There are kind of a lot of photos in this post.  But, most of them are of a cute little girl on Christmas morning. So, I feel like that makes it acceptable. Reagan and I were able to have a nice long visit with Piper on Christmas eve, with our friends Sam and Anna. The visit involved hanging out in pjs and a puppet show (there might be a forthcoming video of the puppet show). Piper was in a great mood. She played hard and laughed a lot. We probably actually got her too wound up. Because Christmas morning she was a bit cranky, as if she hadn’t had enough sleep the preceding night. Anyway, she was still up for opening gifts and hanging out.

And here are a couple of additional photos that I hadn’t made it around to posting. The shot directly below was taken at Bryant park during our Christmas tree tour, by our friend Sam.

And here is the image from our Christmas card, this year. The photo card design was done by our friend Becca, who has mad skills.

The name of the song is “Sleigh Bells.” That is the reason I chose this track. The lyrics aren’t particularly festive. In reality, I’m not even sure what the name even has to do with this track. Rill Rill is the artist. The track is a bit repetitive. But, I still fancy it. I have been working too much and am in dire need of a haircut. So, listen to Sleigh Bells.

Bonus: this has been one of my favorite Christmas tracks, since I was a new wave skateboard riding punk back in the early 90′s.  Check it.

It’s been a long freaking week already. I’m really actually excited for Christmas. If nothing else, for a bit of reprieve (and Piper time, of course). Stacks of love and holiday cheer to all of my amigos who have given audience to another year of the tripe the I find fit for print. Especially those who took the time to flow a bit a positive feedback, or constructive criticism (Kelvis).  </sentimental blabbering>

Saturday night, we had a really fun visit with Piper. Our friends the Smoots came with us. It was really fun to watch their little daughter Stella play with Piper. Stella was really sweet to Piper, and Piper was completely mesmerized by Stella.

Piper is moving back to Wanaque in NJ this week. Tomorrow, to be exact. We were so happy that her moved was delayed long enough that she was able to stay through Christmas at Blythedale. We really had a great long- weekend with Piper. We are being optimistic that things will continue to go well with her.

Shifting gears, we posted the “outtakes” from our Christmas card photos, over here. You may have already seen a few of them on Reagan’s Blob. Anyway, there are some pretty cute ones of Reagan and Piper, all dressed up nice.

Here are a couple more favs:

Last night, Reagan and I went to a church on the east side to watch a live nativity with some of our friends. Afterward, we ate at this Brazilian place called Zebu, on 92nd and 2nd. It was pretty awesome food. I woke up bright and early this morning with an excited little wife tugging on my arm, asking me when I was going to get out of bed. Reagan was already showered and ready to get this Christmas going. Hahahah. We opened some presents, then packed up the car and headed to see Piper. She was still a little bit groggy when we arrived. Her hair was full-on mad scientist, hahaha.

She was in a super good mood though. She definitely knew that something was up, right away. Reagan put her into her new Christmas pinafore that she got from her aunt Sarah, then fixed her hair. After that, it was straight to business. Piper was totally into opening presents, this year. She was tearing them open like a total pro, smiling all the while.

I totally love the photo below, of my two smiley Christmas girls.

As always, I totally went overboard with the photos, but here are a bunch more, if you want to check them out.

Red Hot Chili Peppers. I have pretty much loved these guys forever. I got in trouble from my mom for the album cover of  “Mother’s Milk.” I remember when they played at Park West with Oingo Boingo. The cover of “Mother’s Milk” has since been censored. Both Park West and Oingo Boingo no longer exist. RHCP has gone through as many guitar players since then, as they have changes of underwear. I’m glad that through all of that, they are still cranking out some quality sounds.

Since it is the week of Christmas, I thought I should post something festive. I didn’t want it to be too cliche though. So I’m doing “Snow” from “Stadium Arcadium.” As an added bonus, I’m also including a link to “Deck the Halls,” performed by RHCP A’capella. Merry Christmas.

Snow (Hey Oh)

Deck the Halls

Last night we attended a party thrown by our friends Kim and Ryan, in Harlem. It was a lot of fun, because they went ALL OUT. The indoor decorations are well documented over on Kim’s blog, if you want to get a sense of what I’m talking about. But it didn’t stop there. They had dancing on the roof.

Even though I’m not much of a dancer, and I was freezing/begging Reagan to come back inside with me the whole time. It was really cool. And, for those who were dancing, it didn’t seem like the cold was affecting them much. Notice Reagan’s breath in the shot below:

There are a few more photos over here.

Reagan and I were so happy that Piper was able to stick around Blythedale for the holidays. Today, she sat on Santa’s lap and he gave her a present. It seemed like she was really pretty interested in the whole event, too.

Regan and I arrived kind of early, to get Piper into her Christmas dress, and everything, before Santa showed up. It was the first time that I had every been able to see Piper at her little school. It was super cute.

She was in kind of a sleepy mood when we first arrived. She threw up almost immediately after we wheeled her over to her school room. It always takes her a little bit to be in a good mood again, after that. So she wasn’t being super playful. But There is one volunteer who brings a guitar, and Piper freaking loves that thing. The volunteer holds it up close to Piper, so that Piper can strum the strings. That was pretty much the only smile that we saw her do, during the whole morning.

Piper’s present from Santa was a princess shopping cart. We can already tell that she is going to love it. She has been making a lot of progress with her walking. I think that this little cart will help her even more.

I just have to take a minute and say how amazed I was by the volunteers that we saw in action today. Since having Piper, we have grown a new appreciation for people’s hours of selfless service, spent on these little ones. The Santa was amazing. What was equally amazing was the small crew following him around with pockets full of screwdrivers and batteries, whipping the toys together as fast as the kids could even get them unwrapped. It probably sounds really corny, but even writing this, I’m still getting a twinge of emotion thinking of how overcome with gratitude I am for the good people in this world who help Piper have a more comfortable life. There truly is no way that we can ever thank them enough.

Here are [kind of a lot of] more photos from today.

Today was the day that we were scheduled to be moving Piper to NJ. Yesterday morning I received all of the discharge paperwork via fax. I signed all of it and faxed it back over. I was starting to get mentally geared up for the event. Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from Piper’s social worker, in Westchester, saying that her Dr. had determined that Piper wasn’t %100 to go. There were some vague details. I didn’t ask for any sort of elaboration, she said that it was no cause for concern, but that they just wanted to make sure that Piper was at least at her best baseline for when they sent her over.

For those of you who know how much anxiety we were having over this move (especially the timing), then you know that this was kind of a big deal. All I have to say, is that angels and miracles come in all kinds of different forms. This was definitely a Christmas miracle for us. I’m sorry that Piper is a little bit under the weather. But I’m elated that she will now most likely still be in Westchester at least until after the holidays. She will be meeting Santa, early tomorrow morning. I can’t really wait to see it.

Reagan and I were volunteering at a race on Saturday, and they had a nice little holiday playlist pumping through the PA speakers. There was this elevator-music sounding song playing, that I suddenly recognized as the melody to Green Day‘s “Holiday.” I laughed and was pretty awesome, all at the same time.

Later, I did a little research and discovered that it was from an album called “The Green Days of Christmas” performed by Santa Claws and the Naughty But Nice Orchestra. The album is ridiculously entertaining. I also discovered that SCATNBNO did a similar album with Metallica covers, as well as one that features AC/DC covers. The whole idea is genius.

These albums are available for download on iTunes and Amazon. So, if you are looking for a fresh new soundtrack for your holiday season, this year. I strongly suggest picking up a copy.

Has anyone else come across any new favorites, along the lines of holiday music (besides the song that the Conan guys did for Senator Hatch)?