Christmas: Before, During, & After

LaVor was able to get the day before, and after, Christmas off and since we were with his parents this year (and had a missionary farewell in Livermore on the 28th), we drove down to the Bay Area for the festivities.

After helping my sister out on Wednesday morning (poor thing threw her back out), and loading up the car with presents, we braved the hour and a half drive, which included Doodlebug screaming 3/4 of the way and random torrential downpours.

Not long after we arrived, we called The Lime's favorite pizza spot to find out if they were open. "'Til 6:00," they said. An early dinner was fine by us, especially since they also had spaghetti and that's a Christmas Eve tradition in my family. We gobbled up our dinner and set out to look at Christmas lights. (Forgot my camera for this part of the trip...shoot!)

After we got back to LaVor's parents', his dad read the Christmas story from the scriptures (a tradition in LaVor's family).

The Lime gets distracted easily so we had to reel him back in by sitting next to Papa, having him act out the nativity with Little People, and finally whipping out a book that had pictures.

Doodlebug just ate all the animals while the story was read.

Next, LaVor's mom read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. The Lime started off wrestling with LaVor, while Doodlebug paid attention, but soon became intrigued and wanted to find out what happened next with the story.

Next, we opened up pajamas, built a miniature fort, put out some cookies for Santa, and got ready for his arrival!

To our surprise, The Lime went right to bed and didn't get up once during the night. Definitely didn't inherit that from me. And I wish I could say the same for Doodlebug.

Around 7:00 Christmas morning, The Lime woke up and was ready to start the festivities. I quickly snapped some photos before he had a chance to see what Santa brought him.

LaVor and I had to check if Santa came and sure enough, he did!

The Lime got his wooden balance bike three years ago for Christmas and has TOTALLY outgrown and mastered it. He was content riding it but we knew all year that Santa was going to bring him a bike. He couldn't wait to take his new bike for a ride and he was a pro! The balance bike did its job.

We switched off from opening presents to LaVor's parents Skyping with his siblings to eating to The Lime riding his bike and then back to opening presents.

We spent the rest of the day at the park, where The Lime rode his bike some more and then we enjoyed a yummy prime rib dinner with mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, and rolls and a homemade banana cream pie for dessert.

The next day, we were on the hunt for a Christmas tree (ours is shedding its fake needles) but didn't find one in the price range I had set. Naturally, we went to lunch at La Piñata, and then spent a couple hours with my sister and nieces and nephew. The Lime and I got to test out their new karaoke machine and it was F.U.N!

That night, we drove to LaVor's grandparents' where we ate dinner and exchanged gifts. Something in the Chinese food didn't agree with The Lime and instantly caused his throat to get itchy and bumps to form around his mouth. Have I mentioned how much I hate food allergies? A teaspoon of Benadryl and we were as good as new (it has a permanent spot in my backpack, next to his EpiPen).

There was a whole heck of a lot of celebrating and it's hard to believe it was already a week ago. Only 51 weeks to prepare for next year.

San Francisco

I've been wanting to go to San Francisco for months but with an unreliable car, we had to put it on hold time and time again. Since we were in the Bay Area last week, and we have a car that works, we were able to pay the city a visit.

All The Lime wanted to do on Saturday was go to the park. After realizing our favorite BBQ restaurant was closed for the holidays, we drove to Hayes Valley where I got my macaron fix and The Lime got to play.

There was some spiderweb-like structure that he could have played all day on.

Although I know it's obvious we're not locals, especially when I have my camera out, I like going to the smaller neighborhoods. You had kids playing on the playground, an elderly man doing stretches on a bench, hoodlums hanging out at the picnic tables, and hipsters ordering their green juice across the street.

I happened to look up at the sky for a minute and noticed the clouds doing some crazy things. I wonder if this has an official name?

After we had a chance to play, everyone was getting hungry for lunch. We had so much to choose from, just within 100 feet. Hot dogs, Stacks, Patxi's, La Boulange, and Flipper's. (Side note, when I was in high school, my German teacher would take us to dinner at Suppenküche up the street. We got to the city early one night and relaxed in Flipper's patio until our reservation.) We decided on Flipper's.

Doodlebug was tired and hungry, which made for an exciting hour of keeping him quiet and calm. Thank goodness for the enormous amount of avocado I got on my burger. Doodlebug hates anything I feed him but gobbled up the avocado. Good to know.

Since The Lime ate half of his huge burger, he earned a scoop of ice cream from Smitten. We had stopped here a year and a half ago on the way to the Avon Walk and loved their vanilla. The Lime ordered mint chocolate chip and this was the real deal. I held his cup while he put his seat belt on and got a whiff of a plant. I sniffed around and then realized it was the fresh mint they put in the ice cream. His 4 year old palette ate some of it but wasn't able to finish the whole thing.

From there we drove a couple blocks to Alamo Square so we could show The Lime where Full House took place. The actual house is on the other side of the city but we didn't get a chance to see it. The Lime kept asking where everyone was. I have to remind him often that what we watch on TV is just pretend and that Becky and Jesse aren't really married.

Wouldn't you know, Alamo Square also had a park. You better believe The Lime went straight to it. Doodlebug also had fun trying things out, even if he was freezing.

The weather was starting to get to us and the boys needed naps, so we called it good and headed back home. We'll have to go back soon, though, so we can get our much anticipated BBQ and check out a few more parks (I really want to take The Lime to Dolores Park...I know he'll love it!).

