Christmas

Christmas this year was incredibly low key and relaxing.

We stayed at home all day and didn't get out of our pjs.
My mother took a day off from packing to spend the whole
day with us. We loved spending one last holiday as we knew it with her
before she began her new life in TX.
(More on that in a different post.)
 

I did take my camera out for about 10 minutes on Christmas Day.It's hard to beautifully capture life here in our apartment.
There aren't many windows and it's very small.
But I can't just not capture anything because, as a photographer, I don't like the setup.
I'm a mom first.
So I snapped away.

 Griffin enjoyed playing Santa this year. He got really into seeing the reactions of
others as we opened our gifts.

If we had a theme this year it would be "handmade".
We didn't even decorate our tree with the normal ornaments.
Throughout the month of December we made several ornaments, paper chains,
and popcorn garlands to decorate the tree.

Sleepy daddy and a contented Griffin.
Oh and that enormous wound on Griffin's brow?
He took a running header into his loft bed post.
More on that in another post.

Griffin's big gift was the one Santa brought him.
A bow and arrow (soft foam for the arrow).
Normally Matt doesn't like that the copper lamp (in the Pepsi box behind Griffin)
doesn't have a shade
But the bare bulb made for some pretty awesome pictures!

Jasper was busy, as usual!
On Christmas Day he had yet to crawl but you better believe that
he found ways to get around!
Scooting backwards on his belly was his method of choice.

 Just a day or two before Christmas, Jasper started clapping!
He gets so excited when we all cheer for him.

 Griffin adores Jasper. And vice versa.
Griffin keeps talking about when Jasper can grow a bit so they can play and play
and they won't even need mommy and daddy to play with them anymore.
Ha.

So, Christmas was all about standing still for us.
Not running around.
Not worrying about dinner or a clean house.
Dinner was ready when it was ready.
I tried not to worry about the clutter.
We stood still and enjoyed each other.
And enjoyed Nana.
Christmas was about life as it is now.
Messy floors, happy kids, sleepy/happy parents.
All of us together in our little apartment.
Feeling grateful.
Feeling happy.
Breathing deeply.
Also, we have been doing devotions with Griffin each night and reading through
the Bible with him each night.
We have been loving teaching about the love of God.
This year....the whole meaning of Christmas...he got it!

And for that...THANK YOU JESUS.

I hope your Christmas was just as calm and relaxing and joyful!