Elmo Comes To Town

Yesterday, Ashley went to her friend Cash's 1st Birthday party. It just so happened that Elmo was there too. Big. Huge. Furry. Elmo. I wondered what would happen...would Ashley be afraid of her favorite buddy? Oh no ... girlfriend was the first one at the party to walk up to Elmo. She greeted him with waves and kisses! I couldn't believe it! I mean, this Elmo kinda scared me!





Here's some great video of our cutest little girl. I can't believe how grown up she is already! (Especially when she is busy doing something and can't be bothered with Mommy's requests...)

Queen



Coloring



Showing Off

15 Months!

Ashley had her 15 month checkup today. Girlfriend weighed in at 24 pounds. Nice. I thought it was going to be 30. It sure feels like 30 when I try to set her down on the floor and she converts herself into complete deadweight and will not put her feet down to help me out! I guess sometimes you just want to be carried around! ...Diva!

The doctor said that at 15 months, babies should be able to say 3-6 words. Um, here are the words and sounds that our brilliant child has already mastered:

Bottle - Ba Ba
Mama
Dada
Up
Down
Ouch
Hot
Hat
Duck
Bird
Dog
Night Night
Bye
Hi
Blueberry - Booberry
Cracker - Cacka
No (she is very good at this one...)
All animal sounds (Moo, Bow, Meow, Ssss for snake, trumpet sound for elephant, bubble sound for fish...)
Shoes
Eyes
Nose
Mouth
This - Dis
Baby
Agua (Ah yes, she is also bilingual!)

3-6 words ... that's for sissies!

Happy New Year!

This year, my resolution is to find a better balance. A happy mom makes a happy family and I just need to figure out how to fit in a little more time to do the things that make me happy. Working and being a mom takes up almost every second... I need to figure out how to find some time for myself ... a yoga class, curling up with a new issue of Bon Appetite and a good cup of coffee, finding the time to have a good chat with one of my girlfriends without "girlfriend" chirping up in the background, having a night where I get to actually TALK to my husband about things that matter ...

This year, I really want to be a better mom, a better friend and a better wife.

*Addendum: It appears that I have already failed in the resolution department. I have just been reminded that I did not mention our annual trip to Carmel. Luckily, Grammy & Grandpa offered to babysit so that Chris and I could have an actual "vacation!" It really was wonderful. I love the drive up north and we always cut through to the coast on some obscure little road that takes us right through Steinbeck country. For a beach girl, I am always surprised how much I love to see the rolling hills, old trees and wide open spaces.

And since we are chronicling our every moment over the holidays, I also wanted to thank Papa, Gigi, Auntie Jen, Uncle Chris and Baby Chloe for taking care of Ashley when she was super sick and Chris and I escaped next door for a "Boxing Day" party. Poor things all got sick as a result - we are so sorry!

The First Haircut

Girlfriend was starting to get what looked like a White Trash mullet, so we had to cut the hair. As you can see, she was SUPER excited about that...





After that, we went for a nice walk and she recovered. Look at her super cool coat that our friend Mita brought her from London!

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful, wonderful Christmas we had this year. After our "trip", I had to fly out to New York for a very intense work week, so my stress level was at an all time high. I came back the Thursday before Christmas and collapsed into bed by 8pm. Oddly enough, I woke up feeling so excited about hosting 18 people for Christmas Eve and wanting the holidays to be relaxing and enjoyable for everyone!

Once again, I hosted The Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. This is an Italian tradition which comes from the observance of La Vigilia Di Natale — the wait for the birth of Christ — in which early Catholics fasted on Christmas Eve until after receiving communion at Midnight Mass. The seven fishes represent different things depending on what your family believed ... most think of it as the number of days it took Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem. I'm not Catholic, but I did marry an Italian and I really wanted to establish a tradition that Ashley would remember and maybe carry on...I just love the idea of having a house full of family with delicious smells coming from the kitchen while everyone tucks into a cocktail or two!

I really wish I hadn't been so absorbed in cooking that I forgot to take pictures of the table settings and display of food taking up every inch of the island. It really was something, if I may say so myself. In the absence of photos, here is the menu for posterity:

Ron's Antipasta Platter
Christmas Crab Dip
Scallops Wrapped in Bacon
Crudite Platter

Proscuitto Roasted Halibut
Baked Shrimp Scampi
Traditional Italian Cioppino
Baked Ziti
Fresh Italian Bread

Jenny's Fabulous Feast Fish Cookies
Coffee & Lemoncello

I loved every minute of it and was so happy to have the Swanson, DeLazzer, Larocca & Richey clan altogether again. It only happens once a year! (Unless someone gets married ... so let's get on it Scott, Trent and Paige! ...Well, maybe not Trent & not Paige for sure!)

Christmas morning was a blast. Ashley was very excited by all her gifts, but a little overwhelmed too. It really was fun to see her rip open her presents. She wanted everything out of the box immediately. The first pictures are of her riding her brand new rocking horse from Gigi and Papa ... she wasn't sure about it at first, but she warmed up to it pretty quickly! (if she didn't like it so much, I would be REALLY annoyed by the size of this damn thing! You're lucky Gigi!)

And I'm sorry, but Ashley's Christmas jammies are too cute, aren't they?! Oh ... and one other thing, I wasn't very good about taking pictures on Christmas morning either so I don't really have pictures of anyone! (which might just be a blessing since none of us had any makeup on, Ha!)

Um, No. You Cannot Do It All

So I have finally come to a realization that the "SUPERMOM" does not exist. I have tried to be one with every fiber of my being. And I really believe that if it was possible, I could do it. Let me tell you... NOT. POSSIBLE.

Oh, you can absolutely ATTEMPT to do it all. And you may even succeed for a little while, but at the end of it all, you will be left a shell of a woman with big dark circles under your eyes and not even enough energy to care.

Horrifying.

Actually, I feel much better admitting this. And I am not even sure if I am going to stop trying to do it all...but just acknowledging that this idea is unattainable makes me re-energized.

On a slightly related note, we decided to take a little family vacation the day after Thanksgiving. How relaxing it would be for the three of us ... so me, my handsome husband and my darling 13 month old jetted off to Maui for a "vacation."

It was this very event that defined the difference between "vacation" and "trip." For those of you who don't know the difference, let me share my knowledge with you ...

A "vacation" includes a lot of sleep, a lot of sun and many, many poolside cocktails.

A "trip" includes ... everything you normally do, just in a more exotic location.

There is no such thing as a "vacation" with a toddler. Girlfriend was up before the sun, hated the sand (well its anything that makes her hands dirty, really ... she's a girl, what can I say?). She is walking everywhere so there was no laying on the lounge chair. She was in the pool, out of the pool, walking around to everyone's lounge chair and smiling. And of course, there were the two naps a day...so the minute you got down to the pool and covered her from head to toe with sunscreen, you had to pack it all back up and go up for a nap.

Where does the pina colada fit into this scenario?!

We did have a wonderful "trip," but boy did I need a vacation.

Please Suh, May I Have Some More?