That's right, we didn't send holiday cards this year

I've been hearing a lot of guff about it, and let me be the first to say, you're all right. I do ALWAYS send them, usually with a nice picture of Cece that took about 150 takes to get just right, and a personal note telling you, depending on how long it's been since we last chatted, all that's new with us.

But it's been a busy holiday season, with this being the first Christmas that Cece has REALLY been excited about; Katie, Eden & Zac coming to visit; and all the presents that Santa brought (one of which has been tiring the crud outta me).

Suffice it to say that Santa was very good to Cece this year. She got the "piano" she asked for (a 66-key Yamaha keyboard), lots of books, games, and dolls. But our friends & family were all so kind to her, too. She got an Easy Bake Oven from Grandma Pan, some beautiful clothes (including her must-have accessory, the lavender scarf!) from Delia, a cupcake winter hat hand-knit by Olga, some princess books and toy CDs from sweet Bobbi, a cool set of Tinker Toys from Alex in California, fun Crayola crafts from Uncle Michael, a travel tracing toy from Emma, some cute "Littlest Pets" from Natalie, and gift cards and presents for her piggy bank from Johnny, Grandma Cheryl & Great-Grandma Nana. She was so touched to receive so many letters, cards, and packages in the mail. There are probably others that I've omitted (sorry -- I'm going from my faulty memory here). Thank you to everyone!

But quite possibly her favorite present this year is on a "special order" of sorts, due to arrive in mid-August. In case you didn't catch the text on her t-shirt (a gift from Mom & Dad) at the top of the page, Cece is going to be a big sister right around her 4th birthday.

So now you know why we didn't send out holiday cards. I'm just too darn TIRED! Growing a baby is hard work. :)

So, since no card has wished it yet, Happy New Year to all of you, and once I'm out of the all-day queasy & tired woods, I may just get around to sending all of you a proper card. Valentine's Day, maybe?

Ain't No Holla-Back Girl ...

Cece went to see Santa last Wednesday night. She was back to her usual chatty self this year and told Santa "Merry Christmas" and that she'd like a piano under our tree. Upon hearing that, Santa glanced up at us as if to ask, "Hmmm ... think you can fill that one?"

She had several outfits to choose from, including a darling little Santa dress, complete with faux fur collar and cuffs, but Cece was adamant about wearing this one, because it's her "ain't no holla-back girl" outfit (which is what she calls anything that she thinks resembles something that her idol Gwen Stefani might wear). She DOES look damn cute in it ...

How could I forget Michael?

Upon reading the most recent entry, Michael (aka Cece's "Uncle Stick") immediately called me to complain. "I loved reading all about me in your BLOG," he whined like a spoiled five-year-old.

To his credit, he IS due to visit us in just one week, and yes, I neglected to mention it. So sorry, your highness.

Michael will be driving down all the way from "Pennsyltucky" (Easton, PA) so that he and I can attend what we've lovingly deemed the "Flannel Festival" at the 9:30 club: the Cyndi Lauper concert, with special guests Sandra Bernhardt and Jill ("I Kissed a Girl") Sobule. Michael got dibs on blue flannel; I'll have to settle for red. But that's cool; I'll look festive, right? ;) Michael is a HUGE Cyndi fan and has already warned me that he'll be crying through the entire show. No surprise there. He cries with joy when his mini Dachshund (Lucy) takes a big dump on his lawn. I, however, cry when she craps on my rug. (And yes, she has -- don't try to deny it, Michael!)

All Michael bashing aside, we are all very happy that he'll be coming to visit us again soon. We haven't seen him since early October when we all worked our butts off to prepare for Cece's huge third birthday party (while Michael hid amongst the trees out back, chain smoking & doing anything he could to avoid helping with a damn thing). Our neighbors actually called to make sure we didn't have a homeless man residing in our yard. "Nah, that's just Stick," we assured them.

So now you're in our blog, Michael; aren't you thrilled?

Lesson learned: Be careful what you ask for.

XOXO,
Jen

P.S. If he tries to tell any of you that I live in a red state, you tell him to zip it! I live in a BLUE county with a BLUE governor! So there!

Better late than never!

Last year I had a few problems creating a new post on this blog, and after several failed attempts, I finally gave up. I'm hoping this post makes it to the page and I can pick up where I left off.

It's hard to fathom how much a child can change in the span of a year. Looking at the pictures from last fall is like looking at a different Cece. And we thought she looked so grown up back then! Well, look at her now!

