1.07.2013

Insta-Christmas

Packing her suitcase.

Packing her suitcase. She learned how to pull up to standing right before we left!

A hard-fought battle.

Finally asleep on the plane, which only lasted until the pilot made an announcement twenty minutes later.

It's so much brighter here, Mom!

The sun is so much brighter in Houston than in Seattle {even when it's actually shining}.

Hmm, fajitas or enchiladas?

Claire had a blast going out to eat so often on our trip. She loves playing with menus!

The good stuff.

Every night, I was faced with a dilemma - Christmas cookies or Blue Bell? The correct answer is both.

A Christmas miracle!

Claire's hair perplexes me on a daily basis. It looks red when she's with her Aunt Allie, but blonde when she's with her Aunt Katie. I'm secretly hoping for red...

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig.

We flew home the day after Christmas. Traveling really makes you appreciate your own home so much more!

Found after her nap. Got into a sitting position all by herself!

The next day, Claire figured out how to get into a sitting position all by herself. She's changing by leaps and bounds these days.

Little mama.

We opened our presents to each other on Saturday, December 29. My parents also sent a few things for Claire so we wouldn't have to pack them. She loves, loves, loves the doll stroller they gifted her. A mama in the making!

Fondue, party of two.

We had our own little Christmas dinner that night - cheese and chocolate fondue!

Enthralled baby at the town New Year's bonfire.

On Sunday, December 30 our parish had a potluck lunch to celebrate the feast of the Holy Family {it's namesake}. I'm telling you, right after Christmas is the best time to have a potluck. You can just bring your leftover Christmas cookies, saving you the work of making something and the calories from finishing them off yourself. Our town had a community bonfire that night to kick off the new year.

A perk of living on the west coast - you can watch the ball drop at 9:00 pm. Happy new year!

On New Year's Eve, we went to a party thrown by some playgroup friends, where we watched the ball drop on kid-friendly east coast time!

Celebratory New year's/Marian feast day blueberry muffins!

I am attempting a new tradition this year of having blueberry muffins for all the Marian feast days. These should last us for a while!

My favorite way to end the day.

Adam had New Year's Day off, so we used it to have a little family meeting to chat about our budget and other plans for the year. We also started 2013 off right with pot roast and peppermint ice cream for dinner.

My favorite shopping buddy!

On Wednesday, Adam came home from work with the stomach flu. Boo! He stayed home sick on Thursday and I tried to keep Claire out of the house so he could recover. The girls of the family got away unscathed, I think.

Maybe the best Anthro display I've seen yet.

On Saturday, Adam watched Claire for the afternoon so I could spend my Christmas shopping money. The only time I can afford to shop at Anthropologie {home of the best displays ever} is when they take an extra 30% off their clearance prices!

This chocolate pie is mostly tofu! #weirdbutgood

For Epiphany, we roasted a chicken for the first time but were feeling like a healthier dessert was in order, so we tried a chocolate fudge pie that has tofu as the main ingredient. It was surprisingly tasty! Turns out a crust that's only coconut and butter is not actually healthy at all though. Our "no bread, so it must be better for you" thought process was super off-base.

The Christmas decorations are coming down tonight. I'm ready!

2 comments:

  1. I love the blueberry muffins idea! Also, Michael's hair is the same way! My theory is he'll come out red eventually but be mostly blonde during childhood. (Kind of like Keith was, and I was pretty blonde as a kid too.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. She's standing! Watch out Burches; I hope you've got your running shoes on!

    ReplyDelete

You are awesome.