new nephew

I just realized I haven't even posted anything about my new nephew, Gabe. Good thing he can't read yet! Gabe is almost two weeks old, and my sister Becca and her husband Chris are doing really well. Gabe decided to come early and fast, which was a bit disappointing as he made his debut the one weekend we were away in Florida. Definitely good for Becca though, as the whole production only took about 6 hours. Everyone's fine and this is one cute baby. My mom is here to help out, so we are enjoying that too. Details and cute pictures here. Welcome to the world, baby boy!

ornament debacle - my side

THREE years ago (and she's still not over it-see post below), while shopping several weeks before Christmas, Jess and I decided to step into Barneys, just to ogle at the expensive, extremely overpriced merchandise. While there, we checked out their Christmas section. The designer ornaments were ridiculously expensive, ranging from $40-$500 or so. They were, however, very cool, as they were chandelier themed. Very glam, Jessica loves glam. I jokingly said to her, because they were very expensive, "would you like these ornaments for Christmas?", and she, knowing I was joking, said no. End of story, part 1.

Two days before Christmas, I'm shopping alone. Barneys has Christmas merchandise dramatically marked down. I had already bought everything and reached my budget, but knowing these were greatly reduced, I thought she would like them for future use. Fast forward to Christmas morning: she is very upset and overreacts. Granted, I had not considered the fact that we did not have a Christmas tree for the fifth year in a row. But, we are never in town for Christmas and it seems like a waste of money. My big mistake was having them wrapped and give as a gift! If I had just come home and put them on the counter and said "got cool ornaments for cheap" we would not be reliving this agument today. Here is a sample of the ornaments in question.

If loving her is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Happy Holidays--Stephen

our tannenbaum

After only seven years of marriage, we got our first Christmas tree.

We bribed our friend Truck, I mean Wes, with dinner and Stella time. What a good sport.

Here they are setting up the tree. Yes, there was a wrench involved.

We got a real tree, it even came with a real slug living on a branch and real needles that are oh-so-festively decorating the floor. I love it. It smells like Christmas in our house. While a real tree may be a bit more of a hassle, it's not like this is a way of life - it's once a year. Stella seems to have figured out that needles are not so tasty, and the ornaments are out of her reach, for now anyway. I'm sure that by the time Christmas gets here, she will be three feet tall.

She's fascinated by the lights:the finished scene:
So at long last, I get to use the truly fabulous chandelier ornaments Stephen bought me a few years ago. This puts the cherry on top of a many-layered argument. On the one hand, they are fabulous and I love them. On the other hand, I HATE giving and receiving ornaments as gifts. (No offense to anyone who may have previously given me any ornaments. Ha.) It's just that you get them on Christmas, and then you can't use them for a whole freaking year. Plus if you are a design snob like me, you really like to pick this kind of thing out yourself. Plus, when he first found the chandelier ornaments and asked me if I liked them, I said no. He asked if I wanted them, and I said no. Then he gave them to me, after vetoing a Christmas tree for oh, the fifth year in a row (we've always gone out of town for the holiday). The cruelty was completely lost on him, and he did not understand why I was upset. I have since explained to him why I was upset, using graphs and charts where necessary.

Let's just say they look pretty on the tree and we can all be happy now. :) It's a festivus miracle!

Stella in the sunshine state

Last weekend we flew to Florida so that Stella could meet some of the Italian side of her family. She met her great-aunt Mary Jane, her great-grandma Crazy Jean (as we like to call her) and her great-uncle John.

Kiddo was funny on the plane, blowing raspberries as everyone exited.

We dipped her toes in the ocean - she loved all the new sensations and watching the birds. Water was cold and surprising for her.

We were spoiled rotten this trip - early Christmas and my birthday.

Mary Jane's house was done up so beautifully for the holiday - we all got into the spirit.

I love this picture because it shows just how crazy about each other these two were. Stella loves necklaces and Crazy Jean had lots for her to play with. I need to figure out how to turn off the flash but still keep the shutter speed up. I hate using the flash when there is such warm lighting.

