eliana's first christmas, 2007

Eliana thoroughly enjoyed her first Christmas...

well if christmas eve was fantastic, then christmas day really takes the cake. this was one of the mellowest holidays i've had in a long time and i have to say, i am way down with mellow holidays. the three of us woke up and while elie and jeff snuggled and hung out in bed, i made a big pot of coffee and a delicious lemon poppyseed loaf. by the way, i never really bake, but lately i'm feeling like it's my responsibility as a mama to care more about baked goods in the home. this morning was an excellent example of the new culinary path of mine. i put the bread and some fruit out on the coffee table, poured some fresh squeezed oj and coffee, and got myself ready for the day ahead. mort and roseann arrived and i fixed them up with good stuff, ever ready to be the christmas hostest with the mostest. the gift opening went well. not too much stuff, not a frenzy filled, paper tearing fest, just a nice, go around the circle sort of present time. and of course, eliana made out the most with all sorts of fantabulous new accessories to her already fantabulous life. after presents, we decided to head up to lolo pass to do some cross country skiing. lolo pass is one of my favorite spots around here, and being that i'm the xxskiier in the family, i was super excited. risk-taker roseann had rented a pair of skis the day before and morty was planning on just laying low in the visitor's center. the drive was beautiful and soon enough we were at our spot. while jeffy strapped eliana to his chest, i tried to give roseann a little lesson. i basically told her to walk slowly. she then took one big lunge forward and promptly had her first fall. xx skis are slippery lil suckers the first few times you experience them. i did, indeed, make many a fall the first time i embarked on this sporting adventure. so i wasn't too worried. but then in order to get to the trails which are basically flat, you have to go down this little mini-hill. a mini-hill that can be a bit intimidating. so while i tried to coach her down, i saw that she was slowly losing control. next thing i knew, her bottom was in the snow and her head snapped back, hitting the ground last. yikes. this is the time when you ask the person their name and address and sure as hell hope that they can answer you correctly. thankfully, she did. at which point jeffy came to see how his mommy was, with his little one screaming her head off in the ergo. all of us were on skis and sort of wiggling our way through this little scenario. so we decided to make a change of plans. roseann would join morty and hang with eliana. i would get a quick ski in. and jeff would ski out of bounds with the doggies who are illegal on the groomed trails. ready, break! we all did our respective things and i was afforded a bit of time to reflect on my year and all the wonder that is currently my life. all's well that end's well!



we headed back down the mountain and broke up for a bit. i did a few more preparations for dinner and then drew myself a nice, hot, eliana-less bath. i've sort of forgotten how much i love to bathe without my daughter. i mean, there's probably nothing sweeter than bathing with her, but i do enjoy a bit of lavender oil and a trashy magazine in the tub now and then. and that was the super time out i had. then we went up to the folks house for a delicious steak dinner (i had been marinating the meat for 36 hours - definitely the way to go). this meal was extra special because eliana joined us at the table. not on the table or on one of us, but in her very own, proper chair. she even had a piece of pear from the salad to fondle and occasionally suck on (though she was much more into sucking on the tray itself). eliana was chipper and chatty the throughout the whole meal, really adding her two cents worth to the conversation (when, of course, she wasn't tray sucking).
she managed to fall asleep while we were watching some horrible billy bob thorton santa movie on tv and actually stayed asleep through the car ride home. now it's late and i'm madly blogging while jeff tries to assemble eliana's "exersaucer" (and i said i didn't want plastic crap hanging around my house! well after she tried it out at her buddy's place and hung solo for an hour bopping around in the thing, we had to get one...or, at least ask for one from santa, aka, grandma). unfortunately, these swell devices for small children do not come assembled and neither hubby or i are really the follow directions and build things type. i certainly am not. jeff's doing just great though. he's currently pacing through screws and little bits of brightly colored plastic parts trying to navigate his way towards completion so the little one can "exersauce" in the morning.

so there ya have it. our first christmas with the baby. i couldn't have hoped for anything more lovely.
the live version of the tray sucking and table babble is here for your viewing pleasure. happy holidays!

more on christmas eve...

