Christmas

I'm on a roll! Time to churn out the blogs before the calendar flips to 2009! I have so many updates to do, but when is there ever enough time!

Christmas came and went... We enjoyed the relaxing days and spent a lot of time with Uncle Casey and Chika as well as the pups. It was wonderful to have Scott around (even if he was working from home) for a bulk of the holiday. We tackled some home projects-- we painted our bedroom!!! Yeah!!!

Backing up... We spent Christmas Eve day over at Uncle Casey's house. He cooked a delicious pulled pork meal, friend plantains, and some other sides. Claire loves climbing up and down on his hearth of this fireplace! Scott sang at midnight mass as Claire and I slept soundly in our beds, waiting for Santa.

We went to church on Christmas day, Claire napped, we opened a few presents, and then Scott created his master piece-- prime rib roast. Casey and Chika joined us. We ate, opened more presents and then played outside since the weather was strangely warm.

Mima and Papa C Visit

Claire's Mima and Papa C drove out from Miami right before Christmas. They were here for a week, and we had a nice time spending the days together. Papa C did help Uncle Casey build a workbench for his house, so he kept busy with that. Mima had plenty of free time to spend with Claire and even baby-sat on 2 occasions.

We went to the neighborhood park one day and brought Carly too. She enjoyed making giant pits for the kids to fall into. One of the days we had light snow and frost-- Claire was more than willing to venture out into the cold weather and even sit in her swing.

We celebrated an early Christmas with the Morrisons. Claire's favorite thing from Mima and Papa C is this magnetic fish puzzle that has a little pole. You dangle the pole over the puzzle pieces and it picks up the fish with the magnet. She has such fun!

We blew it for Santa!

Ugh! I'm going to make a list of things that every new parent needs to know. At the top...

#1. Go see Santa early in the season. Do not wait until 2-3 days before Christmas.

We didn't think too much of it, only knowing that Santa's Village here in Richardson was probably out because of Claire's early bedtime and the long lines. (That's where we went last year, and it worked out well.) So we missed that opportunity.

We decided to go yesterday, down to NorthPark Mall in Dallas. I had a store to hit there, they have pretty decorations. OML!!! Another mistake! Exiting the highway was awful, finding parking, maneuvering through the crowds (and I mean crowds!!!), finding the location, getting there and learning you had to have a number. They were on 125. We were number 300+. It was 4 pm. We learned that we could've stood in line at 8 am and gotten a ticket for that day and come back, but with all the traffic, goodness gracious!

I know there is still today and tomorrow, but with all the crowds and other things that need to be done, plus simply anticipating Claire's reaction ("WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!") I think we will wait until next year. : )

Pearls and Mac n Cheese

After a lunch of mac n cheese and tofu, I needed to get myself ready to go out and run a few errands. Claire amused herself with my jewelry armoire. Fortunately, she is only attracted to one drawer right now-- the one with my pearls-- so she took them all out and proceeded to drape them around her neck. Never mind the fact that we hadn't cleaned up from lunch. My little girl is playing dress up-- with very strict supervision, of course!

Play Time

The older Claire gets, the more interactive with her environment she becomes. Besides being obsessed with reading, she does really enjoy being outside. The weather doesn't seem to phase her. She loves it when her dogs can be with her and is always quick to notice dogs in public places with a "woof, woof." When the weather breaks for us, we take advantage and spend as much time in our backyard or at the parks with friends.

A Thanksgiving Visit

I am late in posting this, but at least it's getting done! (Scott is playing piano with Claire and the pups are rough-housing in the living room-- all is well!)

Gran and Grandad came out for a nice Thanksgiving visit right after our trip to Beaver's Bend. It worked out perefectly from a logistic standpoint and it was great to have them out here. Claire really enjoyed her time with Gran, reading, playing, and just being spoiled! ("No, Gran, she can't have another cookie!")

Even though I had a list of things to do-- go see King Tut, the Zoo, Dickens Christmas-- we really just stayed on the homefront and relaxed. We did get our Christmas tree and decorated it in one weekend-- well, the top half is decorated. Between the dogs and Claire, we have to strategize and consider placement of the ornaments. We also got Claire's tree up the following day and the rest of the house decorated.

But I am getting ahead of myself-- Thanksgiving!

What a great meal with friends and family! Scott outdid himself with the 18 lb. bird. We had our friends, Laura and Alej and Rafi join us before their departure as well as Mom and Dad. Unfortunately, Claire was not interested in trying anything new to eat due to her cough/cold, so mac n cheese it was.

With high hopes, we watched the FSU/UF game, but alas, my poor Noles couldn't defend their own turf and it was a loss for them. Claire donned her FSU cheerleading outfit for the 1st half and then had a wardrobe change for the 2nd half.

Sunday we went to the Dallas Zoo, and it was the emptiest I had ever seen! It was a bit cool, but I suppose most folks were traveling or shopping. Not us! ; ) There were quite a few animals out and about, which was good to see. Claire watched the kangaroos and the rhinos intently. Patrick, the gorilla, was a little overwhelming for her, despite being behind glass.

Gran and Grandad left Monday afternoon, so the morning was filled with packing and errands. The time together was too short, of course, but filled with lots of special memories.

Puppy Love