Christmas Time Is Here

December means. . .

. . . visiting Santa,

At Macy's at Herald Square

. . . bundling up to see the city lights,

On the way home after seeing the store windows on 5th Avenue.

. . . making Chiristmas goody plates. . .

Elizabeth playing quietly on the floor while Mommy bakes. This is her "I'm so cute" face.

Helping mommy clean the batter off the spoon. I should have taken a picture of her screaming in agony when I took the spoon away...

. . .going to ward parties (in a new dress)

. . . and playing in the snow.

What does December mean to you?

Really?!

Two cents?



Maybe they didn't like my sticker . . .?

City Lights

Saturday was a great day! In the morning, I was invited by my wonderful visiting teacher to brunch at her apartment. Sadly, all of the other v-teachees were unable to attend, but that just meant more crepes with Nutella for yours truly. But seriously we had a great time. Best VT visit ever!

In the afternoon, we went up to Manhattan to see the Canstruction exhibit at the World Financial Center. I'd never been to this particular part of Downtown, but I'm glad we went. To get there, you walk right by the World Trade Center site, which is always sobering. Then you come to three gigantic square buildings with pyramid-shaped roofs. This is the Financial Center. In the middle is the Winter Garden, a huge open area with amphitheater steps leading down to palm trees and floor to ceiling windows overlooking the docks on the Hudson. It was something else. The can sculptures were made to benefit some food drive thing and we accordingly dropped our two cans of tuna into the bins.

My favorite dessert!

Elizabeth liked this one. Do you love how big Adam's hair is? Don't worry, we cut it later that night.

Views from outside:

Adam took this one.

Looking towards New Jersey

There's something about city lights at night that just make me feel happy. After we got home, we had dinner, put Elizabeth down for the night, then cuddled up and watched Pixar's "Up" for the first time and absolutely loved it. All in all, a great weekend!

Spreading the Word

I haven't ever posted about a book I'd read. (Have I?) But I enjoyed reading this series so much, I can't help but spread the good news. The Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace chronicle the growing-up years (from 5 yrs old to young married life) of Betsy Ray, a girl from a small town in Minnesota in the early 1900's. I first heard of these books not long after I made one of my first friends here in Brooklyn, but didn't take her advice to read them until Adam brought home these brand-spanking new editions from work. The books start when Betsy is very young and are written to be read by/to a 5 year old. So reading the first one was enjoyable, but not particularly thrilling. But each novel goes up in reading level as Betsy gets older. And by the time Betsy started high school, I was hooked. All the inner-workings of the teenage girl mind are delightfully detailed with humor and empathy. Who will take Betsy to the dance? How will she get that Joe to take notice of her? It's so much fun! And just as addictive as any ol' teen vampire love novel, but without the squeamish stuff. And Betsy won't even consider letting a boy get "mushy" with her (by holding her hand.) It's so refreshing. But it's not old fashioned or stuffy.
Lovelace based these books on her own life experiences and that, I think, makes all the difference with these books. You get to know the characters so well. All the details about life in the time period really transport you there. I found myself looking up all the old songs they sing so I could hear the melodies in my mind as I read the lyrics. And we're talking OLD, like "By the Light of The Silvery Moon" old. (Which is also a wonderful movie, BTW. "Marjorie's old petticoat!!") And because it's autobiographical, there are photographs of all the people she based the characters on at the end of the books. Plus, the illustrations by Vera Neville are beautiful. Are you convinced yet? Maybe if Adam can find more copies, I'll do a giveaway. But until then, go to the library and CHECK OUT THESE BOOKS! But you don't have to take my word for it.

And this:


Both favorites.

New Favorite

This face:

All Hallow's Eve

Darkness falls across the land

The midnight hour is close at hand

Creatures crawl in search of blood

To terrorize your neighborhood!

Looks like somebody's got the "soul for getting down!"

Weekend Getaway

Elder Johnson and family. (He's in the pink tie.)

Last weekend, we escaped to Maryland to visit my aunt and uncle and bid farewell to my cousin Philip, who is leaving for two years to serve as a missionary in Brazil. We've found that, by leaving on Saturday morning and using our new E-Z Pass, we can get down there in 3 1/2 hours. Not bad.

I love visiting my Aunt Jill's. They live in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood not too close but not too far from Washington, DC. Her home is warm and welcoming, cozily decorated with her famous quilts and Relief Society crafts. Her three sons are all teenagers, but they're not terribly annoying. In fact, now that we have Elizabeth, they are even more excited to see us when we visit. (Though they still have to be dragged away from the Wii to greet us when we arrive.) My uncle is very kind and quick to laugh and always has interesting things to talk about. My aunt is wonderful. Like a second mom, only without all the baggage. (Love you, Mom.)

Most of the weekend revolved around Philip leaving the next week for his mission. We had a family BBQ, the essential trip to Rita's, Philip's farewell talk on Sunday, then an open house later that night. The farewell was actually for three young men so the house was packed! I think there were more people in my aunt's house that night than there are in our entire ward here in Brooklyn. We're really happy for Philip and excited to hear all about his adventures, spiritual and otherwise, in the Amazon.

