So Many Christmas Pictures

Leila enjoyed counting down to Christmas, insofar as it meant peeling off another ornament on the advent calendar. She was consistent with her insistence on clustering them all together. Funny girl.
Our tree... notice the blue elephant, otherwise known as "Blue Louie" (how original, right? Her nomenclature). She actually clung to this little Blue Louie when the real Louie had to go in the washer for a bath.
Even Penny got into the Christmas spirit...
And Louie...
On Christmas Eve, Leila opened up a bunch of really great gifts from her Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa Vaina, Aunt Beth, Uncle Jeremy, Will and Cary...

And on Christmas morning, Santa visited Nana and Popo's house and unleashed more presents than we know what to do with. Below, Leila has her first encounter with Dressie Bessie.
A new stool...
Sit n' Spin (though not the same Sit n' Spin we grew up with... she'll break a sweat before she ever gets dizzy)...
Cousin Abby shows Leila how to use the magnetic draw and erase board
"To Leila, From Santa..."
Uncle Kris got Leila a Max doll... not unlike her first glimpse of herself in the mirror as Max on Halloween, it took her a little while to get used to Max "off the page."
Using her new stool to read a book
The traditional stocking...
Shining Santa's shoes (a tradition of mine as a little girl, and I'm now passing it on to Leila).


Fun with Ele-fun... Leila kept pretty busy picking up the butterflies that Nana, Aunt Vickie and Abby missed in their nets...
And Mr. Potato Head...
Leila, enjoying her mousse and toying with the idea of indulging everyone with the "Moose" face that they were trying to teach her
Wii was Santa's gift for the big kids, but Leila enjoyed taking her turns at Wii bowling
What form!
After Christmas, we made a trip to the bowling alley to see how we all performed with a little more weight in our hands
Nana, getting crushed (literally) by love...One, two, three, weeeeee....
Care Bear water painting at Leila's new activity table. Penny's a self-proclaimed art instructor.
And our first adventure with PlayDoh... really fun.

Montecito Winter Wonderland

To commemorate our hasty arrival at the month of December, some friends and I decided to take our kids up to Montecito Lodge for a bit of a winter wonderland experience. We got a little more than we bargained for (or at least more than I, as a recovering DC-city-slicker, had bargained for). We got boatloads of snow on Sunday night and woke up to the most beautiful blanket of pure white snow. And then it continued to snow, and snow, and snow some more. The phone lines at the lodge were down. The roads weren't plowed. We were officially snowed in.

Here's a series of before and after (during) the snow

Before...
During...
Before...
During (notice that our three cars are the only ones remaining), and this was only the beginning...
On Sunday, Leila was all smiles...
On Monday, Leila was all tears...
Not a happy snow angel...
Regardless of before and after, the view was gorgeous. Here's a glimpse of the glorious and pristine December sky at 7,500 feet (obviously not a view from Monday).
And Leila getting her first glimpse of the "wiiiiite 'no" from the safe haven of our bedroom window.
Inside the lodge, Leila was as happy and curious as ever. She dabbled in paints for the first time and painted a very impressive bird house.
And she enjoyed doing laps on the handicap ramp (click to view video). Luckily, there were no wheelchairs to compete with her complete monopolization of the ramp.

She also got a kick out of "playing" ping pong in the evening...

Ahhh, the warmth of the lodge fire (and all of the games, laughter, beverages and conversation that accompanied that fire). Thanks to the Duttons and Clarks for a fantastic vacation! Can't wait to do it again next year!
Alas, after 7 extra hours spent at Montecito Lodge (which included lunch, a nice nap and more arts and crafts), we followed a snow plow and escort entourage out of the Park and made our way, ever so slowly, down the mountain. Somewhere below 3000 feet the snow finally dissipated and we were able to remove our chains and proceed at a normal pace to finally arrive at our own beds. It's estimated that somewhere between 2 and 3 feet of snow fell before we left Montecito. Indeed, it was a winter wonderland. And quite an experience. Hopefully Leila will enjoy the snow more next time.

Below, we parted ways with our escort service and proceeded down the mountain. Other than the grating sound of the chains, it was actually a very pleasant, peacefully snowy drive back down to the Valley.

Bundled Up for Candy Cane Lane

The other night, I pulled out the gloves that Leila received when she was born, but never actually had a chance to wear. As it turns out, she's quite enamored by the fact that she can have fuzzy blue hands! She wore them again for the Candy Cane Lane parade on Monday night, and will wear them again this coming weekend for our trip up to the mountains. But in between these "special events," I've actually had to hide them from her.

Warming up for the Candy Cane Lane parade...
Good company...
More good company...
And still more good company...
Close up of good company...
Leila was a little skeptical of the parade for the first half hour, but then got into the spirit. This picture definitely represents her nervous (and sometimes slightly hysterical) skepticism. Overall, it was a great time, and a real trip to see this parade again after some 20 years.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We give thanks for so much -- for our wonderful family, for our fabulous friends, for our home, for our food. Thank you to all for being a part of our lives! (If there's ever a time to wax cheesey, 'tis the season.) We love you!

Here's some pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend down in Temecula with my Aunt Vickie, Uncle John and cousins Abby and Zach. It was a really wonderful and relaxing weekend... nothing like snoozing in the backseat of your parents' car to make you feel young and carefree. Now I know how to get a daytime nap -- roadtrip with the whole family.

Nana and Leila were good-looking cheerleaders, but they certainly didn't help Popo's game of pool.
Aunt Vickie really whipped up a feast for Thanksgiving dinner. I think I'm still stuffed.
Much to Leila's delight, Abby shared the cherry cobbler with her.
The MarbleWorks was mesmerizing to Leila!
Leila seems to be over her carsickness, and in its stead, she is now a rather goofy and sleepless passenger. On the car ride back to Visalia, she had a good time trying on my sunglasses and pretending her alligator was a hat.