Between Christmas, four days of celebrations and whatever is going on with both of my children’s sleep, I am in a total daze! I think it’s Friday, I think it’s the last week of 2023, I KNOW we had a good Christmas and I have lots of pictures and memories to share, so let’s get to it!

The kids went to the zoo on Friday and had a great time! I shouldn’t be happy about global warming, but it is nice when the weather is mild enough for an outdoor activity in December. Joey and I both worked a half day, so we could go see Poor Things and wow, it is quite the movie! I will say that Joey loved it and I liked it, with a few reservations and some criticisms. I am a huge fan of Yorgos Lanthimos but as his movies become more mainstream and he gets closer to perfecting his (very singular) style, they lose a bit of appeal for me. A bit too polished, in a way that feels repetitive, and less off the wall, in a way that feels disappointing. I also really love the very specific delivery of dialogue in his earlier films and I was missing it in this one. That being said, it is still very interesting, visually stunning and incredibly well-acted. My favorite performances were Jerrod Carmichael, Kathryn Hunter and Mark Ruffalo, who is insanely funny in this. Back at home, we had wings, put the kids to bed and finished Maestro. I really love Bradley Cooper and he is GOING FOR IT but you can feel so much of his effort and for someone who maybe doesn’t know as much about Leonard Bernstein as I probably should, I didn’t really love his choice to focus on his marriage instead of him as a composer and conductor. What was so amazing about Bernstein as those things? I literally still don’t know. That’s a lot of film thoughts for one day 😋

Started Saturday in our normal way with waffles, except that neither of my kids — even my waffle lover — ate it. I had made it with the coconut yogurt we’ve been buying for Lyds and ironically, it was one of my favorites we’ve ever made! The rest of the day involved letting Dempsey turn on and off our inflatable snowman, walking to Tennyson to pick up pies with one child and making cranberry sauce with the other. At 3, we headed to Grandpa Steve and Lorna’s.

We had a really nice evening celebrating Christmas with them 🤍 Lydia tried Jell-O for the first time and was a fan! And we all got some really nice gifts. Dempsey got a car hood toy that both kids were very interested in all night. 

Christmas Eve! We took our little gnome and hot chocolate lover to breakfast and I always wonder if people without kids are looking at us like we’re insane to bring two small children out to eat. It’s just being climbed on, keeping knives and glasses out of small hands and trying to eat your meal while also holding or feeding someone else 😂 We must be crazy because we just keep doing it! Afterward, more playing with the car toy, then Lydi took a nap and Dempsey helped me make cookies for Santa ❤ Thank goodness we weren’t hosting anything at our house because I let my 3-year-old have full control over a shaker of sprinkles and I’m sure you can imagine what the counter looked like afterward. At 4, Grandma Lori and Chad came over to surprise the kids with their Christmas present. Dempsey was so excited and so am I!

We spent the evening at Adam, Lauren and Landon’s for a Christmas Eve panini party and movie night and we all had so much fun! Dempsey ran around like a psycho, Lydia ate a bacon-wrapped date, Landon got a big hug from his cousin and was the smiliest. Plus matching cousin jammies 😍 Dempsey chose the 2018 version of The Grinch and Lydia was NOT into photo time but she did at least make it through the whole movie. Back at home, we put out our cookies and eggnog for Santa and tried to get a picture of the kids but Lydia was TIRED. Joey told Dempsey that he used to always look up the chimney for Santa before he went to bed on Christmas Eve, so obviously Dempsey had to look too.

Lydi woke us up at 6 AM on Christmas morning and then Dempsey wandered into our room. I think we’d better get used to early Christmas mornings 😉 Got everyone downstairs and then tried our best to coax Dempsey into opening presents?? Who is this kid?! He opened his little phone first and was gone 😅 He also got a leaf blower, a Beatles Yoto card, new snow boots and kinetic sand. Lydi got Nikes, a hat and gloves and the cutest little tea set! Once the living room was good and destroyed, I got to work on breakfast. While I wish I had time to make cinnamon rolls from scratch like in years past, that’s just not how I wanted to spend my time off this year. Annie’s cinnamon rolls in a can to the rescue! I saw someone make them into cute little Christmas trees on Instagram and decided to give it a go. They turned out so cute and super easy to make! Dairy and egg free even, so Lydi could have a single bite before pooh-poohing them 😂 Spent the rest of the day playing with our new toys — Lydia got a keyboard from my brother and sis-in-law and I think it was everyone’s favorite thing! — and watching Christmas movies. It was the best!

