Family Gift Exchange

Just thought I would post some pics of our annual Cousins Gift Exchange/Steal Game (mostly for Mad and Cat who couldn't be there.) Everyone either buys a $10 joke gift or regifts something that they want to get rid of. Usually amongst the "junk" are some items that become highly coveted. This year, surprisingly it was the Blue Snuggie. First to Phil, then stolen by David and finally stolen by Gerwyn who was last. Which left David to open the last gift left, a Raptors t-shirt that clearly he was disappointed with. (More likely just disappointed to have lost the Snuggie.)

Photos are: Meredith with the Kraft Dinner Assortment, John with "eye bods" (a stand for eyeglasses), Uno with Baby Cubes (later to be stolen by me), Nancy with a "Bear Naked" sleep shirt, Patrick with a hot chocolate mix set, Hanna with men's razors and some candy, Meredith again (picking for Mark) with the glass light up religious statue.

Merry Christmas and Marley's 100 Day Celebration

Christmas Day was spent at our friends Candace and Fulton for some pre dinner drinks followed by dinner at Gerwyn's mom's house. Unfortunately I forgot my camera that day so I can't post any pics. The next day, we officially celebrated Marley's 100 days of life and our family Christmas with a big party at our house. My mom prepared the Korean food, Gerwyn's mom prepared some Filipino dishes and I managed to cook a huge 25 lb turkey. Needless to say, there was a TON of food. We had at least half the turkey left over even after I packed a few to-go containers for people to take home. My mom also bought Marley's traditional 100 Day Korean "duk" cake.

Marley started the day in a very cute "Santa's Little Helper" ensemble purchased by her "lola" (Filipino for Grandmother) and ended the night in her red Christmas party dress. (Which was covered in drool by bedtime.) Our house hasn't been that full since our wedding celebration last year, there were people everywhere, and Marley enjoyed all the attention. We also did our annual cousins gift exchange and "steal" game. Gerwyn ended up with a "snuggie" and I managed to steal a set of "baby cubes" for when Marley starts to eat solid food. But let me tell you, the selection was scarce. There were some interesting "regifts" this year, a glass religious statue that lit up and a box of Kraft Dinner assortment to name a few.

We sent each family home with a bottle of freshly pressed juice that Gerwyn spent the entire day juicing. We did an assortment of apples, pears, carrots, berries and ginger. Its a pleasure I've thoroughly enjoyed and knew my family would enjoy it also. A healthy (and delicious) way to keep you regular!!

By the end of the night we were all so exhausted. All in all, another great family Christmas. I am very lucky to be able to celebrate with such a large family and am very thankful that Marley will grow up with so much love around her.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent at my mom's in Scarborough with my brother, sister and cousin Carol. We all exchanged presents (mostly for the kids of course, that photo of me above is with all of Marley's clothes!), ate dinner and then Carol, my sister and Gerwyn and I participated in what's become an annual tradition, the Scrabble tournament. After an embarrassing previous loss (I only made double digits!) I managed to redeem myself by getting the highest score when we ended the game. (We had to end the game early as it was getting late so according to my opponents, I didn't actually "win" but since I had the highest score at the time of "conclusion", I'm taking it as a win.)

Christmas Visitors!

I love the holidays for all the get togethers. Prior to Christmas we had some visitors stop by to drop off presents and say hello to Marley. It was just the beginning of the many celebrations to come...

100 Days of Marley

Today is Marley's 100th day. I can't believe how quickly time has passed. Last year at this time I couldn't imagine life with a baby and now I can't imagine my daily life without her. Here are a few of my favourite Marley moments which we've shared during these first 100 days:
- her half asleep state during the night-time feedings. When I put her on my shoulder to burp her, she just looks up at me with her eyes closed and mouth wide open.
- how she pauses from whatever she is doing to let out a huge explosion of poo and then smiles right after she's done
- her baby giggle
- how she always smiles at us when she first wakes up
- how she loves to be naked
She's changed so much in just 100 days. I want to cherish these moments while I still have them since I know how quickly they will disappear and change into new discoveries. Happy 100th Day Miss Marley!

Baby in the Bumbo!

