Mele kalikimaka!

Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a wonderful new year!


This was our first year having Christmas at home, and it ended up being really nice! We missed family, but were happy to have seen the Ross clan not so long ago (Thanksgiving, hosted by Chris, Lauren, and baby Allie) and Grandma and Grandpa Ruane (who are now in California) a couple of weeks ago as well. Being home allowed us to sleep in our own beds, open our presents in front of our own tree, avoid another round of jet-lag (!!), and start to create our own traditions. :)


On Friday, we had a holiday party for all of our friends who were still in the neighborhood. It ended up being a ton of fun! We cooked and cleaned like crazy and put on a huge spread, including a ham, sweet potato french fries, my mom's outrageous stuffed mushrooms, hot artichoke & spinach dip, and tons of desserts (poppy seed cake, pecan/raisin tarts, gingerbread, thumb print cookies with guava/liliquoi/apricot/raspberry filling and coconut/ground hazelnut/pecan crusts, fudge). Friends brought more to fill in (veggies, salad, potatoes au gratin, fruit), and the spread ended up being incredible! Alex also made gingerbread dough in advance and helped the kids roll out and bake their own cookies as an activity (they loved it!). I have always wanted to throw our own Christmas party, and this was a great first time doing so!


On Saturday, we took the trains downtown and looked at the Christmas windows at Saks "Land of the Bubble Makers"), Macy's ("Make a Wish"), and Lord and Taylor's ("What is Christmas Made Of?" - my favorite!). When we got back, we went to our neighbor's, Dorota/Andy/Jake's, Polish Christmas Eve party party for a while, and then cut out early so that we could go home, read "A Child's Christmas in Whales", and open stockings! We made it half way through the book before Aidan's eyes started closing, but then cut it short to make sure we got to stockings. Kiana liked the barrettes and Aidan liked his dinosaur brush/comb, but by far the most excitement was because of all of the chocolate, animal crackers, and cookies. :)


Sunday morning the kids actually let us sleep in till 7 am (yay!). Afterward, we opened our one present before breakfast, had a good breakfast (sausage, fruit salad, & potatoes - I never managed to make my family's traditional Christmas strudel), had another round of presents, took a break to go to Church and sing some beautiful carols, and then came home for more presents! It ended up being really nice that we could space things out and enjoy them over time. Aidan especially loved his Thomas waterfall canyon set (the train goes up a set of loops and then can either ride down a waterfall, drive through a waterfall, or ride a collapsing bridge into and through a waterfall!) and Kiana especially loved her dressable Monkey (especially since Aidan played a game with it here he kept hiding its bananas in different colorful pockets!). Sunday afternoon I mostly cooked, and we all ate like royalty again that night (turkey, twice baked potatoes, more of my mom's mushrooms (no leftovers from our party so I had to make them again!), squash, salad, cranberry sauce, & tons of leftover desserts from Friday).


Monday Alex had off because of it being a federal holiday. We all laid low and relaxed. Daddy slept in in the morning, Kiana and I took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon (one of my best presents!!), and even Aidan had a little afternoon nap. It was nice to chill and eat yummy leftovers.


We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! & Best wishes for a happy new year, too!

Christmas Pageant

This Sunday, Aidan was in our church's Christmas pageant!!! He was awesome, and it was amazing to watch him be part of it! I remember being part of the pageants as a kid, and it feels surreal to now be on the parent side of things. Kiana is a little too unpredictable to be part of the pageant, but she did a great job cheering Aidan on! Aidan was one of the shepherds, and got to wear a yellow head scarf (his favorite color!). He did an amazing job signing Christmas carols, sitting quietly when needed, and (the best part), running two full loops around the audience on cue with the rest of the shepherds, saying, "a child is born! A child is born! A child is born!" It was wonderful!!!!


This week Daddy made more gingerbread dough and Aidan and his friend Derek made more gingerbread cookies. Then, this weekend, Daddy made "fingerprint" cookies rolled in pecan powder with jelly/jam centers (guava/liliquoi/raspberry/apricot), which were DELICIOUS. And Nana / Grandma Ross sent us a *box* of pecan cookies, which were OUTRAGEOUS. The holidays are definitely in full swing with all of the treats going on here!


My favorite thing Kiana is doing this week is blowing kisses. She has been doing it for a while, but she is so INTO it - I love it! If you ask her for hugs and kisses she will run straight up to you and give you some so sweetly, and when she goes on sleepy walks with Daddy, she always has to blow kisses to me and Aidan before she goes. (I give them and blow more to her back, and then laugh and get excited when I pretend to catch hers. She loves it too.)


We are all looking forward to Christmas! Aidan has been counting down for a while now, and we are almost there! :)

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

I had a lot of fun at church this morning. We have been singing lots of Christmas songs (I love them!), and today, I looked down to see both Kiana AND Aidan singing right along! Kiana's caroling went more along the lines of "ya ya ya, ya ya ya", while Aidan had more of a tune, despite not knowing the words; but BOTH of them were wonderful! After the service when we picked up the kids from Sunday school, we found out that Aidan is going to be a shepherd in the Christmas pageant next Sunday!!! We are very excited! :)



I was also highly entertained at about dawn this morning. Aidan woke up at about 5:00AM, and before I put him back to bed, he told me, quite matter-of-factly (and out of the blue), that "our planet is good because it's not too close and not too far fro the sun. AND it has BUILDINGS and houses and apartments! Isn't that right, Mama?"


AIDAN:
- Aidan is now calling us "Mom" and "Dad." Alex doesn't mind, but I am sad: I thought I wouldn't make that transition until he was quite a bit older! Fortunately, he does still call me "Mama" and "Mommy" every other time or so. :)
- Clarified his toothbrushing practices to me this week, concluding that "That's just how I do it - in my WHOLE life!"
- On a playdate with Cira this weekend read her almost an entire book by himself! His reading is really amazing!


KIANA
- This morning, Kiana asked me for a blue straw to drink her milk with! I was giving her a yellow one, and she said "no - boo". Then, when I exchanged the straw, she was happy!
- Has been doing new words this week, especially "weee!!!!", "wa wa" (water /agua), and "eeee" (for "please!").
- Believes that superheros, lions and dogs all roar. Whenever she sees any of these, in real life or in pictures, she roars right back!
- Is *very* into washing dishes and playing in the sink. It makes cooking dinner great - she is totally entertained nearby. But it inevitably creates a giant puddle on the floor! Ah well. That's what towels are for!