Doodlebug - Tally Mark 7

-Still no teeth and still drooling like a machine.
-Sits up all by himself.
-Pulls up on things low to the ground (couch, toy box).
-Likes to play with his hair when he nurses.
-Hates when Mommy leaves his sight.
-Has had rice cereal and bananas.  The banana upsets his stomach and made him throw up two weeks ago.  Nobody enjoyed that night.
-Possibly said "Mamamama" last week but it hasn't happened again so who knows.
-Sleeps horribly.  I don't let him cry it out because I don't want him to wake LaVor or The Lime up, but I'm getting to the point where I might have to.
-Still army crawls all over the house.  Has gotten up on all fours but hasn't quite figured out what to do when he's in that position.  He was crawling around the kitchen on all fours on 12/18.
-Met Santa last week and didn't even flinch, except when he tried pulling on his beard.
-Has so much hair, I don't know what to do.  It grows lightning fast but we don't want to cut it, in fear that it might get darker if we do.
-Is following in The Lime and LaVor's footsteps and looks so stinkin' cute in hats and beanies.

And he can't keep his tongue in his mouth, just like his big bro

Farmers Market

Kale, lettuce, kettle corn, apples, oranges, potatoes

Growing up, my mom would occasionally take us to the Farmers Market.  I loved buying flowers there, especially sunflowers.  There was a Dutch baker that had delicious cinnamon bread and other pastries.

When we lived in Livermore, we couldn't wait for May to come around so we could walk to the market every Thursday night.  Sometimes, the strawberries wouldn't even make it home.  Because we were there every week, people began to recognize The Lime from his cowboy hat and wooden bike.  We always ran into friends, usually Mike and Chelsea.

One of the perks of where we live now is that our city has several year-round markets that we can choose from each week.  We even paid a visit a few weeks ago when it was raining cats and dogs.  I was never so happy to see my apple guy.  It made being wet worth it.

Yes, I have an apple guy.  The most delicious pink lady apples for $1.50 a pound!  $1.50!!!!!  Can you believe that?!  I can't remember the last time we bought apples at the grocery store.  I will forever give the apple guy my business, even if he doesn't give me my two cents in change.

The carrots from the market are so good, too.  And the strawberries.  I've never heard LaVor enjoy a piece of fruit like he does those strawberries.  And this week, the potato lady found a heart potato for The Lime.

I can't wait to start making Doodlebug's baby food with all the yummy, fresh produce we have available at our fingertips.

I'm anxious to see what treasures we find next week, in addition to my apples.

A Visit With Santa

Months ago, I saw that our city was putting on a special (free) Christmas event. I meant to put it in my calendar but plum forgot. Thankfully, I woke up Saturday morning and realized that was the day! Unfortunately, LaVor got called into work not too long before we were ready to leave. It just about broke The Lime's heart but I managed to convince him we'd still have fun, sans Daddy.

As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a familiar fire truck that was going to bring Santa to the event. When we walked into the community center, we couldn't believe how packed the place was. The people running the show handed us our raffle ticket for a picture with Santa, showed us where everything was, and told us to have fun.

Our first stop, and everyone else in the place, was the train. It was in the far corner and trying to maneuver the stroller through the craziness was a sight, I'm sure.

We waited in line for a bit but the boys did a great job and enjoyed the quick, but fun, train ride.

My "good" camera wasn't working so I had to resort to my flip phone

After that, The Lime wanted some popcorn so we patiently waited in line. He got his bag and we headed to the bleachers to sit and enjoy or snack. We passed the cookie/cupcake decorating station but he passed on that fun. I grabbed him a cup of punch, which left a nice pink mustache on his upper lip.

As we were enjoying our snack, they called our number to go see Santa. While we were waiting in line, LaVor called me and told me he was done at work and he'd see us soon. In a matter of minutes, he was standing behind us in line. Totally made The Lime's day.

The Lime knew exactly what he wanted to tell Santa and wasn't one bit scared to sit on his lap (good or bad thing?). Doodlebug could have cared less that he was a stranger and just wanted to pull on his beard.

It's taken me a while to get used to our new home and area. But events like this make me so grateful we're here. The people who organized it did such an amazing job, obviously putting tons of time and effort into making it special and magical for families. We'll be back next year!

'Tis the Season

Almost three weeks since a post...yikes!

I love this time of year but hate how busy everything and everyone gets.  And I don't even have kids in school or extracurricular activities.  I can't imagine what next year will be like!

I've been spending more time on the computer in the last two weeks than I have all year.  Working on Christmas stuff and getting teacher binders ready for next year's primary have been my life, aside from my normal life.  I'm anxious for January to get here!

We had some sick visitors last week and whadda ya know?  Doodlebug started sneezing and coughing Friday night.  His sleep is pretty much non-existent and I hate seeing him not feel well.  Poor little guy still smiles at the drop of a hat, even though his eyes are watering, chest is congested, and nose is running.

On a happier note, I won a twitter contest and will be receiving two free tickets to an A's game as well as an inning in the radio booth.  For a girl who used to dream of being a radio DJ, I'm so excited!  I don't think I'll be on the radio but just seeing how everything works is going to be a treat!

There will be new posts this week.  Rain, Santa in the Park, Doodlebug's seven month mark, and whatever else might come about between now and then.