(a little advent and) Christmas

Ah, we start with the cranky Mlada from Gaudete Sunday. Were they all matching? Yep. Was Mlada happy about it? Apparently not. #shestartedthetwosearly

With Daniel off to see the new Star Wars with a friend, we trekked off to Boulder to visit a friend and have a coffee date.

Then there was decorating the tree (we rotate a bit on when this gets done, as my family always waited until Christmas Eve, and Daniel's did it earlier in the month).

Finally, finally, just a couple days before Christmas, we got some snow! It felt perfect to roll into Christmas Day with snow on the ground.

And, as my girls all know, with snow comes hot chocolate.

There was lots and lots of reading. Anni loved being out of school and having as much time as she wanted to read (though chores still existed much to her chagrin).

We also decided to dive into cookie baking (gingerbread). On the whole, we had a blast, but as anything with toddlers, we ran into some rough waters when one sister wanted to share the chair with the other.

We decided to try Polar Express while the cookies baked, and, honestly, the girls spent more time concerned or stressed than enjoying it, so I don't think it was quite a check in the win column.

Then came Christmas! I didn't get a photo of all three girls together, because, with the double Mass days, we decided to do Christmas Eve Mass, and Mlada woke up from her nap just in time to have clothes thrown on her (as she protested mightily) and hop in the car.

We had a relatively traditional (for my Czech/German family) dinner, at least in that it was vegetarian. We had creamy pasta, shrimp, a yummy salad, and bread.

Then it was time for the traditional Christmas jammie present (and they so sweetly posed for a photo! They were loving the snuggles.)

Finally, our Christmas Eve closed out with reading The Night Before Christmas. My dad always read us this poem, and Daniel continues the tradition when we aren't in Wichita for Christmas.

Christmas morning was such fun! We try to keep our gifts to a three gift maximum, but we really enjoyed trying to get something they would each love this year. Colette got a dollhouse, which she has spent every day since emptying, rearranging, and creating all kinds of wonderful stories.

Anni got an Our Generation Doll (Target's version of an American Girl doll), which was the one thing she reallllly wanted, and despite a tragic loss of one of Franny's shoes at Nonna and Papa's, she is quite enamored with her sweet doll.

We gave Mlada a doll to go with a big gift we knew she was getting from my mom (a darling doll pram!) and the sweetest doll quilt from my sister, Katie.

Then we were off to my lovely in-laws' for food, gifts, and lots of cozy time together.

It snowed softly all day the day after Christmas, which just made things seem all the cozier.

Then we faced down the hard part of our break: Daniel leaving. He headed off for SLS18, and we missed him awfully as we rolled into the year, but made it!

Coming this Christmas Eve(ish)...

My wonderful little excuse for spending most of the spring and summer on the couch and not staying caught up on yard work, editing, blogging, cooking, or really... anything: little lady number three! We reach 20 weeks tomorrow, so halfway there(ish)! I keep hoping for that burst of energy I got in the second trimester with Colette. While I'm not spending nearly as much time, ahem, losing my breakfast/lunch/dinner, I'm starting to think that my second trimester with Colette was a myth created out of relief that that pregnancy was not nearly as hard as my first. Either way, this Christmas season is going to be a whole lot of crazy and a whole lot of fun.

Each baby has gotten their own in-utero nickname, here we have our sweet Poppyseed at just under 20 weeks!

Merry Christmas!

While the photos are lacking while I'm away from home, I'm still here! We have snuggled into my parents' home and are settled into the steady hum of craziness that is holidays around here. We spent the first few days in preparations. There's something wonderful about hanging your own terribly ugly childhood ornament creations on your parents' tree and getting to witness the backyard extravaganza of lights that my Dad puts up for us every year. There is a wild amount of delicious food, orchestrated by Aunt Tinie and Uncle Jake, including at least 9 kinds of cookies, various breads, and other snacks. If the record player isn't on, someone's ipad is playing their choice of music, or there's an impromptu concert put on by whomever is feeling the music. On Christmas day, there was rarely a moment when Colette wasn't ambling about with a treat or snack clutched in her little hands. I'm so grateful for this time together with my family, and while it's hard to be away from the work I have to do at home, this is good, really good. It is important to me that despite the fact that we live over 500 miles away from my parents, that my girls are as comfortable with them and with my siblings as if we lived in the same town (thank you, skype!) Happiness is watching my littles snuggled up on laps, reading stories, and begging treats from every and any adult hanging about. It's a good life. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  You ready for our Christmas in photos?  Oh, good, because that's what you're about to get.  

We spent Christmas Eve decorating our Christmas tree (after finishing our Jesse tree and then taking them all down a few hours later since we don't have a dedicated tree for each). 

Then, we skyped my dad for the traditional Night Before Christmas reading and Daniel's own reading of the same story continued the tradition.

This was the first year our little Lettie got to take part in one of my favorite Christmas traditions, so it was extra sweet.

Christmas morning, the girls waited quite impatiently for Daddy to get out of the bathroom (I know, tmi, poor guy) so we could all open our stockings.

Then, we headed to Christmas Mass and a wonderful few days with my lovely in-laws.

 

Merry Christmas!