Miranda's First Noche Buena 2014

My mother came over for Noche Buena and Christmas morning. She made us a delicious meal of pork, Moros, and yucca. We set up the dining table in the living room so we'd have enough room and so we could eat by the tree. And of course, since we dress up that night, I took a bunch of glamour shots. That's normal right?

My mom is kind of stealing the picture, but Miri can't wear makeup yet.

Two Cuban cuties!

We kept shouting "Candy!" so James would smile. Ridiculousness.

Miranda eats quite a lot now, and she loved her first Noche Buena feast. She gobbled up a ton of pork and slept really well. (In the bed with me still, disaster.)

Noche Buena meal

Thanks for cooking Nana!



Bob brought a modern-day smartphone viewfinder!

The kids got baths, and once they were in pajamas we told James to put cookies and milk out for Santa. We used the cookies he decorated with Sarah. I was maybe going to tell him about the Wise Men, but he barely understood Santa as it was.

Cookies for Santa!

Nana snuggles

• Christmas on Cape Cod 2013
• Noche Buena & Christmas at home 2012

Noche Buena & Christmas 2012

My mother came over for the holiday on the 23rd. It was a hard day for us because James has been sleeping poorly, which means the adults in the home are also sleeping poorly. On this particular day James woke up at 3:40 am, so Kevin was awake with him until 5:30 am, and then we switched-- he returned to bed, and I stayed up with James until his nap around 8 or 9 am. It was the second day he'd slept poorly so we weren't surprised. So we took it easy and ordered some pizza and drank some wine and beer.

Christmas Eve morning wasn't much better sleep-wise, but Mom cooked a big Cuban feast of pork, yucca, black beans and rice, so at least our bellies were happy. We moved the table to the living room because we don't have a dining room and the kitchen is small. Plus it's nice to eat near the Christmas tree.

Our second Christmas as a family of three

Our side of the Christmas Eve dinner table

After dinner, James had black beans on his face, hands, hair, and even inside his ears, so my mother gave him a bath and put him in pajamas before we opened presents.

Bathtime with Nana

Possibly the cutest naughtiest elf I have ever seen

We kept the presents modest because James is pretty young and doesn't understand what's going on yet. He's rapidly building vocabulary lately, so he mainly got books to learn more English and Spanish nouns. His Nana also got him a baby laptop though and he was so taken by it that he played with it for 30 minutes, repeating what it said and pointing to the pictures, and at one point he even fell over from giggling at it. Pretty awesome.

A finger puppet book!

Reading some "Go Diego, Go!" in Spanish

Santa Nana reveals the baby laptop

It was also a very special Christmas this year because Kevin recently won his fantasy football league championship. So we invited his star player, Arian Foster, to dinner. No, that didn't happen. Kevin did purchase and engrave a trophy for himself. I fully supported this and even went shopping with him for the cup. I also helped with the announcement to his fellow competitors.

Kevin, his cup, Arian, and me-- cheers!

James's First Nochebuena 2011

Clous at Christmas

Nochebuena is the Spanish-Cuban-Latin American Christmas Eve. Mom came over and made pork loin, yuca (also called cassava), and black beans and rice. We don't have a dining room, so we moved our kitchen table to the tree. We were going to secure James's seat to a chair but he was just as happy on the floor getting bits of food from Nana. I know he's not a puppy. After, we opened presents in the evening like we've been doing in my family for a few years. Among other things, James bought Nana a biography based on his voluminous book licking. 

Nana feeding James yuca


Nochebuena meal


James opening a present from family


James opening his first present from Santa


The Cubans


Nice try, James

First Married Christmas in NJ 2009

We had a nice first-married Christmas Eve with my parents in New Jersey. Dinner was Cuban-style Noche Buena with pork, delicious black beans and rice, and yucca (by special request). Dessert was flan and toron. Really fantastic.

 

Me and Kevin on Christmas Eve

My cute parents

We also had a bit of a photo shoot. My mother just about lost it when Kevin was photographing and he requested that we act "ferocious" instead of the old Tyra Banks stand-by "fierce."

We are ferocious!

Christmas day itself we stayed home and had Chinese food for dinner in tribute to what Kevin's family was eating on the Cape. This time, I graciously let Kevin eat his fortune cookie, despite his accusations on Things My Wife Complains About.