A Little Visit

My parents came out for a little visit this past weekend and it was a really good time. They finally got to meet their first grand-daughter and were able to get in some quality time with all of us. We did a few things around town, but we mostly stayed in and just hung out, cooked & ate...
They arrived into Erie last Thursday night, and Neil had prepared his spaghetti & meatballs. Yum! Friday we headed over to our favorite restaurant - McGarrey's for lunch. Josephine was well rested from her nap, and hung out at the table with us...

My mom enjoyed her turkey reuben...

We spent the afternoon grocery shopping at Wegmans and then just spending time at home...

That night I was able to get tickets from work to go to the Bayhawks game, which is our local D-League team. As you all know, my parents LOVE basketball...of course, my mother is obsessed with it. Needless to say, it was a good time! We only stayed until halftime because little one has a bed time...but here is a picture of what pretty much describes the night...

And yes, they're wearing purple...always purple. Goooo LAKERS!!! They represent their team no matter where they are.
Saturday we had a low key morning. Neil made us breakfast and it was an opportunity for the adults to catch up while baby was sleeping. After Jos' nap and lunch, we headed over to the Convention Center (where I work on Thursdays) - where they were having a dog show. We all love doggies, so it was a great way to spend a couple hours...I mean, why not? I didn't take any photos of this - not sure why. There were some great dogs, all in one building. They are always serving up good food there, so we made our way & had some lunch...courtesy of the convention center - I work for some great people I tell ya! We then made our way up to the 2nd floor where my boss happened to be in the building & working....on a Saturday. It was nice though, to be able to show my parents my work space & have them meet at least one of my bosses.
On our way home, we of course stopped at Romolo's - I mean, it was right. there.
We came home and my mother got to cooking while I had a notepad in hand. There are 2 things that she made us growing up, that I still haven't mastered - pansit and this tomato chicken stew thing you eat over rice. Well, I wrote down EVERY.THING. Autumn came over at one point & hung out w/my crazy family. Love her. She's the best.
Well, that was our visit w/my CA family. It was filled with snow & cold weather, which they loved bytheway. It was a great time. Here is a final shoot we had with grandma & grandpa...

We dropped Jos off at Grandma Cindy's, and headed to Cleveland where they were then off to Omaha, NE to visit with Jeri, Kristen and my 4 nephews.
I was definitely more on the sad side of things after the drop off...I really miss my mama. I felt drained...my brain is constantly thinking "CA or PA?" Especially now. Josephine is in the world, and it makes things a lot more hard...but all of that is for another day, another post....

Neil & I definitely couldn't be in Cleveland and not eat at Melt. This is the entry way. I love it...

It was a nice lunch date w/my baba.
On our way out of Cleveland Heights, we stopped at Neil's favorite coffee place: Caribou Coffee. That little stopped turned out to be a blessing because a snow storm came through & dumped inches of snow...and we just followed behind it...thank you Jesus!

I needs to blog.
I'm working on it.
As of today, I have a 10 month old.
I attempted to take photos last night, but she thinks it's a game when I tell her to stay. Apparently to her "stay" means "go" and she books it to the edge of the bed, or whatever she's on. It's super fun - but not last night. I was frustrated. But whatever right? She's cute...

Oh, and I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this - but she LOVES music & dances. I'm afraid to show this video because near the end Neil and I are (jokingly) yelling at each other about final Jeopardy...well, more like, he's yelling at the tv...and....you'll see if you watch it 'til the end...Video: Josephine Dancin'
Turn the volume up a bit so you can hear her toy.
You see she ignores our conversation & just keeps playing her music. Precious.
So, this will have to hold you folks over until I get the time to post about the holidays...

Back it up!

I can't believe I haven't blogged about the holidays of 2011 yet. Since the iphone has been in my life, I never go online at home. So. Moving on...the holidays were AWESOME! As much as I wanted to be back in CA for the holidays, it was once again nice to be here in Erie where Neil's family is. They're always a good time. And believe me, I'm going to start my campaign on Thanksgiving or Christmas 2012 in CA soon...it takes awhile to convince my husband of a good idea....we'll see what happens...

This was the weekend of Thanksgiving. Decorating the house, and putting up Josephine's pink Christmas tree - my new favorite thing. I already can't wait to deck out her room next year. I have ideas. (Thank you pinterest).
Thanksgiving day we went to Aunt Ann & Uncle Fred's place...
Here is Jos & Grandma Cindy:

The next day, we went to an annual event here in Erie called "Festival of the Trees" where all local companies come together & each decorate a tree. I've gone every year that I've lived here & it's something I look forward to. It was really great this year because it was at one of the facilities I work at, at the Convention Center. We packed up the little one & headed over...the trees were beautiful.

Oh and in this little collage, is how I set up Josephine's room for Christmas...

Onto Christmas Eve...

We decided to spend the night at Cindy's Christmas Eve Eve night...we planned on being there Christmas Eve morning anyway, why not? Plus, we wanted to test the waters of Jos sleeping at grandma's. Here are a few pictures from our time there...

Just to let you know, she slept perfectly! Yay! I didn't hear a peep out of her. I, however, didn't get any sleep. We brought Cali with us, and she had anxiety or something all night. She was restless, which kept me up all night. I don't think I've ever had more coffee in my life, then I did that day...
We literally ate allllll day, and watched Christmas movies...it was wonderful.
The next morning we had Cindy come to our house for stockings & breakfast - a tradition that was always my favorite as a kid, and would love to start having in my home from now on....

Here is Josephine playing with her favorite toy from grandma Cindy:

The following weekend was New Years Eve and we had decided, along with Erin & Leroy, that we'll just hang out - keep it low key and hope we stay up 'til midnight. There was waaaay too much food, of course. It was a good time for sure. And we did it! We stayed up to ring in the new year, watching Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve - not that we knew who the performers were. Talk about feeling old. The good news? Josephine didn't cry ONCE while Leroy was here. For some reason she breaks out into tears when she sees him - but as you can see, she's over that....

Well. That sums it up! Nothing too crazy....
I got "The Help" for Christmas, and here's just a random picture of Josephine watching it along w/me. Her outfit is cute....