Rockin Around the Christmas Tree

Today brought another holiday party - the eating, drinking, and merrymaking continued from yesterday! This time we remembered to take some photos, especially since the hosts of the party had a beautiful Christmas tree in their home:

Earlier in the day we stopped by the school where Ajji works and hung out with her co-workers:

Another fun day!

Quality Time with the Grandparents - Part 1

So, we made it to CA without too much crying on the plane. We also did not do much sitting or sleeping, so that was pretty tiring. But it's worth it to see how happy the grandparents are to see the munchkin! And she loves hanging out with them too:

 
We also went to a holiday party in the neighborhood - Maya enjoyed the food and the great Cuban music. She was dancing up a storm as usual! We were having too much fun to take photos or videos, but we'll try to take some tomorrow at our next holiday party.

A Lucky Little Girl

We really are so fortunate to have such wonderful friends in our lives, especially since our families live far away. This is never more obvious than at the holidays, when we enjoy the company and generosity of our friends. Maya spent some time today opening presents - many thanks to our friends Marilyn & Ken, the Wade Family, and the Summers Family for all their lovely gifts:

 We had a great time at a housewarming party hosted by the Summers Family (more photos here):

 We also enjoyed a delicious brunch with our neighbors Ken & Marilyn:

 And we were so glad to catch up with our friends Maribeth & Khalid at their special holiday card-making party, during which we wrote messages to patients at a nearby hospital:

Falling Behind

I have to admit, I've fallen a bit behind with blogging. Things just get so busy around the holiday season, and even though I am not Christian, I still love this time of year. I am a sucker for Christmas decorations, Christmas cards, Christmas cookies, and on and on. But, I've gotten most of my Christmas cards mailed out, and I'll do my baking this weekend, so now a bit of time for blogging.

Maya and I couldn't wait to open our first set of presents from our good friends Sidney and Andrew, so we went ahead and tore into the gift boxes last weekend:

 Maya was thrilled with her gift:

 And a side benefit, we ended up with a nice new playpen for Maya:

Hah, just kidding of course!

In other news, Maya seems to have learned another new word: "Bah." I'm not sure if she means bath or bye, because she uses it when she's in the bathroom looking at the tub, and when we're leaving daycare. Maybe one day she'll learn to speak English...

Dancin Machine

I know I've posted links to other dancing videos but I couldn't resist posting one more. This time I captured her little tush groovin in time to the music. Too cute not to share!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfIa5EWTKjY

Gettin Ready for the Holidays

Last weekend we did our 2nd annual Husain Family photo shoot. We are lucky to have such a patient friend who is also such a talented photographer. Big thanks to Rachel for taking over 70 photos of us in various locations around our house!

Here are a few of the test shots:

And here's the winner:

Now I'm working on addressing, stamping, and writing messages for the almost 70 cards I plan to send out! Why yes, I am a bit insane.

Catching up on Artwork

Just like any parent, I think my kid is ridiculously talented. Singing, dancing, painting, you name it. Maya's Halloween and Thanksgiving artwork was on display at daycare for a while, and now it's proudly displayed on our fridge at home:

Clearly, she is on her way to producing great art.