colder weather

i'm behind. on posting. on laundry. on losing that baby weight. (c turns a year next month.) so i'll start at the beginning. with Christmas! Christmas is always a hectic five days or so for us. each year we say we're going to do it differently. travel less, slow down a bit. we had five Christmases is four days. which is a lot. a lot of packing, unpacking, driving, quick goodbyes. but i can't imagine skipping out on any part of the festivities.

this was our third Christmas as a little family. and kept with tradition (the only tradition we really have) of ordering pizza as we celebrate together. we woke the kids up from their naps and let them open up presents.

 (j with his gumball machine. this has turned out to be useful in bribes/rewards.)

the next morning, we headed out to Chicago for some celebrations with my side of the family. everyone was there. sisters, brother-in-laws, all the kids. it was great. that hasn't happened in a long time and won't happen again for a long time either. we kicked things off in chicago with my dad.

 (c with my grandma.)

 (c and auntie cj)

 (the big kids.)

(me and my dad)

we spent christmas eve at my mom's - which is craziness. all of us in one house with five kids going crazy about presents (technically only three were going crazy about presents.) but i LOVE it. makes me so happy!

 (snuggles with grandma.)

(ron and b)

 (this is just kind of adorable.)

 (the best i could get of all five.)

 (my sisters, mom, and me)

 (so happy!)

 (uncle steve and b)

(sisters - texas and france are way too far)

pretty much right after presents and dinner, we headed out to muncie for some more family fun! 

 (christmas jammies!)

 (aunt jess and the boys. check out croz's scowl.)

(all j wanted was a red guitar. he's a natural.)

 (grammy, pawpaw, and their boys.)

(cousins!)

we had a great, hectic christmas filled with all our favorite people and places. and even though it's tiring, we wouldn't change it for the world!