A New Year

We made it through another year, SUCCESS!

Overall it was a pretty fabulous holiday season for all of us. Rylie had a visit from Nama (Grandma) all the way from New Jersey. They had so much fun playing and learning together.

Rylies vocabulary has developed greatly over the last week. I’ve heard the phrase “found her voice” but never really understood what it meant until now. The kid got LOUD all of the sudden.

It was definitely a “foodie” Christmas for all. We LOVE eating and cooking together and it’s definitely something I want Rylie to learn to love as well. We bought her the sweetest kitchen and a number of food related board books including Hola! Jalapeno, Mangia! Mangia! and My Foodie ABC: A Little Gourmet’s Guide where she has learned that Kobe Beef goes moo and you get your tacos at the “ria” (taqueria). Yeah, she’s pretty advanced.

She also got some pots & pans from Aunt Trish and a grocery cart full of food from Aunt Sherri. We’ll be enrolling her in Le cordon bleu next week.

Even Daddy got a pasta making set for the Kitchenaid which we have put to use multiple times and we got loads of spices from Penzys.

In addition to the fab foodie gifts, we had a feast fit for a king. For Christmas Eve I made my traditional Beef Bourguignon. I make it each year along with my husbands famous gruyere potatoes, bread, salad and wine. I love any opportunity to have a nice sit down dinner with good company.

For Christmas my mom made the most incredible Italian feast. Sausage, meatballs, lasagne, baked ziti and my most favorite chicken filled our bellies. Again home made bread on the side and 30+ people at our house. It was stressful but great at the same time. I love watching the baby play with her cousins and being surrounded by family.

As usual, New Years was a snooze. We ended the year with some delicious raviolis made by my man and then just chilled watching a terrible movie and hit the hay around 12:30.

And now back to reality. No more breaks from work, husband is back to school and I am kind of down about it all. But, it’s time to pick myself up and figure out how to make me happy!

So with the new year at hand, I again vow to try and update more. This time for real… No, seriously.

Happy New Year!