Holiday Highlights

I can't believe I am sitting here on the last day of 2013 with a new year looming on the horizon. Where did the year go??  Wasn't it just James' first birthday??

Since I have less than 12 hours before 2014 hits, I'm going to make our Christmas recap a quick one (in relative terms, that is). Like there rest of this year, the holiday season flew by in a flash and between time spent in the car traveling, at Urgent Care and unwrapping a slew of gifts, we managed to have a good time and create some great memories.

This year, Christmas began on December 22nd at the Quartuccio house.  Because we decided to visit family in NY for the holidays, the Quartuccio Christmas was a few days early - but just as big as ever. Aunt Suzy and Uncle Ivan were in town to help celebrate and we did it up!

On Christmas Eve morning, we loaded the car and began our trek up north. First stop - Belle Meade, NJ for Christmas Eve with the Basile's.  James did surprisingly well on the car ride thanks to some napping and a whole lot of Jingle the Husky Pup on the iPad.

Upon arrival, Aunt Linda surprised James with a new chair which of course loved and of course climbed in and out of about 100 times.  He had a ball exploring their house and running around with Daddy and all his cousins.

  

Unfortunately, things started to go sour in the afternoon.  It was clear that James was not feeling great and after hours of endless fussing, we decided to hit Urgent Care where we learned our little man had an ear infection.  Definitely not on his list to Santa!  Luckily the meds kicked in quick and he was back in action at the end of the night.  He did a great job entertaining everyone and was the little boy we know and love.  And P.S. - he totally fell in love with Kamrie.  Sorry, Jon - looks like you have some competition! :)

That night, we once again hit the road for stop #2 - Wantagh, NY.  We were going to hunker down and wait for Santa at Aunt Adriana's and Uncle John's house.  James luckily slept in the car and transferred into the house so we were able to do our thing upon arrival.  

Finally Christmas morning was here and unfortunately, it didn't go as planned. :(  Our little buddy was not feeling so hot and doesn't do so well when outside of his surroundings which meant one meltdown after another.  We realized that the only way to keep him happy was to make sure that Jingle was playing on the TV so we ended up watching it all morning long.  Whatever it took!  He did manage to open gifts in between the crying as did the rest of us.  And we all were treated well!

Christmas day continued with another car ride (and a long nap thank God!) to Staten Island for a visit with the Giocolano family.  It was so good to see them and spend some quality time celebrating the holiday.  James did really well considering he was still under the weather.  He even managed to entertain us with his dance moves.

By 8:00 pm, James was done.  Overdone actually so we headed back to Long Island and promptly put ourselves to bed.  The next day, we made plans with some friends who have kids and it was just in the nick of time because James was getting very tired of looking at us old people.  Our first stop was to the Seigal household where we hung out and played with Alyson, Rob, Mikey and Lexi.  Alyson is one of my oldest and dearest friends and even though we don't see each other often, when we do, it's as if no time has gone by.  It was so great spending time with each other watching our kids play together.  

Next up - the Green's.  We were greeted at the door by Dominick and Guilianna and had a great time hanging out with Dave and Michele.  I honestly don't have any photos because the kids were running around like crazy people.  James had a blast and really needed the time with other little kids.

We headed back to Grandma M's house for dinner before hitting the road for home.  It was so great to see our family for the holidays, but I would be lying if I told you it was easy being on the road with a toddler for Christmas.  When we got home late Thursday night, we both felt like we had been hit by a truck so we collapsed in our bed and saved the unpacking for the next day.

The holidays were a whirlwind and I honestly can't believe the we are about to ring in the new year tonight.  Now is usually the time of year when you reflect on what you are grateful for and honestly, there are so many to list that I'm not even going to attempt it.  But I can say, the thing I am MOST grateful for is my amazing family.  Ed, James and Lucy are the best things that have ever happened to this girl.  Happy New Year!! xoxo

Downsized

As in the Christmas Tree.

As they say, our halls are officially decked.  They might be mini versions, but believe me - we have our reasons.  Most of them involve a very active 21 month old toddler who likes to climb on EVERYTHING. Sure, he can pull this little guy down.  But at least it will be a smaller tree that will fall on him.  :)  Last year's tree looked like this - so I think we are making progress.

Our mini-tree arrived over the weekend after a trip to our trusty tree sellers in the Trader Joe's parking lot.  We have gone here the last 3 years and always get great trees so we figured they would be able to help us out with a smaller version.  This year, James was awake and in awe of all the trees to choose from.

The best part about getting a small tree is that it fits right in the trunk! 

As per tradition, we hit up Pho Bistro for a delicious pho dinner and then headed home for the official tree installation.  James and Lucy were so excited as they watched Daddy haul it into the house.  It took all of 7 minutes to get it in, remove the webbing and put it in place.  Small trees are definitely time savers!

Because James is an active 21 month old boy who loves to climb things, we decided to decorate the tree after he went to bed.  As soon as he hit the hay, we fired up the hot chocolate, put "Frosty the Snowman" in the DVD player and got to work.  You would think stringing the lights would be easier on a table top tree and in theory, it was.  If, that is, we tested the lights before putting them on the tree.  Yup - after finishing up we plugged it in and the top half of the tree was dark.  We got it right on the second try. :)

Because the tree is so little, we had to be selective in our ornament choices since we have so many.  We decided to hang anything we have received since knowing each other, all of James' and Lucy's ornaments and a few favorites from our childhood. 

In the end, I think we did a great job.  Our little tree is perfect for the space and since we are spending Christmas morning in NY at Aunt Adriana's and Uncle John's house, it was a perfect choice for this year's holiday.  

The irony - since the tree has been in the house James has showed no major interest in it.  He waves to it and says "Bye", but other than that, he doesn't really notice it.  Maybe that will change now that it is decorated, but knowing him, he'll walk right by it as if it was there all along.  

The best part of the evening -  seeing this.  Porn for women… am I right ladies??

In all seriousness, the best part was James' reaction the next morning.  We said our hello's to Rosie the Advent Calendar Reindeer who happened to give James a new Matchbox car this morning and then made our way over to the tree to say hello (another morning ritual).  Just as James was about to walk away I plugged it in and got a huge WOAH!  He was mesmerized!!  It was a priceless moment.

Merry Christmas!!

Smile! (….please!): The Results

Now that the Holiday cards are out and hopefully arriving in mail boxes as we speak, we thought we'd share some of the photos that came from the JCP photo shoot a few weeks back.  Enjoy!

One of my favorites is the forced smile that he gave us in one of the silver background photos.  This kid is TOO MUCH!!

As Predicted...

We went to visit Santa today.  James got all gussied up in his fancy shoes, shirt and tie and was ready to meet the big man in red and tell him what a good boy he has been this year.  We made our way through the Ice Palace and said hello to polar bears and penguins and owls.  We even got some snow in our hair.  All the while, James was laughing and smiling.

Then this happened.

As predicted, James gave us the traditional "Screaming Kid on Santa's Lap" photo this year.  Instead of feeling sad about it, we laughed.  We knew it was going to happen this year and decided to pick THE BEST screaming picture out of the lot.  I think we nailed it.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!