Christmas 2014

We had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope all of you who celebrate did as well. Every year is great, of course, but with both of the girls a little bit older this year, it seemed to be even more special than before.

The lead-up to Christmas was just as busy as the holiday itself. We celebrated with Michael’s older sister and her family on the Saturday prior, then also celebrated with my grandma and aunt on that Sunday.

Tuesday night, we got the kids dressed in their pajamas and packed some cookies and took a drive to see Christmas lights.

And then Wednesday was Christmas Eve, which began the whirlwind of “official” events. Nora helped me do a good bit of wrapping in the morning, Vivienne napped, and then we got ready to go to 2:00 p.m. Mass. I had to do the matching dresses again this year, although this time I went with something a little bit less formal, more comfortable, something they’re more likely to wear again this winter.

Note how Vivienne had to have a necklace, too. :)

After church, we went to Michael’s parents’ house to spend some time with them, open gifts with them, etc. It was nice and low-key. They invited my mom to join us (we all went to church together), so that was nice, too.

The girls checking out the nativity set. So cute.

SOOOO excited about her new Frozen ear muffs.

Vivienne was only semi-into opening gifts this year. She’s had fun with the new toys, but the opening? Meh. I expect the excitement level to go up a few notches by next Christmas. :)

We headed home around the girls’ bedtime so we could do the “getting ready for Santa routine.” First, Nora made some reindeer food (oatmeal and sprinkles) and we went outside to sprinkle it in our yard. Also? It was super warm on Christmas Eve. I think the temperature got up into the 50s that day! Crazy, and way different than last year, when we had a decent amount of snow on the ground.

I love this pic, just because I think it captures the excitement and magic of the anticipation of Santa. Christmas Eve is such a fun night!

We went inside and got them into their jammies and got everything ready for Santa inside. Nora wrote him a note that she came up with all by herself (“Dear Santa, We are going to miss Sprinkles [our elf] so much. I hope you brought us nice presents. Love, Nora”). I wrote it out for her and then she copied it all in her own crazy handwriting.

We put out cookies, milk, and baby carrots (nine, so each of the reindeer could have one). Then the girls had to sample the Santa cookies themselves (naturally).

It was at least 8:30 by the time we got them into bed (pretty late for them!) and I was starting to panic. So much to do! I started wrapping and preparing right away and was up until 1:00 a.m. I always tell myself I’m not going to save it all for Christmas Eve but OHMYGOD this was the worst. Seriously NEED to start in advance next year. Finally, it was time for bed.

We weren’t up crazy early. In fact, the girls slept in reasonably well. My dad arrived on Christmas Eve but was so tired from his road trip that we hadn’t seen much of him yet… and we had our own little Christmas morning with just the four of us before he even woke up!

Nora was so excited. She walked into the family room, saw her new purple bike, and immediately said, “A BIKE! Just what I always wanted!” (Even though, in reality, she wanted a Frozen character bike.) This was a theme for the rest of our Christmas… “just what I always wanted!” She was so grateful for everything, and didn’t complain or even mention the things she did NOT get (her list had a ton of stuff on it). I was so proud of her. Don’t get me wrong, she still REALLY loves the gift part of Christmas, and it’s still what it’s really all about for her. But she truly enjoyed and was thankful for everything she received, which makes it all the more enjoyable as her gift givers.

I felt like we did really well with picking and choosing from her list, and coming up with a few things on our own as well. She has loved and played with everything a lot. Christmas WIN!

After we had finished opening everything and had a little bit of time to play, we packed up and headed to my mom’s for Christmas breakfast and more presents… in our pajamas (our tradition). My dad had since woken up and came with us (a new tradition for him to be here for Christmas morning… also so nice for him to be included).

We had our big breakfast, then settled in for more presents with everyone. We let the kids play afterward for a good while and then we packed everything up and headed home. Vivienne went down for a nap and we decided to take advantage of the relatively mild weather to take Nora out on her new bike!

She initially panicked at how “wobbly” it was but after adjusting/lowering the training wheels all of the way down to the ground and making it sturdy, she was LOVING it. It’s her first real bike and we were so proud of how well she did with it! We ended up taking her out on it the following couple of days, too. So much outdoor time in the days surrounding Christmas… so weird. Not necessarily good, not necessarily bad… just different. I can’t say I hated it, although I do have a big appreciation for a white Christmas, too.

We hosted Christmas dinner (spaghetti and meatballs and sausage), as usual, with both sets of parents and any siblings who wanted to/were able to join. This year it was the parents as well as Tyler, Marie, and Cristina. We just mostly relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company.

Nora entertained all of us with her new magic tricks (bought this for her on a whim, since she’s been pretending to cast “spells” lately… and this was such a huge gift win!).

I’m just so thankful for everything. My family, our health, our home, and our ability to give to each other. It’s not all about the presents, of course, but they sure were a source of happiness for many. That’s fun.

I hope all of you had wonderful holidays, no matter what you celebrate. It’s amazing that we’re getting ready to say goodbye to another year tonight. Bring on 2015!