Pictures From Christmas Because It’s Better Late Than Never

I know, I know. It’s 2016, and Christmas is SO 2015, and everyone has moved on, kick started their resolutions, and could care less about pictures of our little family Christmas. But I’m going to pull the personal card here and post these anyway, because this blog also happens to be my own documentation of life to look back and enjoy. So feel free to skip over this post while I take a walk down short-term memory lane. 

Shortly after we arrived back in NC we made plans to visit Aunt Jill and Aunt Missy in Charlotte. We spent the weekend making our way around the various shopping centers and taking in all the Christmas spirit, one day particular also making the trip up to Lake Norman for the Christmas parade of boats. 

Trying out Santa’s chair. 

The day after Thanksgiving, after a full day of fighting the mall crowds and enduring the craziness of Black Friday, the fam ended up over at Aubrey and I’s house, along with a tree and some lights. I decided to do all homemade ornaments on the tree, both because I figured it was probably fruitless to try to keep Aubrey away from the tree, but also because I actually wanted her to play with it and enjoy it. So I bought a block of molding clay and had everyone make ornaments that night. I think this will go down as one of my favorite memories, having my family assembling our tree and making ornaments. It was so much fun! 

And Christmas morning it did not disappoint! 

I had a goal to try to stay on the reasonable side regarding gifts for A. I knew there would be lots coming in from family and friends, and really I wasn’t sure what was really left for us to buy. 

We ended up with some books, these fun marquee lights, a globe, some odds and ends like a ball and a jingle bell rattle, clothes, and a few toys she had picked out over the few months leading up to Christmas. I think we followed the Want, Need, Read, Wear format pretty well. 

Will brought her down and her little face lit up when she saw everything. It was adorable. 

She is obsessed with lights right now so these were a big hit. They now reside on top of her little kitchen, and she insists they be turned on first thing every morning. 

Actually getting her to stay focused long enough to open all of her gifts was a bit of a challenge, but it was fun for Mom and Dad anyway. 

It was a special morning for us. I’m so beyond grateful we had the chance to be in our own house (figuratively speaking), having these cherished moments together as our little family unit. It meant the world to me and was all too short.