Christmas: the before, during and aftermath...

Christmas was different this year...not bad or good per-say just different.

For the last 27 Christmases I have been with my parents and sisters (well not them for 27 but you get the jist)...this year they jet setted off to Paris for the holiday, my youngest sister followed, middle sister is in Australia with her husband and I was in our new home in Georgia.

dude yoghurt puffs are baby crack, thanks Santa!

Kaitlyn was the official helper of the morning :)

Not alone...with two amazingly wonderful children, one so ridiculously excited she couldn't control herself and one slightly overwhelemed with no real idea of what he was supposed to be so happy about! A husband to managed 4 glorious days off to shop last minute and spend time with us! And my in-laws were in town!

We baked, decorated, shopped, explored, relaxed under our Christmas blanket, soaked up the cool weather and talked about how wonderful the day would be.

Kaitlyn and I played a round of football, as much as you can with a 3 yr old who gets mad when you take the ball...running around the backyard like lunatics, watching our warm breath hit the cool air and cheeks turn red and I thought how much fun my Dad would have with us, explaining Aussie football rules, showing how you really kick the ball and tackling us until we almost peed from laughter.

We made sugar cookies for Santa, and wished Mum was there to remember the gingerbread recipe.

We played games and knew Auntie Andi would have been keen to join in.

My in-laws are wonderful, they love my kids immensely and I enjoy their company. They are the snuggle up by the fire place watch a movie, read lots of books and lay low type. My parents are the rough and tumble, hands and knees lets get silly type. A great combination of granparents if you ask me!

It was Blakes first Christmas, not they he cared. It was my first Christmas without my family, and it was hard.

Despite my husband telling me I was a control freak and needed to stop it causing a few tears on the way to his family's Christmas dinner...which is kinda fun to do in the car as people driving by do the double take at this lady sitting in her Christmas outfit tears rolling down her face while going 75mph on the freeway...it was a good Christmas...I just want my kids to have the best memories of Christmas. He logically, as he always is, explained that it's going to be great because we make it great and enjoy each moment, not because it's all planned out and organized.

Next year it can only get better!

Decorations are down, earliest that's ever happened! but we're getting into a new groove in a new town and if feels good to have the house in order.

Toys are being played with...more Blakes than anything bringing quite a few tears from the not wanting to share 3 year old bashing the poor I just wanna play with you 7 month old and then said 3 yr old having to go to her room and think about how we treat others...oh Christmas.

Of course now we gear up for New Years Eve...which when you have two kids under the age of 4 involves the hopes of staying awake until midnight!

I'm working on my resolutions...with a large goal of keeping them this year...which of course means they have to be doable and not the generic lose weight but never do a thing about it goal!

Its such a funny holiday...spend months preparing for this one day, which really is a couple of hours of enjoyment in the morning, wake up at stupid hours of the morning with crazy anticipation, kill a couple of trees with all the paper used, eat some silly amount of junk food, oohh and aahh and fuss over gifts you didn't want or need but still love, all the while trying to remember the true meaning of the holiday...only to wake up on the 26th and go wait it's OVER?!?

I love Christmas, I do, it's just a lot of pressure for one day a year...next year I think we'll work harder on that true meaning and less on the commercialized craziness!