Merry Christmas!
No, it's not too late for me to greet you that way. Yesterday was the Epiphany- the 12th day of the Twelve Days of Christmas everyone sings about in November (although in the US, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany on the first Sunday after New Year's Day, which was this past weekend). But the Christmas season- which, for the record, starts on Christmas Day, not ends- is actually celebrated through the observance of the Baptism of the Lord, which we will celebrate this Sunday. So in our house, the tree won't come down until this weekend!
All of this is to say- I'm going to give you a (little) recap of our Advent and Christmas, and it's not technically too late to do so ;)
We put up decorations on the 4th weekend of Advent, though we had the plain, un-decorated tree in the living room for a week before that. In our efforts to live the liturgical year, it was important for us to really separate our observance of Advent from our celebration of Christmas. Originally, we discussed decorating the tree on Christmas Eve, but we both had to work, and then we went to the early Mass, so there was just no time. Maybe when Christmas Eve falls on a weekend, or when our little family is able to attend Midnight Mass again without the fear of toddler meltdowns, we'll celebrate that way. I also want to invest in some Advent decorations- lots of plain evergreen wreaths and a purple tablecloth, perhaps- because each liturgical season deserves its own trappings, even the solemn ones.
We went to an early Mass on Christmas Eve- a Mass which started riiiiiiiiiight around bedtime. And we didn't sit in the cry room, because the church was packed, and there were plenty of tiny babies that needed the space in there. Believe it or not, we made it through the whole Mass with no meltdowns! There were a few close calls- Daddy had to hurry her out to the back of the sanctuary when she started getting loud, but she didn't like being taken away from all the interesting people, so she quieted down and got to come back to our pew. It's just so hard for her to sit still, or even just to keep her activity to our pew, so we normally default to the cry room so she can roam free without needing to be chased down. (I have literally chased her as she crawled under pews on a beeline for the altar.) But she likes talking to and waving at the people who sit around us in the congregation, and so long as she's not actually screaming, I think a little noise is acceptable from a 1-year-old during Mass. The people sitting near us on Christmas Eve certainly appreciated the constant "Hi!"s and kisses blown in their direction!
Although her wardrobe is plenty big enough, I really wanted to start the tradition of buying Chief a new Christmas dress every year, so we popped into Babies-R-Us at the last minute and snagged this beautiful champagne-colored floofy number with golden sequins on sale (and I had a gift card!) so I don't feel too guilty about it. Mr. Geek wore the navy suit he got for his birthday waaaaaay back in August- with no tie, because we never could agree on the right color. And my dress is from Anthropologie, bought with a gift card I've been saving until I lost the baby weight and no longer had a need to wear nursing-accessible clothing during the day. It's beautiful, comfortable, and it has pockets- so I'm going to be getting a lot of wear out of this one! All in all, I say we clean up pretty good :)
Right now, our family tradition is to open one present when we get home from Mass, and the rest the next day before having a big breakfast (and then a big dinner). This tradition might change, but for now it works- because someone was so sleepy by the time we got home that she fell asleep before we baked cookies for Santa!
Speaking of Santa- growing up, we always got candy in our stockings. As we were dropping chocolates into our own stockings, Mr. Geek grabbed a bottle of Chief's rice puff snacks and said, "Wouldn't it be funny if we put these in her stocking instead of candy?" So, jokingly, we put the new container of puffs in her stocking...and the next morning, it was her favorite present. Her eyes locked on those puffs the moment she saw her stocking, and all she wanted to do all morning was eat puffs. She enjoyed tearing wrapping paper and playing with some of her presents, but she kept going back to those puffs.
"Santa" brought us an XBOX ONE- which is to say that we saved up credit card points and Amazon gift cards to buy it at a greatly reduced price. And then Mr. Geek surprised me with Disney Infinity, and I have never had so much fun with a video game! Now I know what Mr. Geek's childhood was like- anxiously watching the clock until the time comes when I can sit down, controller in hand, and tap those buttons to control my little character on screen. Of course, I have to wait until Chief goes to bed or takes a nap on weekends, but for those few precious hours, I'm completely absorbed. I highly recommend it!
