Looking Back on 2009...and Ahead to 2010!

It was a pretty great year I have to say. We saw Serena turn one and Calli turn four. We had the birth of our first son that turned us into a family of five. We had a really fun family vacation, lots of visits from grandparents and friends and special memories from all the holidays. I coached my first year of soccer, decided to run a half marathon next year and raised my babies. Richard finished up his classes at school and is thisclose to getting his degree. Calli participated in her second dance recital, her second, third and fourth seasons of soccer and started preschool. Serena started walking at the beginning of the year and hasn't slowed down since; she gives the best hugs and kisses and has the sweetest voice. Jameson entered the world this year in dramatic fashion, had to get a helmet to correct his flat spot, popped his first two teeth and is almost crawling.

So that is 2009 in a nutshell. But what am I really looking forward to? 2010...

January will bring my 25th birthday. I will be a quarter of a century old! In April we will celebrate Serena's second birthday on Easter. A week later we will be in Dallas and I will be on the starting line to run my first half marathon. After that we'll have our second family vacation at the same spot as the first and it will be a wonderful experience. In June we'll throw yet another first birthday, this time for our little boy, who will no longer be wearing a helmet and no longer have a lopsided head. We'll be throwing a fifth birthday party for our first born baby girl, who is no longer a baby but will be off to kindergarten in the fall. In August we will celebrate Richard's 28th birthday and then be all done with the birthdays for the rest of the year. In September I'll kiss Calli goodbye and send her off to her first day of school, something she can hardly wait for. October will bring Halloween and November will bring Thanksgiving, followed by my favorite, Christmas in December. Somewhere in the midst of everything, we'll be making a BIG move, which is perhaps the absolute most exciting thing to me of all.

Stay tuned, it should be a fabulous year...

The Weekend After Christmas

I don't know about you, but the day after Christmas always makes me sad. We start planning for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, put up lights, decorations, get a tree, buy presents, enjoy the holiday season, etc. There is a month of this hoopla and after one single day, it's all over. Christmas comes and goes and we're left with memories and lots of new toys to stuff into the overflowing toy box (and a fuller than usual recycling bin!!). So we spend all this time building up to the one day and then it's over and done so quickly. It always leaves me feeling sad the following day. I wanted to head off this depression so we decided that we would make December 26th really fun.

We started the morning by going to the gym. I had to do my long run for the week (four miles, wahoo!!) and Richard ran right alongside of me for three of them. We rushed home after and got ready to head to a local Barnes and Noble for story time. It was kind of sad because they had forgotten about it and had to just put it together quickly when two families showed up. The kids listened to a Fancy Nancy Christmas story and then colored a picture. We also bought two Christmas books (who can resist Christmas books at half price?!?!). I just love the bookstore, I could spend all day in there and spend hundreds of dollars on books. I just love to read!

After story time we had a fun lunch planned at a place Richard found online. It was a hamburger joint with a sandbox for the kids to play in. Unfortunately the sandbox was outside and it was too cold for us to sit out there so the girls kept running back and forth. The door to get outside was very heavy so this made for a lot of walking back and forth to open it for them on our part. But I think they enjoyed playing and the hamburgers were awesome!! Mine was huge and I didn't think I would be able to finish it all, but after running four miles on an empty stomach I was more famished than I thought.

Serena's hair is getting so long and look how BLONDE it is. We are blessed to have such beautiful girls.

And I can't forget about our handsome and happy boy! He barely made a peep the whole lunch!
When we finished lunch we had planned to do some shoe shopping. Richard was looking for a new pair of boots and I needed a new pair of black shoes (the ones I have I bought when I was pregnant with Serena and now that I've lost weight the heel keeps slipping off). We went to Famous Footwear, but didn't have any luck finding the shoes we wanted. Richard ended up getting a pair of work shoes and I got some new white Sketchers.

Since we were so close to the mall, we headed over there next. Dorks that we are, we forgot our stroller! So we had to make due with the Baby Bjorn and renting a stroller for Serena to sit in. She loved it, but I wasn't so happy wearing my BIG baby. My shoulders were aching before long and I was happy to sit down and watch the girls play in the play area. I ended up taking him out of the Bjorn and putting him in Serena's stroller. HE WAS SO CUTE AND LOVED IT!!

Isn't this just the sweetest little boy you've ever seen?

When Serena caught sight of Jameson in HER stroller I knew there was going to be protests. I held my breath as she ran over and when she got right next to him she burst out laughing and gave him an impromptu hug!! (this one I caught on camera was prompted, as I didn't have it ready for the surprise one so I told her to do it again).

After a few minutes of fussing over her brother, Serena did want back in her stroller. I thought maybe we could fit both of them in so Jameson sat on her lap for a bit.

