Merry Christmas!!!

I am so happy to have Maya wear this dress that I bought for her on clearance last year after Christmas. How cute is it?

Here she is with Nana, eating an apple (definitely her favorite fruit, just like her dada)

Cousin Peyton was undisputably a Christmas Cutie - she charmed us all with her recitation of "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed". She loves to read, can count to 14 (higher?) and is one of the best dancers around. Mayumi adores Peyton, and rightfully so. And Auntie Erin is pregnant and due to have a girl in April, so soon Maya will have another cousin to love and adore!

Maya enjoys showing people where different parts are located on their faces. Here she is letting Uncle Matt know where his nose is. In addition to eyes, nose, mouth and eyes, she also know eyebrows, cheeks, neck and chin - which I think is very advanced for a 14-month old, thank you very much.

Maya very grateful for everyone's generosity this year. She loved the stuffed bear from Auntie Carol...

and the plethora of gifts she received from Peyton and Nana and Pops. What a lucky girl!

But she mostly loved wrestling with Uncle Mark and Peyton ... and though she was a bit leary of Vaccy the Pomeranian (am I butchering the spelling of that name?), by the end of the day they were pretty good friends.

We were terrible about sending cards out to our family and friends - please forgive us and know that you are all in our hearts and prayers, we love you and we wish you the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of new years!

Meeting Santa

We spent our Christmas Eve at cousin Danny's in Methuen. The entire Lebanese clan was there. Needless to say we feasted well. It was sad to not have Great-Sithoo and Great-Pa there (they are still in Florida) or dear Aunt Barbara who passed away earlier this year, but it was nice to catch up with everyone else.Mike and Uncle Joe talk about how amazing Auntie Barbara was and how we all miss her.Peyton gives Sithoo a present - a homemade ornament! Definitely a keepsake!
Maya loved Isabella (aka Bella) who lavished tons of attention on her and thought Maya was "a very smart baby".

Santa made an appearance and Maya and Peyton handled it extremely well. I kept waiting for some hysterics, but they thought it was all pretty cool. Here is Santa giving a gift to Great-Auntie Eva, the matriarch of the family whom Maya gets her middle name from.

Auntie Erin helps Peyton get her gift from Santa.
Maya wasn't afraid of Santa, but she wasn't about to go sit in his lap, either. However, when she did receive her gift she (unprompted) signed "thank you" to Santa. I wish I had caught it on video. I was very proud.
Sithoo had her turn on Santa's lap as well.

As did Uncle Mark...

Peyton and Maya got matching rainbow dresses from Santa Sithoo.

Maya insisted on wearing hers immediately.

I'm not kidding.

Here she is with Sithoo showing Santa how cute the new dress looks.

Thank you Santa!

Hanging Out in Methuen

So many people to see, so many hugs to give! Mayumi has been doing the normal rounds, but for the most part we've been keeping it low key - no crazy keggers or dance parties. We've been trying not to squeeze in too much (mostly because mama has been feeling so lousy!), so we have quality time with our favorite people:

hugs for Uncle Chris choosing a book with Grampareading with Pops

getting musicalexploring the mouse (thank goodness it is the electronic one and not the ACTUAL mouse that lives in the basement. Yes, mom, they're back... but the one I met the other day was pretty cute.)

trying out the massage chair

Grampa made us watch his slideshow of photos from Japan. He's been in the States for three weeks to pick up his Eligibility Certificate (which qualifies him to get a Japanese "green card") and returned to join Obaa-chan on Christmas day.

A Christmas Carol Poem

The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap,
His hair was like a light.
(O weary, weary were the world,
But here is all aright.)


The Christ-child lay on Mary's breast
His hair was like a star.
(O stern and cunning are the kings,
But here the true hearts are.)


The Christ-child lay on Mary's heart,
His hair was like a fire.
(O weary, weary is the world,
But here the world's desire.)


The Christ-child stood on Mary's knee,
His hair was like a crown,
And all the flowers looked up at Him,
And all the stars looked down.


~G.K. Chesterton

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Nor'easter

Our flight out of DC was delayed on Saturday morning due to the big storm that blanketed much of New England with over a foot of snow. Instead of arriving in Boston at 9:30am we didn't land until close to noon. And then one of our suitcases never came through the baggage claim carousel. We opted to hang around the airport for a few hours till the next DC/Boston flight came in rather than wait for the backed up courier service which would have been days before it could deliver the luggage. Apparently it was one of the worst lost luggage days at Logan in 10 years. Thankfully, our suitcase was on that flight; it had been delayed by TSA. Grrrr!

Today we got another storm, church was cancelled so we hunkered down in the house. We baked cookies, we watched football, we shovelled the driveway - and the snow just kept falling.

Shovelling early in the day.

Watching the snow with Grampa.

Uncle Chris and the snowblower.

Crazy snow.

Dada's turn!

At least a foot of snow fell today. Awesome!The Patriots played the Cardinals today in Foxboro. It hardly seemed fair to make that Arizona team play in this weather! Score: 47-7.

