Holidays

Holidays always wreak havoc on things like journal writing and blogging. I hosted my entire family for the past 9 days. That added up to 12 people in our house. Last Christmas we had my husband's family: 22 people (and there were still a few who couldn't come). When you have 7 kids, and those kids all marry early and start multiplying, it makes for a lot of people very quickly. Zari was the 12th grandchild on my husband's side, and his parents are just 52 and 56 years old!

We like to cook, and luckily my family is fairly adventuresome food-wise. For the final dinner before everyone left, my husband and I made:

• Baguettes with 4 different toppings: goat cheese rolled in olives and pimentos, foie gras, caviar, and Camembert
• Sushi (California rolls and fish egg rolls)
• Mussels in butter & garlic sauce
• Escargots on puff pastry with a mushroom, cream, and shallot sauce
• Chocolate tart

Zari's smile switch activated about 3 days ago. We've seen smiles since she was born, but nothing interactive. Now she's grinning back at us all the time. Time to capture that smile on camera...

I've been expressing extra milk over the past day. A woman in our church had a neck injury and the doctor told her she couldn't breastfeed while taking her meds. She was frantic because she didn't want to put her baby on formula. Her mom called me to see if I had any extra breastmilk. I said I'd start collecting. It turns out that she won't need it; she double-checked with another doctor, and the medications are okay for breastfeeding, especially at the small levels she's taking. But I figured it won't hurt to have some extra milk stored away for other such emergency needs. I'd love to donate to adoptive moms or to moms having nursing difficulties.

Now, time for the fun stuff: more pictures!

Tub Party:
Zari and her cousins splashing around in our tub.


Thumb Sucker:
My sisters thought it would be funny to show Zari how to suck her thumb. I just hope she doesn't catch on...I have memories of trying to get my sisters to stop sucking their thumbs. We tried everything--hot pepper flavored nail polish included.

Camouflage:
Her matching blanket and pajamas are hand-me-downs from different people.

Story Time:
Reading with her cousin and grandpa

Self Portrait:
Zari with one of her aunts (my youngest sister).