Christmas Vacation.

Somehow Christmas already feels a million miles away, but I still wanted to post some pictures because we enjoyed a wonderful two weeks in Texas. I was like a sponge soaking up moments baking, laughing, shopping, walking, watching TV and sharing meals with my family. I took naps. I read. I watched The Price is Right and The Help. We decorated cookies. We chased a toddler. We opened presents. We ate. It was perfect. We are happy to be back home, but those two weeks were just what we needed. Here are a few snippets of our trip.

Merry Christmas!

From our home to yours, we're wishing you a very Merry Christmas. I truly hope you are enjoying the company of family and friends, treating yourself to tasty foods and a little extra relaxation. 

We're here.

Being home feels so good. As soon as we were here a weight was lifted from me and I felt at peace. One of the first things we did was light up a fire outside to enjoy the brisk winter night under my parents' pergola. It was a perfect night spent drinking hot chocolate, making s'mores and chatting with my grandfather, parents and siblings.
 
  
  

oh, this time of year.

This time of year is magical. This time of year is busy. This time of year is exciting, stressful, happy and tiring. I find myself wanting to get out and spend time with friends. I find myself wanting to stay in wearing pajamas to watch TV with my sweet little girl.

I want to drive listening to music and the chattering of my baby in the backseat. I want to use that precious car time to call friends back home.

I want to be here in California enjoying the cool, crisp air on evening walks. I want to be here in California exploring new places and making new friends. I want to be back in Boston with my friends. I want to meet all the new babies and see growing baby bumps. I want to sit over coffee and hear the stories of exciting new news. I want to sink into a comfy couch with an old friend and watch a Christmas movie.

You see? I am torn. I am loving where I am and missing where I'm not. I am simultaneously exhilarated and exhausted. On the one hand I feel accomplished and settled and on the other I feel like there is so much more left to do.

I supposed these things are all a part of the holidays and also moving. I think Christmas is so cherished because it forces us to slow down and spend time with those we love. The tricky thing about that, though, is that getting to that point of slowing down and enjoying friends and family takes a lot of work. So right now I will remind myself to take deep breaths, enjoy a couple greasy hair/PJ days while I scramble to get everything done, knowing that in less than a week things will be completely different and much more calm.

Looking like Christmas

The sun is shining bright and warm and the grass keeps growing green, it doesn't look much like Christmas outside (but trust me, I'm not complaining!). Inside is a different story :) I shared our outside lights earlier in the week, but today you get to see the inside.

oh! we also (finally) have a tree up. pictures of that to come.

A Christmas Memory.

It seems one of the greatest criticisms of bloggers (mostly those of the mommying persuasion) is only presenting the happiest, cleanest, most perfect of moments. So instead of just throwing up my Christmas pictures, I think I'll just keep it real :)

I've been so excited to put up lights outside our house. We've never lived somewhere where that was possible, so having our own place to decorate felt very exciting. We finally got to it today. First we had to go buy a ladder. It ended up being a bit too short. So poor Chris was balancing on our ladder while on his tippy toes trying hang the lights. Meanwhile, I am trying hand him the lights and keep an eye on Meredith. She is running in and out of the house, toddling to the neighbor's house, knocking on their front door, scream crying because one of her toys is stuck and walking dangerously close to the road.

We ended up having the wrong extension cords so Chris had to go back out. While he went out, I decided to set up our new artificial Christmas tree. As I tried to assemble it, Meredith was climbing on the couch or her rocking chair and falling out after each attempt, resulting in a crying toddler mess.

Throughout all this I just kept thinking that her reaction to the lights (she's been obsessed lately) would make it worth it. But really? She could not have cared less once we turned them all on. She said, "Lights!" once but then wanted down to be free to explore. C'est la vie!

By the end of the day, now that she's in bed and I have dinner and a beer in front of me, I'm still glad we did it. For one, it's up to us to make traditions. Christmas is such a special time and even though she may not appreciate it this year, I know she will eventually.

