Holidays Don't Always go as Planned...

We don't really do the same thing every year for the Christmas holidays.

By Christmas of 2008, we had been together for 4 years, were engaged, had bought our house 3 months earlier, brought home a puppy at the beginning of December and it was the first Christmas we were spending together. Before that Ben had always gone home to Texas for the holiday. That year, his family came here. It was a great Christmas with a house full of family, snow and our families got to spend Christmas together.

Christmas of 2009 we had just gotten married a few months earlier and spent the holiday in Washington with my family. It was a little strange to wake up Christmas morning with just the two of us, but nice at the same time. We chatted with his family on the computer for a while and opened gifts with them and then headed over to my parents to open gifts and have dinner with them.

Christmas 2010 was spent in San Antonio with Ben's family. It was my first time away from my family for Christmas but our Texas family made it very special indeed. After getting back to Washington we celebrated with my family on New Year's day.

This year, after welcoming our baby just a mere 24 days earlier, our plan was to have a low-key, quiet day/dinner at my parents' house on Christmas day. However, a yucky cold for my mom had other plans so we didn't make it over there. We had french toast for breakfast, exchanged our gifts, spoke with Ben's family on the computer and opened gifts from them and relaxed all day long. It was a little strange not seeing any other family but it was kind of nice and special having out first Christmas with our new family of three.

Not the best photo but glad we got one with the 3 of us. Thank goodness
for a Gorillapod and camera timer!

Pretty sure she understood that this gift was for her!

We did go to my parents' yesterday because it seemed as though the cold had passed so we exchanged gifts and had a yummy dinner of a pork crown roast from the pigs that my parents raised last year. We relaxed and visited and of course Eleanor's grandparents gushed over her for a few hours. We called it an early night after a big dinner and on the account that we get tired pretty early these days.

Dad opening a gift with her at my parents'.

Hub gettin' artsy...until my brother noticed the creeper outside!

Even though it wasn't necessarily the "planned" Christmas we had a wonderful weekend and are just cherishing the quiet time we have together before Hub gets geared up for getting back to work.

How did you spend your holidays? Do you have the same plans every year or do they change? 

The Christmas I Only Wanted One Gift...

Gee, what gift could that have been? Yes, you guessed it--my daughter. Well I got it so now people, my mom in particular, are really wondering what I want for Christmas. In 4 days. I can't believe Christmas is 4 days away and a week after that we will enter 2012. So weird.

Anyhow, I think after becoming a mother 20 days ago, I realize that my wants right now are for my girl. To be happy, healthy, warm, loved and all the other goodness we can provide for her. It's not to say I think I am never going to want for anything ever again in my life but for now, I am content with our wonderful Christmas gift.

Luckily, I finished all of our Christmas shopping before Eleanor made her debut so the past few weeks have not been stressful in that department. We didn't go overboard with gifts this year but I think each person will genuinely enjoy what we are giving. 

It's funny how we can all go on and on about how the season is not about the gifts and the true gifts aren't presents but we are always caught giving gifts to each other every year. I do think my family is pretty good about not making gifts the main event though. We love to be together, relax, cook and enjoy a good meal as well. This year my mom decided to do things a little differently since she hosts Christmas every year with her extended side of the family. This year on Christmas day it will just be our immediate family. My mom and dad, brother and his girlfriend, Ben, Eleanor and I. It will be nice, quiet and relaxing. I am happy for the baby and I to not have the over stimulation and this way my family can all maximize their time with the baby as well instead of her being passed around constantly.

My true gift this year comes wrapped in a swaddle blanket--What will be your favorite gift of the season? Have you asked for anything special? Do you have one big Christmas gathering, a couple, or just a small, intimate one?

Christmas Season

Obviously I have been doing a whole lot of this lately:

so there has been little time to "get into the Christmas spirit." Of course I decorated our house before the baby came so we are surrounded by Christmas decorations at home but I haven't been out in the hustle bustle of shopping, looking at lights or attending any holiday gatherings. We went over to my parents' on Friday night for dinner because Ben's parents were in town and when we pulled out onto our street I was reminded that it was Christmas time because I saw lights on our neighbors' houses. I hadn't been out at dark since November 30th.

I thought I would peruse and see what I may have been engaging in had I had more time on my hands over the past 18 days of December.

Every year I mean to make a Christmas card display before they start pouring in:

Source: centsationalgirl.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I may have tried out some new cookie recipes or cookie decorating ideas:

Source: glorioustreats.blogspot.com via Joy on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Paige on Pinterest

I could have played around with some new decoration ideas for our annual sweater party that we did not have this year:

Source: frostmeblog.blogspot.com via Bailey on Pinterest

Source: annesage.com via Lynn on Pinterest

We would have toured the lights:

Source: picasaweb.google.com via Gwyn on Pinterest

I do love the Christmas season but I have been perfectly happy at home doing what I have been doing. There will be many more Christmas seasons to come but only one season of my first child's first few weeks of life. 

