Christmas

Christmas time was a blast. We had a solid week of family Christmas events and parties with friends. Wallace is such a trooper. We love bringing him along with us and seeing our friends and relatives hold him and get to know him. However, I think he is ready to slow down a bit and be in bed at his normal time. We're excited about that too!

Check out these pics. Another exciting thing was seeing Wallace sit up by himself! He also loves to hold on to things while standing. He likes using his legs.




Gypsy & Oliver relaxing together.

Here is Wallace opening presents at the Wallace (my dad's side of the family) Family Christmas at the Parsons house in San Clemente. These are gifts from my aunts. He loved all the new sounds.

Lake Arrowhead

As many of you know, each year my parents take us all on a 2-night secret trip. It's a secret because they don't tell us where we're going until Christmas day. We spend the month guessing and trying to get it out of them. On the day, we come packed with bags and ready to go. After stockings, gifts and a big breakfast, we load up and take off. This year we rented a cabin in Lake Arrowhead. It was extra special, having two new members in the family. We all had so much fun together. This is the view from our deck:








Here were the stockings. And Wallace.

Time...

escapes us as this busy month passes by. the past week has been full of fun & memorable times with family and friends. Here's an overview:

wallace's dimpled smile in his dorky (yet very cute) hat.


somebody sleeping through the boat parade.

looking at lights in naples (long beach)... an annual tradition with friends from college.

yes, we left wallace at home in exchange for gypsy. like old times.

christmas dinner with the girls. this year we went to savannah (formerly chat noir) and sat in the louvre!

we met lara at the grove in los angeles. here she is bravely holding him while he eats (this can be a very messy ordeal).

a little christmas dinner with a few friends at our house. we had chili, cornbread, hot chocolate... perfect for the rainy night. we also had wallace entertain us.




saying goodnight before going to bed (wallace, not me).

Merry Christmas from us!

Here's a little something special for all of you....
Click HERE and enjoy!

Christmas Wedding

We were up in Santa Barbara for the wedding of Shin & Sarah, two friends from college. Santa Barbara is always so gorgeous and the weather of course was beautfiul this weekend. I wish we took more pics... but here's what we ended up with.


At the wedding there was this photo booth. It was so rad. Wallace was asleep at this point, but we took a cute one with him earlier that ended up in the guest book.

This is Wallace back at the hotel. He slept through most of the wedding reception (somehow sleeping through all the dance music) and was ready to crash for the night in his pack'n'play here.

We had lunch with some of our friends on the beach the next morning.

This was so fun... we drove through the Malibu canyons on the way home because we wanted to check out the fire country. And it was pretty crazy. Then we took PCH all the way home and it was absolutely stunning. The views of Catalina this weekend were crystal clear. The lights of Avalon, looking up and down the coast, the salty air.... I love where we live.

Thursday Play Time

Update

Wallace is keeping me busy. Each day is full of nursing, real food feedings, nap time, tummy time, reading, and so on. We snuggle on the couch, we listen to music, we laugh and roll on the floor (mostly he rolls on the floor. I don't really). Anyway, we also go shopping (especially this month) and meet friends for coffee, lunch, or walks. This week Wallace was able to see Jenni at her house, Avery & Sam at The Block and Juliana & Liv at the beach. He and I have so much fun together. Wallace is so layed back and easy to please. He is smiling at most any stranger who looks at him. He seems to brighten everyone's day, as they think they're the only one he smiles at or something. His latest trick is rolling over, which he started doing on Thanksgiving day. It's so fun for us to watch him grow and change.

FOOD FOOD FOOD!

Last week Wallace began eating his first foods. He's eating rice cereal mixed with a little fruit or veggies to give it some flavor. The stuff tastes nasty by itself. He still trying to figure out the whole spoon thing. As you can see, most of it ends up on the bib, his face, my arm, the floor, and then in Gypsy's mouth. Look at the pic of Gypsy watching Wallace eat. She's so jealous!

Lars and the Real Girl

This is a great movie. It's so funny and such a sweet story of love and community. I think it might still be playing at the Lido Theater, where you can watch it from the balcony. Fun!

Thanksgiving & Gifts

Us girls got together at Val's house for a Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. It was also a time to be with Liss and celebrate Amelia Paige who will be born in January.

Sara made this incredible pumpkin soup!

Val, J, Heidi working very hard in the kitchen.

This polka dotted piggy bank was SO cute.

Me & Heidi

Am I an old person?

We went to bed at 7:45 last night. One, because I am sick with a cold. Two, because I hurt my foot while showing Rian how many times I can spin really fast on the hardwood floor in the kitchen. Three, because there is nothing on TV to watch and even if there was, we are now down to only 3 channels. And even if The Office was on, it would be a rerun since last week was the last written episode.

Wallace...making some noise

Travels

You should do this. It's fun. Click on the link to see what percentage of the world you've travelled.

This Weeks Recommendations

1. Hot Toddy. I've felt like I'm fighting a cold so when we went out to dinner with Missy & Jon, I ordered this drink. Ahhh, it was steaming hot and the honey and lemon coat your throat so good! Here's a good recipe we use at home:

1.5 ounces Bourbon
1 ounce Honey
1/3 ounce Lemon Juice
3 ounces Water (Hot)

Warm the honey and lemon juice for about half a minute in microwave and then to add hot water and the bourbon.

2. Peppermint Joe Joe's (from Trader Joes). They're only here for the holidays... so hurry. And stock up.

3. The Five A's. We mentor some of the young couples who go through Rock Harbor's premarital class. We thought that since we keep them accountable to doing The Five A's each night, that we should do it ourselves. It's really a cool thing and is helpful in bringing up things you might not think to talk about. Here they are:
-Affirmation (I appreciated it today when you...)
-Affection (A hug, kiss, snuggling, massage, etc)
-Apology (Is there any way I irritated, frustrated, or hurt you today?)
-Ask (Is there anything you would like me to do today, tomorrow, or this week?)
-Amen (Ask your spouse if there's anything specific you can pray for them. End in prayer.)

The Weekend

Last week Lauren and Brian returned from the wedding, the honeymoon up the coast through wine country, and a Redding reception with Brian's family and friends. They leave tonight for Guatamala. Needless to say, this past week has been a whirlwind of fun family times as they prepare to leave on their adventure and we try to squeeze in every last minute with them.

Here are some pics from our especially busy Sunday. We went to church and lunch with the fam, to a couples baby shower with friends from college, and then to a dinner party in LA.

This actually was Saturday night. We were at home watching the usc game. Wallace enjoyed his new pod thing that you see here. Oliver all of a sudden seemed comfortable around Wallace as he sprawled behind him on the couch all night.

Here's a shot of the girls from Karen and Mike Cleary's shower (Kelly, Me, Madeline, Karen, Beth, Gina, & Ella).

Up in LA... Liv, Wallace, and Taylor were able to bond.

Lara made this scarf for Wallace. It is adorable!

Here are some pictures from the roof of their loft. Some are blurry, but I put them anyway. There's something about this city that I just love. Looking out there's such an energy yet calmness. I could stare over LA for a long time thinking of all that goes on under those lights.

Sunset

Did you see it last night? Gorgeous. We stopped making dinner to run outside and do a photo shoot.