Our Christmas and winter break was absolutely lovely this year, the first in I don’t know how long where one or more of us wasn’t balled up on the couch with some nasty goo taking over the household. And I know I just said it out loud, ruining everything and ensuring the blight of some plague or another in approximately 1.3 days, but as long as we made it through the holidays and ALL of the MANY holiday things, I think I can handle it.

This year I was nervous about getting through so much with the baby but it actually worked out well. We skipped a few events we normally try to make, opting instead for peace and jammie time and even though it felt like cheating I’m so glad we did. The absolute best moments of break were when I realized it was 3 in the afternoon and my kids were happily sprawled out with their new toys, with unbrushed hair and sporting the pajamas they hadn’t been out of for 2 days. Our life is crazy. No really. The insane amount of time spend at school and the dance studio and in the car to get back and forth is mind-numbing. There is not one day a week where we’re not running like idiots so to be able to just do absolutely nothing felt like a gift.

Here is a picture re-cap because, you know, words are HARD sometimes:

I sifted through the advent calendar activities, knowing that there was no way we’d be able to do them all this year. Obviously the cookies were non-negotiable and it went very smooth~ these two have got sprinkles down to a very messy science.

We also couldn’t skip waiting 45 minutes in line to spend 30 seconds with Santa.

I was pretty relieved when we couldn’t find our elf when we took out the decorations, but lo, a week later we found him and so commenced the daily “oh shit” panic at 3 am when we realized we hadn’t moved him. Their favorite day by far was when they caught Fred eating popcorn and watching Rudolph before school.

Our little Angel and Shepard participating in our new church’s pageant. It was fairly adorable.

On Christmas Eve morning we headed over to Bill’s parents house where Ezra was not in a photo-coopertive mood. It was here we learned the hard way…

That getting a photo of a family of five is a wee bit challenging. Ahh, memories.

But it was finally accomplished after threats, bribes, 53 takes and some creative editing.

After church we opted to come home, get in our Christmas jams, open a few presents…

And enjoy some fun snacks while watching The Grinch. It was such a relaxing night of just enjoying our little family~

It was by far my favorite part of this holiday season.

Gratuitous Bow Baby.

Christmas morning was also relaxed. The kids surprisingly slept in pretty late, then spent the morning playing with their spoils. You have no idea how many times in the weeks preceding I wanted to break Ezra’s playmat out for him, but it made it for Santa’s delivery Christmas morning. You can see the baby is super excited by all his brightly covered crap.

Christmas day was spent at my mom’s, opening presents, eating delicious food and treats, singing, dancing, drinking and playing with cousins. It was so much fun.

Even the babies got in on the action.

I’m sure we’ll be in for it next year when we have to navigate the holidays with a toddler but this year was almost criminally easy for having a small baby. This was mainly because we were smart enough to scale way back and just try to enjoy the new shape of our family. It was pretty great.

And now? We are enjoying a few weeks of quiet routine before kicking off the busy season in dance. Soon enough I will be covered head to toe in glue and sequins, thank sweet baby jesus I will be able to drink my way through much of the costume assembly this year. Unfortunately I won’t be able to drink when I am stuck backstage with many small, rambunctious boys as I somehow found my dumb ass volunteering to work backstage at comps and recitals for Keaton’s group. In my defense, I thought it would just be Keaton and the other little boy on the baby comp line but after talking with the other boys’ moms, it turns out it’s an all-hands-on-deck type of thing and there will be over 20 boy children in one small space whygodwhyamIsoepicallystupid. The good news is that dads can help too so I fully intend to throw Bill under the bus when the time comes.

So until that craziness ensues I am enjoying the hell out of my adorable little baby spawn, who is the sweetest, smiliest little thing ever. Also: Loves to sleep. HE IS MY FAVORITE AND MY BEST.

Ezra and puppy. Sacked. Out.