:: the christmas report ::

on christmas eve, it was gingerbread houses and santa cookies with grandma...

and evan's first candy cane.

that night, we found ourselves in the very strange position of being the ones who make christmas. all those little things like putting out the cookies and milk (and beer, following my husband's long-standing family tradition) and remembering to hang the stockings and put out the presents... those were suddenly our jobs!

on christmas day there was much play and merriment for evan...

and a lot of snuggling and sleeping for emily.

i wish i could say the same for me, but despite the missing nap it was a wonderful day and just the kind of christmas we needed this year. our families came to us at various points throughout the day (instead of the regular rounds-making we tend to do during the holidays) and by 8 o'clock both kids were in bed and we were pretty much ready for bed ourselves.

the best part of my christmas was one moment between visitors when i sat on the couch with evan and emily watching something silly on TV and it occurred to me that i felt completely relaxed. it's not a particularly familiar physical sensation for me and it was a wonderful little christmas gift.

i hope you had something like that for yourself, whether you were christmassing or not.