Look what I found! And ramblings about J's birthday dinner and Christmas!

So...
It's happened.  Zoe has found her hands!!
It's so awesome to watch her look at them.  Open, closed.  In her mouth, on her dad's chest.  Holding a piece of her blankie.  It's wonderful to see her learn!

Last night Jody and I went to dinner at the fantastic Sweetgrass restaurant on Dataw Island, SC.  We had the most amazing meal.  Our dear friends, Lauren and Jeff, own this gem and treated us by giving us some tastes of several items on the new winter menu.  I had crepes!! Crab and mushroom with a side of garlic broccoli and a roasted tomato.  Jod had a gorgeous filet mignon with a side of a twice-baked sweet potato and asparagus wrapped in filo.  OMG.  If that wasn't enough (and it was, I tell you!), Jeff said we had to try the beef stew.  It was melt-in-your-mouth-good.  AND, we tasted mashed parsnips that were delightful.  Since it was Jody's birthday celebration, we had pluff mud cake with a scoop of ice cream for dessert.  As a gift they also brought out a mug full of pumpkin fudge ice cream.  We ate EVERY SINGLE BITE!!!  Jod was ready to explode by the end.  So we headed back to pick up our girl from her grandparents' house.  GreyBeard and Pamma were really happy to spend time with her.

Before we went, we made Christmas.  The house looks AWESOME, as it did last year when we decorated. I don't know if it's because we're in the spirit now, or because we just changed things around, but it looks sharp!  J was like a little kid when we woke up.  He practically jumped out of bed to decorate.  First to move furniture, then to get the boxes out of the garage.  With herculean strength he brought the Christmas tree in.  Then the decorations.  I didn't realize it, but we have THREE trees.  One large, one smaller and one TINY, which we're calling the Zoe-tree.  It was mine growing up.

There's something about unwrapping the ornaments and remembering where we were when we purchased them, made them, or received them as gifts.  I found the first ornament I received in 1979, and can't wait to get Zoe her first ornament in 2010.  We unwrapped the gorgeous ornament that we were given last year that has our name inscribed.  Our first Christmas as a married couple.  Now our family has one more!

There is lighted garland everywhere, and there are lights outside.  It's a sort of wonderland! Zoe keeps gazing at the lights.  What wonder in her eyes!  She doesn't really get what's going on, of course, and won't next year, either.  But I think we're lucky to have a baby for two Christmases!! One with a tiny one this year, and one with a grabber who will undoubtedly remove the ornaments from the tree next year!! This year we'll open up a savings account for her, and next year we'll give her ribbons and boxes.  :-)

It never really feels like Christmas to me down here.  It's the balmy weather, I think.  But I realized yesterday that we're going to have a whole new meaning on Christmas in the years to come.  Santa will come (if we're nice) and we'll have a whole host of new handmade ornaments to add.  It gave me the most powerful feeling of Christmas I've had.

Oooooooh, I absolutely loooove Christmas.