We were treated to Uncle John's absolutely delicious food, it was all so yummy. And Aunt Mary Jane is the most gracious hostess - we were so comfortable during our stay. We came home with all kinds of treasures - and practically a new wardrobe for baby girl. It was a GREAT trip.

Next we will hopefully see a few Floridians in Dallas - we can't wait!

smoke-free dallas

Yesterday I attended a Dallas City Council meeting to help support a proposed city-wide smoking ban - expanding it to include bars. The place I work (American Heart Association) has worked hard for this ordinance and many like it across the country. It was a fascinating experience. Those of us in support wore red t-shirts and packed the chambers. The opposing side wore yellow and seemed to be primarily made up of people who own or work in bars. Their concern was that they would lose business to the suburbs. It's an argument that was made when Dallas banned smoking in restaurants, and it didn't hold up then, and it doesn't now. I know many feel this is a personal freedom issue, but this is one instance where public health should prevail. No one is telling smokers they can't smoke, they just have to go outside. There were several people there concerned about losing their bar jobs, stating that this was the only job they could get. Bottom line: no one should have to choose between their health and their paycheck.

At one point the mayor asked that any citizen who wanted to go on the record was welcome to come forward and give their name and a short statement. I jumped up, remembering all the studies showing that when you ban public smoking, the incidence of heart attacks drops in the community. I implored the council to do the right thing - today they had an opportunity not many of us get, to make a real difference and save real lives in Dallas.

They did the right thing and it passed. Come April (when it goes into effect), this non-smoker will gladly organize a celebratory happy hour and not come home smelling like an ashtray.

so nine people and a dog walk into a bar...

We spent Thanksgiving with Stephen's family. His sister hosted, she is such a good sport, and we did it co-op style. Everyone brought something and everything was delicious. I made rolls and pies.

We did have some misadventures on the drive down - Colin & Megan's van broke down as they tried to leave Dallas at noon on Tuesday. And no rental cars available on account of the holiday. It truly was one thing after another - if National Lampoon ever makes a Thanksgiving Adventure, they should give us a call. Really. Anything that could possibly go wrong did. It's normally a 3 hour drive. It took us 2 hours just to leave Dallas. We piled in our two cars with four adults, three infants, two children and a dog. Plus gear. We had to go the opposite direction in rush hour traffic to pick up Colin at the car dealership. There was an accident, and I almost called him to tell him to just start walking south - it was that bad. We didn't get there until midnight. Lesson learned: don't try to cheer anybody up by pointing out that things can't really be that bad since no one has thrown up. It only makes the universe want someone to throw up.

I am proud to say that I found a good crew to do the Turkey Trot 5k with. Stephen, Stella, and our nephews Max, Zach, Aidan & Jack, and our niece Isabelle all got up early to do what I hope can be a tradition on that side of the family. My goal was to run the whole thing, and Max agreed to do it with me. When we started running, all the other boys ran with us too. It was fun, weaving through the crowd of walkers. But it left Stephen with the stroller and Isabelle, who is pretty little for the distance. So I sent some of the boys back to check on them, and sure enough, Isabelle was getting tired. So after about two miles or so, I circled back to walk with them. Isabelle did great, we stopped to rest and I gave her a brief shoulder ride, but she did it. They had a pancake breakfast after, which all the kids enjoyed. One of them said they had never eaten breakfast outside before. It was fun, and their parents enjoyed a few hours of kid-free holiday preparation. I think we wore them out!

Here's our crew:

Stella's still smiling at the end:

Stephen, Max, Jack and Isabelle at the finish. Max ran the whole thing. This is what I got when I told them to smile. I would say they are in serious need of some pancakes here.
Stella LOVED playing with her cousins all weekend.



We had a great time visiting family. Black Friday just isn't the same without my mom around - she is serious about it. We slept in instead. Stella is unofficially crawling. More of a scoot, but she is definitely mobile.