I just love these photos of the two of them. You can really see how much Serena loves her baby brother. It melts my heart.

We finally left the mall and got home around 5pm. Surprisingly we had bought very little that day, but we just enjoyed being out and having fun and warding off the post holiday blues!

The fun continued on Sunday when we decided to go to the duck pond for a picnic lunch. We packed the girls some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and we stopped at Schlotzsky's Deli for some sandwiches for ourselves (they weren't very good so we don't recommend them!!).

We got to the duck pond and let the kids eat lunch and then play in the park.

Jameson enjoyed going down the slides with his sisters.

And finally we went over to the pond portion to give the ducks their lunch.

On the way home we stopped by Dick's Sporting Goods store so I could return some things and get a bunch of new work out clothes and a good pedometer. I haven't tried it yet, as I ran my three miles at the gym this morning, but I hope it works well!!

So all in all, we had a fun weekend and I can't believe it's back to Monday morning. Calli is off at art camp and the little ones and I have some grocery shopping to do today. Is it the weekend yet??

Week One

Well my first week of training for the half marathon is over. It was an easy week because it's all distances that I've run before. Monday I ran three miles, Tuesday I ran two miles, Wednesday I ran three miles again and Saturday was my long run of four miles. I was supposed to cross train on Friday, but it was Christmas and I'm technically not doing the twelve week program yet so I let myself slide. Saturday we got up bright and early though to head to the gym. I had my mind set on four miles and I knew I could do it. The most I have run at a time is five miles, so it will be after that distance that I start to wonder if I can do it. I am really curious to know what it will be like, but I have a few more weeks of these shorter long runs to go before I do my first six mile run.

Richard bought me a pedometer for Christmas and I'm very excited about it. This way I will be able to track the distance that I run outside instead of having to drive and map out the miles in the car. I can just set out and go where ever my legs take me and I will have my trusty pedometer to tell me how many miles I've traveled. I can't wait to use it!

So there you have it; Week One is in the books and tomorrow begins Week Two. My schedule is exactly the same so there will be no surprises.

Christmas 2009

What a different Christmas this one was from the years past. We have lived away from California for six and a half years now and this is our seventh Christmas we've been married. But in all those years we haven't ever spent one in our own home and have always been fortunate to be able to go spend it with our families. This year though, with three young kids it made more sense financially and mentally (hello stress!! Trying to fly with three little ones seems daunting!) to stay here. I tried to focus on the positives and continue old traditions and make new ones as I came to terms with some sadness I felt not spending these days the way I was used to. At certain times I would think "oh we should be getting ready to go to the Macaroni Grill for Christmas Eve dinner!" or "We should be showering and getting dressed to go down the road to spend the afternoon with Richard's family on Christmas". I must admit, we had it so easy all these years with our parents living across the street from each other. I look back and absolutely love how easy and fun it was to spend the day with each family.

Back to the present. Christmas Eve Eve to be exact. I took Calli to see The Nutcracker Ballet at San Antonio's Municipal Auditorium that evening. I think I am going to make this a new tradition and it will be something Serena can also be included in as she gets older. The production itself was okay, a few mistakes here and there, but the costumes were gorgeous and it held Calli's attention for most of the evening. We started the night by having dinner at IHOP. Calli had seen the commercials on TV and been talking about eating there for awhile. Since they have special holiday pancakes I decided it would be the perfect place for us to go. We both got Gingerbread pancakes, which Calli loved, but it made me realize I am not a big gingerbread fan! After finishing our meal we headed to the theater very early and had to wait around to be able to even sit down. We bought a souvineer (a Clara ornament) from the gift stands in the lobby while we were waiting. All in all, I think Calli had a fun time and enjoyed being able to dress up in her Christmas dress and spend some time with just her and me.

Jameson had an appointment with the orthotist a few hours before the show (1 mm more of improvement and almost halfway done!!) so Richard came along in a separate car so Calli and I could leave from there. This is the two of us in that parking lot.

Here is Calli at IHOP enjoying her gingerbread pancakes and chocolate milk!

Calli standing in front of the theater
These aren't where our seats were (we were over to the left more) but we were leaving the restrooms and this was a good opportunity to get a photo of Calli in front of the stage.

Calli and me before the show started

Just goofing around while we waited

The next day was Christmas Eve. We woke up and got ready to go to the mall for our annual tradition of meeting Santa Claus. Richard wanted to go to the outdoor mall, but I am not a fan of outdoor malls and just felt that going to an indoor one was more traditional for us :). Anyway when we got there and out of the car it was very cold and windy, making the wind chill temps around 40 degrees or lower. We were glad we had decided to stay indoors! The mall wasn't very crowded when we arrived and the Santa line was nearly nonexistent. In years past we have had to wait over an hour to meet the jolly fellow, with my dad volunteering to stand in line for us some of the time. But this line was very short and we were meeting Santa in about twenty minutes. I was very disappointed with the Santa set because it wasn't nearly as good as what we have seen at the Arden Mall. But I realized that the Arden Mall is the exception, not the rule, of the Santa sets and we had just been spoiled.

