Not ready to emerge from the holiday cocoon yet, we’re eating and drinking and lounging and playing and dodging Dash’s new drumstick.
It was a peaceful, merry Christmas.
Fave moments:
* The three seconds I’m awake and conscious in between hitting the pillow after all the work is done Christmas Eve night and falling asleep. Those three seconds, those few deep breaths, that last smile, the fleeting excitement I feel before exhaustion takes over–it’s pretty amazing. Pure contentment.
* Matching Christmas Jammies on the kids. The thrill never wears off.
* The recognition that comes after the first gift is opened–knowing we wouldn’t have had to go any further than that one gift. They’re overjoyed. The rest is just extra.
* The living room mess we refuse to clean up for hours after gifts are opened. We just shuffle our way around the floor, kicking wrapping paper to the side and looking for whatever uncovered patch of carpet we can find to sit.
* Watching the grandparents and knowing they’re so grateful to have babies around again to enjoy the holidays.
* The five minutes right before Christmas dinner. The conversations. The steam rising from dishes as they’re pulled from the oven. More drink pours. Kids running through the kitchen, anxious to eat. The music in the background. It all comes together, this perfect choir. It’s my favorite.
Our Christmas in photos:
We’ve watched Dash nearly hyperventilate with excitement at the possibility of pulling these snowflakes down for over a month now. In just a few more days…we’re going to let him at ’em.
Frosty the Snowman before bed
Reindeer Runway setup. Austyn had to work Christmas day and Brandyn left shortly after breakfast to travel with his mom, but the girls loved some tricks Brandyn pulled Christmas Eve to make Santa very real.
Reindeer Hoof Print Investigation. Touch, feel, smell. “It must be magic snow,” she said.
Dog gifts.
Christmas morning according to Lainey and her new Instax. We had to make some rules about too many stuffed animal photos and earning her own film. But I do have a nice photo inventory now of the plush we own.
FYI: Dash + Mallet = Not Cool.
Baby push wagon from Poppa & Gary
The dirtiest.
Back to the cocoon. Wishing all a healthy and happy holiday weekend!
My Mom Always left the paper mess everywhere, too. I commented on that as I was picking up every last piece minutes after the packages were unwrapped yesterday- with a smile of course. I loved that she left the paper and wanted to savor the day and the unwrapping of the gifts 🙂
Merry Christmas to you all, that photo of you and Dash is especially special.
xo
Dash looks like such a big boy in that first pic!! Time flies!!
Looks like a very Merry Christmas, indeed!
Nella’s face in the picture of her swinging that fish (?) toy…. LOVE. I LOL’ed. Lainey looks so genuinely excited for that camera and Dash is just the cutest thing ever. Thanks for sharing your christmas with us 🙂
Your holidays always look so special!
Where are their jammies from? So hard to find unisex ones.
The pic of Nella and Lainey watching Frosty is the best — Lainey so serious and Nella cracking up. Love it! Merry Christmas! xo
beautiful christmas – looks like it was very merry and bright! Thanks for sharing
Red fat yarn/string….I must know where you find it! I’ve been looking forever for ribbons for my girls’ hair!
Those last few seconds before falling asleep on christmas eve really are the best.
Sweet photos.
-Angie
Looks like the perfect Christmas! I’m gonna look up that camera for Mia’s birthday in a few weeks. I had to laugh about the stuffed animal pics. My oldest got his first camera when he was 8 and luckily it was digital but he took about 200 pics of all of his stuffed animals then one night he was playing around with the settings and re-formatted his SD card and deleted all of those precious pics and came upstairs crying. How would he ever get that same expression from his stuffed frog? Good memories! Merry Christmas to you and yours. xoxo
i adore the frosty the snowman … perfection. first born watching with pure seriousness. second born watching with pure joy.
looks totally like my house.
Merry Christmas! Kelle, what camera did you get Lainey? I bought my son a camera for his birthday earlier this month, it cost a ‘pretty penny’ but just doesn’t cut it quality wise & he is a budding photographer. I would love to find something that works well for the little ones (he is 5).
I have a small request…video of Dash pulling them down! 😉 Looks like you had a beautiful Christmas. We did too. Now it’s off to Florida. Nothing like a 16 hour car ride to really relax and rejuvenate you.
That yarn!! Love! And we have that retro toy!! My dad gave it to my son a couple of years ago. I love the sound of the propellers as it spins. Wishing you the happiest New Year!
Truly delightful! Thank you for sharing your sweet family. I have to say, your dog and it’s fly away ear just do me in every time!!!
xo
Lynn
We had scooters under our tree too. A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you and yours! (And happy birthday too. My 30th is on the 29th. I think I might be ready. Or maybe not. 😉 )
Merry Christmas! Loved seeing your pics. We had a magical day at our house too. 🙂
You/Me = Same wavelength, and to that, I raise a G&T and a handful of jigsaw puzzle pieces in lieu of confetti.
