Happy New Year!!!

The end of last week was pretty mellow, because Alanna caught a nasty cold. She was pretty congested Wednesday through Saturday. We spent a lot of time indoors, trying to get her to rest, ha ha. Unfortunately we had to miss the annual Samuel Family holiday party at Bob and Peg's on Saturday.

We were finally able to go out and play again on Sunday. We went to Santana Row, where Alanna had fun throwing pennies in the fountain and running around. In the afternoon, Bryan and Carol came down for dinner. They brought delicious Indian food with them. We really had a great time eating and chatting together.

On Monday morning, Justin and I went to my ultrasound and doctor's appointment. I am happy to report that everything looks good. We found out that Baby Magers #2 is going to be a boy! It's pretty cool that we are going to experience raising one of each. I think Alanna will enjoy having a little bro. We're starting to think about names, but will wait until the big day to share it. Here's a picture of the little guy:


After the appointment, we went out for dim sum with Mom and Dad in Milpitas. It was Alanna's first time eating dim sum, she really seemed to like it. I am so glad that she is an adventurous eater! She also loves to share pearl tea drinks with us.

We rang in 2008 at Susan and Brad's house, the Jensen's joined us too. We had a delicious dinner and spent a lot of time laughing together. Celebrating with good friends is always special. We didn't get to sleep in yesterday, after our late night out, but we did have a nice relaxing day. We took Alanna to the park in the morning, watched some football, and went to look at Christmas lights for the last time this season.

Isabella and Alanna saying "cheers!" on New Year's Eve:

For those of you that are celebrating today, Merry Christmas! We've been really busy lately. Since we're having a mellow day, I finally have time to update the blog. Here's a run down of our recent activities:
On the 15th (which feels like ages ago), we went down to Morgan Hill to have brunch with our friends Chris, Nicole, Ryan, Derek, and Sabra. Chris and Nicole made a tasty meal, which included pancakes, waffles, eggs, and sausage. We then headed up to Mel and Pete's house in Sacramento for a belated Hanukkah party and to celebrate Mom's birthday. Alanna had a blast playing with Mel's new kitten, Stella.
On Wednesday the 19th, Alanna and I met my former coworkers, Ipsita and Julia for lunch in Morgan Hill. It was nice getting to catch up, although Alanna barely sat still during the meal (it was slightly stressful for me). Good thing we ate at Marie Callendar's, a toddler friendly venue.
On Thursday, Alanna and I went downtown to check out Christmas in the Park. It is a free exhibition in San Jose, with many animated Christmas scenes and decorated trees. Alanna really enjoyed it.
On Friday we had a play date with Susan and Dax. Alanna got to help decorate a Christmas tree for the first time. It was really cute, there were lots of ornaments gathered in one, lower section of the tree. After the play date, we headed down to Santa Cruz. Alanna had a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa, so Justin and I could go out to dinner with friends. We went to E&O Trading Company in downtown San Jose, to celebrate Tiffany's birthday. It was nice getting to visit with friends over a delicious meal.
Saturday was Justin's birthday. Happy Birthday J!!! We slept in (haha) until 7:30am, and then I made Justin breakfast before we headed down to Santa Cruz to get Miss A. After Alanna's nap, we went over to Susan, Brad, and Dax's house. We celebrated Justin's birthday with Patxi's pizza, chocolate cupcakes, and homemade ice cream. Justin and Brad drove up to Palo Alto to get dinner; it is worth the drive for their delicious, Chicago-style pizza. It was definitely an ideal birthday dinner for Justin!
On Sunday we went back to Christmas in Park. I think Alanna enjoyed it more on Thursday, but at least Justin got to check it out. I'm always ready to eat these days, so we headed over to San Jose's Japantown for lunch. We're so glad that Alanna is an adventurous eater. She really enjoyed tofu from the miso soup, avocado roll, and the donburi that I ordered.
Yesterday morning we hung around the house. Alanna and Justin spent time outside running around, looking for snails, and watching squirrels. In the afternoon we went up to San Leandro to celebrate Christmas at Bryan and Carol's. It was a lot of fun and the meal was delicious. Alanna enjoyed climbing up and down the stairs, dancing while Justin played the accordion, and of course opening up presents. We were sad to realize that we won't be going back next year, since Bryan and Carol are moving to NY next month, but hopefully they'll come back to celebrate with us!
Today has been nice and relaxing. Alanna slept in this morning (probably due to all of the excitement last night), which was a nice treat for Mommy and Daddy. We went for a walk this morning and then played outside. We're planning to take it easy for the rest of the day. We may go and look at lights this evening, since Alanna loves them.
Well, I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season. I can't believe 2007 is coming to a close next week!

Today we went to Nicole and Isabella's for a holiday potluck play date. Here are some attempts to get the kids to sit still for a picture. Enjoy!

























































On Wednesday afternoon we decorated Christmas cookies with Dax and Isabella. The kids had a lot of fun!















Dax



















Bella



















Alanna (loved eating the sprinkles!)