Merry, Merry!!

Well, Sienna’s first Christmas is over. It was a wonderful day despite her being sick. We helped her open presents and she put paper and boxes in her mouth. She got lots of toys! We got Yves a bunch of web related books and his favorite chocolates and cologne. They got me a new cutting mat (18×36!), the Everyday Food cookbook, a sewing book, an ice cream maker and a wonderful massage at Ohm. Liz, Sylvain, Eli, Maia and Rozee came over for lunch. We got a cupcake book, 1001 Movies book, chocolates and Yves got a sweater from them. And Sienna got 2 cute shirts! They delivered some presents from Aunt Natalie. She gave Sienna cute Nike booties and a hat and some delicious smoked salmon from Washington and Starbucks coffee. It’s too bad the whole family couldn’t be together but we did a video conference while having dessert. For lunch I made a healthier version of meatloaf and no holds barred macaroni and cheese and broccoli on the side. For dessert I made pecan pie (without corn syrup!) and cookies. Liz also brought panetone, which tasted very fresh (I’ve been having it for breakfast on those ‘Sienna wakes up at 5am days) I won’t write too much because I have a ton of pictures to post!

Sienna’s first Christmas present!
Sienna’s first official Christmas present!

presents1blog.jpgpresents2blog.jpgpresents3blog.jpg
Presents galore!

pecanpieblog.jpg
My first pecan pie (I can never make the crust look nice!)

pecanpiesliceblog.jpg

videoconfblog.jpg
Sylvain on video conferencing.

elisieameblog.jpg
Eli playing with Amelié and Sienna.

maiaelitableblog.jpg
cute sisters!

crydadblog.jpg
Sienna was cranky so Yves was imitating her. (We had to change her shirt because she got banana all over it!)

goofyhatsblog.jpg
being goofy!

groupchris2007blog.jpg
Group shot!

lizkissblog.jpg
A sweet kiss from Auntie Liz!

memaiablog.jpg

meeliblog.jpg

mesiennablog.jpg
A series of self portraits!

Ho, Ho, WAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

I’ll pay you back for this mom and dad!

Friday we went to Kings Plaza mall to take Sienna to meet Santa. We knew this would be the result. We feel badly now for laughing during all this but we couldn’t help it! She is just too cute and too funny! The photographer told me that someone might have to go over there (because she did not stop crying once!) but I told him that was ok, we didn’t mind having a picture of her crying. It’s part of the memory, right? He must think we’re horrible! But really, that is part of the memory, right? It’s bad enough we are making her sit with this big, bearded stranger! I’m not going to force her to smile a fake smile! There were some priceless looks Sienna gave Santa that I wish the photographer captured, particularly one where she was looking straight at him and crying. She stopped as soon as I took her from him.

She got sick later that night, probably her way of getting back at us. Her nose was stuffy and she was coughing. It’s so heartbreaking to see and you feel so helpless. We took her to the doctor today and got some medicine for her. Hopefully she’ll get better really soon.

kingsplazablog.jpg

Taken while waiting on line, right before the fatal incident. LOL!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Band Meeting at Pearl!

Tuesday night I met up with the members of the band and had dinner at Pearl Oyster bar. Me and Tammy tried to go there in July but we did not want to deal with the hour wait. We made sure it wasn’t going to happen again so we tried to meet up early, between 5:30 and 6. I guess it’s easier to get in during the winter as there were only a few other people waiting to get in when I got there around 5;45. Well, once everyone showed up, the eating began!! Me, Joy and Peter shared a small order of steamers (no picture because it’s too blurry.) Pete and I also each got the clam chowder while Tammy got a ceasar salad. Needless to say I polished off my soup and also helped Tammy with her salad (she asked for help and as a good friend, had to help her!) Joy got the lobster. The rest of us got the infamous lobster roll. It was delicious!! Again Tammy needed help with hers and how can I, as a good friend, let her down? And how can I let good lobster go to waste? Well, I was stuffed by the end of dinner and Pete wasn’t surprised as he quite clearly pointed out everything I ate that night. Thanks Pete! (LOL, love ya!) Here are some pics:

pearlchowderblog.jpg
Chowda!

pearltamsaladblog.jpg
Mama to be and her caesar.

Eat me!
Joy and her lobster

I am yummy!
The one, the only Lobster roll!

