Christmas Time this year

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Christmas Time This Year

This Christmas things were a bit different than normal. For one, we were ALL sick with a wicked flu/cold/bronchitis/whatevertheheckitwas, except for Lexi who only got some runny noise. Needless to say it was hard staying in the holiday spirit when phrases like “I really think I am dying” were being uttered multiple times by both of us. Luckily, my mom was there to help us and we’ve survived our first sickness with a baby. Caring for a baby when you feel like death really sucks. I’ve heard it before but it really rings true when you feel it yourself.

Despite the not-so-holiday sickness, we thoroughly enjoyed Christmas. Not as much as we could have, had we been functional, but it was still baby’s first Christmas  which meant cute dresses, fragrant trees, lots of light and presents.  She was so adorable point at the tree and the lights outside and showing the sign for “light”.

I took the sickness as an opportunity to step back from the incessant photography and try being fully in the moment for a change. {Ok, if I am honest, I just simply didn’t have the energy to take photos beyond the family ones we took} It turns out I prefer BEING in the moment while photographing that moment better. But it was a nice try. I basically concentrated on watching and participating, and left the picture taking for the few posed shots we took for the family album.

 Christmas Eve

Christmas Time This Year

Christmas Time This Year

 

Instead of cooking dinner, we ordered a ton of take out and served the table. In the picture below Lexi is showing off her dress for us 🙂

Christmas Time This Year

Christmas Time This Year

 

We took a family picture or two before sitting down to eat. Christmas time has always been somewhat lonely for us, because all our families are spread all over the world, so I was happy to have my mom here for a change.

Christmas Time This Year

 

These two photos are almost identical, I realize but I couldn’t NOT share the photo of the Lexi looking so cute above and the photo of Lexi “snort-laughing” below.

Christmas Time This Year

 

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Again, I took some time off with the whole “picture taking business” and after a few pajamas shots that are a must on Christmas morning, enjoyed family time. I don’t even have iphone pictures which is rare 🙂 I absolutely adore Lexi in all these photos. She looks positively perfect despite the early morning nature of the photos. It has always amazed me how children are so full of energy first thing in the morning while we are moaning and rubbing our eyes.

Christmas Time This Year

Christmas Time This Year

Christmas Time This Year

Christmas Time This Year

Christmas Time This Year

Christmas Time This Year

 

All in all we had wonderful holidays but are happy they are over and we can get back to our boring busy lives. I am looking forward to making Christmas traditions and collecting Christmas decorations over the years now that we have a baby who will love it all.

To those of you who spend Christmas with your closest family, what are the ways you make things more festive and what traditions have you instituted? I’d love to hear ideas for our next Christmas when we don’t feel like death hopefully.

13 COMMENTS

  1. Andrew is sooooo …. adorable and funny in that pj :))))))
    Love these few Christmas pictures you took!
    As for decorations and traditions – my thoughts exactly!
    Here in Italy they keep the decorations for some lousy 10-12 days only 🙁
    I’d love a live tree at home, but no one around here sells them 🙁
    So I’ll probably go for some PVC-free one and collect decorations gradually 🙂

  2. So sorry to hear you were sick! The exact same thing happened to us. My husband and I got sick but the baby only got a runny nose. He totally didn’t understand why we weren’t playing with him so much 🙁 Thankfully we’re all on the mend now. Here’s to a better 2013!

  3. Awww, great photos. I too, took a ton of Christmas morning PJ shots and then was too busy being involved in Christmas to actually take any more. But then those jammie shots are always the best ones of the day anyway. Sorry to hear you were poorly, that sucks. Especially for your first Christmas as a threesome.

    I am a bit obsessed with Christmas traditions, despite the fact my kiddos are too little to really appreciate it. We have stuffed penguin who comes to our house on December 1st and ‘watches’ to check that we are all being good. On Christmas Eve he disappears at some point in the day to go report back to Santa, and he leaves behind a little box of treats to say thank-you for having him. The treats are our new Christmas PJs, festive books and a DVD and some popcorn. We get in the PJs early and watch the film together on Christmas Eve night. And then we read The Night Before Christmas in bed.
    Christmas day we having stocking presents in Mummy and Daddy’s bed and then a sack of presents each under the tree.
    Another tradition we have is that we buy a new special decoration each year for each child. My parents did this for us growing up, and my brother and I used to enjoy finding the matching pairs of decorations and working out which belonged to who.

    x

  4. She is getting so great at looking at the camera now! Even in those shots when you are holding her up and looking at her she is looking at the camera! As always, you are all so adorable together. Hope you are feeling better now!

  5. Love the family shots. One of our traditions started in my family. My parents gave each child an ornament every year for Christmas until their 18th birthday so that when we left home we would have ornaments that had meaning to put on our own trees. The boxes to the ornamens are dated with the Christmas that they were received on. We are starting this tradition with our son, he has received 2 ornaments so far. I love being able to put ornaments from my childhood onto the tree, as I have done every year since I was little.

  6. I LOVE Christmas!! The cheesy music, the beautiful (and tasteful) decorations, she whole spirit of giving to others.
    The 2 almost identical photos were nice, and I think the second one everyone looks much happier! Im sure that’s due to Lexi being silly with a snorty laugh/smile.
    We also have a similar tradition to a few others on here. Husband’s family had an elf visit and only his dad could see and talk to him. His name was Ichabod. He would show up maybe once a week and leave a riddle for the kids to solve, and at the end there would be a little treat or toy for each of them, as long as they were good. We plan to carry on that tradition! Hubby loved it as a kid.

  7. His family also did the ornament thing ^ Ashley mentioned. Each year, the kids would get an ornament that was themed around what they were interested/involved in or a milestone that year, and it continues still into adulthood. This year was easy- mommy daddy and baby penguin for our new little family. Each one has the year on it. Really fun reminiscing while decorating the tree each year.

  8. I’m really big on traditions. One major one is new pjs which I see you guys are doing. Adorable!

    We go see the tree in Rockefeller Center every year, and we also have the same breakfast every year and my daughter loves it now (baked french toast).

    Lastly, we have an advent calendar and every day leading up to Christmas she gets a very small gift. I made my own because I didn’t want one of the calendars with candy in them. I got her little trinkets like socks and play jewelry etc. She’s 2.5 and loved finding the right number on the calendar and then getting that day’s present.

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