Jumping Into '13

Oh, Hi there! Well this picture just feels like it was taken fifty million years ago. In reality, it was December 22, thankyouverymuch.

The problem with not blogging (substantially) for a long time is that the longer you don't blog, the more you don't know where to begin when you finally do. Do you just jump right in with present day? Does anyone want to read about Christmas, at this point? (Fair warning: Christmas might sneak in here, at least in pictures.)

I am firmly and unabashedly ensconced in January gloom. Not depressed, it's just the crash after the sugar (and Bailey's, ahem) high. All that anticipation, all that shopping and decorating and flurrying of activity and present opening and family visiting.

Enter, real life.

Don't get me wrong. I love real life! It's just...not The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year anymore. But then again, if it was always the most wonderful time of year, it wouldn't be The Most Wonderful Time of The Year. So.

It's been a busy, full few weeks. For some reason (four kids/two toddlers?) it was definitely the fastest winter break in history.

Waiting for Santa. If only we could use the old "Santa won't come until you're asleep" threat every night. It would make bedtime so much more efficient!

I kicked off the winter "break" (certainly not a vacation and, notice how "break" is in "ironic" quotation marks?) with a full day off to myself. It was heavenly. I did very glamorous things like shop unhurriedly at Costco and Target. I also did some last minute Christmas shopping at the mall and, wow, I forgot how tiring actual shopping (vs. clicking "submit order" is).

I was most proud of the fact that at the very last minute I purchased matching jammies for all four kids for less than $40, total (thank you Children's Place for carrying pajamas in sizes as varying as 2T to 7/8 that match). Yes, Ellie age five and Leo age eight, wear the same size.

In light of Newtown, this Christmas felt different, somehow. Maybe it was survivor's guilt or just general grief for the state of things, of knowing how many grieving parents there were (and are). Somehow getting all the right toys and having all the right "things" just didn't matter. It should always be this way of course, but this year I really felt it.

I think part of the reason winter "break" felt so busy and went by so quickly is that Leo was in camp for four of the days, so there was much shuttling to and from said camp. At first I was concerned, since pick-up and drop-off fell squarely in the middle of babies' nap times (10 a.m. and 3 p.m.). But I weighed that little inconvenience with the fact that Leo LOVES that camp, not to mention, we welcome any chance to give the kids an opportunity to do something different. Then there is the little matter of Leo + Ellie + ten days of non-stop togetherness = Dear god, Nooooo.

Ellie flirting with herself in the bathroom at camp. Did she wait until all five of us were back to the car at camp pick-up one day, with one baby STRAPPED INTO A CAR SEAT before she announced she had to use the restroom? Oh yes she did!

Winter break 2012/13 shall also be known as the week Lucy discovered pens and chairs and became, shall we say, a tad obsessed with being just like the big kids.



Grandma and Grandpa arrived from Oregon two days after Christmas and despite pleas for mercy, 7 a.m. playtime commenced quickly and without apology.

Thankfully, Grandpa is a very good sport.

Over break, Harry also fell in lurve with Leo's train table. To the babies, Leo's room = Mecca.



When we weren't making Grandpa wear funny hats and piling toys on top of him, we did our best to spend plenty of time hanging out in the big city, wining and dining him and my step mom. Cause you know us, we're so fancy like that.

HA HA HA.


Saturday brunch at Morandi. I'll add that Harry (not pictured) spent the entire meal flirting with the waitresses.

Oh Leo. You do adore your Grandpa, don't you? 

Grown-ups only dinner at Balthazar. Oh Yeah.

We spent New Year's Eve day at the Turtleback Zoo, a sweet little children's zoo that is blessedly within walking distance from our house. It was cold, but I have to say I love going there in the winter when the crowds (ha! there were maybe four other families there) are non-existent. The kids had the run of the place. After the zoo we got hot chocolate and donuts across the street, where we met a mom and her ten year old triplets. I told her she was my hero and she cooed over the babies, telling me to "Enjoy them while they are little because it goes by so fast."

Run? Did someone say run? 

It was so nice to have several extra sets of hands at the zoo that allowed the twins to roam mostly free, something they don't get enough of an opportunity to do.

The carousel at the zoo is always a favorite.

New Year's Eve we put the kids down early. Unfortunately Erin had to work so it was just the Grandparents, me and CNN's fiscal cliff coverage (no joke!). I poured myself a big glass of wine (OK, maybe more than one) and stayed up 'till the bitter end to watch the ball drop, all the while thinking it was crazy to do so, knowing Harry would be awake in less than five hours.

Imagine my surprise when everyone slept until 7 a.m. Unheard of in this house, I assure you.

Happy New Year, indeed.