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!