Better Late than Never

At long last here is our holiday update! We had a nice Christmas this year, despite the inevitable moments of stress and exhaustion. It was a particularly precious year with the boys, as they had all the excitement without the wish lists. That's not to say they weren't excited about presents, or didn't have their moments of asking for more... But there wasn't that expectation that they should get certain things in order to have a good Christmas. They just loved reading stories about Christmas, and seeing Santa and all manner of decorations everywhere we went (including, our favorite, giant donuts with lights). They "helped" cut down our Christmas tree from our yard and decorate it. Getting the mail each day was a cause for excitement in hopes of new Christmas cards to open. We had lots of chances to see family and friends, all of which were nice as well.

It was interesting seeing the Christmas schedule from their perspective. It always seems busy, traveling here and there and fitting in all the preparations. But seen through the perspective of two little guys who are so excited about each toy unwrapped and don't understand why they can't open it right then... Made me think about how little time we give ourselves to fully enjoy and be present to our celebrations. Don't get me wrong, I love the excitement and in some ways the busyness and the chance to go to so many celebrations. But maybe next year we'll find a way to work in a little more space to play with our toys as we open them...

For more pictures of the festivities, just look to the right.

Since then, life has been full speed ahead, with major routine changes leaving us spinning. Sometime in the midst of the holidays, Garrett, our champion sleeper, abruptly stopped going to sleep, dragging Drew (who had just gotten the hang of sleeping!) with him. In a last ditch effort, after several nights stretching until midnight, we decided to cut out naps and move up bedtime. That was this past weekend, so needless to say we are all still reeling a bit (or a lot, as the case may be) to this unexpected change to our days. Bedtime seems to be going better, on average, so we're continuing along this path, hoping that the days will sort themselves out. Time will tell.

We hope that all is well with you as we start this new year. It is sure to be an eventful one here, with hopefully more frequent updates as we go. So stay tuned, and keep in touch when you can!