Creating our own traditions: Eliana Celie's first Christmas Eve Funfest

it's exactly 11:11 at night on christmas eve. it's been a lovely day. just the kind of christmas eve i wanted. i finished all my errands yesterday, marinated the food, baked a couple of pies, and subsequently was able to spend the day just chillin' with my little fam. no driving. no lines. no last minute panic. jeffy went up to snowbowl this morning, so eliana and i had an old fashioned lovefest morning which included an extra specially long nurse and nap time on the sofa. we then took a nice long walk on the river trail and picked up some delectable pastries for this evening. there was something so sweet about the bakery this afternoon. while most shops were closed for the day, bernice's was all hustle and bustle with folks buying treats for their family feasts. there was this fantastic small town at christmas vibe through the streets of downtown today. i just loved it.

after a lovely salmon and risotto dinner with mort and roseann, our friend's casey, richard and moana stopped by for dessert. the girls were too much in their matching red suits. then the little ones got sleepy and it was time to wrap things up. i then had the pleasure of putting my daughter to sleep. there's just so much love these days. so much love.

christmas eve

Mr. and Mrs. Klaus got a little loopy after too much eggnog on Christmas eve.

snowbowl

The view from the chairlift is equal parts amazing and terrifying for this new mama....

so i did it. i went skiing. for real. and now it's chrismas eve and there's so much more to write about but, it's important that i give this ski thing a moment of my attention. because going down that big, snowy, white, intimidating mountain, took just about all i had out of me. i was terrified. there were times where i just froze up and told jeff i couldn't do it anymore. and then i'd make half a dozen perfect, parallel turns and feel super snazzy about myself. at which point some yahoo snowboarder would, like, fly over my head and get my face all snowy and i would kind of cower and freeze up and forget everything i'd just done. at one point i started telling myself to breathe like i did when i was giving birth. i figured if i could do it then, and produce a whole live baby without drugs, i could certainly get back to the damn lodge to finally see my own. i swear. something about that scenario brings up all the anxieties and fears and traumas that lurk way down deep inside of me. i felt like i was three, sitting at the top of a really long slide in the park, afraid to let go of the metal railings and lose control. but the idea of my little girl kept me going. thinking of how i now have the power to give her the chutzpah to become a rockin' little mountain mama, to soar on her own down these nutty slopes, to be brave and bold and never, ever experience the terror i felt on saturday, as a 33 year old, fairly accomplished woman. i have the power to teach my daughter to fly.

santa's sweetheart

It really doesn't get much sweeter than this! Tis the season!

ready for friday

What a week it's been! I feel like time is moving by too fast, like every time I pick up Eliana, she's a bit heavier, can hold her head with a bit more conviction, is more expressive in every way. I am so ready for a little break. A break from running around and spreading myself thin. I'm ready to hang tight with my girl, with my little fam, and just be.

Tomorrow is the last day of work for two weeks and the family is headed down to sunny Southern Cali two days after Christmas to enjoy my peeps. I've never been more ready for a little down time.

patience

patience is something i've always prided myself on having. i am patient in my work with the children. i am a patient friend, a good listener. i am extremely patient with my daughter, nursing her until she falls asleep, setting her up again when she wakes up, being gentle and sweet and, yes, incredibly patient all the live long day. then there's my dog. i used to love her. i really did. i would hand feed her, patiently, on the ground when she wouldn't eat from her bowl. i let her torture me on the mountains when we hiked and she was too hyper - let her yap and nip at my booty, never disciplining her the way jeff or joellen or any other number of people suggested. and then baby came. and the patience for lucy dissipated like the steam coming from elie's humidifier. poof. gone. out into the universe, never to be found again. it's like i have this well of patience to draw from. but it's not a bottomless well, like, say, a well of love or a well of hope. it definitely has a bottom. and when it's taken a lot of tenacity and hard work to get the baby to sleep and lucy barks like a ballistic hyena at the mailman (even though he has been coming daily since she's been six weeks old), i can't handle it. or when she pulls me on the leash to try and unearth some deer or cat or bear scat on the trail, it drives me nuts. lately my new thing is just letting the leash go and seeing if, perchance, she'll run off. i know it sounds awful. she is the sweetest thing. it's just that she's sort of pathetic these days and, honestly, i don't have time for it. when i cook, she stays on my heels at all times trying to be right there with me, waiting for me to drop stuff on the floor. sometimes i want to step on her on purpose. she truly brings out all the impatience and frustration and general ugliness that seems to be lurking within my otherwise cheery self. so there it is. the dog is making me crazy. at least it's not my daughter.