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!