I’m so happy I can fart!
Another satisfied Pearl customer!

Colors

I’ve posted my December mix online for CDMOM. If you are interested in downloading it, leave a comment and I’ll send you the info. I had the mix done a couple of weeks ago but I didn’t have a cover design in mind. I finally settled on a picture I took of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center last year while I was temping at Health magazine.

dec07fblog.jpg

dec07bblog.jpg

1. Red Dragon Tattoo • Fountains Of Wayne
2. Red Eyes And Tears • Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
3. Orange Crush • R.E.M.
4. Orange Blossom Special • Johnny Cash
5. Yellow Light • Remy Zero
6. Yellow Butterfly • Tahiti 80
7. Green Glove • The National
8. Green Grass of Tunnel • British Sea Power
9. Clear Blue Air • Turin Brakes
10. Lightning Blue Eyes • The Secret Machines
11. Violets • Candy Bars
12. Purple Toupee • They Might Be Giants
13. Black Magic • Jarvis Cocker
14. Black Mirror • The Arcade Fire
15. White Limousine (Radio Edit) • Duncan Sheik
16. Entering White Cecilia • The New Pornographers

The Graduate

drumblog.jpg

Monday was the last day of music together for the fall semester and she “graduates” to mixed age class. I had such a fun time going with Sienna and I know she really enjoyed it too. Since she started to crawl, she’s been “visiting” the other babies during class. It’s like she sensed it was the last class and practically made her rounds to several babies!

visit1blog.jpg
Visiting Meghan

visit2blog.jpg
Visiting Emi

visit3blog.jpg
Visiting Salvatore

visit4blog.jpg
Visiting the twins, Francesca and Nicholas

She also visited a couple of other babies but I didn’t want to be taking pictures throughout the whole class! Sienna really is too funny. When Michael put out the big drums, he put one right by us but nooo, the one right beside us was not good enough. Sienna had to go to the one all the way over there!

otherdrumblog.jpg

I think I’m going to skip the winter semester and wait for the Spring semester.

Viva La Domestic Diva!

chairbackpackblog.jpg

In the quest to keep our dining room table as clutter free as possible, I made this “chair backpack.” Well, I actually made the tote part a few months ago while testing out making a tote bag from t-shirts and then abandoned the project when I didn’t know what to do about straps. I had cut up the first t-shirt too much and couldn’t use the scraps for a strap and even tho I cut the 2nd shirt better, I felt it needed double fabric in order to hold the bag well. Plus I didn’t exactly plan it out because the bag is kinda long. Then I came up with this idea in the middle of the night and decided to use the fabric ribbons that Theresa gave me from all her wedding gift packages from Pottery Barn. It really is such a nice ribbon. Anyway, I’m quite proud of this idea!

crochetsnowmanblog.jpg

I also just started getting into crocheting Amigurumi animals and got this snowman ornament pattern here. I obviously messed it up somehow realizing it was kind of big for an ornament and Tammy pointed out from the instructions that the total height was supposed to be 4.5 inches. So it’s off by a few inches…You can’t win them all! I am in the process of making a baby snowperson and used a smaller hook so I’ll show the whole family when I’m done.

Then I wanted to make treats for the holiday mixer last week and I didn’t have the energy to make a ton of different cookies like last year so I found these real easy and simple pretzel treats.

pretzelsblog.jpg
Setting out the pretzels.

kissespretzelblog.jpg
Loading the kisses on top. I think these might have been the caramel kisses.

kisswrapsblog.jpg
I think the most time consuming thing was unwrapping all the kisses.

pretzeltreatsblog.jpg
The finished product!

I made plain kisses with plain M&M’s and caramel kisses with plain M&M’s. The leftovers were given to the bowling people at the bar last week and Brenda also took some home. I’ll be making more tho unless I end up eating all the kisses and M&M’s.

Sienna and Dad time

We’re starting to feel a tooth coming up!! Woohooo! The bottom left side! No pictures of that yet!

daddysiennaposeblog.jpg
She’s lifting herself up pretty well now (but hasn’t figured out what to do after that-yet!) So Yves is posing with her.

upsidedownblog.jpg
Roughhousing with Daddy.

foldlaundryblog.jpg
Helping Daddy with the laundry.

smilefordadblog.jpg
It’s fun climbing all over Daddy!

And it’s fun twirling with Daddy too!

