christmas 2014

was christmas really over two weeks ago? 

since we are already 11 whole days into what always seems to be the most depressing month of the year...let's take a little look back at more festive times. 

i'm sorry january, but you just cannot compete with december. you are bitterly cold and without a holiday in sight. every year i wish you and your cold away quickly in hopes of warmer temps and longer days. 

back to the merriment. 

christmas eve was a bit different for us this year...we kind of shook things up a bit. i will say it was really really hard for me to shy away from the traditions we have done year after year for as long as i can remember. really hard. however, with four young kids, this year seemed like the year i needed to put my family first. 

things had gotten so hectic with christmas once we added kids to the mix. the holidays were starting to make me feel so anxious. i would find myself tensing up in the days leading to christmas eve thinking about all the stops we had to make between 4pm mass and throwing the kids in bed at a somewhat decent hour. if you know me, then you know i am not really an anxious person...so for my favorite time of the year to make me feel like that i knew things needed to change. 

this year dan & i decided to host my parents and my siblings at our house. 

but first we made a quick pit stop by dottie's to say merry christmas to everyone!

then it was back to our house to meet the others and rip into this mountain of presents. took the kiddos all of about 8 minutes.

it was super casual and super fun! we sent everyone on their way at 8:45pm so the girls could do cookies for santa, reindeer food and say goodbye to sara the elf. 

then it was off to bed.

only to wake up to this the next morning!

i had to get a picture in front of my favorite tree! we did two trees this year. this is the one we cut down at the beginning of the month. it housed all of the needlepoint ornaments my mil has made for us over the years. she started the tradition of giving us all personalized ornaments years ago and to this day they are still my favorite gifts. such an amazing keepsake. i can't wait to see these hanging on the girls trees when they have their own families!

after successfully destroying our house we got all dolled up in our adorable new dresses...made by my talented mother...and headed to aunt carolyn's new condo! i don't even think i can do this condo justice by describing it with words. absolutely beautiful and way too sophisticated for this crew!

it was such a fabulous holiday this year. the 3 big girls were at the perfect ages to heighten the christmas spirit for dan and i! 

i am sad it's already come to an end...but i am really looking forward to the year ahead!