Yuletide Fun

We had the busiest weekend when we went home last weekend. Every day was filled with a fun Xmas event, and we got to spend time with both of our families. It was really nice, even though we were more tired than we’ve been in a year!

Christmastime is here!

Friday night we went to my parent’s Christmas party that they throw with their best friends. It’s definitely an adult party, but we dragged Michelle there anyway. It was crazy, but I had a fun night! I haven’t seen 80% of my friends/family friends since losing weight, so Michael and I got a lot of complements and acknowledgements about our weight loss (some were SO nice, some were very rude. Lol! Like saying we look great, and they’ve known us for years and didn’t know we could look so good-looking! Hahaha, thanks).

The next day we went to the Christmas Tree farm with my in-laws to cut down their tree. We’ve gone every year for a while now (5 years? I forget!) It was Michelle’s first time there outside of the womb (last year they closed early so she missed out), and she had so much fun! 

My little family

Auntie Rach, Nona and Gramps

My little family

Yearly Xmas photo

After pretending to be lumberjacks and drinking cider, we got ready for an Ugly Christmas Sweater party. It was my first time attending one, and it was fun to decorate our sweaters! I made Michael, Michelle, and myself matching sweater vests. Ha! It was also an adult party, but there was one other baby there for Michelle to play with for a while. 

Matchy matchy!

Michael's ladies - his mom, wife and daughter (can I just add that Michelle keepts yelling "NONA!" at this picture. Haha)

Caging the other little kid at the party. LoL!

Sunday we had breakfast with my sister and two nieces, then went back to my in-laws so they could decorate the tree. My hubby’s family all have special tree ornaments they like to hang (childhood ones, baby’s first xmas, and sentimental ones), so his parents like to have the kids decorate. We got home pretty late, and then got up and left for Y at 5 am! We hate that early morning drive, but what can ya do? It was worth it.

Cousins!

 

Relaxing with Daddy after he got home from work

SNOW!

I have always known something about myself. I am a mild weather kind of girl. Not too hot, not too cold, and I’m peachy. I’ve always told Michael I have no interest in staying anywhere it snows longer than a 1-2 day vacation. Fast forward to today, when I’m living at a house that’s covered in snow and ice…and I don’t hate it!

Michael warned me that it was going to snow, but I kept thinking it would just be a light sprinkling that wouldn’t stick. Boy was I wrong – the sky dumped 6 inches within hours and our house transformed into a freezing winter wonderland. 

Michelle loves it. Every time her eye catches the bright white landscape that is our backyard, she yells “SNOW!” which sounds more like ‘nnyo!” She loves watching the deer sleep in the snow in our yard, and danced in the falling snowflakes. She never cried when snow got in her Uggs, and laughed when I threw snow in the air above her head. 

Charlie actually liked the snow and ran like a madman all over the yard. He did start to whimper after about 45 minutes, but it was freezing and he doesn’t have snow boots ;-)

Michael’s been working in the snow, and his work truck is a rear wheel drive (the worst thing to drive in the snow), so he’s been driving my Subaru to work. Great for him - it’s the best car ever (Forester – with all-wheel drive), but not so great for us because we’ve been stranded during the day. It actually wasn’t too bad; I ended up online shopping and getting a ton of Xmas stuff out of the way. 

Today we got home from a weekend in the Bay Area to find the snow is melting. I’m sad to see it go, but happy that we’ll be able to safely drive around town without the threat of accident at every turn. I just wish we made a snowman when we had the chance!  

 

Los Cabos!

For the week of Thanksgiving, my little family joined my in-laws for a vacation in Los Cabos, Mexico. We spent the week swimming at beaches, shopping, and eating delicious food. 

Ready to go, Mom and Dad!

Welcome to paradise would have been more accurate ;-)

Michelle has flown before (over the summer on a quick mini-vacation to SoCal), so we weren’t too worried about how she’d be on the plane. Luckily for us, our 100% booked flight had an extra seat, and the woman in our row decided to be the coolest person ever, and give up her seat to Michelle. She offered, and we ended up getting three seats for the price of two! I really hope that nice lady had some positive karma go back to her :) 

Our private row! Lol

Nursing on the plane to pop those ears

Our hotel was in San Jose del Cabo, and it was very beautiful. We roasted marshmallows at the hotel’s fire pit, swam in the pool with a swim-up bar, and lounged in the hot tub. Michelle had so much fun in the water, and loved being able to play with her cousin Nichole. 

Michelle and Nichole sitting by the fire

Roasting mallows

Sitting by the pool - little cuties!