Our little trip also gave us a chance to get a jump-start on celebrating Halloween. Here are my cousins as Mario and Luigi:

And here's Elizabeth at her very first Trunk or Treat:


We even managed to get to a real, live pumpkin patch.


Unfortunately, the patch itself was closed so we had to pick our pumpkins from a wagon by the barn. But Elizabeth still enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday to You!

It's my birthday present to me! I'm so happy!!

Today is Elizabeth's day of all days. We started the celebrations early. Saturday, to be precise. We invited a few of her/our friends over for an informal party. The kids kicked around balloons while the adults chatted. Elizabeth received some lovely presents. But the best part, for me, was watching her devour her birthday cake. I made a double-layer chocolate cake w/ chocolate frosting (from scratch—go me!) She started out politely scooping frosting with her little index finger, but it didn't take too long before cake was gooshing out of her fists and smeared all over her face. It made all the hard work planning and baking and cleaning for the party worth it.

Blowing out the candle (with a little help from friends.)

Before . . .

After!

After getting cleaned up, Elizabeth showed off all her loot.

The festivities continued when more friends dropped by later that evening. I was especially touched when our next-door neighbor, Tito, and his girlfriend, Valerie, came by with a bag full of clothes they'd just bought for Elizabeth. Tito has always been so kind and loving to Elizabeth. They first became acquainted in the spring when it got warm enough for us to sit on our stoop and watch the world go by. Tito is a favorite with all the kids on the block, but he and Elizabeth have really got a special bond. The whole family has been very kind to us. It was really touching to see him pick her up, hug her close, and say, "Oh, I love you, Elizabeth!" He has grandkids of his own, but I believe they're all in Puerto Rico.

Valerie, Tito, Birthday Girl, Daddy

Sunday, Elizabeth got to open up her gift from G-ma and Mumpa Davis while they watched on video chat. Then Monday, we took a special trip to the park and visited another friend of Elizabeth's, who just turned one not too long ago. My friend, Kelly, has three girls, and it was a hoot to watch Elizabeth sit in the middle of that tornado and just try to keep up. She loved it!

At Sunset Park

People ask if it's hard to believe a year has gone by. I've always looked forward so much to each milestone that it does feel right for her to be one year old. What I don't think I'm ready to accept yet is that, before I know it, I'll turn around and she won't be a baby anymore. We still rock her while we sing lullabyes at night, but she's getting awfully heavy. (19 lbs!) She eats with her fingers and drinks from a sippy-cup. She toddles along with just one hand barely holding onto a finger. And even her baby-talk sounds like real conversation. But even with all the growing-up, it's hard to feel sad when I'm so overwhelmingly grateful that she's been a healthy and happy baby all these months. So shout out loud, Elizabeth, I am I! And I may not know why. But I know that I like it. Three cheers! I AM I! You are you and we love you, too.

P.S. If you just can't get enough, (I'm talking to the grandparents) here's the links to the videos of the birthday song and Elizabeth eating the cake.

Autumn in the Cemetery

Sunday was a clear, bright October day here in Brooklyn. One of our favorite haunts (pun intended) is the Green-wood Cemetery. Adam thought it was rather morbid to let Elizabeth scamper about among the gravestones. But I take grass where I can get it. Besides, if I were dead and buried, I'd want children to play on my grave. Is that morbid?

So creepy or cute: you decide. At any rate, we all had fun.

"I'm not scared."

I think she smells the funk of fourty-thousand years.

Looking at the ducks and geese.

"But I want to go IN the pond, Daddy!"

Vitamin E

Sorry it's been so long since we posted anything about Elizabeth. That is why most of you check this blog, right? So here's a bunch of photos and videos for your minimum daily requirement of Little E.





As the second-to-last picture shows, Elizabeth has learned to play Peek-a-Boo. . . . Sort of. At times, she throws her hands on her head with such energy, she misses her eyes and gets her ears, her cheeks, or just her nose. It's pretty funny, cuz she thinks we still can't see her. She'll giggle and wait and wait and wait and then, "There she is!!"




These next two videos are Elizabeth "playing" the pipe and harmonica we bought at Gettysburg. They also illustrate how frustrating it can be to get kids to do stuff you KNOW they can do for the camera.





My favorite part is at the end when I try to show her how to hold the harmonica, but of course she says "no" and turns it on it's end and blows.

P.S. to "Repenting"

I don't know how I neglected to say this, but while I'm thanking Adam, I need to also thank his wonderful mother, Margaret, for giving us the rocking chair, the same one Adam was rocked in. I suppose I should also thank her for raising such a great son. Thank you!

(I know, so cute, right?)

Repenting

Adam made this last night and left it on the desktop for me to see this morning. I hadn't really given my "coveting" list that much thought. (Find the original post here.) But little by little, through hand-me-downs, improvisations, and then a generous anniversary gift, we've acquired almost all of them. What touched me, though, was that Adam had payed so much attention to my wishes. I knew he was bugged by the post (which was, I admit, whiny.) But seeing this made me realize how much he cares about me, even in all my whiny-ness. I guess I don't understand as much as I should how important being a good provider is to men.

So I want to publicly thank Adam for the wonderful digital piano and for working so hard to not only make sure I have the things I need, but also for trying so hard to get me the things I want.

Thank you, Adam!