Santa looked a lot like Daddy.

Every Christmas, Chris and I make sure to do a little Christmas in our home. We have done this since our first year together. We enjoy spending a "Christmas" as a little family, and I really cherish this now that we have Carly and life is more hectic then it has ever been before. Soon we'll be a big enough posse to stay home for Christmas day, but for now we are still blessed to be with one family or the other and have a mini Christmas at home. Granted, this means a lot of Christmasing, and I think it kind of confused Carly a bit this year, but she's 2 so she rebounded quickly.

My parents sent their presents to our house, and the night we returned from Indiana we prepped for Michigan Christmas morning. I've heard many stories from my parents of Christmas Eves spent assembling all sorts of gifts, and this year was our first go around. Chris and I put together the toy kitchen my parents got Carly. Have you ever heard the song "Santa looked a lot like Daddy"? I had it in my head for about 10 straight days, something Chris really loved, and that night as he assembled the kitchen, it seemed very appropriate.

[Chris manned the screwdriver; I applied the decorative stickers.]

[After assembly and set-up. I heart Christmas Eve.]

'Christmas' morning Carly came down and was very excited about her new "blanket with a city on it!" and even more excited about "my new kitchen!". In fact, she started playing with the kitchen immediately and we couldn't drag her away. We had to let her cook several courses before we could get her to open any presents.

[bringing mommy a sandwich.] 

I got Chris some new sweaters and pants and stuff. He need to be spruced up a bit now that he is teaching big time college classes. And he isn't returning a single thing. Go me. He got me . . . nothing. Can you believe that? The man know me well, and he knows 1) I love shopping, 2) I don't want any more clothes until I'm done housing two humans, 3) I heart Ikea, and 4) I'm nesting. So he got me a shopping trip to Ikea. We're going on Monday. I'm more than excited.

[Carly showing daddy the correct technique for optimal present-opening.]

Carly got outrageously spoiled this Christmas. With two sets of Grandparents and parents who got killer deals at our last Ikea trip, Carly ended up with 4 big Santa presents: kitchen, table and chairs set, road rug, and an art easel. Whoops. We decided to keep the table and chairs and easel in the basement until a later date, and after her fascination with the kitchen, we rolled up the rug and took it downstairs too. We'll spread the wealth out a little, and I'm sure a new prize won't hurt when the dynamic duo invade. But next Christmas we'll be more specific about limits, considering we'll have 3 kids and we don't live in a 6 bedroom house.

But she did get some fun little things too. I am a particular fan of the Melissa & Doug wooden "paper dolls". At this point, I definitely like them more than she does, but she'll grow into them, I'm sure.

[Mommy dressing the dolls; Carly wondering when she can get back to cooking.]

The twins were not completely neglected. Aunt Camie knitted two sweet little hats for them, and they are just the cutest things ever. I can't wait until those little heads are in the hats and not in my hips.

And my favorite thing I got Chris? A collage of mementos, ticket stubs, and little love notes from our five fabulous years together. I keep things like that in a little box, and saw this idea on Pinterest (of course, I can't take credit), and think it turned out really cute. I have little things like that from Carly's 2 years of life, so I want to make one for her too.

Yay for Pinterest, because I made my parents a gift with map hearts of important places in their lives, and made Chris's parents grandma and grandpa gifts . . . all ideas from Pinterest. We decided to go the sentimental route with our parents this time around, and I think it was a success. Especially since I'm far from crafty, and none of it required advanced skills.

[Phone pic, but it was seriously cute. I want to make one for us now.]

It was a nice Michigan Christmas, and I'm grateful we make the effort to spend this time together as a little family. We spent most of the day in our pajamas playing and cooking and enjoying time together. When it was over, I was 100% ready for Christmas to be over. We took down the tree that night, and I'm loving how big and clean our living room feels now. I always love Christmas decor, but I really love taking it down. Carly came down the next morning and was so sad: "But where did my Christmas tree go?" she kept asking over and over in the saddest little voice.

[Big towers from Carly's new giant pack of Mega Blocks.]

It was a truly wonderful Christmas season, and we are very blessed. I always struggle with January, and I'm sure this year will be no exception, but at the same time, we have a lot to prepare for and look forward to in the coming months. Chris and I talked about how it is funny because usually Christmas is kind of the "main event", the pinnacle of excitement. While this Christmas was wonderful, and I am just loving having my man home right now (please, school, don't come back too fast), Christmas was in a way another marker in time as we count down to this year's real main event. I'll give you two guesses to what that might be, but you'll only need one.

xoxo.