Christmas 2016

I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on our wonderful Christmas. In case ya missed it, we welcomed sweet Barr to our family two weeks before Christmas this year, which made for a crazy holiday, to say the least.

We arrived home from the hospital on a Thursday night, the night of Doster's school Christmas concert. I was devastated to miss it, but lucky to experience it from photos and videos.  If you were there and happened to be annoyed at my poor husband for being "That Guy" standing up and filming the whole thing on his iPad, you can blame me. I'm sorry, but not really.

Look at these cuties getting ready to perform!

On the morning of Christmas Eve, the universe gifted me a long nap for Barr (atop an also napping James), so I had the chance to spend some much-needed quality time with Doster. I was so excited to do something one-on-one with him and we both had a great time making cookies for Santa. 

That night, we went to my dad's house, as usual. I was pretty proud of us for loading up everything and making it! Luckily, it was a warm day and I didn't feel too guilty about dragging a new baby out in the weather.

I can't really remember how that night was, but I think Doster went to sleep pretty easily, knowing that Santa was expected soon. We'd taken him to see the Big Man himself a few weeks prior, (before Barr was born--no way I'm taking a new baby to the mall!) so Doster was very familiar with the idea of ol' Kris Kringle. 

Santa set up shop, and Doster ended up getting everything he wanted and then some. We told him that he could ask Santa for three gifts, and he chose: a kitchen, a Flip-a-Zoo and cars. Santa brought Barr some socks and bibs. That's what ya get for being two weeks old, son.

Here's a little (or long) video of Christmas morning:

We invited our parents over for Christmas breakfast, and wrapped up the day with a trip to Grammy's house. It was a long but fun day!

This was my favorite Christmas yet. Barr's arrival, paired with the sheer joy of Christmastime with a toddler was amazing. Doster's excitement truly evoked the Christmas spirit for all of us. He loved decorating, listening to Christmas music, driving around looking at Christmas lights--all of it! It was truly a magical time.

I look forward to many more special holidays as a family of four!