Baby's First Christmas

Emma spent her first Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house in the Central Valley, but her holiday season actually kicked off a couple of weeks ago when she took a picture with Santa:

Grandma and Grandpa waited for us to arrive on Christmas Eve to decorate the tree:

Look at all those gifts!  Emma received a truckload of gifts from generous family and friends.  There was even personalized wrapping paper for baby:

Emma, unfortunately, did not get to go to her great aunt and uncle's house for the actual Christmas festivities because she had a cold.  She threw up (think fountain) right before we were scheduled to leave for the party.  She's ok, though, and resting and recovering nicely.

I can't believe how quickly time is flying by for us and Emma.  People commented that each time they see her, she has a new trick to show them.  She is grabbing everything now and putting things in her mouth.  She can sit up on her own, but it's hard work!

Surprise!

Just arrived in time for the holidays...two CDs chock full of documents to review by this weekend.  Ho ho ho!

Visiting the Country

I don't know if you know, but living in California spoils you.  You get accustomed to the temperate and gorgeous weather (Yeah, yeah, I know, there is something to be said about beautiful fall foliage and white Christmases. I mean, I did grow up on the east coast!).  And you start to demand the freshest produce possible.

My in-laws live in the Central Valley, where Californians get a lot of their vegetables and fruits.  My husband's family comes from a farming background, although most of them do not actively farm anymore.  When I first visited my in-laws, this city girl was surprised to see the size of people's "backyards" and how much produce people grow in these yards just for personal consumption.  Count my in-laws in this group.  They grow oranges, tangerines, avocados, cherries, and until recently, plums (sadly, their plum tree bit the big one).  Right next door to my in-laws, my husband's grandmother grows Chinese long beans, eggplants, persimmons, pears, and tons of flowers.  I think I might have left some stuff out, but you get the picture. 

Every year, my husband and I share in the bounty of my in-laws' crops.  Right now, it is orange, tangerine and avocado season:

Delicious!

In Memoriam

On December 5, 2009, my grandmother passed away peacefully in the middle of the night.  My husband, little Emma and I flew out to the east coast immediately to attend her wake and funeral and spend time with family.

At the funeral, my cousin gave the eulogy.  He described my grandmother and her quiet presence.  When she was alive, she made sure that things got done, but without complaint.  She raised five children on her own, with little help from others, and then she helped raise her children's children.  She lived with grace, and truly believed in following the ways of Jesus Christ and the Golden Rule.  Even in her last few years, when she slipped further into her dementia and stopped recognizing all around her, she still smiled and if she was suffering, she again did so without complaint and with dignity.

Although we all knew her time to leave us was imminent, it didn't make my grandmother's passing any less difficult or less heartbreaking.  We will all miss her so much.  I am grateful that Emma got to meet her great grandmother before she passed away.  And even if Emma is too young to remember, and my grandmother was too far gone into her dementia to have realized the significance of the meeting, one day, I will show my daughter pictures of the meeting and tell her all about her beautiful great grandmother.

Turn a Square - Noro Striped Hat

Here's my latest knitting creation:

It's the Turn a Square Hat by Jared Flood, aka Brooklyn Tweed dude.  His designs are so stunning, and he himself is an excellent knitter.  His blog is beautiful, with gorgeous photos of his knitting and designwear.  I once told my cousin who lives in Brooklyn to try to find him and date him.  Yes, like a stalker.  I was having a crazy moment.  Anyway, I think he has a girlfriend already and now my cousin is engaged to someone she loves very much. 

The hat fits husband's head nicely. 

It's hard to see in the picture, but the hat pattern has an unusual decrease structure which results in the crown looking like it has little striped squares, instead of the traditional circular decreases.  I like it so much, I might "borrow" it.   Of course, now that I am back at work, much of my knitting has to take a backseat.  I hope I will get some Christmas gifts done, but not counting on it anymore.  Those hopes went out the door with the hope of slow transition back to work!

I Spoke Too Soon

Sigh.  As the subject line reads, I was too quick to think that all would be fine and dandy upon return to work.  I had imagined a nice slow December, allowing me an easy transition from maternity leave to the office, but I was so wrong.  It has been crazy busy at work, and it feels like going from 0 to 60 without any warm up time.

In addition, when I dropped off Emma at daycare on Thursday, I think she finally realized what was happening.  She looked at me with a betrayed look, then started to cry.  It was like she was saying, "Mommy, the jig is up, and I know what is going on here. You stink."  Heartbreaking.  Two caregivers rushed out, told me to kiss her goodbye, and then swept her away, saying, "Don't cry, Mama**, she will be fine."  I am sure she will be, but nevertheless, it was very hard.

In any case, as promised, here are some pictures from Thanksgiving weekend and Emma's Red Egg and Ginger and 100 day party.  Emma's grandparents threw her the party.  Emma met a ton of new faces, and received lysee (money in little red envelopes) and cute gifts to celebrate her entrance into this world. 

There were red eggs and party favors for the guests - little cookies with her face on them (some people peeled off the edible paper with her face printed on it before eating the cookie so they wouldn't have to bite into her adorable little face), a mochi manju from a San Francisco Japanese bakery, and manju shaped like chicks handmade by my aunt, Emma's great aunt.

(Check out my mad photo collage skillz, yo!  Just kidding, it is all Picasa.  Thanks, people at Google. Now, if only I could figure out the damn spacing of picture on Blogger...)

Prior to the party, on Thanksgiving, she took a little plane ride.

Then, after the party, she felt like cooking a little bit.

Overall, my little girl had a busy and fun weekend, and her mommy and daddy ate a ton.  I have to admit publicly that we fell off the vegetarian wagon on Thanksgiving and at Emma's party.  It was just too difficult with already planned menus, and we might have starved. We were pretty careful (or tried to be, at least), and Lance did not suffer any deleterious effects.  We are, however, back on our veggie diet now, and it feels pretty good.

** I find is hilarious that everyone at daycare calls me "Mama" and my husband "Daddy."  I am not sure that they even really know our first names at all.  They know Emma's name, though, and are good with her, so that's the important part, I guess.