In closing, Dad, thanks for hanging all our lights ever year. I don't remember if you ever got frustrated with us, but I'm sure for more than one year we didn't make your job any easier. One of my happiest memories is seeing our house all lit up each year and I know it's because of your willingness to hang them that I have those happy memories. Chris, here's to many more years to come full of afternoons racing against the setting sun, begging our child to behave and squabbling with each other as we try not to kill each other :)

And now, without further ado, our house:

Not quite ready.

I'm not quite ready to come out of birthday, Christmas and hibernation mode yet. We are enjoying a lazy day inside, peeking out from our warm cozy bed at the fluffy, white snow drifts. Drinking coffee, eating pancakes, playing with our girl. Hope you are having a good Monday. We sure are. I'll leave you with a few quick shots from our Christmas weekend.

Christmas Song

After posting yesterday's song, I thought I'd post another today. Dave Matthews Band is my favorite band. I love this song. It's a Christmas song, but in a subtle way. Enjoy.



Merry Christmas Eve!

A hymn.

Did I tell you about seeing Sufjan Stevens live? I can't remember, but it was absolutely the most mind blowing concert I've ever been to. Trippy and colorful and energetic. I felt so alive that night. But his music doesn't always have that affect on me. Sometimes, it is so perfectly soothing and calm that I almost fall asleep (but in a good way). One of my favorite songs also just happens to be one of my favorite hymns. It came up on my Christmas Pandora station today, so I thought I'd share it with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Gingerbread House

Tonight the hubs and I started what will become a tradition. We made our first gingerbread house together. I got the idea from a friend of using graham crackers, melted white chocolate chips for "glue" and icing for the decorations. It worked perfectly.



We started by making a plan. Chris drew out our dream house and then we set to work.



We had so much fun coming up with ideas for decorating our house and landscaping our yard :) It really does look like the kind of house we hope to buy one day.







I love Christmas! Can't wait to do this next year with little Meredith toddling around us begging for all the candies :)

Still shopping?

This is one of my favorite commercials ever. Are you done with your Christmas shopping? I am! Most likely, I'll still find random things that Chris or Meredith absolutely "need" but the main gifts are bought and wrapped!

Can you believe Christmas is on Saturday? I cannot.

Today.

Today has been one of those perfect days. Meredith had her best night of sleep in her little life last night. She slept from 8-4 (only cried for a couple minutes), ate at 6, then slept until a little after 8. It was fabulous. I feel so rested! Chris has the day off so we spent the morning laying in bed, playing with our girl, drinking coffee and watching Ellen. It was lovely and I didn't want it to end.

But, we took Meredith to meet Santa and I got some Christmas shopping done. Tonight, we are taking Meredith for her first swim! I'm so excited!! We joined a boys and girls club that has family swim on Fridays. And by we joined, I really mean Meredith joined. She's the one that has the membership. How cute is that!? So, we have started our weekend off fabulously.

Happy Weekend to all you lovely readers :)
ps- adorable baby swimming pictures to come next week!

Meredith's First Tree

Saturday was kind of a perfect day. We had dedicated the day to getting our Christmas tree and it could not have more wonderfully fulfilled my idyllic hopes and dreams. I wanted to find a Christmas tree farm so we could cut the tree down. I wanted cider and Christmas treats. I wanted a scenic drive.





Chris so kindly appeased me as we ventured out Saturday afternoon, no plan and no chosen destination. We were just going to drive on one of our favorite roads until we happened upon a farm.

The drive was perfect. Meredith played and cooed happily in the back of the car while Chris and I sang along to Christmas songs and admired the quaint New England towns we passed through. We eventually found a Christmas tree farm. We took a short little walk past barren apple trees to get the lush fields of evergreens.



Grabbing our saw, we set out to find the perfect tree.





We eventually chose one fat and full, with a Dr. Seuss-like top.



Chris, in much manly glory, cut down our tree and lugged it up to the "road." There, we met a tractor which we, along with our tree, got to ride on back to the car.





On the way home, we stopped for cider donuts (how could we not!?) and picked up a chicken pot pie for dinner. The tree fits perfectly and fully in our dining room, making our house feel warm and festive and smell divine.