Twirling with Daddy from Lisa on Vimeo.

Hipster bowling

Yes, I am a goofball.

Bowling a strike from Lisa on Vimeo.
Wednesday was the holiday mixer and we went to the Gutter Bar in Williamsburg/Greenpoint. What a real cool place! It’s new but with an old feeling. There were about 8 lanes and the scoring machines are vintage, bought from an old alley in the midwest. The bathrooms are unisex and individual rooms (about 5-impressive for a bar!) with common sink areas. I wouldn’t mind going back again but only during the weeknights as apparently the weekends are a madhouse (according to the bowling guy). And they won’t let you bowl if they think you are drunk. HAHA! Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the alley area. Sorry for the bad pictures but I was already buzzed halfway thru my pint and even accidentally drank Brenda’s beer a couple of times. But I think being buzzed helped with my bowling!

gutterballsblog.jpg

candymachineblog.jpg

oldtvblog.jpg
There’s no dial on the tv but buttons for each number. I think we had this same tv when I was younger!

lamplaneblog.jpg

nunofirstballblog.jpg
Nuno throws the first ball of the night.

These disco shots were taken by Nuno, sadly no disco bowling shot of Nuno.

brendabowlblog.jpg

alanbowlblog.jpg

mebowlblog.jpg

carriebowlblog.jpg

Francis did not bowl so no shot of him bowling! Here are the scores.

scoresblog.jpg

BLT Burger

Last night I met up with Pete and Joy and had dinner at BLT Burger. I forgot the camera so no photo evidence of the gluttony. I was anxious to try the American Kobe burger (too cheap to try the Japanese version) and sadly was not impressed. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised since the price was pretty reasonable (that was one of the reasons I decided to try it) but I figured it would just be a smaller patty. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t terrible but just not what I thought it would be. I also got sweet potato fries (I’m into sweet potatoes now!) And was pressured into getting a milkshake. 😉 I got a black and white and usually don’t get something so heavy during dinner but it was a delicious treat. Joy got the lamb burger, which I am totally getting next time, and onion rings that were good. Pete got the classic burger and regular fries and they were good too. I was quite stuffed so did not have room for the Sour Cream Apple Pie I spied on my way to the table.

Adventures in Babyland

bigmouthmomblog.jpg

Saturday we went out to lunch to an “Asian fusion” restaurant in the ‘hood. Sienna sat in her first restaurant high chair and I forgot the camera!! She seems to still be a little small for a high chair and a booster might have been better. I’m not sure if restaurants have both boosters and high chairs. She still has the stranger anxiety so when the waitress was cooing over her, she started to cry. And each time she came around, it took her a little longer before she started to cry. A different waitress came by to clear the dishes and Sienna didn’t cry at her, I’m not sure why.

sleepeatblog.jpg

Yves was feeding her and I love when she grabs your finger so I couldn’t help but sneak a couple of snaps of this.

sloppymouthblog.jpg

And why is it that babies hate to have their mouths wiped? I’m assuming all babies are like that. But I got her! I figured out a way to wipe her mouth without doing the cloth/mouth dance! I put the cloth on one side of her face and keep it there and knowing she’ll struggle, she wipes her mouth on her own and doesn’t even realize it! HA! Gotcha baby! 🙂 I was so proud of myself when I figured that one out. Hmm, only took me about 2 months (it has been 2 months she’s been on solids, right?!) I’ll be a wise old mom by the time Tammy plops out her baby in June! YES! That’s right!! My good friend and doula is going to have a baby! WOOOOWEEEEE!!!!!! I know she is going to make a great mom and Mark is going to make a great dad. She visited us yesterday to share the great news! And like I mentioned, Sienna has stranger anxiety and since she hasn’t seen Tammy in quite a few months, we weren’t surprised she started crying when she saw Tammy. Well, no surprise that Tammy won her over in a matter of minutes! Singing and dancing for her and making her laugh, how could Sienna not just love her?

tammysiennalaughblog.jpg
And this video cracks me up. I bought her some organic apple juice and diluted it half with water…


Apple Juice from Lisa on Vimeo.

And today in music class, Sienna was bumping noses with the baby next to us, Tebo. Then she started licking his head! That’s my kid! Always sticking out her tongue. I wasn’t fast enough with the camera to capture the licking or the nose bumping but thought this picture was cute.
siennateboblog.jpg

Next Page »