Merry Christmas 2013

Well our Christmas holiday started on Friday December 21 when Ellie had a special holiday party at school. There was a short holiday program where the kids sang some Christmas carols for the parents and Santa. Yep, even Santa stopped by for a visit! Then there was a gift exchange (so every kid walked away with a wrapped present, picked at random from Santa's sack, which was brought by another student). Then there was a fun party afterwards where the kids got totally hopped up on sugar. There were cupcakes with frosting that was about 4" tall...so more ended up on them than in their stomachs. Lots of cookies were consumed, giggles were everywhere, and then all the kids went home, early from school.
















On Saturday, December 22, we took Ellie to her first ballet. We took her to The Snow Queen done by the California Contemporary Ballet Company. We got her all dressed up and headed to the ballet! The main lead was danced by her ballet teacher and she was so excited to see her. Ellie was not the youngest kid in the audience, but she was one of the best behaved. She sat quietly and was engaged for the entire 2.5 hour ballet. She was so excited to see her ballet teacher dance and was so happy to see her after the show. We all enjoyed the show and had a great time. I was so proud of Ellie.



And then Aunt Susu arrived. Ellie was looking forward to seeing Aunt Susu so much. So on Sunday night, she and I drove to LAX late at night (in the brand new car that was literally like 4 hours old at that moment) to pick up Susie. On Monday I had to work a little bit in the morning so Ellie and Susie got to work creating a gingerbread house and made some snowflake decorations for the house. Then we all had lunch and headed out for a little shopping in Old Town Pasadena.



Then it was Christmas Eve! My parents drove down from Santa Barbara to spend Christmas Eve with us. They arrived and we went shopping a little bit in Pasadena (last minute shopping is the VB tradition). And then we all proceeded to eat way too much...I think the technically term was "grazing" and we did that all afternoon before the traditional dinner of pizza. Of course there was some cookie cutting, decorating, and baking. There was some serious cookie decorating going on...

Then it was time to open presents! Below our tree was pretty crowded with presents. I think Ellie opened her favorite present first, a Playmobil kitchen that she has been coveting for a long time. She only wanted to play with the kitchen and we had to talk her into opening more presents. Of course, once she did open more she realized that she was a pretty lucky little girl this year.

Nick was pretty excited about his new dustbuster that Ellie and I got him...its the little things I guess that make him happy. Ellie was pretty excited about her Playmobil kitchen, but also VERY excited about the Playmobil kids room. And she was super pumped to see the cash register with play money that she got. She also got some great new books, a butterfly garden, and some other fun toys that she received from family. Ellie also did a pretty good job playing Santa and passing out presents to everyone. It was a fun evening, but once we saw that Santa was almost to Chicago and leaving presents for Tristan on the NORAD Santa tracking website...it was time for Ellie to change into pajamas and head to bed. Ellie and Susie had a slumber party in Ellie's room.

Christmas morning, Ellie stayed in bed until just before 7...which is her usual wake-up time anyway. After we heard her walking around Nick and I got up. We got my parents from the guest house and got set-up with cameras to watch Ellie walk into the living room to see the presents that Santa left for her.

She was so excited to see that Santa had brought her American Girl Bitty Twins. She was a little in shock, but also I think that she expected them. She had only asked Santa like 5 times...lucky little girl. Santa also had some fun stuffing stockings for everyone, especially Ellie. And of course Santa remembered to bring some Cronuts for Grandma Pam (and Grandpa Mike...but mostly Grandma Pam).

And then it was time for the traditional Christmas morning breakfast of friend mush. Then we headed up to Santa Barbara for Christmas dinner. Ellie would not leave her new twins (aptly named Luke and Leia, she came up with Leia and her dad volunteered Luke as a name for the boy twin...and its already starting).



It was a great Christmas full of family, good food, and good fun. And then we got up early and headed to Disneyland with Aunt Susie...which is deserving of its own blog post!

Numero Due: 28 weeks

Here we are, the start of the third trimester. Time sure is flying and I know the next approximately 12 weeks will fly by even faster. Our to do list is long to prepare for Numero Due including moving Ellie to the playroom (which has the bigger closet), setting up the crib, finding a new car seat, setting up the nursery, figuring out and purchasing all that misc. baby gear we can't reuse or don't have anymore, and on and on...not to mention the holidays, Ellie's birthday, and all the other usual life to-dos and business.

While we were in Illinois we asked Ellie what name she thought would be good for her brother. Her response: Chaos. It was hilarious. I think she was trying to make up a word as a name but after we explained to her the definition of chaos, we all decided that it would be a great nickname, especially given how much he moves.

Nick and Ellie have both felt Numero Due kick and move. Ellie was a little freaked out at first but now she wants to feel my stomach all the time to see if he's moving. She has also asked if the baby could hear her talk (I said we thought so) and then she would say hi and ask how he was doing and try to carry on a little conversation with him.

