Compromising Christmas

A wise friend once told me, "Not everyone opens their Christmas presents the same"...you know who you are! :)  I am finding this to be so true!  While Justin and I were attending a holiday party last week, we started talking about how we wanted Christmas morning to be for Roman, and what kinds of family traditions we would start now that we have the little guy.  My family would tell you, or really just make fun of us for our previous Christmas traditions.  In our typical fashion, we usually can't make it any later than 2 days before Christmas before we break down and decide to give each other our gifts.  This year, we've decided we should really wait until Christmas morning - maybe open one gift on Christmas eve, and that's it!

Where the compromise comes in is how to do Roman's presents and where Santa comes into play!  I grew up having ALL of my gifts from Santa, and ALL gifts wrapped.  Justin grew up having gifts from Mom and Dad, and gifts from Santa, and Santa's gifts were unwrapped.  Obviously, we each think the other's way is crazy!  I mean, why would you want to run down Christmas morning and be able to see everything Santa got you in one quick view.  Justin questions why we never wondered why our parents didn't get us gifts for Christmas!  Soooo, we've decided to compromise, and wrap all but the largest gift - yes just one!  Most gifts will be from Santa, and then one gift from us we'll probably let Roman open on Christmas Eve.  We'll see how this whole thing goes!  Who knows, we may be changing it up next year! :)

P.S. Sorry for being MIA the last couple of weeks!  I promise to be more diligent about blogging again soon!

The Christmas Tree Fiasco...always a fiasco when decorating!

Yay, I got my camera back from my sister last night!  The pictures from the tree farm last weekend that I wanted to post were on the camera, so I've been saving my story for when I was able to post the pictures!

So I had the bright idea to start a "Castelli family
tradition" and go to a tree farm to cut down our very own tree!  We packed up Rome and headed to Greenfield last Saturday afternoon.  We get to the tree farm, and there were literally 1000+ trees there that you choose from and chop down yourself.  Justin gets handed the saw (which he was disappointed because he thought he would be given an axe), and I get handed a piece of paper that helps identify the species of tree so you know what you're buying and what the cost is.  Well, it was fairly cold, and we just wanted an 8ft tree, nothing fancy.  There are families out there with their tape measures, rope, the works.  We see the first tree that looks about 2 feet taller than Justin, and Justin starts sawing away.  I started looking at the tree, and then back at the piece of paper I was given, and it looks to me like the tree we are cutting down is not only one of the most expensive trees (a Norway spruce), but it's needle retention says *FAIR*!  When I read that, I immediately thought our beautiful 8 ft tree was going to look like the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree in a week!  For about 2 seconds Justin and I actually contemplated acting like we hadn't started sawing the tree down and start looking for a new tree with EXCELLENT needle retention...then we realized that would make us horrible people!

Well, we Justin sawed the tree down, we paid for our tree, and haphazardly tied the tree to the top of my card with some super weak twine that I found in the house that I was going to use for crafting!  We then started driving home, and yes folks, we were passed on a two lane country road with the tree on top of our car.  As the car was passing us, Justin hollers, "Go ahead and pass me, and enjoying your life in your mini-van!"

And to make a long story even longer, we had some issues getting the tree to stay standing, and it still doesn't have a topper because our star topper is too heavy and keeps falling off... but without further ado, here are some pics of the tree and our holiday decor (and Roman's scrunchie face because I put him in his puffy coat)!

Seriously Mom??

This is actually the tree in the basement, but I love how he is reaching to put in on the tree!

It would look so much better with the silver star on top...sigh

 ! 

The Contest

I'm not one of those lucky women (ahem, my sister Beth), who could fit into my jeans two weeks after having Roman!  I was lucky to lose 35 of my 49 lbs gained (yikes, almost hit the big 5-0) within 10 days of delivery, and then nursing took about another 7 lbs off the next 6 weeks.  But it was those lagging 7 lbs that have been hanging on for dear life the last 3 months!  Going back to work after only a 6 week maternity leave made it difficult to get into a good work-out routine, so I had pretty much decided those 7 lbs weren't going anywhere anytime soon (especially with winter right around the corner)!  That is until Justin proposed a CONTEST!

I don't know if everyone knows this about me, but I'm pretty competitive!  Even if I don't always show it, secretly in my mind, life is a contest that I'm always trying to win!  Whether it's in my job, or having the best dressed baby - I'm competing!  So when Justin proposed we set a weight goal, and the first person to their goal gets to write a check out of our checking account for a pretty good chunk of change...it was on!

One problem...what am I going to do to win?  Weeeellllll...I found the best Ap on my I-phone that has helped me lose 3 lbs in just 2 weeks!  It's called MyFitnessPal (I think there is a web site too, but it's easier for me to use it on my Iphone because it's always with me).  All I had to do was enter my weight goal and other stats, and it told me how many calories I need to eat each day to reach my goal in a certain amount of time!  The best part is, I log the food I'm eating, and the ap tells me how many calories my food has...I don't have to look at the back of a box or a book to find the caloric details!  I've yet to find a food that's not in their database!  I LOVE it!  It has really made me more aware of how many calories I eat each day, and how few calories fruits and vegetables have...so I can eat so much more of that and fill up on the healthy stuff!  One other thing, it's not magic, I have to stick to the calorie limit each day to see progress! :)

The only downside is I shared this wonderful secret with my competitor!  Now Justin is using the ap too!  I'll keep you posted on our progress!  Hopefully by the end of the year I'll be back to my pre-Roman self!  Now - what will I buy with my winnings???