Life with Lotus Maria and Lucian Stone

New Year's Day was our wedding anniversary. We have survived five whole years together. And sappily enough it's only getting better and better. I really wanted to do something as a family since our little world is going to be rocked with the addition of our boy in April. So we went to the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk for the day. It was a beautiful sunny day, and even though only half the rides were open we had a blast.





Lotus was so brave going on all the rides she was allowed to go on and seriously bummed she couldn't go on a roller coaster. Our daredevil, I love it!

Before heading back up to the city we got an early dinner at The Palomar and made it home in time for Lotus' bedtime.

We can't wait until the summer time to go back and Lotus can't wait to add on a few more inches so she hits the height requirement for the big kid rides.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We stayed home which was nice since the end of the year was a bit hectic for both Nate and I and thus Lotus. Nate had a few extra days off so it was lovely to lounge around SF during the break.

Lotus really got into Christmas this year and I think we are in a particularly magical time when the rituals of the holiday are more important that the stuff she gets. I'm not sure if it's the lack of television, the Waldorf School or just this age, but Lotus was way more excited about the tree, turning on the lights and Christmas decorations than she was putting together a lengthy list of loot she expected Santa to deliver. In fact her list for Santa was quite sweet. She wanted a red Rocking Chair, a tiny Clifford doll and a baby bottle. My dad procured the red rocking chair and Santa did bring the rest.


Christmas Eve we went to Andrew and Julie's, which was great and then on the way back home we saw a family of deer in the middle of the road. Lotus was so excited because she was certain they were Santa's reindeer. Which was pretty cool.











The next day we did our traditional early morning present opening and then over to my cousin's Toby and John's for brunch. It's always super fun, but this year Lotus and John and Toby's grandson, Owen really hit it off. Last year they were both a bit young to even notice each other. When it was time to go Lotus announced she would only go "if the boy was coming with us."

We try to spread the presents out through out the day, so she at least acknowledges what she got and from whom. So my dad joined us after brunch for some more presents.


Then Nate and I cooked up a traditional Christmas dinner, and yes that means turkey. Now don't go thinking this house has gone all carnivore, but I thought if we were going to have meat eaters over for Christmas dinner it's the least I could do. I was also feeling a bit nostalgic because my dad had given my sister and I my mom's china this year and it was my first meal using it. I didn't go too crazy, like actually stuffing or cooking a dead bird. I just ordered a precooked one from Whole Foods (A big thanks to my friend, Leeann for that tip). I just picked it up and heated it up and we were good to go. I did have to deal with the carcass and the left overs the next day and even then I only whined to my dad until he took care of it. We did make everything else, which was pretty fun. Lotus is a big help in the kitchen these days, so she even got into the mix.

It was a lovely holiday and it was nice to take some time to celebrate the season with our family before it grows this Spring.

When we were in Portland in November Rachel's friend Merin took these lovely family photos.






Aren't we cute?