Magic

Ava and I almost never get one on one time and it's hard on both of us. Our annual passes expire in a few weeks and she's on winter break, so I surprised her with a day trip to Disneyland. She was beyond thrilled to go, and within the first 15 minutes told me how happy she was to finally get to spend special time with me. I haven't seen her so happy & giggly in ages. I let her pick all the rides and we braved the rain in our ponchos and raincoats. At the end of the day, she fell asleep in my arms while we waited for our flight home. She's getting bigger, but she's still my baby.

Solstice Eclipse

Tyler and I had a winter solstice date the other night. We stood outside drinking hot cocoa and watching the lunar eclipse. It was chilly, fun, and spectacular to see.

New Trick

Sisters

Nutcracker

Ava and I started a tradition two years ago to go to the San Francisco Nutcracker ballet at Christmas time. The orchestra and sets are amazing, and manage to engage even the youngest kids for the entire two hours. The highlight this year was definitely the candy store during intermission.

Portland

Naomi and I went on a quick trip with my parents and Katianne last weekend to visit my grandmother. It was fun getting to visit with her, my aunt & uncle, cousins, and their kids. Naomi enjoyed not having to share my attention with her sisters. The visit turned out to be a little longer than I expected, since I missed my plane and had to stay another night.

One!

Our baby turned 1. I can't believe it. We had a little party complete with dairy free cake and soy ice cream. I planned to make spaghetti dinner for everyone, since that is Naomi's favorite meal, but I was just getting over the flu so we ordered out. Naomi still got her spaghetti but the rest of us had pizza. She enjoyed being the center of attention. We love her to bits.

Gingerbread Houses

The girls decorated gingerbread houses with their cousins at grandma's house. They do this each year at Christmas time and they are getting quite good with their decorations.


Unfortunately, right after they brought these cute things home I came down with an awful case of the stomach flu, after which I couldn't stand the smell. I made them quickly eat the candy off and had to throw them out. I guess they get too gross to eat after a short amount of time anyway.

Clara's Tea Party

We kicked off the holiday season with a Nutcracker performance by a local youth ballet. The highlight of the trip was Clara's tea party following the performances. The girls got to eat little sandwiches and cookies, sip tea, meet and dance with the performers, and get their faces painted.

Tripp Trapp

Naomi turns one next week, so I splurged on an early birthday present for her - a Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair. The high chair that was a dream for Ava and tolerable for Lilly was absolutely disintegrating by the time Naomi started using it. Instead of replacing the pad with an ugly replacement that costs half the price of the original chair, I decided to get her the Tripp Trapp.


The Tripp Trapp allows her to sit at the table with the family, which she LOVES, it's a dream to clean, and adjusts as she grows into a toddler and regular seat. The only downside is that the table gets pretty messy, but a suction cup place mat takes care of that.

Goal!

I met my goal weight today. What does that mean? It means I've lost each and every pound I've accumulated through grad school and three pregnancies. It feels a little surreal and a lot anti-climactic. Mostly because it has taken me the entire year since Naomi's birth to do it.

Lots of people have asked me how I did it, and I wish I had some special little secret, but really it was just lots of hard work and perseverance. For me that involved making lots of small changes over a consistent period of time. I never felt deprived or hungry and I didn't take any medication. I did, however, make sure my thyroid medication was at an appropriate level, nursed Naomi for an entire year, cooked more nutritious meals more often, and met with a nutritionist to make sure I was staying on track and making better choices.

My only complaints about the weight loss is that my face looks older (less fat = more wrinkles ), I have to replace my entire wardrobe (sounds more fun that it really is), and I'm much colder, but those are pretty minor inconveniences when it comes to my improved health and self confidence.

There, I'm done bragging.