Goodbye 2010

Being on the brink of a new year, makes most reflect on the past year. I wish I could say 2010 was something other than the "year of the cast" since it really was only six weeks but who am I kidding. 2010 will always be in my memory because of the broken leg.

There are other highlights I like to think about (in no particular order):
- Leo starting school
- Serafina outgrowing the reflux, hyper-sensitive gag reflex and finally sleeping
- Visiting Seal Beach
- Brother and sister starting to play together and showing each other affection
- Leo singing "Farmer in the Dell" at the block party
- Serafina starting to walk and learning to do it again.
- All our wonderful visitors and the fun we had spending time with them
- And of course, our great Christmas and my new toilet seat

Favorite quotes:
Leo - "Everything's rad."
Serafina - "Mama"

Recently, Leo has been asking me to help him get ready for bed (instead of Daddy) and in order to make that happen, he says, "I want Mommy to do it because she's the coolest." How can I say no to that? I dread the day he realizes I'm not even close to cool.

Today we visited Happy Hollow, the scene of the leg breaking. We avoided the slide and just went on a few rides and saw the animals at their little zoo.

Leo having fun on the merry-go-round.
Serafina didn't have the same adventurous spirit she did during our last visit so she sat on my lap for the merry-go-round.

Happy New Year everyone. Health and happiness in 2011 for all of us.

Winter break

Tom has a break from work this week. Leo continues to be on break from school and swim lessons. And Serafina is taking a break from being happy. She's still running a fever on and off and is so miserable. She didn't cry this much when she broke her leg. Thank god Tom has been around to help since she needs to be held almost all the time and even that doesn't keep her very content. The doctor said to give it six days before bringing her in, so we'll see how she's doing tomorrow. Before bed she was doing better and even played a little bit. I have my fingers crossed we are through the worst of it.

Daddy and Leo play with Play Doh. Tom made some impressive bugs.

Poor little sick girl. She's so cute, so pathetic and so very annoying.

A very merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, everyone! This post won't include too much text so I can get back to eating my third (yes, third) piece of pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting. It doesn't fully fulfill Tom's nostalgic need for authentic Italian pastries on Christmas, but a little homemade love goes a long way.

Here's the loot. It was pretty out of control.
Diving in.
Every time Leo was asked what he wanted from Santa, he said a backhoe. Without fail, he said backhoe. Sometimes he added other things to the list - candy cane, umbrella - but always, always backhoe. Here he is opening it.
And a little later, playing with it.
He also got the umbrella.
Serafina loved ripping open presents, but didn't get overly interested in anything until later in the day.
The after-math.
Paging Dr. Mirrione.

Checking his own blood pressure.
Paging the other Dr. Mirrione.
Nana and Leo play a stacking game from Grandma Carrie.
Tom does some stacking of his own and is very proud of his work.
Doing a little shopping. This cart was a big hit excepted she kept getting stuck on the carpet and having a fit.
Skype-ing with Uncle Sal and the gang. Everyone enjoyed it and we hope to make it a regular thing.
That is the face of a man who is very happy with the rib roast he's made. A multi-hour process that totally paid off.
Can't end Christmas without cramming into a cabinet.
Overall it was a great day. Serafina wasn't feeling very well and could be heard crying in the background of all the phone calls made to family and friends. I know there will be some post-Christmas let down since there are no more presents to open and Nana will be leaving tomorrow, but hopefully we'll survive.

Toilet Seat

Christmas changes when you become an adult. Most people get a little cynical, annoyed by Christmas music, disgusted by mass consumerism, etc. Having kids changes it again, because of the renewed excitement from seeing it through their eyes. We get so much joy from the kids' experience, we don't need much in the way of gifts. But my husband blew me away last Christmas with a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings. I knew there was no jewelry in my stocking this year and our joint gift this year - a Kindle - came a few weeks ago. When my mom set a large gift in my lap this morning and said "this is from your husband", I assumed it was the sauce pan we need (I also got that). I smiled and said, "I know what this is." So when I ripped through the paper and saw a brand new toilet seat, I laughed and laughed. I laughed so hard I cried. Leo was a little worried, but I assured him I was very happy.