My sassy girl, posing on the beach at the hotel

We went to Chileno Beach a few times, and it was by far my favorite spot! The waves were high, but gentle enough to swim in, and there were SO many fish. Michelle’s Nona held her the whole time in the ocean, so Michael and I were able to play in the waves. It was awesome!

Swimming with Nona

Mama and Mish

Gorgeous!

Watching the waves

Move over Coppertone Baby! There's a new cutie in town!

 

On Thanksgiving day, we had a fish dinner that the men caught, and Michelle and Nichole wore matching dresses (a gift from Diann, Michelle’s Nona!). 

Michael, his uncle John, and dad (Gramps)

Festive girls!

All in all, we had a great time, and we are forever grateful for the generosity we experienced. Michael’s family likes to take care of each other :)

Kisses and cuddles from Nona and Grandpa

We had a whole day layover in Dallas Texas, so we thought we’d make a mini-vacation out of our home trip. Well, it was horrible and Texas left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to visit – it was dirty, ghetto, and frustrating in the town we were in. We tried to make a trip to downtown Dallas to shop, but we experienced a horrible cab ride and things kept preventing it. Boo. We had high hopes, but it was a bust. Thankfully we had such a fun time in Mexico! The Texas trip can fade into the ether. Lol

Choo Choo

One Michael's birthday weekend we drove home from Y to spend time at our house in the Bay Area. Michael loves Zachary's pizza in Oakland/Berkeley, so his parents and sisters met us out there for a evening of family time and good food.

Before we went to the restaurant with the family, we went to Oscar's in Berkeley for lunch, and then met at Tilden Park to ride the train, and then shop at some of our favorite secondhand shops.
Michelle loved riding the trains and kept saying "choo choo" to anyone who walked by. We cannot wait to go back! Hopefully when we do go back, the little farm and carousel will be open for business (they were closed due to a pipe leak and decoration for xmas).

Sitting with Mama in the caboose area.

The wait for our pizza was TWO HOURS, which was longer than normal and they tossed in a free pizza for the mishap. Of course we didn't mind, because the pizza is worth the wait!
While we waited, Michelle played with her aunts and drove a motorcycle on her own. Lol, no, she wishes. Really, she does - she's just too hardcore.

Ready to ride

At Zachary's, the whole restaraunt sang "happy birthday" to Michael. He said he has never been embarassed by the singing of his birthday until that moment. The whole  place sang; it was hilarious and awesome.  

As I typed this, Michelle saw the pictures of herself on the train and started laughing and cheering. Looks like she can't wait to go back too!

Riding again, this time in an open car

Sitting with Aunt Rachael :)

My Growing Baby

The house is quiet right now, so I thought it would be a good time to sneak in a blog and gush about my adorable daughter.

In a week and a half my sweet little baby will be 18 months old - that's one and a half! Where has the time gone?!

Michelle is getting smarter, braver, and tougher every single day. She amazes me with the words she knows, the actions she makes, and the cute things she shows us. Today she looped a purse strap around Charlie and walked him around the house. She's also started saying please and thank you, which sounds like "peas" and "teeek ooo". So polite!

We should just buy Charlie a saddle!

She's obsessed with books, animals, and climbing everything! But nothing more than babies and dolls.
For the past month or so, we can't go anywhere without Michelle bringing along her baby doll. It is an old hand-me-down Target brand doll from her cousin, and it's pretty beat up (more now than it was when she inherited it, that's for sure!). "Baby" comes in all of the stores, sits in Mish's highchair and stroller with her, and goes on adventures from Y back to the Bay Area. It's so cute, and so funny because we made it a point not to push any gender stereotypical toys on her, but she loves that baby doll! 

Getting ready to ride the train with Baby at Tilden Park in Berkeley

A few days ago we went to Oregon for the day. Mish was a trouper! After being in a Fred Meyer for over an hour though, she started to lose her patience. We let her play with this silly little toy bottle because of course she had her baby doll with her, and my amazing child put the bottle right in the dolls mouth and started making soothing sounds. How did she know that the bottle was for the baby? She's never taken a bottle and she's never seen a baby with a bottle. She's very observant. And she's loving. She met the next door neighbor (who is two days older than her) for the first time last week, and gave him a big hug after getting over her initial shyness! 

Mish feeding Baby, while cheap-o $2 baby watches hungrily

I can hear Michael reading a book to Michelle right now, and every now and then she'll let out a cheer or let out a quick jumble of words in her language (that we're still trying to learn). I think she's reading alongside her daddy. <3

Already excited about "big girl" stuff like matching toe nails.

How is it that she's growing up so quickly before my eyes, but I don't feel like I've aged a bit?