What festivities have you participated in this season? Any cookie recipes that jumped out as favorites this year? What was your favorite party you attended? What is your family's favorite holiday tradition?

Monday Mumblings

I love a rainy fall day that I get to stay home all day in my pajamas. I can do chores at my own pace, relax, watch a TV show here or there. It's really nice.
Someone else posted about this this morning but I have to chime in. Desperate Housewives is just losing me. I want to watch because it is the final season but more often than not I wander off to do something else and realize I have missed 15 minutes of the show! Would Tom and Lynette just figure things out already?!
I am definitely feeling more at peace with being ready for the baby than I was last week. All of a sudden I get overwhelmed by things but then realize that we are ready. We just need the baby.
I am coming to terms with the fact that this will be my last week of work.
I am getting a little over anxious to decorate for Christmas. I know, I know. It's still early. I think I can hold out for two more weeks!
For some reason I have been loving frozen, chopped spinach. I usually eat one package at a time but I could probably eat two.
I am so lucky to have such loving, generous and wonderful friends and family.
I need to get some new house plants to put in a planter Ben made.
I don't feel like I really have any TV shows that I am so in love with these days, but for some reason I have having a hard time with pulling the plug on the cable.
I think that our dog senses the addition to the family and she is needing some extra attention lately.
It was really cold and clear the past couple of days and I loved it.
We put our fleece sheets on our bed a few weeks ago and I LOVE them.
I watched quite a bit of football this weekend {for me}, like actually really watched it, and I enjoyed it!
There is a lot of tag removing and washing that comes with having a baby.

What are your randoms for this Monday?

And the Festivities Continue...

I said to Hub the other day that the day after Christmas is like the day after coming back from the honeymoon...kind of blue. There is so much build up, so much hype and preparation and then just like that, it's over! This year though, we don't really have to feel that way because we are having another Christmas with my family on New Year's Day! Pretty lucky, I would say.

Christmas in Texas was wonderful. We ate, we relaxed, we decorated the tree, we played games, listened to music, made gingerbread houses, gave and received, but best of all, just spent a lot of quality time together. I was slightly chilly on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so I didn't feel too strange with 70+ degree weather like I had thought. Here are some highlights from the trip:

Tree adorned with many old, family ornaments {I even escaped with a few!}

Brother-in-law and I in our poker attire

Parents-in-law ready for a party

Hub 'n I ready for the party

so proud of our creations

Eager to open some gifts!

In our jammies by the tree

Enjoying the Shutterfly book we had made

The Alamo

Blurry, but I still like it!

A fun time was had and it's always hard to say goodbye. Looking forward to this week to continue the festivities with my family! Hope you all have been enjoying your season as much as I have!

Home for the Holidays

Finally, after a couple of years away, my husband gets to go home for the holidays--and obviously, I'm going with!

Image

I mean, I don't think this picture really represents what "home for the holidays" will look like for us, but I thought it was a nice image that stirs up memories of cozy holidays at home.

Our holiday may look a little more like this:

Image

That's right, San Antonio, TX. It is estimated to be 70ish+ and sunny on Christmas day. That's a little foreign to this lil' ol' Washington born and bred, rainy weather girl. This will be my first Christmas in 25 years that I am not with my parents and brother. Last year, Hub and I got a little taste of what it was like to wake up on Christmas morning with just the two of us. It was definitely different than Christmas pasts because our first Christmas spent together was the one before when his parents came and stayed with us. It was a busy, hustle-bustle with everyone around, but it was also picturesque because we actually had a white Christmas which happens about every other year here. 

I am so excited to experience this side of the family's traditions, see decorations, eat good food and even bring along some of my own ideas of Christmas traditions. It will be a short trip with lots planned to ensure we get the most out of the trip but the point is that we will be there for Christmas. We get to see some friends, go see some holiday decorations and get together with some extended family. 

I will obviously miss my family but I know I will be in good hands. My mother-in-law is also being very gracious in being very aware of how difficult this may be for my mom as my mother-in-law lives away from her son all the time. We may have a Skype session on Christmas day which may be nice. We head out tomorrow so I hope write a couple of posts while we are gone, but I may just have to play catch up when we return.

What are your favorite holiday traditions? Will you travel for the holiday? Was it hard when you spent your first Christmas away from "your" family?

Twinkling...

{please excuse the blurriness of our tree. I really just wanted to get across
this reflection in the window.}

I have just realized {as in, realized last night} that I love the reflection of Christmas lights in my window almost as much as I love looking them straight on. 

It is so cozy.

And inviting.

And festive.

And glowing.

Glowing? Anyway, I just love it!