It seems out of order to write about looking back after posting about looking forward. But one of my favorite things about having a blog is having a record to look back on; it’s amazing how much and how quickly I forget. When I sat down to look back at last year you know what
The holidays happen in a weird time warp. First, sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving, it seems like they’ll never get here. Then suddenly they feel like a big, evergreen monster on top of you, smothering you with to do lists, red ribbons and 100 Santa cupcakes. Then, just as quickly, they’re gone and it’s 2014.
Our family is in a great phase, the phase where Christmas morning changes and is more and more delightful every year. We spent Christmas day with Tom’s family. David played while we waited for everyone to arrive. He isn’t old enough to understand the anticipation part of Christmas. We didn’t really talk much about
We didn’t send out Christmas cards this year. As soon as I decided to skip it, I started justifying myself. Not sending them will save money. And it’s better for the environment. But honestly, I love Christmas cards. I love getting mail this time of year, and I appreciate every card we receive. The truth
I recently mentioned that Mary Virginia is squarely in grabbing-mouthing stage. Holding her is like holding an octopus; the moment you break her grip on those tiny hairs at the nape of your neck, she grabs your ear and the next thing you know she’s sucking on your chin. (Until we try to give her
Mary Virginia turned 6 months old over a week ago. In this case, it’s a good thing this post is late because if I wrote it on time I wouldn’t have been able to include that, just a few days after her 6-month birthday, Mary Virginia started crawling. Her crawling is slow and deliberate. She
After snapping this photo, I decided to Google, “Is it ok to let a baby chew on Christmas lights?” And that’s exactly when I realized the effect of 24/7, unrestricted access to the world wide web: loss of even a modicum of common sense. The answer? No. No, it’s not ok. Not even a little
Tom and I agree that our Christmas tree is…fine. It’s small, droopy, a little wonky, and full of mismatched ornaments. But it’s definitely better than last year when we didn’t have a tree at all. We started with good intentions. Tom brought the tree home on a Tuesday night and started stringing the lights. He
Last year my mom and dad made the switch to an artificial tree. I ridiculed them for the anti-tradition, Grinch-like move. To drive the point home, I bought them a Balsam Fir scented candle to overcome the artificial tree smell. Then I had a bizarre, scratchy-throat allergic reaction to the candle. I guess we all know
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was great, one for the books, even. It was maybe even the best trip we’ve taken since adding kids to our family. There was coffee with whipped cream, and chocolate for breakfast, and Mary Virginia got to gnaw on her first ever turkey bone. But there was