5am Cali time

Well Brighton is trying his hardest to adjust to this 3 hour time change and he's been a trooper. We've been keeping him up 3 hours more than usual...6pm CA time, 9pm PA time. But he's still ready to romp at 3:30am...this morning he pushed that to 5am. Maybe he'll get the hang of it before we drag him back home in a little over a week...poor guy.

There are so many stories and funny moments to share already, but I doubt B wil stay entertained here on the floor next to me for long. Just a quick recap, we had a wonderful time at the office holiday party. Not only was the food and wine amazing, but everyone made us feel so welcomed, even with our tiny babe. They even THANKED us for making the effort to come out and join them?! What a great group. Last week flew by and suddenly it was Friday night and our bags still weren't packed, the dishes were piled high in a sink that wouldn't drain, there was no gas in the car, and no food to pack for the plane. So Matthew used our other borrowed car and head out to the seedy gas station with a container to get a gallon or two of gas for the Subaru so we wouldn't be stranded the morning we arrived. Then went and got us dinner and groceries at 8pm, while I fought to get B to sleep. Then he scooped out the bleach/Drano-filled kitchen sink so the water wouldn't be standing there for two weeks, while I tried to quietly wash all the dishes in the bathtub, trying not to wake B. Then we were up at 3:45am ready to head out the door for our flight. Our "chauffeaur", Geoff, rising just as early to get us to the airport ON HIS BIRTHDAY! Thanks Geoff...and Maria, for letting us steal him so early :0)

B did an AMAZING job on the plane. Never really fussed at all. Just played, fell asleep, ate and did the whole routine over again. Considering the fact that we were held up on the second plane for over and hour before it took off and then it was almost a 4 hour flight, that really is amazing. We'll post some pictures of the adventure when we get the camera out. We made a make-shift mobile for him on the plane using my belt draped between the seats and some of his toys.

Now we're here staying in the attached apartment of our friend's home. We already feel ourselves relaxing and enjoying being away from "life" for awhile. We've seen the stormy Pacific ocean, smelled the fragrant eucalyptus trees and eaten some incredible mexican food. Ah California, now I know why my mom gets teary-eyed every time she talks about her home state :0) I think we're going to enjoy this Christmas on the west coast thing. I will try to get some pictures up before we leave, but it's been nice to be away from computers and email and all those pulls.

Hope you all are enjoying your Christmas season. We already miss our Philly friends and wish we were there celebrating with you guys! We'll be headed home ready to celebrate New Year's Day with some soccer at Allen's Lane though :0) Below are some of the older pictures I kept promising...

Our cheapskate home decorations, nothing says "Christmas" like a brown paper bag :0)

WeeB suited up for Xmas tree shopping...

The beautiful spread for baby Clara's baptism celebration...

Baby Clara and her loving mama...

The hustle and bustle of getting out the door on time. And the adorable big brothers, Manny (getting layered up by Maria's dad in the background), and Benicio...