First Christmas

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We finally managed to write up our very first Christmas open letter, here's what's been happening in our lives over the past year.


Last Christmas we received the best gift from Santa that we could have imagined: we found out on Christmas morning of 2012 that we were going to have a baby!

Everything after that was just filled with happiness, and the entire year of 2013 was marked with many life changing experiences.


The second wedding - the one in Romania happened in May when I was 6 months pregnant with Mara. We brought Gene and Tammy over the ocean to see my home country, we hiked to Babele (pronounced bah-bay-leh, The Old Women) and the Sphinx in the Bucegi (boo-chaydj) Mountains.
We ran into a bear at the ethereal lake St. Ana, stopped for a night in the idyllic Bucovina and visited family.

The second family-honeymoon happened in Paris with Greg's parents, just like we had our first family-honeymoon after our Florida wedding with my family in Sedona/Grand Canyon/Hoover Dam/San Francisco the year before. That year, we were chasing sunsets in the most romantic fashion (<3 to Naty and Alex) and kayaking in the dark night watching myriads of bioluminescent creatures turn water magical.
This year, we climbed the 300 stairs up the Sacre Cour,

visited Google Paris, the tomb and the laboratory of Marie Curie and strolled happily in the gardens of Versailles and Giverny.

We got back to California and signed our final papers for the house we had fallen in love with, and moved in three weeks later while treading lightly into the 9th month of the pregnancy.

End of August brought us Mara - exactly on the due date just like clockwork! Time simply slowed down after that and we felt like we lived 4 years in the 4 months with her: Survival mode blended with oxytocin-flooded happiness.

This Christmas we were a young family in their first house. The three of us, our kitty cat and the little birdie. It was a happy mellow cozy Christmas with two parents staring lovingly at the baby.

The first time we showed Mara the lighted Christmas tree was a unique experience. She was quiet, staring at the wonder for a long time, even forgetting about being in tummy time on daddy. Her eyes were wide open, and hundreds of little tiny stars were reflected in them.


That week we had such peaceful bonding moments.

Mara learned how to turn front to back consistently, and practiced it for the three days before Christmas. On Christmas Eve she gathered up all she had, launched herself to the right toward the Christmas tree and landed straight under the ornament that we got from the Grand Canyon with Alex and Naty the year before.
She then wiggled at it happily.

Sending all our love to everyone.

Merry Christmas!

G.E.M.

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