Home is Where the Houses Are: Week 24-25

Well hello there. It's December! Can't believe it. I'm lying on the floor in Gabby's room and Stinky is taking nap in her big bed. My cat Zoey just strolled in! They are getting more and more forward. Last night Kevin couldn't find Xander so we ended up just leaving the door open to the little living room so he could come home if he so desired. I got new collars and tags for them the other day at Petco so I tried to assure Kevin that he would be fine. Low and behold he was in the room when we woke up this morning. Anyways that was another cat detour tangent, lol, it happens.

So yes, it's December! Last week was Thanksgiving and it was busy as heck. The holidays are officially here. Kevin, Aria and I had THREE Thanksgiving parties to go to. Of course there was Grammy's on the Sunday before, then ours, hosted here and Yaya and Pops' house on Thursday and then Kevin's Uncle Paul had one as well on the Sunday after.

Aria is not quite used to big crowds yet. Everyone in my family wanted to come and love on her and she just wasn't quite sure if she liked it or not. She wouldn't crack a smile. I kept having to tell people that she is usually more friendly but she's just a little nervous. It could be in part due to the fact that my mom's side of the family, when they get together, reaches deafening decibels even for a normal person. So I can imagine it's a bit to take in for a little tiny baby face. We attempted to take a family photo after the festivities died down but it was a little too much too late for Aria, she wasn't a fan of the photo shoot. I still want to go through the photos and hopefully make one work for a Christmas card. She looked adorable in her outfit, her attitude was just a little less than cheery. The food was delicious. My mom made the Turkey with a new recipe in which she stuffed the breast meat outer sides with sausage meat and covered the Turkey in bacon. This helped keep it very moist. All the family brought yummy food and we have been eating Thanksgiving feasts for a week straight (since we kept all the leftovers!).

On Saturday I went to Theresa's birthday party in SF. It was at an Italian restaurant. Holly and I drove together. We made it with plenty of time to spare but then proceeded to take 45 minites ot find a parking spot! Argh, the frustration of driving around in the city looking for a spot to wedge my car coupled with the knowledge of our soon to be late appearance at the party gave me a pounding headache. We ended up parking a mile away and walking to the place. The dinner was good and Theresa is always happy person to see so it got better once we arrived. I was worrying about Aria while there though because she still refuses to drink out of a bottle. I pumped 4 ounces for her and left if with Yaya. But when we tried to practice the day before she just cried and cried like the nipple of the bottle was burning her lips every time it can near. Needless to say when I arrived home 5 hours later, she had gone on a hunger strike, completely refusing the "nasty" bottle. Sigh, my poor little spoiled babe.

On Sunday, we decided at the last minute to go to Kevin's Uncle Paul's for Thanksgiving. We hadn't been to a family Thanksgiving since the first year we started dating (6 years ago). They have a new house in Scotts Valley that is amazingly big and beautiful. They were all very nice and so excited to see us and Aria (hadn't seen them since our wedding). Kevin's cousins have 4 little kids, so it was cute seeing them running around and playing, reminded me of when I was a kid. I hope that Aria will have other kids to play with someday :( I need to find spouses for my siblings and get this party started! ;)

Since Sunday we have been dealing with a plumbing disaster here on the home front. Our toilet in our little house stopped working and we realized that there was a cesspool of sewage gathering in the yard behind the house. Gross! It's been a wreck here trying to fix it, but it's finally fixed as of yesterday. Only cost $3000 *tears*. At least we don't have to pee in a bucket at night anymore!

Well, I am in charge of feeding Kevin's mom's kitties today. I forgot to get Kevin's key to his mom's place so I'm going to have to like drive to Los Gatos and get it from him so I can go feed them.

I have a list of Aria's accomplishments from this past week on my iPhone, but it's not with me so I wll update more in a bit.

List from iPhone:
Feeling everything and I mean everything with her fingers then opening and closer them on whatever she is feeling.
Talking more- lots of dadadada, and even some mmmammmaammm
Very good eye contact, will look right at you when you say her name and smile. She started to do the "bashful baby" thing, where she looks at you then turns in to the shoulder of whoever is holding her. It's SO cute.
She sits up while leaning very far forward if I set her in a sitting position.
She wraps her legs around me when I carry her. I love it!
She likes to lean her head upside down, especially if you are trying to hold her "like a baby".
Auntie Buhbabuhbee thinks her face looks older, more like a toddler and less like a little baby.
She now likes her car-seat!!! She doesn't protest at all when I put her in and she usually goes right to sleep before we even get to the end of the street.
She still has a soft spot on her head, getting smaller though.
She started sleeping through the night for a whole week! (of course now she is back to being up every 2 hours, but hey I'll take it.)
She loves her bubbly bath-time and she officially can't take baths in her tub on the counter anymore- way too much splashing. I now put her little pink princess tub in the big tup so she can splash away without soaking the kitchen ;)