Christmas Day and Other December Highlights

If you've been reading for any length of time, then you know that we have two December birthdays within thirteen days of Christmas. Yes, it can be a little stressful, but mostly it's just magical and so much fun. I love celebrating my kids, but there is something truly special about having your birthday in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Here are some random pictures which highlight our month:

My Mom and I spent the morning together and brought Levi to meet Santa. I can't say I'm surprised by his reaction, but it did break my heart a little when he acted so distraught, like I had betrayed him. Poor baby. It took a long while for him to calm down, but when he did, we had a great time.

You can see it all over his face here: he isn't ready to trust me yet and has no intention of being fooled. Sorry, baby.

Twas the night before Christmas...

Levi was up early but I was able to coax him back to sleep, and then of course I couldn't sleep. So I did what I always do: go downstairs and light our favorite candles, turn on some music, and snap some pictures in the stillness of the morning. I've got to say, these colorful lights on our back porch made me smile all month long. Especially when they were covered with snow, which was a lot! It even snowed on Christmas day for us, making everything even more wonderful and merry. It sounds cliche, but it's true.

This was the only thing Levi tore into, after much coaxing. He was more interested in handing out the gifts, ha.

I'll be totally honest here. It's been a hard week. Lots of different personalities and natures to deal with in our home, and sometimes it certainly is not all sunshine and roses. Parenting is hard, no matter how you dice it. It can be discouraging, too, not that I'm trying to be a downer here, just honest. But we really did have a lovely Christmas, and I hope you did, too. :)