Bye 2021… Our Family Christmas Recap
This year was a whirlwind; Christmas is already over, and it’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve started about 8 posts and never finished them. Oiy.
It’s not that I didn’t want to write, I love writing and the love stories that go with every session. But finding the motivation when I was overly exhausted was impossible. So keep an eye out while I update with the most recent couples sessions, adventures and engagements.
My 2021 Christmas Breakdown
I did my usual shopping and on Christmas Eve, piled all the gifts on our king sized bed. By the time the kids were in bed, I was completely overwhelmed and made about 424 phone calls to my mom.
“Omg. How am I going to wrap all this?!”
“Are they even going to enjoy this thing? What is it? Why did I buy it?”
I knew the following morning would be a disaster, but decided to make the best of it. I put together four gifts for each kiddo (two from us and two from Santa) and a couple extra family gifts (a game, a fort kit and some video game accessories). Then I wrapped until 2 am and went to bed feeling ok about my decision.
You know what happened the next morning? (And no, I don’t mean the part where Evan unwrapped three gifts which I had to quickly rewrap because none of them were his!) The kids unwrapped their gifts and stockings… then proceeded to play with everything. Nothing we gifted them got left in the box, tossed aside or forgotten.
Don’t get me wrong, they got more than enough gifts. But at the end of the day, Emi came over and thanked me for the gifts we gave them. Including the gift of not being completely overwhelmed on Christmas Day.
A few of our favorite things:
Each of the girls (myself included) received Disney Loungefly backpacks for our upcoming Disney trip (You can check out our last Disney trip here!). Emi’s bag was purchased at the mall of America, from the boxlunch kiosk. I found Gracie’s bag on boxlunch.com when we got home. My favorite part of this is that for every $10 you spend in store or online at Boxlunch, one meal is secured for Feeding America through local food banks. It’s a win win.
Jake was in need of a belt, so I snagged one with a special saying and his initials on it from Etsy. This is one of those items that would make a great husband gift for any occasion. You can find the belt here: Handmade Personalized Belt
Now it’s on to 2022 and hopefully a less insane year. I have tons of plans to see to fruition this year, and I couldn’t be more excited about them. But for today, I’m gonna just lounge and enjoy one more long snuggle day with my family.