So I knew we would have issues with Serena wanting to sit on Santa's lap since this was the fourth or fifth time we had seen him and she had always pitched a fit. But I was determined that she would sit on his lap instead of having another family picture (I only wanted the kids in it this time). Santa was great though because she freaked out and I hoisted her up there and he grabbed her around the waist and held on tight so she couldn't slide down. So she is crying in the photo, but at least I have one!!

When we got home from the mall we had received the last of the packages in the mail from family and spread those gifts from Auntie under the tree. This is what it looks like, complete with gifts from Mommy and Daddy, Grandmas and Grandpas, Great Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunties.

A new tradition I think we'll continue is making a gingerbread house. I had bought a kit at Walmart and putting it together was a challenge. I knew that the icing wasn't going to really hold the roof on and sure enough it started to slide off. I sat and held it for a few minutes before just giving up and letting it be. It didn't slide too much so I was happy. I also decided to sacrifice perfection to let the girls just have fun decorating it themselves.

Holding the roof in place

Here are the girls decorating. Calli looks a little stressed out ;).

They were eating a bit more than they were decorating!

The finished product...look at those cheesy faces!!

That's better!

We have another tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve evening. I made mashed potatoes and chicken for dinner and it was getting kind of late after that. The dishes could wait as we gathered around the tree to hand out a gift to each kid (pjs of course!).

Tearing into their presents

Their new pjs! I had trouble finding footsie pjs for Calli's age so this will probably be the last year she gets them. Serena and Jameson had Minnie and Mickey pjs.

And Richard even bought ME a pair of pjs!

After the kids went to bed, Santa went to work wrapping presents and filling stockings.

CHRISTMAS IS HERE!! Jameson was the first one up at about 5:45am. Richard got up with him while I slept a bit longer. I was really disappointed because Calli went downstairs on her own before I got up. I had wanted to bring the girls down together and record their reactions on video because I know Calli especially would be super excited. But I had to improvise and started recording when Serena came downstairs instead.

Here is Jameson playing with his stocking toys. Santa brought him a small dump truck, a Batman shirt, a pair of shoes (to wear in his walker outside so his socks don't get dirty!), teether toys, a bib and a bath toy.

Calli and Serena opening their stockings. They got movies, shoes, clothing items, fruit snacks, bath toys, games and other fun things.

Finally it was time to open the BIG presents from Santa!

Santa brought Serena a cozy coupe car. She is forever getting in Jameson's walker and being silly and walking around the house, so Santa thought she might like her own big girl kind of walker to play with outside :).

Calli received an art tower table from Santa. She is quite the little artist and now has a place to design her masterpieces as well as somewhere to store the art supplies and hang her drawings up.

Jameson was given a dump truck with blocks!

Calli couldn't wait to open the rest of the presents right away, so we divided everything up into piles for each person and started unwrapping.

Jameson liked to play with the garbage bag

Calli and her pile of presents, opening her card from Grandma-Great

Serena digging into her gifts

An Elmo towel and a See N Say!

Thanks Auntie Kendra for the Hannah Montana doll!!

Grandpa James and Grandma Keri got Calli this Princess story book to put together.

Grandpa Bob and Grandma Molly gave Serena this Elmo and friends purse

Serena unwrapping a big present from Mom and Dad - a stroller, high chair and bouncer seat for her baby dolls!

Jameson with his namesake train

Serena opening another present

Jameson and his car toy. It was the first year we had boy toys in the house! I have decided I don't enjoy shopping for boys, it's much harder!

The aftermath of opening all the presents!!

The girls enjoying Calli's new art table after I put it together

Serena the veternarian!

Calli the chef!

After opening all the presents, it was time for our BIG breakfast! Blueberry muffins, hashbrowns, bacon and scrambled eggs with sausage were on the menu. It was yummy and we were stuffed!

The girls watching the Disney Christmas parade on TV while we cleaned up the kitchen.

Jameson enjoying his new bug catcher from Grandpa Bob and Grandma Molly

Serena playing in her car after we finally got it all put together!

We got the girls some sidewalk paint and spray paint and Calli was trying it out.

Daddy and Serena

After playing outdoors we all sat down to watch a Christmas movie and enjoy popcorn. We put on Elf and laughed and had a fun time.

And finally, our family Christmas picture. Thank you to the timer on the camera and Calli's art table (used to hold the camera high enough to get the shot).