Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas. My mom and brother got to come for a few days and we enjoyed hanging out. It was Paco's first time to Atlanta, but we didn't venture out much. They went to see the Hobbit one afternoon while I stayed with Natalie and we had a few great meals. My mom and I got to go shopping at the mall (took me almost 4 hours to find 2 shirts, 1 pair of pants, a skirt that don't make me look hugely fat). Micah and I even got to go out on a hot date while Natalie stayed with Grandma and Uncle Paco-we went to home depot and then ate at longhorn steakhouse. Woohoo!

Here are a bunch of pictures of present opening on Christmas morning, mainly for the benefit of the gift givers who weren't there...

Natalie opens up this giant present from Aunt Chere

Micah got me a new Yoga mat! It came with a strap and block, and even a dvd with a few short workouts led by a guy with a braid wearing nothing but a speedo. Alright!

Loving our new hats from Paco

Cookbook from Dad. Now Paco can learn a few... you know... AMERICAN dishes.

Natalie had a blast and really got the hang of opening presents.

Micah got me new measuring cups and spoons! This is so awesome. I cook and bake so much, but I'm so cheap I've just been getting by without most of my set (which have become broken or lost). Now I don't have to use a Robitussin medicine cup for measuring teaspoons! 

 Natalie was intrigued by the lacing beads from Aunt Darlene. I was ecstatic over the waffle iron she got me.

Eating pumpkin spice waffles the day after Christmas. Micah usually is much more good-looking in the morning that this photo suggests. Paco, too.

And another fun acquisition- this is what we got at Home Depot on our date. Finally! Shelves to organize our food storage! We don't have a kitchen pantry and our cupboards are pretty small. Previously, all of our pantry food was stored in 2 massive 45-gallon plastic tote buckets and stacked in the 2'x3' space under our HVAC unit. This shelf takes up less floor space than one of the totes, and easily holds all of our stuff with room to grow. And it's 1.73 billion times easier to get out what I need.

Now with the HVAC closet emptied, I can finally stow the vacuum somewhere out of site! It's also great overflow space for our increasing collection of kitchen appliances- the waffle maker, a deep fryer, a mini-smoker, and a casserole dish with temperature regulating carrier are just a few of the things that we've added this season.

 And, a moment of cuteness.
Tonight, I looked over from the kitchen and saw Natalie had climbed up to the table, where I had a candle burning. I was worried about her touching it, but she was just sitting there, calmly looking at it with her arms folded. When I asked what she was doing, she said, "thinking". Hahaha.

Tomorrow is Natalie's birthday. We will wait a few days to celebrate. Tomorrow will be day 3 of the 3-day potty training method, so maybe on Thursday or Friday we will celebrate. We plan to take her to see Frozen at the movie theaters- Micah has shown her the song, "Let it Go" and she loves it. We'll see how tomorrow goes and decide weather she's ready to leave the house!