Welcome....

...lucky recipients of my mother's Christmas card and annual "I-didn't-really-care-about-what-was-going-on-with-the-Merciez'-but-seeing-as-Jennifer-took-the-time-to-write-it-I-might-as-wel-read-it" family newsletter! (Just kidding ma!) I thank you all for caring enough (or being depressingly bored enough) to navigate yourselves to my own "I-didn't-really-care-what-was-going-on-with-the-Wright-family-but-seeing-as-I-got-Jennifer's-silly-Christmas-newsletter-and-I'm-on-the-computer-anyway-AND-Catherine-took-the-time-to-blog-it-,-I-might-as-well-read-it" extraviganza. Have I lost anyone yet? In all seriousness, Happy Holiday's to everyone! It's really good to hear from people I haven't seen in a while. If you get a minute, please leave a comment and say hi! The past couple of weeks have been chalked full of holiday festivites and developmental milestones (before you get to excited, no - Owen has still not said "mama" yet). On December 8th, Owen saw Santa! My restaurant O'Callaghan's Irish Pub in Brighton - where incidentally you can sample the best of traditional Irish food, visit www.seanocallaghans.com for locations and menu - was hosting a Breakfast with Santa event so we took Owen for his very first visit. I'll go ahead and just show you his reaction. Isn't that hilarious! Here's a picture we took. Just like his father, we couldn't tear Owen away from the bar. Next up for Owen - his first Pistons game! I am officially insane for taking a baby to a game. Once again it's impossible to go to events like this without reflecting on before baby & after baby differences. Sporting events before baby: Start at the bar, head to the Palace with only licence and credit card, watch the game, grab drinks at halftime, watch the 2nd half, grab drinks afterwards, get husband to drive you home. Sporting events after baby: Arrive at the Palace 2 hours before hand, get stroller, diaper bag, purse and baby out of car and checked through security. Stop in bathroom for diaper change, head up to Ameriprise Finacial Club to see Dad, order a drink and make the bartender put it in a soda glass so no one calls social services, feed baby so he will hopefully sit through game. Head down to seats midway through 1st half having only taken 2 sips of drink. Spend halftime in bathroom for another diaper change. Drag the baby, diaperbag, purse and stroller back down to seats for the 2 minutes left in the game, head back to Ameriprise with a now cranky and tired baby, diaperbag, purse and stroller to wait while traffic clears. Go home and vow not to take Owen to another game until he can carry his own diaperbag, stroller and maybe even mom's purse. My saving grace was my friend Betsy who helped me cart around my entourage of baby gear and provided moral support. Owen happens to love Betsy too so she was able to keep him happy and content. It also helped that I worked there for 8 years and my husband still works there. We got some nice hookups that made the evening very pleasant. Oh yeah! Owen was on TV! And not the big screen but actual TV. He's pretty psyched about it. Look at these seats! Betsy and Owen Betsy is fun! As for milestones, I will post seperately so they don't get lost in this monstrosity of a blog posting