Seriously, Though...: 30 Crazy Days...

Now that the tree is down and the decorations are packed away, I have a minute to think back over the last month. Do you ever wonder why we try to shove a million and one things into the 30 days leading up to Christmas? It's crazy and it's stressful, but it's also so much fun - a month of wonderful traditions and a time to make lasting memories. Here's what I want to remember about this Christmas:

Steve and Kate made a gingerbread house together. He was very intent on building and decorating it perfectly and Kate just wanted to eat it. That's why the windows aren't outlined with icing...there wasn't any left when Kate was done with it!
Ellie's favorite ornament was the baby in the bassinett. At least three times a day she had to kiss the baby and say "Hi Baby" and wave her little hands. So cute!

My favorite ornament is a little time capsule that holds a rolled up scroll inside. The first year we celebrated Christmas in our tiny townhouse, Steve and I wrote lots of fun things on that scroll like news headlines, presents we got that year, favorite movies, our goals for the year. The funniest thing in there is that we wrote about the high gas prices that year...$1.89. Wouldn't we love to have that now?

We lost two ornaments this year - a snow globe with Kate's name on it that was flung across the kitchen floor (many tears followed that incident) and the Rockettes (which Kate called the cheerleaders), who somehow got beheaded. Poor things. But their legs still looked good and isn't that what Rockettes are all about?!?

Kate secretly rearranged the nativity scene so that all the animals were huddled around the Baby Jesus, practically licking his little head. I organized it several times, only to find it rearranged again. Finally, I made peace with Kate's version of the first Christmas.

We did the Jesse Tree for the first time. Kate loved it, but I'm not sure she understood all of it. Mostly, she just wanted to touch all the ornaments and hang them on the special tree in her room.

Steve and I went to his work Christmas party for the first time in two years. We danced like crazy people.
We met our friends Lori and Wayne to see a Christmas show and lights at an amusement park. We drank three gallons of hot chocolate and we danced and sang loudly through the park.
The girls' favorite tradition was the advent calendar with the chocolate inside. Little Ellie had chocolate smeared all over her face by 8 a.m. every morning.

Ellie would walk around the house and say Hi to every Santa, like they were real people hanging out at our house. She'd casually wave and say "Hi Santa" as she pushed her baby stroller by the Big Man in the red suit.

Every night, Steve sang Christmas carols with the girls. They learned so many and sang them all the time. Kate's favorites were "Up on the Housetop" and "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas." He also read them "Twas the Night Before Christmas" every night and Kate memorized a lot of it.
Kate was in a little play at her daycare. She was a dancing doll. She had a little stage fright at first, but she was so adorable!
Kate wanted a Tinkerbell doll and Ellie had no clue what she wanted for Christmas (or that she could even ask for anything).

We took the girls to see Santa on Christmas Eve. They got their picture taken and when he asked Kate what she wanted, she told him she wanted The Princess and the Frog. Hello??? What happened to the Tinkerbell doll?
The girls were really excited to celebrate Jesus's birthday. During breakfast on Christmas morning, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. I'm so glad they understood what we were celebrating!