It’s 8.30pm on Christmas Day, our day is done, the toddler is passed out in her bed and I’m currently eating mince pies.
We’ve had the most wonderful day as a family, our last as a family of 3 before Amelia’s little sister joins us in early February and it’s been such a different experience to last year. Some of you might remember from my Christmas post that I didn’t really enjoy Christmas Day last year. It was very stressful, Amelia was over tired and refused to nap and in the end I just wanted the day to finish so we could all go to bed and put it behind us.
This year though, has been a completely different story. Amelia doesn’t really understand the concept of Santa and gifts yet so I’ve not gone over board with all of that for her but she does get excited about Christmas trees, lights, snowmen and chocolate.
She was a great help in putting up the tree this year; by help I mean she took off all the baubles as I was putting them on and ended up just throwing glitter around but she took part this year and it was lovely to do it together.
She even had her own little tree in her room this year, that she ‘helped’ to decorate and has refused to have switched on even once because the lights are too bright. Toddlers eh!
We’ve done Christmas activities this year too, making paper chains to hang in her play room and one for Nana and Grandad’s house and we decorated gingerbread men which was a lot of fun and only a little bit messy with sprinkles EVERYWHERE.
Christmas Eve for me is when the magic really starts, I love the build up and excitement and our new little tradition of a Christmas Eve box for Amelia.
Nothing extravagant; new pjs, a dvd of The Snowman and little chocolate penguin lolly this year. Amelia couldn’t care less about the pjs but was VERY excited about the lolly.
We sat together in the morning to watch The Snowman and she was mesmerised by it until her Nana and Grandad arrived to see her and then she forgot all about it because they’re her favourite people in the whole world. I’m sure we’ll watch the rest of it before Christmas is completely over.
Then it was THE day; I was a little apprehensive about how it would go this year after how much I struggled last year and being 33 weeks pregnant with baby number 2 I was worried I would be uncomfortable and exhausted but it was the best day ever.
Amelia gave us our first gift by sleeping until 9am in her new big girl bed. Her second night in her a new bed and slept she in the latest she has in months. I didn’t really make the most of it though as I woke up at 7am expecting her to be up any moment but she didn’t stir. I lazed til 8am and then thought this couldn’t possibly last any longer so I got up to do my hair and make up in an effort to look less tired and pregnant.
We spent the morning at our house, opening gifts and actually playing with each one which was lovely. It does mean that we didn’t have time to open them all so she’s got some left for Boxing Day but that’s okay because it was all a bit over whelming for her.
The afternoon was spent, as always, with my parents where there was even more excitement and gifts to open but silly Santa had hidden them around the house.
I love this tradition of my parent’s, they did it for me for years and it’s a great way to make the gift opening process last longer for kids. She can only have the ones she can find and it makes her stop to play with them as she goes along rather than just moving straight on to the next gift.
Amelia even joined in with a little Christmas dinner, I was convinced she wouldn’t eat any of it given how fussy she has been lately so I took one of her toddler meals and lots of snacks but she didn’t even need it.
She loved the roast potatoes and ate some carrots and parsnips, but only the ones on Daddy’s plate. Sorry love!
After dinner you could tell she was getting tired from all the excitement and where as last year she become whiny and destructive, this year she just played, giggled and wanted lots of cuddles when she needed a minute to recharge.
There wasn’t a single moment when I felt like I just wanted a break, even being heavily pregnant and still fighting through a cold that is now on day 9.
The whole day was wonderful, everyone had fun, the food was amazing, Amelia received the most amazing and generous gifts and although she doesn’t know it yet, there’s more to come tomorrow because she didn’t open everything today.
I’ve started my own little tradition on Christmas Day; a family photo of us together which this year will make our last Christmas as 3 and next year there will be another little addition to our Christmas family photo.
If you need a visual to show you just how different this year was to last, check out last year’s family photo:
Could I be anymore exhausted and over it, my eyes say it all I think.
The year before that, our first Christmas with Amelia; she was 10 weeks old and I was still getting over my c-section but it’s our first family Christmas photo and I will treasure them all, always.
So, they say Christmas with kids is the most magical thing in the world and this year, I can finally say I agree.
I hope you’ve had a wonderful day, filled with love and laughter and people you care about.
Rachel xx
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