At 3:45, we headed over to my parents’ to celebrate Christmas with my family — BTW, we really loved not having to be anywhere till 4 PM with all these celebrations 😋 — and can you tell my mom’s love language is gifts?? She spoiled us all as usual, plus all of us got some fun stuff from Aunt Bean and Uncle Wayne. Particularly excited to wear the baseball cap they got me so I can fully transform into a soccer mom by next summer 😂😂 I had made a few appetizers to snack on before we did presents and then my mom made us a really good dinner of prime rib, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. Dempsey took one bite of prime rib and told me it was “ewwy” so I guess he’s not my son after all 😂 We all had dessert, then loaded all our gifts into the car to take the kids back home for bed. I can’t remember how easy it was to get them to bed, but I know Bitty Baby was tucked in nice and tight! I hope you all had nice Christmases and have a Happy New Year!

Lydia is ONE today and I can hardly believe it! She still seems so little to me and of course, she IS still little, but she’s also climbing on everything, smiling and laughing at things she finds funny, opening every cabinet and drawer, yelling when she is mad about something, almost walking and just developing all these little habits and personality traits that constantly remind me she’s not a little baby anymore 🥺

We had such a fun and busy weekend, celebrating Lydia on Sunday with a Winter ONEderland-themed party and then lots of holiday fun on Friday and Saturday so now I am either running on fumes or celebratory adrenaline, who can tell which 😅 but it did feel good to finally feel like we were living our best December lives!

Joey has been doing 12 days of books for the kids and I! I opened my Friday book and got really excited about a collection of short stories 👏🏻 Got the kids to Grandma’s then got some work done before heading out for a holiday mani that I desperately needed. Later on, Joey brought the kids home (they came bearing the cutest crafts 😍) and we ate a quick dinner, picked up hot chocolate, and drove around to look at Christmas lights. Truly one of my favorite traditions and I think we saw some good ones! Lyds fell asleep before we hit our last house, so only Joey and Dempsey got out to walk around but when they got back to the car, Dempsey said I should go look too. He can be so thoughtful like that 🤍 And it really was a cool house!

It was a busy Saturday. First up… pancakes! I made Lydia’s into a mini waffle since she’s shown more interest in a crispier texture and I think she actually ate some! Afterward, I took Dempsey to Target to pick out a birthday present for his sister — two books and one for himself, of course — and then he set up his “computer” for “work” and kept telling me not to bother him 😂 Headed back home to swap places with Joey, who took Dempsey to his swim lesson and then we all met up at Edgewater Public Market for our Santa visit! Thought there was a chance Lydi might cry but she just her stoic face on instead. Dempsey told Santa he wants an octopus stuffy and his own phone for Christmas and it’s starting to feel like Joey and I should have waited until Christmas Eve to buy presents since Dempsey keeps coming up with new stuff every time he’s asked what he wants 🤪 Had lunch then went home so Dempsey could protest his nap until we eventually gave up. It was a long evening, guys! We did have a good diner and watched some of A Christmas Story before much bedtime antics but eventually they were both in bed and asleep.

Sunday was party day for our Lydi! We had things organized and packed as best we could and then my parents came over to hang with the kids, so we could decorate the space and I definitely wished we’d had more time/had put things together more ahead of time but I think we had it mostly set up before people started arriving. We had such a good time! Special thanks to my mom for making ALL the red velvet cupcakes and to Lori and Chad for helping set up. Lori did such a good job on the dessert table 🤍 Wasn’t sure how Lydi would do with the cake considering her rejection of all sweets, but turns out all babies love frosting. Dempsey was more than ready to help light the candle, blow out the candle and eat the frosting 😂

My parents took the kids back home and put our party girl down for her nap — no luck with the other one though — and once she was back up, we started opening presents, took a quick break for dinner then finished opening the rest. She got lots of cute clothes, books and just a handful of toys, which was perfect! I think Dempsey thinks all those toys are for him though 🤔 I really cannot believe our daughter is a year old already. This morning, we had her open presents from Joey, Dempsey and I, plus my mom is over on Mondays and got to see her open Bitty Baby in person! We have evening plans over at the Stanley Marketplace, so it should be a fun fun day. Happy Birthday, my Lydi girl, we love you so much! 🤍🤍🤍