Merry Christmas, Baby!

Merry Christmas, Baby,
You still don't have a name - I'm sorry! I promise we'll have that settled by the time you arrive (just don't come too early), but for now you're still "little guy." Anyway...as you will learn, this is my absolute favorite time of year, and it has been even more special having you around. Your dad and I keep talking about how Christmas is just going to get more and more fun from here on out.

You are almost always on the move, and everyone can see you moving through my clothes. Sometimes, I'll curl up behind your dad at night and press my belly into his back so he can feel your break dancing too. Your dad plays music for you every night too. We're working our way through the alphabet - we've covered Alison Krauss and Allen Toussaint through Dire Straits and Dr. John. Next up - Elton John and Eric Clapton. 

It's starting to feel very real, this whole becoming a family of three thing. We can't wait to meet you, and we spend an inordinate amount of time asking each other, "What do you think he'll be like?" We generally settle on awesome. Only ten weeks or so until we get to confirm it. Ten weeks until our lives are changed forever. And we can't wait.

Love, 
Me

Christmas!!!

What? I was six months behind on the wedding; a six week delay on Christmas blogging should be viewed as an unqualified success. 

So....the day after Tom and I got back from Florida Christmas, we headed down to my parents' for San Diego Christmas, which for those not in the know, was on December 27th this year. My brother and Erin had arrived on the 26th, so it was one of those all-too-rare weekends when my family is all together in one room.

Not only did I get to spend real, live, in-person time with Mike and Erin, but I also got to hang out with a puppy, which as we all know, makes everything that much better.

{Coya}

{I'm confused by Tom's expression... but I mean, really. How cute is that puppy?}

We did Secret Santa this year, and Michael got Buckley this totally rad hipster giraffe t-shirt.

{Remember how I said he was weird in all the best ways? Case in point.}

Mo got all the ladies matching bracelets.

{faith, hope, and love}

My dad was very excited to surprise my brother with Chargers tickets.

{They had a great time despite some hail and a near miss with a vomitous fan who was seated behind them.}

I had ordered Michael a Chargers shirt for the occasion, but it was late to arrive so I had to improvise.

After some present opening, we broke for a trip to the movies. The guys were having a hard time generating the appropriate level of enthusiasm for the planned viewing of Les Miserables, so we split up. The boys got their Tarantino on at Django Unchained while us girls bawled our eyes out at Jean Valjean's noble struggle. [Side note: Is Jean Valjean not the best character? Ever? Sigh. I love him. And the music. Oh, the music... I know every word. I found myself mouthing the lyrics to just about every song...Castle on a Cloud being the obvious exception. Baby Cosette is kind of a whiner.]

After the movies, it was beer tasting time. Apparently, this is becoming a holiday tradition.

{Coya obviously can't hang.}

After a delicious dinner (popovers, mmmmm!), I broke out Cards Against Humanity, a Christmas gift from Tom and my new favorite game. It's like the adult version of Apples to Apples, and some of the cards are pretty x-rated. We censored a few for my mom's benefit, but after the beer tasting and the wine with dinner, everyone was feeling pretty loose.  

Still, we don't mess around when it comes to games....serious decision making (and more wine, naturally) going on here.

The prompt on this round was, "What gets better with age?"

{I don't remember which card won, but I really hope that it was "Home video of Oprah sobbing into a Lean Cuisine."}

I'm not sure how long we played (an hour? two?), but there was a lot of laughing. Like tears streaming, can't catch your breath laughing... Playing this game (and hearing my mom say things like "Harry Potter erotica") - probably my favorite memory of San Diego Christmas '12.

Lastly, just because I love it so much, here is a series of Meghan with Lucy, the biggest lapdog of all time, and a jealous Coya. Just over a month ago, Meghan left for Haiti to spend six months teaching a school in Port au Prince because she's a badass with a heart of gold. Seriously, I'm so proud of her, but I miss her face so for now, I have to get my Midgey dose from pictures of these.

Merry Christmas!

