The Big Reveal (UPDATED 12/28)

12/28 Update:  This post was rushed and does not do the stocking justice.  I am now adding more pictures to show off some customization she did,  and to highlight some of my favorite details.  The new pictures are at the end.

Remember "Sneak Peak" from way back in April?  Well, it turns out Dominic's Aunt Emmy made him a stocking!! That is, made from scratch using thread and needle. And since these pictures were take, it has been transported to San Diego where it is awaiting our arrival and the big night.  This will be the first time Santa has been to the Gerow house in several years!  (He cut us off when Robert grew up).

Here's the finished product:

She's so talented! Thanks, Em! This is definitely something I would try to grab if I was running out of my burning house.  I think that says it all.

Here are some close-ups:

We bought metallic thread for the dog's collar as well as the garland on the tree.

Emmy custom-designed the wrapping paper, including miniature holly and snowflakes (on the blue paper).

She also customized two picture frames on the mantle.  One contains an old-fashioned silhouette and the other has Dominic's initial.

We bought blue satin for the lining.  It will feel nice on his hands when he goes in for his treats.

Emmy sewed red cord piping all the way around the edge.

And we picked out this manly plaid for the back.

You better watch out, you better not cry...

I took Dominic to see Santa today.  I was a little worried about going because: 1) it's less than a week until Christmas and 2) it was raining all day and the mall near us is outdoors.  I think the rain worked to my advantage because there was no line. 

Dominic must have sensed I was going to hand him over to the big guy, because he got nervous immediately.  Seeing Dominic's trepidation, Santa asked if I wanted to be in the picture.  I said we could see how it goes at first, and then I can get in the picture.  Santa said, "No, we better do it the other way around.  Once it's over, it's over."  That Santa is a smart guy.  He was so right.  I sat for the first several pictures, during which the photographer was jumping around and playing peek-a-boo.  Dominic was slightly amused, but she said he only half-smiled once and she missed it.  Next, I got up and handed him to Santa.  He cried immediately and did not calm completely until we left the "workshop".  Santa knew there would be no recovery if we had reversed the order.  I guess he's done this a few times.  

Here are the three pictures I got on CD (for the outrageous price of $30, eek)

 That last one is my favorite.  I can't help it, I think he's so cute when he cries.

It's December!

(Pretend like I posted this like 2 weeks ago) My favorite month of the year.  Dominic, Marcos, Emmy and I will be spending Christmas in San Diego.  We still wanted to decorate the house, however.  I did my usual thing in the fireplace and mantle area, and we went shopping for a Christmas tree.

These pictures are from my phone and are bit over-exposed.

 

 Look how different the little dude looked last year! (And the weather was way warmer last year).

I warned Emmy and Marcos that the tree we picked was going to be huge in our living room, but they insisted that we get it.  It's a good looking tree, but it could not be any bigger without blocking the walk way to my bedroom.

Here are some pictures of the mantle area.

And here are the tree lights and me having fun with the camera.

The boy always looks up when I talk to him about the star at the top.

Food

November is almost over and this is only my second blog posting for the month. I had to think of something to blog about because I didn't want to have a month with only one post.  I'm sure it will happen, but it won't be November. :)

We got back from Dallas today, where we spent Thanksgiving with the Arazozas. As always, we had a great time!  Unfortunately, we didn't take very many pictures.  What kind of blogger am I?

Looking through our computer pictures just now, I found a lot of food pics of meals Marcos cooked. That's what this post is about. This first one is the Cuban Sandwich Pizza.  It had pork (smoked by Marcos), ham (from the deli), pickles, cheese and a mustard sauce.  I don't remember how he made the mustard sauce. Anyway, this concept might have been Tony's idea.  It was discussed several times, and Marcos finally made it happen.  We all thought it was really good.  I think it's accurate to say Emmy loved it.

This next one is Asian noodles with Thai dynamite chicken (that's what they call the inspiration dish at Pei Wei) and Mongolian beef (also inspired by PF Chang's/Pei Wei).  Marcos cooks Asian food fairly often, and has gotten really good at it.

 

This last food picture is a fairly recent meal. Marcos made steaks with sides of squash, asparagus, and stuffed tomatoes.  He hollowed out roma tomatoes and stuffed them with a mixture containing cheese, bread crumbs, garlic and capers.  He then grilled them and topped them with fresh basil.  The other veggies were done on the grill too.  Everything was delicious.

This has nothing to do with food, but it's a cute picture of the boy.  (I also think the lighting or something about it makes my house look nice).  Dominic looks fully engrossed in an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond.  He really only sat there for a few seconds before crawling away.  I'm thinking he's not going to be one of those kids that turns into a zombie in front of the tv.  We would already see the signs, right??

Home Improvements

We finally had new tile installed in our entryway, kitchen and laundry room.  We have now done every inch of flooring in this house.  The kitchen and entry previously had 12"x12" tile that was plain white.  The grout used to be white (we assume), but looked disgusting and several tiles in the kitchen were cracked.  The laundry room had sheet linoleum.

Here are the before pictures:

The grout is a lot cleaner over there on the left where our table goes.

 

And here are a few during pictures:

We don't clean under our washer and dryer. How embarrassing.

And the after pictures:

The grout looks too dark in some places, like the right side of the entry.  I'm going to have them come fix it.

The glue was drying on the trim piece that goes over the threshold.

Happy Halloween!

We didn't do anything special for Halloween today.  We bought candy and just planned to sit outside with Dominic so he could watch kids trick-or-treat.  We were out there for about an hour and only had one kid come by before it was time to come in and get Dominic ready for bed.  (We also had high schoolers come by collecting canned goods; one of them looked at Dominic in his lion costume and said "She's sooooo cuuuute!")  Oh well.  Dominic is more interested in watching cars than people.

Watching his Baby Einstein dvd Halloween morning.

Dirty shirt on the head.

Late afternoon - time to get into costume.

Of course he started watching the street for cars as soon as we got outside. His new obsession.

Gotta go check out that bowl of candy by the door.

Pumpkin carved by my Dad on his recent visit.

Dominic started to empty the candy bowl, one piece at a time.

Aunt Emmy gave him his first taste of a Reese's PB Cup.

She also let him taste a sucker. So spoiled.

 

I fed him dinner outside. He'll probably never want to sit in the high chair again.

He thinks it's so funny to take off across the house after being stripped for a bath.

He was leaning against the window sill; it looks like he's standing.

He had a fever of 101.8 at bed time.  Didn't see that coming. :(

Tired guy. You can't really tell, but these are his other Halloween pjs.