Now that Marley can finally hold her head up on her own, we decided to try out the Bumbo chair. Now we can enjoy being able to see "eye to eye" during breakfast as demonstrated above. As with all of Marley's new discoveries, its all fun and games for a good 5 minutes until she decides she'd rather be held.

Our new living room

While Gerwyn was on vacation this week, he decided he wanted to finally try to set up our living room. I was reluctant (since I hate moving furniture) but now that I see the final product, I agree it was a good idea. It also gave our Christmas tree a much better spot.

Discovered the magic!

At first I thought this vibrating chair might have been a waste as every time we put her in it, she would fuss. Although many parents swear by the magic of the vibration, I finally figured out that its the "bounce" that puts her to sleep. You can see my foot in the corner constantly having to tap it to ensure the bounce never stops. A small price to pay to be able to eat a meal in peace...

First hair clip

Here is Marley channelling her inner Carmen Miranda. I found a little cupcake hair clip at a store near our house and had to buy it for an early Christmas present. Not sure why we posed behind a pineapple but Daddy thought it would be cute.

Fun time with Daddy

Marley learns how to suck her thumb!

Meeting Jacen Jordan

Last night we also had the pleasure of a visit from Marley's newest friend, Jacen Jordan Soriano. Before Susie left, we got a few photos of the 3 kids. We finally get to see the end products from all those big bellies! Jacen is one week old, Sully is 7 weeks, and Marley is 11 weeks. As you can see, Jacen has some catching up to do in the growing department. During our group shot little Jacen decided to leave me with a present and dropped his umbilical stump on my lap, how nice! Thanks for the visit Tan-Sorianos, we look forward to many more in the future.

Playdate with Sully!

Yesterday we had a visit from Susie and her 2 month old Sullivan. Moms went for a walk on Queen Street while babies slept in their carriers and then baked Christmas cookies while babies played. All in all a very fun day and we hope to have many more while we're both off on mat leave!

Happy 1st Wedding Anniversary to us!

Yesterday Gerwyn and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We started the day at my sister's actually to celebrate her housewarming with the family. It was lots of fun with all the kids and even Mark and Meredith made an appearance. Turns out all the kids must have got Meredith's contractions going, because she ended up delivering her daughter the following morning (that would be today!).

After lunch we had to make a pitstop at Loblaws due to a completely empty fridge. Now that I'm at home during the days, I find our fridge empties out much faster. However for anyone who hasn't been to Loblaws on a Sunday, don't ever go! It was a madhouse, and trying to manouver with a stroller and a cart was a nightmare. After the mayhem of grocery shopping, we were exhausted and were contemplating cancelling our anniversary plans. But we had Mel and Norm scheduled to babysit and decided not to waste the opportunity to go out alone. (It was our first actually!). Although we were tired, we were glad once we got out and enjoyed a lovely dinner at Sushi District on Queen. I had two glasses of Pinot Grigio which I thoroughly enjoyed and the sushi wasn't so bad either. After dinner, we made a quick stop at Ed's to pick up a couple of pints of ice cream and then headed home. Although short, it was so nice to get out, I had honestly forgetten what it was like to be just the two of us again and I welcomed the reminder. Happy Anniversary to us!

Marley's new hat

Cousins get together for Charlotte's 3rd birthday!

Sunday we got together at my mom's to celebrate Charlotte's 3rd birthday. It was the first time in awhile that the kids got to spend time together. As you can see, it took a few attempts to get this group shot just right. So cute!

Marley at 8 weeks

Last Wednesday we had Marley's official 8 week check up. She has gained 3 pounds and now weighs 11 lbs, 3 oz. She also grew 5 cm. Doctor said she is at the 50th percentile for growth which is "average". She had her first two immunization shots and took it surprisingly well. Although there was crying, it seemed to be more at her leg being held down than the needle itself. Once we let go of her leg, she was happy as a clam again...

A meeting of the minds...

This is Marley trying to 'mind meld' with her newest friend, soon-to-be Baby Soriano. He should be making his official appearance next week...

Congrats to Lorelyn and Jason!

