A Very Merry Christmas

My heirloom Christmas Cactus

I found it hard to get excited about Christmas the first few years Ben and I were married. Three extended families and both immediate families all within 30 minutes, reduced the holiday to a chaotic scheduling nightmare. We were hardly at our own home at all, so decorating seemed just silly, and our tree sat neglected and dying. Last Christmas we didn't get a tree at all because it just seemed like a waste of time and energy since I was 8 months pregnant and we were trying to prep the house for a baby.

This year was so different! We decided that our Christmas goal needed to be to keep the busyness to a minimum, so we approached the holiday with a willingness to say no if need be. Most of the extended family events got scheduled in a very spread out fashion, so the pace of everything was slower than years past. For Christmas day we decided that Christmas morning was going to be just ours. No running around to our families' houses first thing in the morning for us, thank you very much! We went out to Ben's folks house for a short brunch and presents, and then came back to our place and had my family over for the evening. Doing Christmas that way felt so much more relaxed and peaceful, and I was so thankful that it worked out that way.

There is just something about tinies and Christmas that brings back all the magic of the season. Having Ava with us this year has refreshed the excitement of Christmas for me, even though she is too little to remember it. I've been happily basking in the glow of our homey Christmas tree this week, just feeling thankful for her and so peaceful and happy about our little family. We had a very merry Christmas indeed!

There's just something so precious about flannel nighties...