I'm feeling good. Definitely getting bigger and finding out the hard way that wrapping presents on the floor isn't quite as easy as I remember it. The heartburn is pretty constant, but I'm dealing with it. I get a little sciatica pain now and then, which I had with Barca. And the back pain...par for the course with pregnancy I guess. All in all, not bad at all.

Today was an exciting day. We traded in my 12 year old car. Maybe it is the whole pregnancy thing, but I was a little over emotional about the whole ordeal. It wasn't my first car, but 12 years is a long time (and it brought Ellie home from the hospital safely during a snowstorm). That car travelled with me from SB to college in Illinois, out to Boston, and then back to California. It was reliable and served our family well as our only car for a while when we were in Boston. But, it was finally time to upgrade to something that would get better gas mileage and have all the modern conveniences that we have become accustomed...like having a thermometer to tell the temp outside and a working clock. So now we have a new car. It's very exciting. I never thought I'd be someone who got a new car for Christmas...well, the photos below are the last we took with my old car. And you get a 28 week pregnancy photo as a bonus!











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Walking in a winter Chicagoland

Last week we headed to Chicagoland for five days. It was a jam packed trip full of fun, friends, and family. And of course cold weather. It's amazing how big of wimps we have become...but on the other hand, anyone would be cold when the high temperature of the day was 12 degrees!

We landed late on Wednesday night and all quickly fell asleep once we got to Grandma and Grandpa Harrer's house. We all woke early and headed to Chicago. After 15 years on the waiting list, Nick's name came up to purchase Cubs season tickets and Thursday was the day he got to pick them out. The Cubs let us in and we got to pick our season tickets out. Although it was 10 degrees, it was fun to wander around the ballpark and check out the different options. Ellie was confused that there wasn't baseball going on and she really wanted to see the Cubs...truly her fathers daughter. Nick picked out two seats in the front row of the upper deck just past the first base.


















I see many more trips to Chicago during the warmer months in our future...

Later that night we met up with an old friend for deep dish pizza, which we can never get enough of while we are in Chicago.









Friday there was plenty of time for sledding for Nick and Ellie. I didn't participate due to Numero Due but at least I got some great photos. Ellie loved going down the hill, even by herself, but didn't like the hike back up. Amazingly her size 2T winter coat that we bought 3 years ago for her still fit. We layered sweaters and hats and also had a pair of snow mittens from our Boston days to keep her warm.





















And of course after a long afternoon of sledding, we headed to Dunkin Donuts for hot chocolate...which Ellie has kinda become obsessed with.


Saturday...whoa...what a full day. We started out by meeting some old friends and their son (only a few months older than Ellie). First we met for lunch and then headed back to their place to hang out. They were generous enough to loan Ellie an old pair of snow pants that their son had outgrown, but which fit Ellie. Although just about the same age, their son is at least 6" taller than Ellie. The two kids played in the snow, throwing snowballs, making snow angels, and other typical kid behavior in the snow.












And it was all fun and games until Ellie got snow up her nose...



Then we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa Harrer's house for the aharrer family early holiday party. It was so nice to see family and cousins that we don't get to see too often. Ellie was so excited to see her younger cousins and they all had a blast.












Sunday was another full day. First there was holiday gift exchange with Grandma and Grandpa Harrer, then we headed to see Great-Grandma Kost for lunch and some quality time, and then we headed down to hang out with Aunt Cindy, Uncle Mike, and Cousin Tristan.



At lunch with Great-Grandma Kost, Ellie was a perfect kid. Of course she insisted on having hot chocolate with lunch. She and Grandma Kost had a great time teasing each other and making each other laugh. It's amazing what two people, born 85 years apart have in common (besides bright blue eyes) and can enjoy each other's company with such ease.



And if that wasn't enough, we headed down to see Cindy, Mike and Tristan for more presents, laughs, and good fun (and more deep dish pizza!!) Ellie and Tristan had fun together. Hopefully Tristan didn't pick up any for Ellie's bad habits.

















Monday was a rest day and then we headed home. I wasn't feeling too well on Monday and really took it easy, but Nick, Ellie and Grandma and Grandpa Harrer all had a relaxing day together.

We are happy to be home and back to warm weather (while Chicago experienced highs in the teens, it was in the 80s in Pasadena!). It was a whirlwind trip full of fun (Cubs season tickets!), friends, and time with family. Ellie loves her younger cousins and had so much fun with them this trip. Ellie also got some serious snow play time, which we all enjoyed but glad to only deal with the stuff now when we visit others. Next time we visit Chicago it will be warmer, the ivy will be growing in Wrigley and the Cubs will be playing!


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