us because we don't get to shop at the cheaper big box places....like rarely ever. Ten took advantage of his 4 day weekend and made two runs over to East Harlem to pick up some things.

Children's vitamins for Mia, an Elmo toothbrush for her stocking, some baking pans for Christmas, dental floss, and a Rapunzel towel. Mia loves all of the bigger girl's towels at swim class and is always pointing out the different princesses she sees so I'm sure she will love this....also being saved for Christmas.

We bought a few bottles of the Mott's Tots juices, some fruit snacks, two boxes of Bisquick, and some movie theater butter popcorn for movie nights.

More juice, vitamins, MiraLax for Mia's tummy, popcorn seasoning, and more...We got so much more, but I'll stop sharing here. 

Let's see. Mia and Ten like to play a new game which makes me super nervous....but they seem to think it is a lot of fun. Mia will walk along the back of the couch saying "ichi, ni, ichi, ni." She will usually say "dada" and point for Ten to come up too....and he does. I should get a pic of both of them practicing the balance beam.

Lastly, we finally got some snow! I have been waiting and waiting for it to finally get to us, and last Saturday it snowed all day and into the night. So, Sunday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and got dressed to go play in our backyard (known to others as Riverside Park).

Having a much better time than last year. Mia really enjoyed it, and so did we.

Carrying around snowballs and then throwing them on the ground. 

Mia decided she wanted to walk down the snowy hill, so Ten went with her while I pushed the stroller down the walkway. Very cute picture.

Finally, Mia wanted to play in the park. She had a great time swinging and was pretty upset when we decided to head home. However, she was sitting in a big pile of water and freezing...so we had to call it a day.

Anyway, this is basically how we spent our last two weekends. We've celebrated a birthday, played in the snow, got some shopping done, did our swim lessons, wrapped Christmas presents, and much more.

Halloween Part 2

I swear we got tons of use out of Mia's Halloween costume this year. I think we got to wear it to a total of 6 different events, so I'm glad we chose something that was simple and basically a dress. This meant that she actually kept it on. In fact, she loved it so much that it is now in hiding.

Let's see....to continue....Mia dressed up for her music class.

Mia popping bubbles in music. Do you see the baby dressed as a prisoner? Funny.

Dancing with scarves....maybe one of her favorite activities.

On the way home I stopped and picked up some Peeps. I don't like them and quickly learned that neither does Mia nor does the marshmallow addict Ten....go figure.

Later in the week, we went to Mia's gym class. She loved all of the Dr. Seuss decorations they had up for Halloween. I was glad they 
decorated without making it creepy. Perfectly chosen theme if you 
ask me....Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to snap any pictures.

Mia on the trampoline. Sometimes she will spend half an hour running back and forth on it.

Her favorite teacher was dressed up as the Lorax.

The Grinch in the background.

On Halloween, we decided to take Mia trick or treating. This was actually kind of by accident or rather last minute I should say. I missed the deadline to sign up to hand out candy, so at the last minute we decided to take her to the apartments in the building.

One of maybe the 20 or so apartments we visited. We spent a total of 45 minutes trick or treating and we were all beat afterwards. She loved knocking on the doors, picking out her candy, and then telling everyone bye.

Enjoying her lollipop. She guards these with her life...haha.

Some of her Halloween loot.

On Friday, we had our final and biggest Halloween event. We went to her school for the party that they had there. They sang songs, played in the gym, made crafts, had their pictures taken, decorated cupcakes, had a parade (which Mia thought was super funny), and ate pizza. It was a jam packed 2 hours and lots of fun.

By the end of the night....she was Halloweened out.

Goody bag which included bubbles, a cookie, stickers, sunglasses, a ball, some small toys, and a smoothie and bath bomb from LUSH for the moms. Thank you school! That bath was much needed after all of the planning and escorting of our little ones around town!

Mia's picture frame. She did a really good job making sure the eyes and nose got put where they belong. Also, she called the stem his "hat." I thought...yeah...I can totally see how you would think that...hahaha. Great job!

That concludes our Halloween festivities. We were really busy and had a lot of fun. In all honesty, I ripped down our decoration on Saturday and Sunday. I was ready to have a little bit of a holiday break before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Like I said, lots of fun but didn't want to get burnt out on the festivities.

Roseola does not make for a carefree weekend.

Kudos to those people that have their weekend blog posts ready to go first thing in the morning. Seriously, how do you find the time? I am genuinely impressed my friends.

So, there was once a nice family who lived on the Upper West Side. They did fun things like go to the park together, attend play groups, and watch the occasional Disney movie while eating ice cream. They were such a happy family. One day, the youngest of the clan got a fever. A fever that was to last 4 days long. This fever would then be followed by a rash, and the great medicine woman diagnosed said illness as Roseola.

Yes, my friends....that little intro is what we have been dealing with for the past week....and let me tell you...it is not fun. Not one bit. This made Mia's ear infection seem like a trip to Hawaii. She has been miserable to the tenth degree, but we have been assured that it will all end soon....here is to hoping!

Anyway, while battling her virus....we did decide to get out and do a few things over the weekend. The doctor said that she was no longer contagious, and I seriously had to escape the nightmare that we had been living...even if it was just for a little bit.

Proof of said nightmare: Cream stew for dinner on Friday night....none of us like it much....but it was the fastest thing that could be made so I could get back to nurse duties.....sad night.

Anyway, on Saturday morning we woke up and headed to the Rutgers Presbyterian Church to attend a performance of Stomp, Clap, and Make Bangs. It was a puppet/musical show put on by Theatre Arts Japan, so we decided to take advantage.

Ten and I are still debating what this animal was supposed to be. In the end, I think it was part mouse, part bear, part raccoon. Yes, that must be it. 

Mia stayed entertained for most of it though, so winner.

Off she goes to check out what is behind the scenes.

After a really confusing show about Boo and her forest friends, we decided to stop at a diner for lunch. After our cream stew dinner....we were wanting something with a bit more substance I guess you could say....so we had gigantic burgers.

Mia enjoyed some tots. Can't you tell how thrilled she was to be out after the show. Notice the spots on her face?

Moving on to Sunday. Ten went to Trader Joe's and picked up this lovely cinnamon whisk. At the same time, I bought this Yankee Candle in cinnamon stick.....hahaha. I guess we both thought cinnamon would be the perfect scent for the apartment. So, random.

We decided to brave the world again and see if Mia would like to go to her swim lesson. She was doing a great job for about 90% of it, but she got cranky at the end.

shot of the whole class

On the way home, Mia did have quite the meltdown. We put her straight to bed, and then Ten decided to use her nap time to go to the pumpkin patch (aka Trader Joe's) and he picked some beauties I might say.

Mia deciding that the pumpkins needed to be stacked.

....and then that 4 pumpkins was totally too many for a family of 3. She promptly put one pumpkin in the bottom of her stroller to dispose of at a later time.

On the agenda this week: decorate lovely pumpkins, slay the evil dragon of Roseola for good, and welcome out of town family (the only kind we have) here for a busy 4 days. Have a great week all!