Cece started attending a new Montessori preschool last March and is totally loving it. She has dozens of new friends, wonderful teachers, and a peaceful, supportive, enthusiastic environment in which to learn and discover. I was nearly moved to tears when Cece's teacher, Ms. Karen, told us during our parent/teacher conference that Cece is so enthusiastic and "excited about life." It's wonderful to watch her learn and grow.

We continue to enjoy our lives on the east coast. We are lucky enough to count many of our neighbors as dear friends, and our children are all close, too. I've never experienced the kind of bonded community that we have here. Marino and I continue to feel awed by our luck in choosing the perfect house for our family -- complete with the absolute best neighbors.

Winter doesn't officially start for another couple of weeks, but we've already had three snows, the most recent coming last night. It's definitely shaping up to be a colder winter than last year -- but what wouldn't be? We barbecued on New Year's Day this year, and even washed our cars in the driveway. I don't think we'll be having a 70-degree New Year's for 2006!

We were excited to have my mom visit us last month. Grandma Pam (aka Grandma Pan or Grandma Peter Pan, as Cece calls her) braved her fear of flying and made the trip out from California. We gave her a whirlwind tour of D.C. and spent 5 days visiting and hanging out & giving Mom a make-over. :) We're hoping she'll make good on her promise to come visit again in the spring, when the cherry blossoms are in bloom.

We're going to have more visitors soon: Katie, Eden, and Zac are flying out from Sacramento on December 26th for a 10-day stay. Cece is so excited! She's always complaining to us that "I don't have any friends at my house." When we tell her that she has us to play with, she says, "Yeah, but you guys are my parents." Ouch. So having Eden & Zac (and Aunt Katie) here will be wonderful for her. I promised Zac I would put in an order for some snow while they're here. He's never seen snow before, and is anxious to go sledding. Judging from the amount we've had so far, I'm guessing he'll get his wish!

Christmas is just two weeks away, and I haven't finished shopping. Ugh. Cece's presents are all done, but I have to figure out a few more people's gifts. I guess I'll be doing a lot of shopping online this weekend. Cece's Christmas list is, and I quote, "A piano, cookies, and candy." When she asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I said, "Hmmmm ... how about a baby brother or sister for you?" She shook her head and said, very seriously, "Nope, Santa doesn't have those at the store; what else do you want?" :)

I'm going to wrap this up, just in case it gets sucked into the great Internet vacuum. If it works, I'll post more soon, along with recent pictures.

Ho-ho-ho,
Jen

Fall is in the air!

Fall has arrived! I've been photographing the changing leaves since mid-October, and now there aren't many leaves left to photograph. Yes, I mean that in two ways: 1) I've photographed damn-near all of them, and 2) They've all just about fallen off the trees now. Time to start the snow watch!

The crisp fall days have been gorgeous. Our highs have been in the 60s and 50s, with overnight lows typically in the 40s, sometimes 30s. We had an unusually warm Halloween though. I had worried that Cece would need a coat over her costume, but it was so warm that night (around 70!) that Marino went out in shorts. Go figure. Cece had a blast trick-or-treating in her Jo Jo costume. She managed to a few dozen houses before getting tired out. She walked most of the way, too -- but Daddy pulled her and her buddy Shonjoy in the wagon in the home-stretch.

Cece's Grandma Cheryl & Nana Gail came to visit us for a week, and just flew home to California last night. Cece was so happy to have the company, and to be showered with all that attention. Everyone had a nice time touring D.C. and seeing the monuments. We decided to have an early Thanksgiving dinner so that we could enjoy the holiday with Nana & Grandma Cheryl. We had a delicious feast on Friday, complete with all the trimmings. The highlight was the best turkey gravy I've ever made! :)

Cece is looking more like a young lady every day. Her hair is now well past her shoulders, with just a flip of a curl at the ends. She is taller & leaner than she was even just a few months ago, and is (we think) very mature for her age. Her new favorite word is "actually." She's still as dramatic as ever, and knows just how to play up her disappointment with an "Oh, man!" She's a funny little girl.

We just learned that Cece's best buddy from CA, Alex Beckner himself, will be bringing his mommy & daddy to see us in a couple of weeks. We're all so excited! So stay tuned for pictures of their Fall 2004 reunion!

Happy Cece

Blowin' bubbles & kickin' her feet

CHEESE! Swimming at Molly's house

Pretty girl

This backpack is SO COOL!