It's hard to believe that December is here. I say this every year... but this time I mean it more than I ever have before. I have absolutely no idea where the time has gone. It feels like just a few weeks ago I was announcing my second pregnancy, when in reality it's already been an entire year and Briley is nearly 6 months old. I watch videos from only a few months ago and can hardly believe how much Aaralee has grown up. When we brought Briley home from the hospital, Aaralee still seemed like a baby. She said very few words and constantly walked around with a pacifier in her mouth. These days, she sings, she chats, we carry on basic conversations. She just learnt to do somersaults, give fist bumps and to play "Simon Says". Looking at old photos and videos is a great reminder to cherish these moments. Before I know it, Briley will be singing me the alphabet as well. Time won't slow down, but we can. I've been making a conscious effort to spend more time playing and less time cleaning. To put down my phone and read my girls a book. To create new Christmas traditions rather than stress about finding the perfect gifts. I can honestly say that I don't remember any of my Christmas gifts growing up. Not one thing stands out in my mind as the best item that I'd ever recieved. What do I remember? Decorating the tree, eating my mom's macaroons, opening a present before bed on Christmas Eve, getting to stay up late to go to midnight mass, and having chocolate from my stocking first thing on Christmas morning. The Christmas season is my favourite time of year, and I hope that I can make it just as special and memorable for my kids.
We started out the festive season this year with a rather important component... our Christmas tree! Ryan and I love having a real tree, but this year we did something extra special. We drove south of the city to a beautiful tree farm. We walked through rows and rows of trees until we found "the one". It was big, beautiful, and perfect. Ryan sawed it down and we tied it to the roof of the car. We drove back to the log cabin to pay for it and put it through a baler so that it would survive the journey home. It takes up half of our living room. It's perfect. It's the best Christmas tree we've ever had!
That night when the girls were in bed, I strung the lights on the tree so that it'd be ready to decorate when they woke up. Aaralee was rather excited and spent the majority of the next day hanging out beside it.
We decorated the tree that day... and by "we" I mean that I decorated the tree and repeatedly asked Aaralee to stop throwing ornaments. In her defence, we have a lot of airplane ornaments, and airplanes are meant to fly. She had fun, so I suppose that's all that matters!
Our weekends have been crazy busy with Christmas parties and baby showers. We've consumed our weight in food and I've baked many, many cookies. I've also had an excuse to dress up my girls on multiple occasions!
We also met Santa a couple of weeks back! Aaralee talked about it all day long as if she couldn't wait. Our main dialogue the entire day consisted of: "See Santa! Sit knee! Cheese!" Even while we stood in line, she was full of excitement. That all changed when Ryan set her down on Santa's knee. She was certainly less of a fan in person. Briley on the other hand, was not phased whatsoever.
We've been keeping busy not only on the weekends, but also on the weekdays while Ryan is at work. He's been working a lot of extra hours lately, so it's just been me and the girls from morning until bedtime many days. I'm continuing on with last year's tradition of posting one Christmas photo each day of December until Christmas. Aaralee is a lot less cooperative this year, but conveniently I now have Briley to make up for it!
Christmas will be here before we know it, and so will my cousin, Jay! She's visiting (with her new husband!) from Australia and we can't wait to tour them around and give them a little dose of the Christmas season in Canada. If anyone would like to temporarily donate warm clothing, please let me know!
I hope that all of you are enjoying your December as much as we are! If I don't update again in time, Merry Christmas from my little family to yours.
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