Christmas and all the festivities leading up to it were so fun this year. We did all our usual traditions and added a few new ones. We watched Elf and drank hot chocolate, had a vegan potluck with our friends, and went to see the over-the-top lights on Thoroughbred Lane. Jonas was fascinated by the lights. He was a little hungry so he would start to fuss, but then as soon as we got to a new house, he would stop fussing and stare.

My sister, Sadie, stayed with us on Christmas Eve. We drank soy eggnog and watched Gremlins. Jared made a fire in the fireplace and he and I went to the kitchen to make cookies for Santa. When we went back into the living room, Sadie and Jonas were both asleep. It was cute!

Then Jared read Jonas The Night Before Christmas, a Christmas Eve tradition from his family. The version of the book that Jared’s family got us has beautiful illustrations and Jonas enjoyed looking at them.

On Christmas morning, we woke up and opened stockings and presents. We had some more eggnog and some cookies and then listened to Christmas music and talked. We headed out to Shannon’s in the afternoon. Everyone loved seeing Jonas, especially his cousin Brooklyn and Jonas went back and forth between having a great time seeing everyone and looking at everything that was going on and being a little overwhelmed and getting fussy.

He fell asleep in the middle of present opening and napped with his Papa while Jared and I opened the rest of his presents for him.

He got so many fun presents! We spent boxing day taking everything out of its packaging and checking them out. So far, his favorite is a xylophone. He enjoyed looking at some of his new books too.

Two days later and he is still a little overstimulated, I think!

Happy holidays!!

This year, instead of doing New Years resolutions, a friend inspired me to do 101 in 1001. You pick 101 things to do in 1001 days and they can be big or little but they have to be concrete and measurable. Here’s my list. I’ll update it as I complete things and write some posts about some of the activities!

1. make t-shirt quilt
2. finish editing novel
3. send novel to 10 agents/publishers
4. finish second novel
5. finish playing Gone Home
6. catch up on Buffy and Willow comics
7. get doula certification
8. relearn basic Spanish
9. go to Baby Bookworm at the library
10. frame orange crate prints
11. get into habit of vacuuming every other week
12. take Jonas to swimming lessons
13. Apple picking at Oak Glen
14. visit Lindsey
15. purge closet
16. visit Amelia and Sami in the UK
17. go to Quaker meeting
18. go to UU service
19. blog at least once a month for Jonas’s first year
20. make blog book
21. meditate for 30 minutes a day for 30 days
22. get into habit of daily 10 minute meditation
23. do bakasana (crow pose)
24. go to a punk show
25. plant garden
26. remodel play room into something we’ll use
27. baby proof
28. get doula business cards
29. finish doula website
30. ask Grandma to tell me a story I’ve wanted to hear
31. finish sending birth announcements
32. plan 1st bday party for Jonas with slideshow
33. road trip to Phoenix
34. turn window seat into toy chest
35. donate unused baby stuff
36. go to Deer Park 5 times (0/5)
37. go to an IE Dharma Punx meeting
38. watch Dollhouse
39. frame wedding invitation
40. (personal)
41. make jalapeno poppers
42. Weezer art for Jonas’s room
43. take Jonas to a show/concert
44. send holiday cards
45. CA family reunion
46. do baby signs with Jonas
47. 2015 calendar with 2014 pictures
48. set up college fund for Jonas
49. invest some of our savings
50. move dinners away from the tv and to the table
51. pick a new fruit or vegetable and make something with it
52. take Jonas to the beach
53. tech free Tuesdays actually: Facebook Free Fridays
54. tech free weekend
55. at home date- movie and dinner theme
56. set up emergency kit
57. take Jonas to a play
58. make a will
59. adopt a family/kid for the holidays
60. hang up quilt
61. get ring insurance
62. upholster window seat in the office
63. “just because” gifts for Jer (2/3)
64. go to family yoga class with Jonas
65. get a nice camera
66. have family photos taken
67. Jurupa Mountains Discovery Center
68. drive in movie as a family
69. take Jonas to Chino Youth Museum
70. get into monthly date nights
71. take Jonas to see Pop and Nana
72. bake a pie from scratch
73. anniversary getaway
74. get a good haircut
75. wear hair in a different style each day for a week
76. visit Glen Ivy hot springs
77. vegan s’mores over the fire pit
78. use the pool at least once a week during summer
79. add money to kiva account and lend
80. take Sasha to dog park 5 times (0/5)
81. take Sasha to Huntington dog beach
82. corn starch slime with Jonas
83. let Jonas try a lemon (record it)
84. get into 3 new bands (1/3)
85. write a love letter to Jer
86. SD card of Jonas’s first Christmas for Grandma
87. Read 30 books (27/30)
88. finger paint with Jonas
89. use old bath products and cosmetics or throw away
90. Make 5 cookbook recipes
91. go to Fontana farmer’s market
92. cash in change jar and buy a treat with it
93. go to 15 hockey games (7/15)
94. play street hockey in the driveway
95. set up organization system for business expense tracking
96. (personal)
97. record listening night
98. surprise Jer with one of his favorite meals
99. build up 100 oz breast milk stash
100. take Sasha to get stitches out
101. Complete 30 day exercise challenge

It was really fun to think about some things we’ll be able to do with Jonas in the next few years! I am really excited to get started!

I love you beyond words
a treat resulting from your lack of them
the songs and coos between us
Just a medium for smiles that come from
the deepest parts of our bellies

your smile, huge, gummed
I smile instantly
not deciding to respond
pure response, no motives
just loving you is enough

you
your body
are more perfect than you will know
allowing you to be here with me
and all of us

We spent November 20-29 in West Virginia with my family for Thanksgiving. Jonas did a great job with all the traveling and while we were there and it was so fun introducing him to everyone, especially his great grandma! On Thanksgiving day there were four babies in the house, all third cousins, and that was really fun!

Jonas is getting so much more alert and interactive now, too, and it was really nice that Jared got to take time off of work and go on the trip and bond with him!

All the things to be thankful for have me thinking a lot about being mindful– about how to be as present as I can for all of it. Then I realize I am thinking so much about being present that I am letting it distract me from BEING present! So tonight, I tried a little exercise based on one of the mindfulness practices I learned during childbirth preparation: see, hear, feel, breathe.

While nursing Jonas, I just looked at him. I looked at the way his hair fluffed up, his sweet eyes squinting closed, his soft hand with the dimples under each finger. Then I listened to him– his breathing and the other little noises he was making. Then I paid attention to all the places my body was touching his– his nursing, my hand under his hair, my arm against his warm back. Then I took a breath, paying attention to the in breath and out breath. I spent a few breaths with each section of the exercise, but you can switch between them with each breath if that is easier. It was easier to practice mindfulness when I focused on concrete things, rather than just telling myself over and over “be present! be present!” and stressing myself out about whether I was doing it well enough.

I will be trying to take more “see, hear, touch, breathe” moments.

What a sweet baby to look at, listen to, hold, and breathe with.