I’m hopeful I won’t find my way out of this cocoon for weeks.
We’re a military family and just moved to the UK. So for our first Thanksgiving, Christmas and three birthdays of the five people in our family (our holidays are really jam-packed)…totally alone. No family, no friends because we don’t have any yet. And it was so stinkin’ hard, because I’m used to holidays that look just like yours.
Kelle, what a beautiful Christmas. Your children are so blessed – as you by they.
Such a wonderful Christmas atmosphere… thank you Kelle for the beautiful pictures 🙂 And happy holiday weekend to you too 🙂
Beautiful Christmas photos! I’m looking forward to seeing some more of Lainey’s photography work 🙂
http://jenntenh.blogspot.com
I love that you got Lainey an instax. I think she did a great job taking photos. She is just like you.
Kelle, I just love how you and Brett make Christmas so magical for the children ~ from the Reindeer food to the Reindeer runway….and everything else. Love their jammies!!!
Love every photo.
Merry Christmas!!
xo
How beautiful! Best photo? Nella and the fishing pole!!! Thanks for sharing your precious holiday memories Kelle.
How beautiful! Best photo? Nella and the fishing pole!!! Thanks for sharing your precious holiday memories Kelle.
The photo of Lainey & her camera brought tears – I love her pure excitement.
Kelle, where are your dishes from? I LOVE this simple look.
That first picture of Dash….in love!!! Beautiful pictures of a super sweet family!
So nice christmaspics of your cutie family!
Beautiful!
I love love your Christmas in pictures. Lainey is going to take after you with her photography. Beautiful. Merry Christmas.
Beautiful photos. Love the retro look of Lainey’s pictures! May your New Year be just as joyous–and lovely!
I love christmas vacation because it brings the cocoon I’ve waited all year for. Me and my brood playing games, laughing, drinks because no one is going anywhere and living in our pajamas…it’s the most wonderful time of the year.
The reindeer runway is awesome! I might try that with my kids next year. Such a cute idea! Happy holidays.:)
Kelle….
“Not ready to emerge from the holiday cocoon yet”. Neither am I!! I always experience Christmas song withdrawals around this time of year!! 😉
I love, love, love your writing!! Mmmm…. ;-D
“We’ve watched Dash nearly hyperventilate with excitement at the possibility of pulling these snowflakes down for over a month now. In just a few more days…we’re going to let him at ’em.”. Sweet!! 😉
That picture of Lainey holding her new camera!! You captured such pure innocent joy!! ;-D
–Raelyn
Haha dash and his drumstick made me laugh! Good little drummer boy! 🙂
Merry Christmas Hamptons! 🙂 And I love that photo collage by Lainey. I hope that becomes a tradition.
Is Dash going to have curly hair? Oh my gosh I want to eat him up….while he eats up the snowflakes….my favorite pic in this bunch :).
Many blessings to you, sweet mama!
I loved your pictures and the comments about each picture. I always love your blog and know what you mean about the camera/pictures. I remember when I first got a camera as a kid and took dozens of pictures of cacti during our vacation. Looking back, they all looked the same and it cost a fortune to process all of the film! I think the table and presents were decorated awesomely! I hope you guys have a Happy New Year!
This comment has been removed by the author.
I love Lainey’s pictures! I hope she continues to take pictures. It’s a great form of expression.
Merry Christmas Kelle & family! Wherever did you find those precious candy cane jammies?! Magical photos as always!!
Looks beautiful, Kelle! And I love Lainey’s pictures! As usual, your photos and posts are inspiring. Happy New Year!
@Kelly, I completely agree with you, well said. Also, they have the plane toy on amazon. I also thought it looked adorable so I looked it up!
To Kelly – yes, I agree. Wonderful comment!
Well said Kelly. Thank you for making so much sense.
Kelle thank you for sharing, even if it results in unrealistic criticism. Your love, patience and passion for your children is beautiful. Reading your real mommy moments and realistic experiences is refreshing. Much appreciated in this household 🙂
Okay, you’re little one’s having matching pj’s is the cutest thing EVER! You know what I spent yesterday doing? Lounging around and reading your book! Thank you so much for putting all your emotions, feelings and memories on paper. I absolutely love reading about your journey.
I really appreciate that the toys your children received were actually TOYS and not electronics or even electronic toys (flashing lights, beeping sounds, etc…). A baby doesn’t need loud electronic noises to stay entertained, let him make his own noise! Haha. Love it.
You have such a beautiful family and take the most perfect pictures of them! It looks like you had a magical Christmas, thank you for sharing!!!