Saturday Gerwyn, Marley and I attended the wedding of our friends Lorelyn and Jason. They are having a larger ceremony and celebration in Mexico next week but since we won't be able to attend, we went to their civil ceremony in Mississauga. It was our first time having to get up early (at 9:00 am!) and boy was I exhausted by the end of the day. The day certainly feels a whole lot longer when you're up before noon!

A moment on the lips...

Equals a lifetime on the hips!! This is a photo of me after one too many cupcakes... ok, maybe not, but this photo will be a good deterrent for overindulging in too many sweets. (Its actually a photo of my back with the breastfeeding pillow in front.)

Happy Birthday Aunt Hanna!

Last week we had an impromtu celebration for my cousin Hanna for her birthday. Although Marley didn't help much with blowing out the candles, we all helped Hanna enjoy her birthday cupcakes...

Cooks Tools

Finally a baby free post! I vowed not to turn into one of those people where every post is all about baby this and baby that... but I guess that means you have to have a life outside of baby first!

I've recently been on an oatmeal raisin cookie kick, I found a good recipe in my Williams Sonoma baking book and have baked them about 4 times now. Each batch lasts about 3 days. I figure better to eat cookies where I can control the amount of sugar and know whats in them then buying store bought. I also thought it might slow down consumption but turns out it just makes me a faster baker.

Anyway back to the topic at hand, good cooks tools! Carol recently got me a new thin metal spatula which she said was better for getting cookies off the sheet and boy was she right! You wouldn't think a spatula would make too much difference but normally my cookies get broken while being removed and this spatula gave me 100% perfect cookies every time. Combined with my silpat and metal baking pans, they make cookie baking a real breeze. A good thing when you're baking twice a week...

Back to the all nighter...

Just thought I would post a photo of our first all nighter. It took place last week and in case you can't read the clock it says "3:29". At that point we put Marley in the Baby Bjorn in hopes that it would calm her and put her to sleep. It did work but as soon as we took her out, she woke up and continued to fuss until 5 am. First came the all night studying, then the all night partying, and now I can add one more definition to the "all nighter"... At least it gave me a chance to do laundry!

The visitors continue...

One of the great things about having a baby I've discovered is that you have a constant flood of visitors! I love company and now that I'm on mat leave, I love it even more! Last week we had Gerwyn's friends Candace, and Lorelyn and her fiance Jason come by. Marley's wardrobe continued to expand with more adorable outfits we hope she won't grow out of. She's already out of her newborn sleepers and into the 3-6 month size. Her 2 month check up is next week, then we'll find out the official weigh in...

P.S. I posted that photo of me and Candace on purpose cause check out my cleavage!! Gotta love breastfeeding! What you can't really notice though is that one of my boobs is significantly larger than the other. While trying to master the "art" of breastfeeding in the early days, I left one of them alone to let it "heal" and ended up only using one boob for 2 days. Unfortunately this resulted in a major case of lopsided boob. When Marley breastfeeds, I can tell that she is more relaxed on the smaller "slow flow" one whereas the bigger one often makes her choke and gassy since she's gulping so fast to try to keep up with it. I'm just enjoying the cleavage while I got it, even if it is lopsided!!

Dinner at "The Nose"

A couple of weeks ago, our friends Lawrence and Crystal managed to persuade us to take Marley for her first dinner out! We were a bit nervous about the logistics of it all but we managed to work it out with the carseat and a sling. We all went to Gio Rana's "The Nose" restaurant at Queen and Leslie. The food was deeleecious and the servers all loved Miss Marley. Although she was awake for most of the dinner, we still managed to eat by taking turns holding her.

We are looking forward to our next dinner out, turns out we don't have to miss checking out all of our great Queen Street options!!

Marley and me

Marley is officially 6 weeks old. Here we are at my office yesterday where we visited my co-workers. Its was one of the last warm weather days of fall so I thought I would take advantage by taking our first outing on the streetcar with the Baby Bjorn. It was a very nice day and great to get out. I'm finding it challenging to come up with activities around the house for us. I have plenty to do with cleaning and cooking but now that she's 6 weeks, Marley is more alert and spends less time sleeping. So mom better come up with some fun activities to keep her stimulated or else she will get mad!
P.S. I cut my own bangs, can you tell?