Merry Christmas!

Ben and I spent Christmas in Atlanta this year with my crazy family. As you can see in the picture below, this year's Christmas Eve celebration at Aunt Donna and Uncle Greg's house included home made pinatas. Hilarious. First of all, every one (or at least every couple) was supposed to bring a pinata. Ben and I couldn't agree on what to make so ended up doing one each. As much as this pains me to admit, Ben's pinata was REALLY good. He made a replica of Atticus and it was purr-fect. Hee hee. When he first suggested the idea I thought "no way!" I wanted no part of what I was certain would become a paper mache disaster. But, he proved me wrong. And my "simple" idea of making a globe turned out to be much harder than I anticipated. But all the pinatas were fun for the kids to smash and looks didn't seem to matter to them as long as candy was falling down from the ceiling. Amazingly, no one got whacked in the privates or on the noggin. We had a few close calls, but no real candidates for "America's Funniest Home Videos."

Cae attempts to break Alison and Brian's Christmas tree star.

Alison and I received a very special surprise from Santa Christmas morning. As most of you know, Nanny hails from London and quite a few of her British traits have been embraced by Alison and me. We had both mentioned in passing (probably before we were even pregnant!) that we thought the traditional British prams were super cool. Alison and I were carted around in a traditional pram (thanks to Nanny) and Nanny even had Silver Cross prams (the Rolls Royce of strollers, if you will) for Mom and Uncle Greg. Mom and Dad tracked down (apparently they are hard to find these days) a boutique that special ordered these prams months ago for us. Mom was distraught because she didn't think they were going to arrive in time for Christmas, but lo and behold, they were delivered late Christmas Eve. Poor Dad spent the morning hastily trying to figure out how to put them together (not one, but two) so that Alison and I could be surprised when we did gifts. I think Dad was having flashbacks of all those years of trying to put togethers bikes, scooters, etc. in the middle of the night so that Santa could take all the credit. Anyways, we LOVE the prams! Ben and Brian didn't get nearly as excited as the mommies-to-be, but they did appreciate the "fine engineering" of the pram. That is a direct quote from Brian, by the way!

For all our pregnant friends.....the prams are made by Inglesina. Here is the link: http://www.inglesina.us/us/products/section.php?sectionid=22

Cute pet pictures

Maddux and Atticus have decided on a new favorite spot in the house. They used to always nap together on our bed, but now they have discovered that the back of the loveseat in the family room has a much better vantage point for bird watching out the window and closer proximity to their food and water bowls. I think Atticus was a little peeved last week when Mom, Dad and Spark-e (that's how her name was spelled when Mom and Dad adopted her--don't ask me why) came to visit and Spark-e immediately took over Atty's place! Animals are so funny. I just don't know what on earth Ben and I would do to amuse ourselves without our fur-babies.
**Please note that the back of the couch is now permanently sagging.**

Christmas Party

Once again Ben and I hosted a neighborhood Christmas party at our house. This year's event took place December 6th and, thankfully, was significantly calmer than last year's soiree. I'm thinking that the husbands (including my own) had been warned by the wives that this party could not go on until 3 AM--what with the hostess being preggers and NOT ABLE TO DRINK! We had a great time. Ben and I really love our neighbors and neighborhood. Brian and Alison and Mom and Dad came up from ATL to help us out. Thank you for all the cleaning up, Mom!
I was really bad about taking pictures....I snapped a few beforehand and as the first guests arrived....and then I completely dropped the ball until Chris and Franklin left the driveway zooming off on a little moped. Too hilarious!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Ben and I got to spend an entire week with his whole family and a few other Grand Haven families (the Webers and the Clickners) in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. What a fabulous trip! We stayed at the Tides Hotel, which was amazing. Actually, we were in the Residences at the Tides, which are condos. How nice that all the Slagels were able to stay in one condo. Ben and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with everyone, but hanging out with our 14 month old nephew was especially fun. I can't wait for own little one to make his or her appearance. Here is the link to the Tides: http://www.tideszihuatanejo.com/. If anyone is planning a trip to Mexico, I suggest you stay there! It was heaven on earth.

Fun hotel bar with swings instead of barstools.