It was so nuts.
However, Barbara so generously offered to come over for a few days to help us deal with the madness, and frankly, things just wouldn't have gotten done without her help. She made chili, did gingerbread houses with the girls, and helped them put up decorations while Brad and hustled on all the other things.
We pulled out the miniature tree that we usually put in the girls' room and just used that for this year. Could not manage more than that. Yes, Claire has a stuffed animal in her pants.
By the grace of our Lord, the very first box I hauled out of Christmas storage had our stockings and stocking hangers in it!
Past Erin did Christmas Erin a favor by ordering a gingerbread house kit from Target before we even left DC, so I knew where it was and could grab it quickly for the girls to spend some time and excited Christmas energy on. Barbara is a gem.
Brynnie was a happy camper just rediscovering her toys!
Our church added an extra Christmas Eve service this past year that was geared specifically for families/people with little kids. It was earlier in the evening and worked out perfectly for us. It was so fun to see friends we hadn't seen for months, as well as get dressed up, do a very kid-friendly liturgy, song service, and Christmas story (aided by life-sized props). It was a great way to lead into Christmas Eve and Day.
Please note our recycled Christmas outfits from the Dumbarton Christmas party.
It was, however, hard to get a good picture...so I insisted we try again when we got home.
There we go...everyone finally smiled.
This series of pictures was definitely better.
For YEARS, Amiee and I have watched Eloise at Christmastime at Christmas. We've always loved Eloise's pink-striped jammies, and a few years ago, Amiee found jammies for her, Mom, and me. I've been on the hunt for several years for pink-striped jammies for the girls. This year, I snagged some.
They're not *exactly* Eloise...but they were close enough and very cute.
They go so well with antlers.
And with snuggles.
Much like the gingerbread house, I had ordered almost all of the girls' Christmas presents to be sent to DC before we left, so that I would know right where they were and could easily get them wrapped and ready. We also decided to set everything up inside the Baby Containment Unit so that we could have *some* semblance of control over the Christmas morning festivities. Note: it worked well!
We had a really lovely and fun Christmas morning. And, it was the very first one as a family of five in our own house. The girls were especially excited about their Toy Story costumes.
I've already forgotten the details of Christmas morning, and it all moved too fast to get good pictures, but I do remember thinking that it was a really great morning spent with my family celebrating Jesus. Which is a perfect Christmas, for sure.
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