It has taken me forever to write this post. I keep feeling overwhelmed at trying to capture this Christmas. Then I wonder why because nothing was particularly epic. In fact, this Christmas felt less “holiday euphoric” than probably any other.
I’m not sure if that’s due to the postpartum range of emotions I was (and continue to!) experience or if it was the rainy warm weather or if it was our departure from many of our usual traditions, but it was just sort of “meh” this year.
Not terrible by any means, just not the gloriously profound holiday I had been pining for. This post from last year really serves to remind me that Christmas cheer can never meet the ache in my soul. I think that’s probably what much of it boils down to.
I’m looking for something at Christmas (and every other day) to meet a need that only my Creator can. Just knowing I’m doing that has helped draw me more quickly back to the source, and for that I’m grateful.
There were certainly moments to remember this year, and I want to capture those for posterity. Looking back to last year’s “Things I want to remember” post made me smile, so here goes…
Grace and I stayed up late one night to watch White Christmas. We snuggled and ate Christmas cookies and drank eggnog and gushed over the beautiful costumes and dance numbers. It was such a sweet time together and I’m looking forward to having Avery join us when she’s a little older.
Drew and I spent countless hours on the couch in the light of the tree. Nursing, burping, cuddling, and getting to know one another. His little Santa-bottomed Christmas jammies were so cute. My ugly Christmas turtleneck was…not! LOL
Christmas just isn’t Christmas for me without my favorite Frosted Butter Cookies and Buckeyes. I was in the throes of the newborn fog when I made them this year, but I’m so glad I did it anyway. They were delicious and it ended up being really fun decorating them all together.
Andy and Drew had some good snuggle time too :)
Grace and I made a gingerbread house one afternoon! It was really fun to decorate it and watch her creativity shine. I think it turned out super cute and we all had fun picking it apart to eat it only a few days later which was major growth for me! Normally I’d want to keep it around until well after Christmas, but when I saw how much they wanted to eat it, I decided to be a “Yes Mom” and let them do it.
The sheer joy and excitement on their faces when they came into the living room and saw all of the gifts under the tree was priceless. This picture cracks me up every time I look at it…
Avery was pretty happy too :)
Stockings stuffed to the brim! I try to come up with lots of non-candy stocking stuffers that are inexpensive but fun, and I think this year was a success!
What four year old gets this happy about a flashlight?! This one does. LOL
Lego sets made up the bulk of her wish list this year. She requested Merida, Cinderella, and Ariel along with a stuffed lion.
She got all four wish list items and was super excited. You know, until the gifts ran out and she wanted MORE. I’m not really sure how to teach thankfulness and moderation at this age, but I’m working on it!
Me in my ugly Christmas turtleneck! It was comfy and good for nursing, so I went with it.
Avery LOVES princesses right now so this carriage and the accompanying princesses was a big hit.
My very own little princesses. Thank you Joann’s for the $1 comfortable tiaras!
Frozen board books were a huge hit!
More princesses!
Elsa is still the ultimate princess in Grace’s opinion, so this nightgown pretty much made her day.
The chalkboard slates were a hit too! The chalk dust is a little annoying, but it’s much easier to clean up than marker :)
Plus, they look so “Little House on the Prairie” when they use them :)
Avery was putting some of the ONE MILLION stickers from grandpa on her new princess!
And her eyes…LOL
Grace and daddy were hard at work building Lego sets all morning.
Look at that sweet smile!
It was hard to catch Avery in action, but I love this one of her sweet brown eyes. She has been having lots of fun with these mini mini animals from a local toy shop though.
Drew pretty much did this the whole time.
We changed up our traditional breakfast of biscuits with eggs and bacon gravy this year. Instead we made one of our regular breakfast favorites…Cinnamon Chip Scones. We thought the girls might not like the other meal as much and the last thing we wanted was to fight over breakfast, so we made the switch and everyone was very happy.
Mimosas on Christmas are a tradition that’s not going anywhere though! :)
This was the first year we didn’t leave the house on Christmas day. The pediatrician advised us to keep Drew mostly home for the first 6 weeks to avoid the nasty flu going around this year. A fever would automatically be an admittance to the hospital for him at this age, so we don’t want to take any chances. I have to say it was lovely not having an agenda all day.
The girls played with their toys, we stayed in our jammies, we had filet mignon for dinner and my mom came to spend the night with us.
Christmas euphoria or not, it was a good year :)
It looks like Christmas was a success!
I love, love, love see my sweet babies on Christmas morning, priceless!!!