Grammy and Grandpa came to stay with us during the week after Christmas and it was heaven! The twins were giddy with excitement over all the attention and play, Jake and I got a break, and we finished tons of items on our to-do list, including organizing and putting up wainscoting, crown moulding, baseboards, installing a closet, rewiring electrical for a ceiling fan, painting and setting up the crib in the nursery.

I’m feeling significantly less stressed out now that my top items have been checked off the list before baby; although, who am I kidding? I’m sure I will come up with at least 50 more items that need to be done… Jake is well aware of this and has already informed me he is done with projects for the year!

Christmas week always seems like a sugar/food/presents/fun extravaganza because it’s a double whammy– our anniversary is the day after Christmas! It’s nice to celebrate over the holidays since we usually have family around to watch the girls and it always feels extra special with the holiday decor and lingering magic of Christmas in the air.

For our 9th anniversary, Jake surprised me by arranging for my parents to watch the girls for an entire 24 hours and whisked me away to the Ritz in Laguna Niguel. He knows me too well and rightly predicted that if I had known in advance we would be gone for a whole day and night, I would have come up with a million reasons to cancel so that I could get projects done at home. Since I didn’t know in advance what we were doing, I didn’t really have a choice… definitely a good thing!

Pregnancy massage, lunch and dinner by the sea and waking up to an ocean view made me feel so pampered and it was so nice to relax with Jake. A big thanks to mom and dad for watching the girls and to Jake for planning such a wonderful getaway. It was rejuvenating and I’m certain that all the pampering/relaxation will help me get through these last six weeks of the pregnancy (and maybe even survive the newborn stage).

Before we left for our mini vacation, Great Aunt Linda and Great Uncle David stopped by on their way back from LA and hung out with the girls and my parents while Jake and I were at the hotel. They came bearing gifts too– Aunt Linda’s famous homemade fudge and treats, as well as the girls’ Christmas presents– some awesome jumping bags for potato sack races and all around fun. We are so excited to have a new way for the girls to jump out all their energy!

Meanwhile…

Back at the house, Grammy and Grandpa took the girls to the park and played all day. It didn’t seem like S and A thought about mom and dad at all.

We missed the girls… but not too much.

Thanks, babe! I love you and am so happy to have been your wife for the past nine years! Looking forward to Year 10!

After returning refreshed from the Ritz, for the rest of the week, we got to work finishing up all our projects at home while the girls went out with Grammy and Grandpa every day for an adventure. They went to parks, rode bikes around the neighborhood, played at the Discovery Cube, had dinner at Great Auntie Lynn’s, went to the Santa Ana Zoo and read zillions of books, played with arts and crafts and put together puzzles all week long.

There’s never any real punishment for S and A when they make a mess in the kitchen because they think vacuuming is fun and love to do it.

Digesting with Noah after a beef brisket dinner at Great Auntie Lynn’s.

Samantha made it all the way to the end of the street on her bike, but was not pleased about having to ride it all the way back.

Grammy made meal time a lot more exciting (i.e. the girls increased their silliness factor by about 100). 

Santa Ana Zoo with cousins Eleri, Jack and Rhys.

Since we didn’t see our cousins on Christmas Day, we exchanged presents at the zoo and S and A were elated about their new sets of Duplos. Thanks, guys!

The girls and their entourage. I hadn’t been feeling fantastic the past few days prior to the zoo, so I definitely needed the help that day. Baby is definitely prepping for her grand entrance… just don’t come too soon– I need the time!

Monkeys who should be caged:

Lunch break.

Grammy and Amelia.

Grammy and Samantha.

It was nice to have a whole crew there to entertain the girls while waiting in line for the incredibly slow train.

The obligatory carousel ride.

It was past our usual nap time at this point, and Samantha was getting a little dazed. She spent the entire ride like this:

Breakfast at Stacks Pancake House before dropping Grammy and Grandpa off at the airport on New Year’s Eve:

Amelia must be going through a growth spurt, because she’s been chowing down like I’ve never seen before lately.

Samantha has never been known to say no to bacon and a chocolate chip pancake.

Grammy and Grandpa are gone and we are back to life as usual…sigh. Thankfully, there’s only a few more weeks to go until they come to see us again… and next time around, it will be a lot more chaotic around here when our numbers go from four to five!

Lots of love,