c h r i s t m a s | 2 0 1 7

i woke up like this. (jk, it was hours later & "santa" had come weeks before.)

by the time i went home for christmas, things had slowed down to almost a complete stop – including myself. i look back through the photos i took, all 27 of them, and that's what i think about. i slept in. i took naps when my nephews did. i took almost no photos. (thankfully, T has picked up blogging again, lest i won't forget what our day-to-day looked like.) (spoiler alert: it was casual, with lots of diffusing essential oils and going to target to buy more tissues.)

on my first day in town, i was the third wheel on a date with T and luca. he had asked her to go on a date, but since i was in town, he insisted i tag along. now that i think about it, it was pretty good planning on his part, as they basically had a personal photographer to follow them around and catch their sweet moments of dancing together on the sidewalk.

anyway, the plan was to go to the movies, but the time we wanted was sold out by the time we got there. we got tickets for a later time (in the front row, because that's all that was left) and had an extended date day, involving a toy store, target, and pizza for lunch.

we saw the star, which i'd never heard of before, but it's an animated version of the christmas story told from the perspective of the animals. i laughed out loud and also cried multiple times, and found myself still thinking about it days later. obviously, i know the christmas story so it wasn't a ground breaking experience, but to see it played out like that was impactful. it's a great movie for kids, but i also plan on purchasing a copy for myself to watch each year at christmas.

from there, christmas traditions and activities rolled out, per usual.

"traditions" this year

baking – just oreo truffles and peanut clusters

going to church on christmas eve – just T and i

exchanging 'sibling' gifts on christmas eve – where i gave luca the most giant (red!) crayon ever.

christmas morning – with luca and jack's festive pj's, and my parents and i goming over to watch them open presents first (which is maybe my most favorite – watching them open their presents feels like a gift for me)

new soma pajamas – a tradition i hope sticks around for the long haul because they're the softest, comfiest thing i've ever worn

not a tradition, but my parents bought each other (without knowing it) new wedding bling this year. they're the cutest.

the rest of our time was spent slowly opening new presents to play with, watching african cats, going to the doctor, cheers-ing jack's coffee cup, and other things i don't remember because it was just normal life things and i am not that kind of blogger.

i left just before the new year so i could be home to babysit and prepare for my january whole30, which i know you are so excited to hear about. STAY TUNED.