A Holly Jolly Christmas

Happy New Year, everyone! It’s hard to believe we’re already three days into 2017. I also can’t believe that winter break is over. Annabel is back at school today, and Mike is back at work. James still has one more week off but for the most part, it’s back to life as usual.

We had a really great Christmas this year. It kicked off on Christmas Eve at my sister-in-law’s house, where in addition to opening presents and running around like crazy people, the kids had fun with Christmas Karaoke.

When we returned home, the kids quickly changed into their jammies, wrote a letter to Santa, and went to bed.

The next morning, James woke up before Annabel. This was the year that Christmas really “clicked” for him, and it was so much fun to watch.

His reaction to the presents under the tree.

My parents and brother arrived not long after the kids woke up, so the kids didn’t have to wait long before digging into their gifts. I love that my kids are just as excited about socks as they are about toys.

Even Schuyler got in on opening presents, with a little help from Kyle’s dog, Yoshi.

We also made one of Annabel’s lifelong dreams come true:

They are terrifying in that thing and I have regrets.

After breakfast, Leah, Ted, and Liam came over, and we all hung out at our house for a bit before we went to my parents’ place in the afternoon for more presents and dinner.

Christmas with a baby is so much fun, even if the baby has no idea what’s going on.

What is the meaning of this.

He eventually got the hang of it, though.

Leah also continued her tradition of giving awesome masks:

In all, it was a really lovely day.

A+ photobomb