Merry Christmas!

We have had an extremely busy holiday season but today, we just sat back and relaxed with family and friends. We had such a wonderful day! Grant and I were blessed with many great gifts but I think my favorite gifts were those given to Nicky. Grant and I got him a firetruck which he loved and even ate lunch in it. He received lots of toys but several meaningful gifts including a flag my mom had flown over the nation's capitol in his honor. As a family, we got a Wii which has been in use most of the day :). Here's a few highlights of our Christmas...

Breakfast in his favorite drawer.

Nicky in his new firetruck with Elmo.

Christmas 2007...and no, Nicky was not happy about taking this picture :).

Too Cute!

Tonight Nicolas decided to empty the kitchen drawer and climb inside. I think he was curious but I think he also figured out that if he could stand up in the drawer, he'd have more access to all the interesting things on the countertop. It was too cute to pass up!

Last Christmas

This was our Christmas picture from last year. I think I look more tired than I do today (probably because back then I was still getting up with Nick at least 2-3 times a night) but it was a wonderful time. There's something wonderful that children add to Christmastime that is hard to explain. Last year was so much fun just having Nicky around, but this year, it's even better. He gets so excited about the lights on the Christmas tree, the singing snowman figurines, and the sparkly gifts under the tree. I know he doesn't understand what it's all about yet, but he adds an element to Christmas that I never knew I was missing until he came along. I love it!

We have yet to take a Christmas picture this year. Life has just been too crazy. Hopefully we'll take it soon and I'll post it as soon as we do. It's fun to look back at the year before and see how much he's grown. Boy, does it go by fast...

Truffles

Truffles are one of my favorite treats and today I had a fabulous one - milk chocolate and chambord. We discovered a new place (at least new to us) as we were looking for Christmas gifts to send out to customers and vendors. It's called Telluride Truffles out of Telluride, CO(http://www.telluridetruffle.com/) and since we wanted to know exactly what we were sending people, we had a box sent to us as well. I only had one but was one of the best I've ever had. So...if you have a sweet tooth, give it a try. You won't regret it.

My Top 10 Favorite Comfort Foods

With Christmas right around the corner, I've been thinking about all my favorite foods that I'd like to enjoy before I need to get back on the wagon and start watching what I eat. Most of my comfort foods are linked to a memory of some sort. Many of those memories involve my mother and the fact that she probably made that dish just for me, even if no one else liked it. That always made me feel so special. So with that in mind, here is a list of some of my favorites that I like especially during the holidays and in no particular order...

1. Yams - yes, smothered in brown sugar and marshmallows. Although I do love plain old sweet potatoes...
2. Hot Chocolate - while this hasn't always been a favorite, I discovered (while I was pregnant with Nicky) Godiva has a fabulous hot chocolate and now I love it!
3. Biscuits
4. Brown Beans - I was raised on them and I love them...even if it makes me a little weird :).
5. Brownies - warm and gooey.
6. Homemade Potato Soup
7. Taco Soup
8. Ham - while I have sworn off pork for the most part, every now and then, a good slice of ham just sounds so good.
9. Blueberry Muffins - of course, the wonderful ones my mom makes.
10. Sausage Biscuits - my dad used to make them on Sunday mornings and they were soooo yummy!

Piggy Back Rides

As a child, I remember piggy back rides and I loved them. Well, now it's my turn to be the piggy :). Nicky has discovered them and it is his new favorite thing to do. Being as how he is only 23 pounds, I enjoy it but I wonder how long that will last as he gets bigger...

My most recent quilts...

As many of you may know, one of my favorite hobbies is quilting. I just love making something beautiful and useful! With that said, I thought I'd share two of my most recent quilts...

The first I made for Nicolas back in October and he loves to drag it around the living room.

The second quilt I made for my friend Jordan who's baby was born today - Daniel Ethan Dail. I hope he likes it!

Headlight

As many of you may know, Nicky loves lights. He loves to turn them on and point it out when they are off. Recently, Gramps bought a headlight and Nicky tried it on. He loved it even though it scrunched his face...

Thanksgiving

A few of our Thanksgiving highlights...

-My Mom got Nicky a super-cute coat and it was cold while we were there so it came in very handy.

-Unfortunately, because I was sick, there are no pictures of our Thanksgiving dinner but it was YUMMY! My personal favorite this year...the yams.

-Decorating the tree. This was Nick's first year helping out and he did a great job!

