Christmas Chronicle

Christmas this year began with a trip back in time to Bethlehem, courtesy of Santa Clara First Baptist Church (http://www.bethlehemsc.com/). Talented volunteers and church staff cleverly transformed a 40,000 square feet church parking lot into the ancient city where the first Christmas was celebrated. The experience was made more authentic by the actors in costumes, Roman soldiers patrolling the grounds, a bustling marketplace with ancient crafts and games, and of course sheep, donkey, and even a camel! But the highlight was, of course, the reverent retelling of Jesus' humble yet miraculous birth.

For Kayla, it was watching one of her favorite story books come to life before her eyes. She recognized Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and was equally thrilled when she got to pet the sheep, goats and camel. Even though it was freezing cold (so cold you can see your own breath), every second, we thought, was well worth it. Their website probably has better videos but here's a sneak peek.



This year, we also found time (finally!) to set up our Christmas tree. We did it quietly while Kayla was taking her nap and surprised her when she woke up.



Stay tuned for part II. :)

Hiatus

It's been a very very busy run-up to Christmas, and there's so much to tell and so little time. I'm rushing to get some work done for the magazine before the holidays are here, but I promise I'll be back with more updates and pictures once the dust settles. :)

And if I don't get a chance to write before then, here's wishing you a very blessed Christmas and a happy New Year!

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10

Disney Darling

We were thinking about going to Disney next year. I guess we'll have to now. :)

Baking is no Piece of Cake

Whenever I have free time on Friday evenings, I like to try out a new cupcake or cookie recipe. As with all things in life, the baked goods never always turn out the way you envisioned them to. But so far, I think there have been more hits than misses. I'm toying with the idea of starting a separate blog to chronicle my kitchen experiments; my only fear is that I won't be cooking/baking enough to sustain it. For now, I'll park my "culinary exploits" here.

Rainbow Cupcakes: I think these will be my all-time fav for a looooooooooooong time. It's just so chirpy and cheery; and did I mention yummy? It's really just a basic vanilla cupcake recipe with lots of different food coloring. :)

My first attempt at butter cookies if you don't count the time I spent in Home Economics class mostly trying to figure out how not to burn anything. These turned out pretty well and I've since a couple of batches.

Tofu Monsters: Just another attempt to make food more fun and entertaining for the munchkin. Note: These are precooked monsters. We keep forgetting to take pictures of them after they're done, mostly because Kayla's usually screaming for her dinner by then.

Magnetic Moment

We've made it our little family tradition to create a photo magnet of Kayla every Christmas/New Year that we share with our loved ones and close friends. Thanks to Winkflash, creating the magnet's a breeze. It's finding the perfect photo that's been the most trying. It also explains why we might be mailing out the magnets, along with our Christmas cards a little late this year.

After much agonizing, here's what we finally agreed on. :) This magical magnet moment was captured at a duck-and-geese-filled park in Morgan Hill. Love, love, love that smile.

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said...

Kayla had her 2-year checkup today and her new paed in Gilroy, Dr. Bhatia, is a gem. Instead of rushing through her examination, she took time to make Kayla feel comfortable, played little games with her so everything seemed just a tad less intimidating. I think she's what every paed should be. :)

We thank God that Kayla's in fine shape. At 23 pounds, her weight has dipped to the 10 percentile (skinny!), her height has climbed to the 50-75 percentile (yipee!), and her head is still in the 75 percentile range. Doc's not too concerned about her weight so long as she's eating well and hitting all her developmental milestones which is great. The only awful thing about this visit was the two test tubes of blood they had to draw for a haemoglobin test and mercury test. And of course, it hurt more for us than for her. She screamed and cried when she saw the nurse pull out those rubber gloves, but once it was over, she was fine and even said it didn't hurt.

I just did some major photo housekeeping and here's how much our little princess has grown.


Jan 08

Nov 08

Birthday Bash

The photos are on their way... and we had a great time despite the fact that Kayla caught a chill, had a runny nose and a fever the day before. She got to shake Chuck E Cheese's hand and I think that was all that mattered. :)

I'm going to keep this short because I'm feeling a little under the weather (I suspect it's the same bug! ugh!). But here's something she said today that made me laugh.

Me: Kayla, you've to be potty-trained if you want to go to school.
Kayla: I want to sit on the train. Choo choo!

(took me a while to realize she thought potty trained was a train.)

Anyhow, potty training is another chapter on its own. We've gone from pull-ups to underwear...but we're not quite 100 percent yet. Hopefully in the next week or so.