Our 2014 Christmas
The decorations are down, the ornaments and decor packed away for the year and there is a bittersweetness about it all. I love Christmas, I love the reason for the season, I love the traditions and I love it all even more now that I’m a mom. There was a bittersweetness that the house could finally be cleaned up and decluttered from added decor, when I knew the fun A had been having finding Gogiddy every morning and rearranging the ornaments on the tree daily came to an end. Part of me wished we could hold onto this Christmas for so much longer because we only got this Christmas season, it’s been my favorite so far. I say that every year though.
This year we kept things simple for our Christmas. Simple, well thought-out gifts that we knew A would really enjoy. Part of me wanted to shower her with many gifts like I see so many kids getting at Christmas time but simple really worked best for us and that shined through as true on Christmas. Christmas Eve we made dinner and cookies for Santa. We sat them out for him and carrots for the reindeer. We watched the reindeer cam and watched Santa take off. We watched Curious George’s a Very Monkey Christmas and read the Christmas Story from the Bible. There was something about this year that didn’t feel “overly-Christmassy” which I’m not sure if it was the weather or the fact I felt like time flew by ridiculously fast this year. Either way, by the afternoon of Christmas Eve it started feeling a lot more like Christmas.
After we tucked A into bed, we wrapped our gifts and set them under the tree. Naturally Santa ate the cookies and the reindeer did too. Santa even left A a thank you note.
The next morning A rose earlier than usual, but I don’t really know that it was due to Christmas excitement, as I don’t think that comes quite yet at two. She knew what we were saying but I’m not sure she fully get it yet. We got up and opened her couple of small presents – a toy camera from us, a dress up set from Santa and then the last present was her pots and pans for her big presents. Soon we made our way down to the basement where her big present was – her homemade kitchen. Ryan and I spent weeks on that thing and the moment she saw it and was excited I knew that it was absolutely worth every bit of time we spent on it. She loved it and we spent a good amount of time playing with it. Soon I went upstairs and made sweet rolls and we did stockings. I think she was most excited with the flashlight in her stocking out of all of the things in there.
We then connected with my Dad via FaceTime that morning. I am so thankful for how technology has advanced over the years allowing us to be with loved ones even if they are hundreds of miles away. We talked about our Christmas and A opened her present from him – several Color-Wonder items. It was a great time.
That afternoon my family came over to our house, as we were the ones hosting this year due to it being our First Christmas in our New Home. We tried to keep things simple for food – potatoes, roasted rosemary & thyme, green bean casserole, rolls and some sweet treats. Presents were fun and A loved helping others open theirs too. She’s loving the rocking horse my grandparents made her, the matching PJ pants that match Ryan and I, and the new dolly my mom got her. She’s a lucky girl.
We spent Friday in the snow, as Thursday night we got quite a bit. A and Millie both had a blast playing in the snow and afterwards we spent time sipping on some hot chocolate to warm up.
Saturday Ryan’s parents came to town to celebrate Christmas with us since they live about 4 hours west of us. We enjoyed our time together then had ham, potatoes, cream of spinach and rolls. So yummy. Soon we opened A’s presents which were a cut and peel vegetable set and a fruit cutting set which was perfect to go with her new kitchen. We spent the evening with them and they spent the night. The next morning we shared breakfast and they were on their way.
Such a nice Christmas. A was so excited about opening presents and was snapping photos accompanied by “cheeeeese” every chance she got. Absolutely adorable. My heart is so full and so grateful for how blessed we are. We are so incredibly blessed.
