Happy 8th Anniversary!

To my dear Jason! I love you, and our small, but expanding family :) You make every moment special, and I cannot express how much your hard work, love, and dedication mean to me.

All my love!
Elizabeth

Merry Merry Christmas...and the week ahead!

It was a beautiful Christmas Day here in Livermore, and we enjoyed every moment with our little family! Of course, we missed being with the grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., but it was nice to have a low-key day in our pajamas, and not worrying about cooking, cleaning, etc.

Charlie made out like a bandit, and the link below shows all his loot :) Jason also got a pretty sweet gift--a telescope. Plus a couple of books, music, and some coveralls in order to work on his car :)





I was lucky and got everything I asked for such as many bath products, the new Persuasion DVD, and an iHome for my iPod.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonrjeffries/December2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCOWx65SM8eGVVw#

Charlie has been most excited about all the Cars cars he got, plus his "motorcycle," which is in fact a Radio Flyer tricycle. He rotates between calling it a motorcycle, bicycle, and tricycle. And he is brilliantly cute in his helmet!













The week ahead brings Charlie having his last week at daycare with Tina and Robin, me attending the first of my last 3 appts before the baby is born, and CLEANING, CLEANING, CLEANING. There is so much to do! Thank goodness I am finally off of work!

35 Weeks...

Date night at Simply Fondue was fun, and they finally figured out how to serve a bottle of wine. Only has taken 2 years! Though we missed having our friends Michele and Ryan with us. Hope Gracie's Christmas play was great!!!

It's hard to believe that in about a month, January 18th, to be exact, our life will change dramatically. Not many more weeks to go!


Here are a few pictures of me at 35 weeks, not the most flattering, but you get the picture. I am getting huge and uncomfortable, and I certainly waddle at this point.


Also, we finally got Charlie's room finished up with his name, his desk, and Jay hung up his Cars sign that I bought him in Disney :)




Tomorrow should be fun with an egg nog party, complete with spiking mixture and cookies, a visit to Candice and Richard at Les Chenes Winery, and breakfast with our friends Mark and Irene. Plus there are cookies to make this weekend, and gingerbread houses to build. And this momma STILL needs to start wrapping presents!

Disneyland

Last Thursday we left midmorning for the trek down to Disney, and actually made it by around 5/5:30pm. Despite the overcast weather, and eventual rain, we all had a great time. There were not many characters around, so not much for Charlie to be frightened of. We had breakfast on Friday at the Storyteller's Cafe in the Grand Californian Hotel, with Chip and Dale, and by the end, Charlie was playing peek-a-boo with Chip :)









Dumbo was ridden several times especially for Debi's benefit, but Charlie seemed to enjoy that and the carousel the best! Oh, and the train around Disney as well as Casey's Circus Train. I think he also liked the Nemo sub ride too :)

















We didn't make it to Critter Country, where Tigger and Pooh are until Saturday morning, and the ride and surrounding area was actually shut down because the cars could not stay on their tracks due to rain. So we didn't even SEE Tigger or Pooh the entire time we were in Disney, much less ride the ride. I was very disappointed.

However, we were able to get front row "seats" to the Pixar Parade in California Adventure on Friday evening, and Charlie got to see the characters from Monster's Inc, The Incredibles, Toy Story, and the best one of all, Cars :) However, it was raining pretty hard at that point, so we was well tucked into the stroller. It was not until after Mater and Lightning were gone, that he started talking about them. Perhaps he was in awe!







Here's a few pics, but all of them are up at FB.

Christmas Tree Farm

Yesterday, we went with some friends, Tracy and Steve, and their daughter, Claire, who is about Charlie's age, to Rancho Siempre Verde to pick our Christmas tree. It was scenic drive there on the 92West and then down Hwy 1, into Pescadero. The people there were more than friendly, and there were plenty of fun things to do. We found many swings, really large ones, and baby ones, as well as wreath making areas, and a fire pit, with marshmallows to roast. Charlie and Claire were even offered a ride on the tractor, but Charlie declined (emphatically), of course, until the man left, and then he was all about it. Stranger anxiety has set in well.






We found a tree, which is rather interesting looking, and the guys at the farm were cool enough to wrap it and then tie it to the truck.




Luckily, it only rained for about the first 10 minutes, and then although was overcast and quite cool, it was not raining. The kids enjoyed eating in the back of Pathy, quite the buffet of foods that Tracy and I had packed.

Though I do believe their favorite part was riding in the Cozy Coupe and other vehicles. We knew it was time to go when they both threw mini tantrums when it was the other's turn.





We came home to put up our tree, and then realized we had bought a tree as tall as it was wide. I could actually put lights on it without standing on a stool or stepladder. Charlie did assist, but Jay and I finished after he went to bed.






Then this morning we woke up to snow on our back deck and although Charlie didn't care, Jason and I loved seeing it up in the hills and mountains!