I’m about to put way too many photographs in a single post (not to mention I’m blogging about last Christmas, when the kids have just started back to school), but I’m trying to share the last few set of photographs hiding on my hard-drive, before I return to in real time blogging.
I didn’t take nearly as many pictures of our Holiday decorations last year, but I do have some pretty sweet moments preserved. Like we’ve done for the last several years, we had both a real tree and an artificial one last year. Our go-to location for Christmas tree shopping is a local tent where they bring fir trees from the Carolinas to sell. We opted to get our tree a little later in the season last year — hoping it would last a little longer — and were super disappointed to see the tent was out of trees and packing up for the season. We made a trip to the local tree farm instead and had a very stressful time agreeing on something that would fit in our sunroom. She’s not perfect, but she was very pretty in person and Polly loved having a little sparkle where she spends most of her time.
A few days before Christmas, my parents invited us over for waffles and to let the kiddos open gifts from the grandparents. It was our first holiday celebration at their new house and we had the best time making new memories. Of course, my sister’s family was dressed up darling and most of my family was wearing sweats or pajamas. This is just how we rolled through year one of a global pandemic!
I am so fortunate to have these family photos in my parents’ house and forever grateful that my sister takes all the best pictures when we’re all together.
I would also like to point out that the photo below is quite possibly the most unflattering photograph I’ve ever taken. There were many laughs with Josh and my sister about how weird I look here.
While we usually celebrate with my sister and parents, my grandparents joined us this past year. They are adorable and it was fun for get grandkids to spend this time with them, too.
These are the only photos I have of the tree in our living area — aside from those on Christmas morning. Polly was so enamored with the sparkly ornaments and spent many hours admiring her trees.
We usually visit a drive-through Christmas Light Show for Christmas Eve, but COVID threw a wrench in so many local events. We opted to drive a little farther out of town and Polly had her first experience with motion sickness en route. Not only did we not have a change of clothes, but the truck smelled awful, we missed the light show altogether, and almost every restaurant we tried was closed. Wendy’s for Christmas Eve dinner was not my favorite — especially when their Frosty machine was out of order?!
On the morning of Christmas Eve, we let the girls exchange gifts with each other and have a mini moment of celebration. After Polly was born, we started alternating who buys gifts for whom and it’s so fun to see the things the older girls pick out. Ella bought Polly a little wooden camera with lenses, Polly bought Paint by Sticker books for BB, and she bought a lounge set for Ella.
I love staying up late to arrange Christmas gifts from Santa and always try to grab a decent photo. I’m admittedly the worst at low light photography, so this is as good as it gets. Maybe this year I’ll have my sister come over and give me a tutorial!
You wouldn’t know it from this picture, but we had the sweetest morning watching the girls open their gifts.
See?
Because of Coronavirus, our extended family celebration was a little leaner than usual, but it was fun to go see our cousins for a few hours after lunch.
A few days after Christmas, we headed over to Josh’s parents to celebrate again. Nana always overdoes it on the presents front (in the best possible way, mind you!), so the kids are always buzzing to open presents as soon as we arrive.
Ella left her gifts until the end this year and happily helped Polly empty her stocking and open her gifts. I will never get over seeing how precious the big girls are with her.
Polly already had a Bitty Baby, but we asked Nana for another, since we knew it was something she would love and play with for a long time. She spent the rest of the day feeding and changing Penny and still plays with her daily!
Pandemic Christmas was the weirdest holiday we’ve ever experienced, but we did the best we could to make it special for the girls. I regret not taking more photos or writing about our time at home together when it was still fresh in my mind, but there was something so sweet about the forced time away from countless distractions and an overscheduled holiday. I’ve already scheduled extra time off around Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, in an attempt to replicate some of the sweetest times we’ve shared as a family together.
