Christmas 2014

[I have a little less than an hour before the Christmas season is officially over...so I'm patting myself on the back.]

This Christmas was so, so good. Exceptionally good. I mean, it's always my favorite time of year, our house is always my favorite when it's cozy and decorated, and it's always my favorite to be with family. But something about this year......maybe it's that we're all spread out now and really need the time we get together, or that there were three crazy babies providing constant entertainment.....yeah, it was probably the babies.

Hello, teething. You make life and taking pictures difficult.

I know it sounds dumb, but when faced with twins in real life, I defy anyone not to say "There are two of them!" I did it more times than an aunt should, but when they're identical and dressed alike and doing hilarious things in sync, it's just a sight to see:

Entertainment for the kitchen crew.

Our family's so big now! We got to make one new adult one (hooray, Matt!), 

and three tiny baby ones this year.

Our Räuchermann from one of our German friends. Will took this picture, which is why it's included despite not containing a baby.

Scene: Twins euphoric in their new wagon.

Enter: Mollie.

Twins dissolve in tears.

Mollie takes the situation in, notes the chaos she's caused, and grins mischievously.

Matt: "Ahhh, there's the Will in her."

My mom and Mollie have the exact same shirt. Matching grandmamas are way cuter than matching mamas! It was actually unintentional (but probably something subconscious at work on my part).

I'm sort of surprised by how sentimental I got about Mollie's first Christmas (I know, me being sentimental about anything shouldn't be surprising). But after we came back to DC, I felt a kind of let down, even though we still had a good portion of the twelve days of Christmas ahead of us. It was just hard to keep up the cheer without our family around (and all of the singing and festive food that come with them). But this morning we finally got our first snow of the winter, and it was the most wonderful present. It completely changed my mentality ("Should I have already thrown out the tree? The needles are looking a little dry. What difference does a few days make?") and our Epiphany was filled with Christmas carols, watching snow fall, reading our Christmas books, and having one last conversation with our tree (on Mollie's end). I'm so, so grateful for today, and for everything this season has held for us.