On Christmas Eve I realized that there was so much I wanted to remember about this Christmas. So much that I wanted to capture and hold on to, during this last holiday season as a family of three. As much as I am excited to become a family of four there is something bittersweet in knowing that these are the last few months just the three of us. In knowing that so much change, even though it’s one I’m excited and ready for, is on the horizon.
And on Christmas Eve I thought back over the last few holiday seasons and thought about how they had already become blurry in my mind. Was the year he got the kitchen when he was 2 or 3? Was the big train set that he loved so much really only 2 years ago, and now it’s being used as a Lego table? Is time really moving by that fast?
Yes it is. It really is.
I realized I needed to write it all down, all the little bits and moments so that I wouldn’t forget them. But I don’t keep journals anymore and I’m not one for holiday letters or things, but I have this blog and this space to help me remember this Christmas.
This Christmas…
We went to Disney World and got to see the happiest place on earth during the happiest season of the year. We watched Buzz Lightyear and Stitch sing Christmas songs and watched Santa’s sleigh come down Mains Street USA.
We had our 4th annual light walk around the neighborhood, with friends and watched as the kids shook their booties in front of every light projector in the neighborhood.
Jack woke up every morning and turned on the tree lights and moved the advent calendar forward. It was a year of building excitement and how many days till Christmas and when are we going to bake cookies. It was a year of settling into traditions.
I was more exhausted than I thought possible but I still managed to get it all done. It was a Christmas without office holiday parties and one of surviving holiday events without wine. It was a year of lots of online shopping and not stepping foot in the mall.
We watched our favorite Christmas movies, lots of Mickey’s Christmas Carol and Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas and Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas… you catch the theme. It was Mom can you turn the Christmas music on and lots of singing of Jingle Bells, even though a lot of the time it was followed by “Batman smells”.
We went to Storybook Land with friends and watched as Santa lit the park lights.
It was a Christmas morning filled with toys and wrapping paper and surprises and smiles. It was all the things Christmas should be.
It was my brother showing up with a giant sack of toys and the ensuing smiles, giggles and tissue paper tossing.
It was a Christmas Eve that we had all the windows open and around midnight someone in the neighborhood was shaking sleigh bells, and for a moment I thought just maybe…
It was magical and memorable and the smile on Jackson’s face and the gleam in his eyes, could not have been bigger or better. And my smile might have matched his when he said, “this is the best Christmas ever” because really it was.
For me this Christmas, I got my gift early finding out that this baby is a girl, was my biggest joy. I get to have a daughter.
For Jackson one of the best gifts ( and the one that gave me the most laughs) was this toy
All in all it was a Merry Christmas, and while I’m glad the rush of the season is over, I want to savor a few more days with Christmas lights and new toys and presents still in their packaging. I want to spend as much of winter break in my pj’s as possible. I want to cuddle my little boy and watch one more holiday movie and bake another batch of cookies cause this baby, she loves sweets. I want to relax and recharge and be ready for all the excitement that 2016 is bound to bring.
How was your Christmas?
I love that you wrote all this down here and can come back and remember. Such special memories. Love your family photo too. 🙂 Happy New Year!