So that was our Christmas. How does your family celebrate? What are your traditions? Did you travel this year, or have a quiet weekend at home, like we did?
Much love,
The Geeks
*all photos personal*
No, it's not too late for me to greet you that way. Yesterday was the Epiphany- the 12th day of the Twelve Days of Christmas everyone sings about in November (although in the US, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany on the first Sunday after New Year's Day, which was this past weekend). But the Christmas season- which, for the record, starts on Christmas Day, not ends- is actually celebrated through the observance of the Baptism of the Lord, which we will celebrate this Sunday. So in our house, the tree won't come down until this weekend!
All of this is to say- I'm going to give you a (little) recap of our Advent and Christmas, and it's not technically too late to do so ;)
We put up decorations on the 4th weekend of Advent, though we had the plain, un-decorated tree in the living room for a week before that. In our efforts to live the liturgical year, it was important for us to really separate our observance of Advent from our celebration of Christmas. Originally, we discussed decorating the tree on Christmas Eve, but we both had to work, and then we went to the early Mass, so there was just no time. Maybe when Christmas Eve falls on a weekend, or when our little family is able to attend Midnight Mass again without the fear of toddler meltdowns, we'll celebrate that way. I also want to invest in some Advent decorations- lots of plain evergreen wreaths and a purple tablecloth, perhaps- because each liturgical season deserves its own trappings, even the solemn ones.
 |
| the ornament that Daddy and Chief made at the daycare Christmas party |
We went to an early Mass on Christmas Eve- a Mass which started riiiiiiiiiight around bedtime. And we didn't sit in the cry room, because the church was packed, and there were plenty of tiny babies that needed the space in there. Believe it or not, we made it through the whole Mass with no meltdowns! There were a few close calls- Daddy had to hurry her out to the back of the sanctuary when she started getting loud, but she didn't like being taken away from all the interesting people, so she quieted down and got to come back to our pew. It's just so hard for her to sit still, or even just to keep her activity to our pew, so we normally default to the cry room so she can roam free without needing to be chased down. (I have literally chased her as she crawled under pews on a beeline for the altar.) But she likes talking to and waving at the people who sit around us in the congregation, and so long as she's not actually screaming, I think a little noise is acceptable from a 1-year-old during Mass. The people sitting near us on Christmas Eve certainly appreciated the constant "Hi!"s and kisses blown in their direction!
Although her wardrobe is plenty big enough, I really wanted to start the tradition of buying Chief a new Christmas dress every year, so we popped into Babies-R-Us at the last minute and snagged this beautiful champagne-colored floofy number with golden sequins on sale (and I had a gift card!) so I don't feel too guilty about it. Mr. Geek wore the navy suit he got for his birthday waaaaaay back in August- with no tie, because we never could agree on the right color. And my dress is from Anthropologie, bought with a gift card I've been saving until I lost the baby weight and no longer had a need to wear nursing-accessible clothing during the day. It's beautiful, comfortable, and it has pockets- so I'm going to be getting a lot of wear out of this one! All in all, I say we clean up pretty good :)
Right now, our family tradition is to open one present when we get home from Mass, and the rest the next day before having a big breakfast (and then a big dinner). This tradition might change, but for now it works- because someone was so sleepy by the time we got home that she fell asleep before we baked cookies for Santa!
Speaking of Santa- growing up, we always got candy in our stockings. As we were dropping chocolates into our own stockings, Mr. Geek grabbed a bottle of Chief's rice puff snacks and said, "Wouldn't it be funny if we put these in her stocking instead of candy?" So, jokingly, we put the new container of puffs in her stocking...and the next morning, it was her favorite present. Her eyes locked on those puffs the moment she saw her stocking, and all she wanted to do all morning was eat puffs. She enjoyed tearing wrapping paper and playing with some of her presents, but she kept going back to those puffs.
 |
| "Yeah, this baby doll is okay, but what I really want are these puffs!!!!" |
So that was our Christmas. How does your family celebrate? What are your traditions? Did you travel this year, or have a quiet weekend at home, like we did?
Much love,
The Geeks
*all photos personal*
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