Last week after the ice-storm in New England Mike was saying he missed living in Massachusetts and the winter weather. I thought he was crazy. I suddenly understood that although I will always consider New England my home, I am not a true Bostonian. Give me mild weather, electricity and hot showers please.

eye exam

It'd been a couple years since my last eye exam and since I'm down to my last pair of contact lenses, I figured I ought to go get my peepers checked out. Mike took a break from work and met me downtown at For Eyes Optical to watch Mayumi while I met with Dr. Lobaugh. My eyes are fine, my prescription hasn't changed, but the Doc did find a freckle on my right retina. So he decided to take a digital photo of both eyes to document the freckle (which just needs to be observed for changes, like a freckle or mole on the skin). Then he emailed me the pics. Pretty cool.

My left eye is completely normal.
my right eye has a little dark smudge to the upper right of the dark center (I forget what that is supposed to be - my pupil?).

The Doc also dilated my pupils. I hate that. I get all weepy and dizzy and sensitive and disoriented for the rest of the day. Everything is blurry - it was just horrible. So I'm blogging about it so I can complain to the world. Now I'm done.

We've been sick

I know, isn't it sad?

Poor little Mayumi got a fever late Monday night and then on Tuesday morning she puked on me. We watched Wall-E and some other cartoons on TV and she pretty much napped on me all day. Mike found us like this when he got home. I don't have what she had, but I feel run down and sore throaty. We've pretty much been recuperating all week. Hopefully we'll be back to normal before we fly home...

more signing

She's been picking up a few more signs - though they tend to all look the same. so when she signs something, we play a guessing game: "you want water? an apple? shower? all done? alligator?" etc.

the ward christmas party

Fun times were had at our annual ward Christmas party last Saturday. look at those teeth! and that dimple!
the Primary kids sang some Christmas songs for us. Maya and her Da are in the back, joining in the fun.

Maya's friend, Ellen, with her dad (Bishop Parker)

The view of all the folks enjoying the Primary serenade.

We attend church in a converted Safeway (grocery store) and there are a handful of small classrooms and then one multi-purpose room where we hold services on Sunday and activities throughout the year. A new church building is planned to be built on the same site, however we don't know exactly when that will actually happen.

Rather than ring the jingle bells, Mayumi enjoyed sucking on them.

Eli.

Maya giving some love to baby Martin. She loves babies. I suppose that is a hint.

This photo is not from the Christmas party, but the next day at church. Mayumi is sporting a festive little outfit - which will be reprised on Christmas day, I'm sure.

Holiday Fiesta

Our friends, Mike and Taryn, invited us over to their new apartment tonight for a little get-together. They cooked up some amazing food for us which included homemade empanadas, tacos, guacamole, salsa, cookies, dulce de leche... there was even some participatory action where you could step into their kitchen and help make the empanadas. It was so yummy. I sort of ignored Maya while I chowed down. I'm terrible - when I'm hungry all I can think about is eating and I completely forget that I am a mother. But Maya had some friends there to keep her occupied, so that worked out well.

Maya trying to get in on Elsa's tickle party.
Eileen and Calvin. You think Maya's good with her baby signs, you should see Calvin! He is a signing wiz!

Lindsay (holding Karston), Mike (the host) and Paul. We have a cool connection with Mike and Taryn: Mike (the host) is part Lebanese like Mike (my husband) and Taryn is originally from Nashua, New Hampshire and we were in the same ward for a while (Mom and Dad, do you remember the Keyworth family?). Cool, huh?

Dana reading to Elsa and Maya

Mike Yea, Scottie P. and Cory.

(It seems like we have a million Mikes in our ward - it can be very confusing)

Good times were had by all. Maya fell asleep on my lap there, but woke up a few minutes before we left and then it took hours to get her to go back to sleep once we got home. And I am cursed with being unable to sleep for some reason, so I am up blogging. It is 3:27 am. This is crazy,

Squishy Thigh Cookies

We spent our afternoon baking the holiday cookies that are a favorite in the Sturgis household. I don't know where my mom got the recipe, but when I was about ten years old we started making these and they were an instant hit. And they are about the most fattening, sugar-loaded dessert on the planet, but that would explain their popularity, no? They have chunks of Milky Way inside and m&ms on top... it's like someone was trying to figure out what to do with leftover Halloween candy and decided to put it all into this cookie. Serious junk food.

So, I strapped Maya to my back before I started pulling out the ingredients and preheating the oven and, sure enough, she was asleep within minutes. I unstrapped her carefully and laid her on the couch. People, she only napped for about half an hour (her strange sleep habits are a subject for another post)! I tried to involve her by letting her put the m&ms on the cookies, which lasted about 30 seconds before the bowl of m&ms were on the floor and she was trying to put them in her mouth. But I managed to make a ton of these monster cookies and I plan to deliver them to the neighbors tomorrow.

my little helper

the finished product

clean-up patrol

Okay, so I know you all want the recipe now. This is my Christmas gift to you!

Famous Sturgis Candy Cookies
1 cup butter, softenend
1 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
¾ cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
4 Milky Way Bars
Milk chocolate m&ms

Preheat oven to 375°.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in egg yolks. Stir in sour cream and vanilla.

In separate bowl stir together flour, soda and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture. Mix well.

Cut each candy bar into seven slices, each about ½ inch thick. Divide dough into 28 two-inch balls. Insert candy slice into dough and mold it so it covers the candy entirely. Decorate with m&ms.

Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom.

Try not to eat too many!