-And finally, the family picture. From left to right, my brother, Jon, his wife, Jessica, my mom, my dad, Grant, me, and Nick. No one anticipated taking this picture so we aren't exactly looking our best, however, we seized the moment and we are just glad we're all smiling :).

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Top 10 Things I Love About Going back to OK

1. Of course, seeing my family & friends.

2. Mom's blueberry muffins.

3. Driving the Blazer (my old car which I LOVE to drive).

4. Being pampered. My parents always make sure that I get well taken care of.

5. Rib Crib & Diamond Jacks.

6. Pedicures with Michelle.

7. Watching my parents get to spend time with Nicky.

8. Going shopping with my Mom.

9. Running errands with Dad.

10. Having the entire family together - Mom, Dad, Jon, Jessica, Grant, Nick, & Me. Now there's a good time and always interesting conversation :).

One of my favorite pictures...

I came across this picture today and I think it is one of my favorite pics of Nicolas and me. We went up to Julian, CA last December and had such a great time. I love his smile...it's so genuine.

My Christmas Pet Peeve

I decided to take Nicky to the store yesterday to do a little early Christmas shopping. While I navigated delicately through Pier 1 with a stroller, we were bombarded with blaring Christmas music which had absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. Now, I've been known to say that I don't like Christmas music however, I'd like to clarify that statement. I don't like to hear it beforeThanksgiving, but more than anything, I don't care for Christmas music that has nothing to do with Christ. That is the reason for Christmas, isn't it? It can be fun to sing a jingle with the kids every now and then but above all, our entire season should be centered around the fact that Christ was born. To be subjected to listening to someone's poor rendition of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus while shopping in a store just bugs me.

I do however love Christmas and what it represents. I love giving gifts and spending time with family, and taking the time to reflect upon how Christ came into this world to save us.

Perhaps I should look to shop in stores that don't subject me to such things...but then there's a good possibility no one would be getting any gifts this season :).

Playing Catch-up

Okay, long story short is that when I set up this blog I somehow got a virus on my computer and was afraid to get back on and blog for fear I'd get another one. I've figured out though which site the virus came from and it wasn't the blog. With that said, my new friend, Nicole, has inspired me to start blogging again and I've got some catching up to do. Let's see...starting in August... I threw a baby shower for my long-time friend, Jordan, who is due in December. It was so good to see her (since it had been about 2 years since I'd seen her last) and we had a great time. Here's a picture of several of us Victory girls at the shower.

Nicky's getting to be such a big boy and I didn't realize it until I took this picture in September... He's wearing his favorite shoes - too cute!

In October, I finished the quilt I had started for Nick. He truly loves it and drags it around the living room when he get's tired.

Nicky also learned to color...I've saved all of his scribbles and managed to put them into his scrapbook. It's funny how I'm so proud of even the tiniest scribbles :).

Also in October, we went to the pumpkin patch. Actually, we've been to a couple of them and here are a couple of my favorite pictures.

A family pic at Tom's Farms...

Picking out his 1st pumpkin at Tom's Farms.

At Peltzer Farms with Gramps...

At Conrad Farms in Bixby, OK with Grandpa

For Halloween, Nick was a turtle and he was SUCH a cute turtle!!! There was a halloween party at the Little Gym and he had such a blast!

Lastly, I celebrated my 28th birthday (and no, I cannot believe I am 28) on Nov. 5th and while Nicky was pretty fussy that day, I had a wonderful birthday. Here's a picture of Grant and I along with his brother, Warren and his girlfriend, Jennifer.

That should about cover it. I know there are tons of things that I missed but hopefully over the next few weeks I'll get caught up completely. Next week we leave for Oklahoma to visit my family so there'll definitely be pictures to follow!

The DiCiannis

I'm new to this blogging thing so it may take me awhile to get the hang of it. I was inspired by a friend who blogs and I always find it so interesting what she has to say everyday...almost like a mini-glimpse into her life since we don't live close by. So, I thought I'd give it a try since I have many loved ones who we don't get to see everyday.

For starters, we are The DiCianni's - Grant, Amanda, & Nicolas. Grant and I married on September 25, 2004 and Nicolas joined our lives June18, 2006 (Father's Day). He's now 14 months old and I can't believe how time has flown. He's walking and working on talking and is a very happy baby. Grant and I run a business called Tapestry Productions which sells Christian fine art reproductions - you can check us out at http://www.tapestryproductions.com/. We love what we do and I love being a Mom who works during naptime...even if I don't get much done some days. Well, that about does it for now...