Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

 

This was the best group picture we could manage this year.

Merry Christmas, everyone! This was a very eventful Christmas, to say the least. 

On Monday, William was born, and about 22 hours later we were home again, in time to enjoy Christmas Eve.

Now that I have kids, Christmas Eve is my favorite part of the holiday - stuffing stockings, assembling and setting out the toys from Santa, and prepping cinnamon rolls to bake in the morning (though this year we skipped the baking). 

This year William slept in a basket by the fire while Dev and I set up the kids' Santa presents.

The next morning we got the kids up around 9am for breakfast.  Dev asked Beatrice, "Do you know what today is?"

"Wednesday!" she answered.  "It's a school day!"

Once we reminded her that it was Christmas, we all had some breakfast before heading to the "North Pole," as Beatrice calls our back room.

At breakfast, Dev joked with the kids, "Do you think you were good enough this year to get gifts from Santa?"

Beatrice said seriously, but not too sadly, "So Santa didn't come? The present room is relatively close to our bedroom so Santa heard us in there being bad and didn't come."

But he did come, and we spent the morning opening presents.

First, the stockings:

Arthur's stocking

B's stocking

Then the gifts:

   

 

 

 

Cromwell enjoyed his stuffed bagel.

Beatrice loved her dollhouse from Santa - I was also gratified (and a little surprised) by how much she loved the Metropolitan Opera diorama play set that I got her.

 

Yes, I bought the matching dollhouse chicken coop.

 

Arthur loved his train table, and everything else, but his favorite may have been the play money set we got him. 

 

Dev made me this awesome mechanical clockwork heart:

And I got Dev a meat smoker - now he can learn from James how to make amazing brisket and smoked salmon.

We tried to take a group picture, with limited success.

 

After the presents were all unwrapped, the kids had some lunch and then all of us took a nap.  Dev and I cleaned up the piles of wrapping paper and then made dinner: grilled lamb chops, mashed potatoes, biscuits, corn, peas, and a kale Brussels sprouts salad, with cherry pie for dessert.  William sat around, getting used to the feeling of being a day and a half old.

 

The kids played with their toys a little more, watched some Christmas movies, and then off to bed - and so ended our quiet Christmas at home.  We were all sorry to miss the big Kumar family gathering happening right now in Dallas, but all in all, it was still a pretty nice day.

Look Who Came for Christmas

William is here!  William Flux Kumar was born at 11:24pm on December 23, 2013, weighing 7 lbs, 11 ounces and 20 inches long, and he's doing great.  We expect to be home tomorrow for Christmas Eve.

For those interested in all the birth details - this was a very different delivery from Beatrice or Arthur.  For one thing, William was born one day past his due date, instead of two weeks early.  We were so sure he'd come around week 38, like his siblings did, that we asked Suzan and Naresh to come out and help us with the kids, etc. Well, their trip came and went, and still no William. 

The last two weeks of this pregnancy were hard on me.  I had tightness and contractions much of the time.  And every night I'd have painful, steady contractions lasting for hours.  The rule of thumb is that you should go to the hospital when your contractions are at least 1 minute long and 5 minutes apart.  But sometimes I'd feel that way for three or four hours, only to have them disappear as soon as I had made up my mind to go to the hospital.  But despite all this, I remained at just 1 cm.

Finally, today, my 2:30pm check-up revealed I was between 3 and 4 cm dilated.  I went home, got Dev, left the kids with Amy Turner (thank you, Amy!) and returned to the hospital around 6:30pm at 7 cm.

And then I got an epidural - which are amazing! I know everyone in the world already knew this but me, but wow.  After walking around so long with constant tightness and discomfort, I can honestly say I felt better delivering William than I had the entire month prior. I was so relaxed and calm I was actually chatting with the doctor and nurses between pushes.

You can see Beatrice's birth story here, and Arthur's here.

#21: Go to a Christmas concert

Just like last year, I took Beatrice to the Christmas sing-along concert with the L.A. Master Chorale at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. 

And just like last year, she loved every part of it, from the towering pipe organ to the "surprise" appearance of Julie Andrews*, but her favorite part was dressing up in her fanciest clothes, including nail polish, perfume, and lip gloss.  Plus a purse filled with three My Little Ponies.

So sophisticated.

 

(And just like last year, she held her hands rigidly still for almost an hour after I polished them, even after I kept assuring her they were dry.  In fact, she asked Dev to drive very carefully so that he wouldn't make her shift in the back seat and mess up her nails.)

The same purple glitter nail polish she wore last year (we only use the bottle once a year).

 

The only sad part of the day is that I hadn't realized just how left out and disappointed Arthur would feel.  I didn't take Beatrice until she was three and a half (a 90-minute concert with no intermission is a lot to sit through) so I just assumed we'd start taking Arthur next year.  But he was truly hurt about it, even after Dev promised to take him out on their own outing.  Dev and Arthur did meet us for dessert at the concert hall café afterward, though, which made him feel a little more included.

 

Arthur, cheered up and hanging out with Dev in Grand Park across from the concert hall

* Who seems to be the surprise guest every year.

#12: Make a Gingerbread House

 

This year Dev, Naresh, and Arthur were on one team and Suzan, Beatrice, and I were on the other (though I was mostly the photographer).

Girls Team

Apple Pear Butter

 

This year I made 24 jars of Apple Pear Butter for neighbors, teachers, and friends.  I started with this recipe for 24-hour Crock Pot Apple Butter from Daring Gourmet, then made a few changes like reducing the sugar and adding nutmeg.  Next time I might try adding allspice, too.

 

Ingredients

- 3 pounds apples, stemmed, cored, cut into quarters (but leave the peels on)

- 3 pounds pears, stemmed, cored, cut into quarters (but leave the peels on)

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1 cup white sugar

- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- 2 1/2 cups apple cider

- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

 

Instructions

1. Put the apples and pears into a large crock pot, then top with the remaining ingredients and stir.

2. Cook on low for 20 hours, covered, stirring occasionally.

3. Use an immersion blender or other appliance to puree the apple butter to desired consistency.

4. Cook for another 4 hours on low, uncovered, or until at desired thickness.

5. Can in a water bath according to standard canning practices, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

 

Makes about 5 pints.

#6: Meet Santa

This was the day we took the kids for their annual Santa Claus meeting at the Americana mall in Glendale.  And for the rest of my life, I'll be kicking myself because I didn't videotape Arthur's interaction with Santa this year. 

During our drive over to the mall and while waiting in line for our turn, Arthur kept assuring me that he was going to sing Santa a song.  I didn't pay much attention, until it was my kids' turn to sit on Santa's lap.  Beatrice climbed up immediately, but Arthur stood in front of Santa, confidently announced, "Santa, I'm going to sing you a song!"

Then he planted his feet wide, flung his arms out, and started belting out "For the First Time in Forever," the show-stopping ballad* from the movie Frozen (which we all saw in the theater last week).  It was pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

After that, the photo itself was anticlimactic - and both kids kept looking in the wrong direction - but I'll never forget Arthur's musical number as long as I live.

Waiting to see Santa

See the old Santa photos from 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

* Arthur loves very theatrical ballads and swelling musical numbers, especially those sung by pretty female heroines.  He also loves Diana Ross (and her sequined outfits).  Someday he wants to be a singer in a band, though he also wants to be a doctor and a single father of four.

#3: Decorate the Christmas Tree

 

This is the face Arthur makes when he is extremely excited.