My computer suffered a tragic fall, and as a result, it is running incredibly slow, so I must be brief or this will take an hour. Our Christmas season in photos.

We bought a tree, and we named him Giuseppe Martini.

{Let's pause and notice how three of my favorite things are captured in this photo: Les Mis, NPR, and Christmas trees}

We decorated Giuseppe in a style befitting his name.

We went ice skating and to a Batman exhibit, as one does.

Merry Christmas!!

Wrapping Up

I've been quiet the last few weeks, and not just here. I've been enjoying the holidays, for sure, but I've also been putting 2011 to bed. I've never been much for New Year's resolutions and all of that because it seems so arbitrary and so... I don't know...forced. This year, however, I'm glad for the fresh start, arbitrary as it may be.

Tomorrow morning, Tom and I are heading to Joshua Tree to bid adieu (or good riddance) to 2011 and to raise a glass to the promise of 2012, Mayan doomsday prophesies be damned. I am really looking forward to welcoming the new year in the great outdoors, under a sky with actual visible stars. A fresh start in the fresh air is bound to be propitious.

Before moving on to 2012, however, we have to wrap up 2011. December provided its usual bounty of celebrations and family togetherness. The past two weeks included a lot of both, and so the year ends on a high note. The pictures are plentiful, so bear with me as I run through a quick review.

Birthdays were celebrated.

{The Grove to see J. Edgar on Tom's birthday. The movie was a disappointment, fyi.}

{Pistol Annies at House of Blues on my birthday.}

And celebrated again.

Halls were decked.

Cookies were baked.

Naps were taken.

Pink showed up at the Hotel Cafe and sang Silent Night. Not strictly relevant to my enjoyment of the season, but probably one of the cooler celebrity sightings I've had since moving to L.A.

Christmas lights were viewed. [Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills, a place that is fun to visit, but I imagine, nightmarish to live.]

{I thought these kids had the right idea, so I went sunroof style too.}

{Tom was quite accommodating.}

 

{This home was the pièce de résistance of the neighborhood. What you cannot grasp from this photo is that there were speakers hidden amidst the lights that played It's a Small World at full volume over and over and over.}

 

Baby Jesus was decapitated in a tragic accident.

And Baby Jesus was...recapitated through the Christmas miracle of Super Glue.

Gifts were shopped for, wrapped, and placed beneath the tree.

{The Grove}

Family was gathered together.

{Mike gazing...adoringly (?) at his bride.}

{Midge and I enjoying some quality couch time.}

{Mo gazing...adoringly (?) at her fiancé. While wearing Christmas vests, naturally.}

{The whole clan after Christmas Eve Mass}

Meals were cooked.

{Thanks, Mom!}

And meals were enjoyed.

{Cioppino? Yumbo!}

Christmas movies were watched.

{The Family Man, back when Nic Cage appeared in enjoyable films.}

{It's a Wonderful Life, obviously}

{A Christmas Carol, George C. Scott, obviously.}

{Love Actually, viewed but not documented. Also, Tom and I saw Emma Thompson at a restaurant by our house.}

Games were played.

You're just going to have to take my word for that since my teammates (Meghan, Erin, word.) and I were too busy kicking ass at Trivial Pursuit to document the occasion.

Lucy was awesome and loved on, as per usual.

Saturday Night Live videos were watched. Specifically:

And finally, Christmas day arrived and PJs were worn, presents were unwrapped, mimosas were drank drunk consumed, and the beach was visited.

{Mo regifted a White Elephant win of the Shake Weight to my dad.}

{He was into it.}

{White Christmases are wonderful, but so are Christmases at the beach.}

{All creatures great and small - Lucy makes friends with a teeny tiny Pug and gigundo Great Dane.}

There is actually much post-Christmas fun to review, but it will have to wait until after the new year because I have an outdoor adventure to prepare for...

I will close with the best of Christmas wishes as spoken by Ebenezer Scrooge, courtesy of Mr. Charles Dickens, "'I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me...I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to every-body! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!'