I wanted this too, but I never imagined it would be wrapped up with a bow under the Christmas tree. When we re-did our bathroom, Tom picked an eco-friendly toilet with a not-so-butt friendly seat. Now we have a seat as great as the whole bathroom.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always a day of anticipation, excitement and eating. It started off with picking up Nana from the airport, which was almost as great as the late night arrival of another white-haired wonder.

Tom meets the Sing-a-ma-jigs that Nana brought. He was smitten.
My little elf.
Nana took the kids out for a walk while I made some cookie dough. Serafina didn't want to walk or push her stroller or even be carried, so Nana pushed her in the doll stroller. Turns out Serafina was about to spike a fever.
Tom decorates some cookies.
Leo liked putting on the sprinkles.
Our simple, but delicious butter cookies. A few were left out for Santa in appreciation for his efforts.
Opening an early gift from Nana - "Band in a Box".
My kids are musical instrument fans.
Leo wasn't feeling that great either and spends most of the night coughing. Nana also brought Toy Story 3, which was the perfect pre-dinner activity for my sickie kids.
Poor Serafina. Puffy and feverish. She went to bed early and managed to sleep okay.
Another early present - an awesome parking garage (with gas pumps and elevator) from Uncle Mike. He was so stoked on this gift; he would of slept with it if he could.

Rock it out, Serafina

She loves to move and groove to any music she hears. Seriously, someone could be humming and she'll throw her arms up and start to bop.

Fun?

3rd Annual Holiday Cookie Exchange

Our moms group had our annual cookie party. It's not too much different than a normal playdate except for the massive amount of cookies (and similar treats). Today's party went really well, though Serafina cried for the last half hour or so, but that probably would have happened regardless of the circumstances. The past two years we have been part of a larger moms group and this event always brought out moms we had never met before and would never see again. It was much more relaxed with just our core group. Tom helped me move a couple of tables out of the living room and I took out some of the toys (especially those with a lot of pieces), so we didn't feel too crowded.

Here's the spread. I made Triple Chocolate Brownie cookies and White Chocolate Cranberry cookies.
Sophia and Daisy have some pizza.
Since the table was full of cookies, we had a pizza picnic.
Serafina's shirt says "I Love Santa" but we know the truth.
Maia tries to escape the chaos.
Katie snagged a piece of fudge.
April, aka Super Mom, and her brood.
I think Serafina was ready to hitch a ride elsewhere and climbed into Riley's car seat.

Holiday Party

We started our Sunday like we do most Sundays, we Skyped with Nana. Leo showed her the elf book he made and she read him a book. As we were getting ready to say goodbye, he told her, "I love your beautiful eyes." What a charmer.

After Serafina's morning nap, we got ready to go to a holiday party our friends were having. I love dressing Serafina in outfits like this one. She looks like she's a super sassy retiree named Estelle minus the tacky gold costume jewelry.

Tom holds a Christmas elf, also know as baby Riley.
Leo opens a little gift from the hosts while Addison watches.
Serafina climbed into this baby chair and thought it was great fun, especially when Leo rocked her.
So, I don't think Leo is much of a party person. While we were at Addison's house, he told me, "I'm ready to go home." It was about time to leave anyway, but when we got home he had a big melt-down. Last Wednesday evening, he had a tantrum at the end of a birthday party. I assumed it was the big load of refined-sugar in the birthday cake and googled "sugar sensitivity" when I got home. But he didn't have any sugar at the party today, so maybe it was just a little too far past the usual nap time. I hope he's in good spirits tomorrow because we are having our 3rd annual cookie exchange party at our house. Yay for tons of sugar and small children!