The holiday season has been that much more special to me, since Emilia was born. Usually Halloween kicks off all the celebrating, and it lasts all the way until my birthday on January 10th. But now, it starts October 19th on Milly’s birthday which is pretty much the best way it could possibly start. I shared a post already about her first birthday – it was amazing! And now I’m going to play catch up on all the festive fun that happened after that. :)
October was a mix of Halloween fun, enjoying fall, and of course first birthday shenanigans. We took her to a local fruit stand to pick out pumpkins for the first time, which she loved to drum on. (We decided to hold off on the actual pumpkin patch, since she wasn’t walking yet. Already SO excited for next year, she’s going to love it!!) Halloweekend, we dressed up and went to a friend’s Halloween party. (Getting ready while watching Hocus Pocus for the 18th time, obv.) Milly and I were “Mary had a little lamb”, and my gosh – she was the cutest little lamb ever! The next morning we had a festive brunch, and Milly was a fan of pancakes + homemade pumpkin spice whipped cream. On Halloween night which was in the middle of the work week, I dressed her up in a pumpkin costume we had been handed down, and I made a spooky dinner of mummy pasta and candy corn fruit dessert. We got a few trick-or-treaters, and after Milly went to bed, Marty made us gravedigger cocktails and we filled out our ballots. (hashtag adult life.)
Thanksgiving was spent at my mom’s house this year – Milly and I matched in golden yellow, a color I love for fall. We played games, ate a lot of great food, and Milly even got to have her own turkey leg. We had a nice long weekend after that with football, leftovers, lots of online shopping, and (finally) decorating for Christmas!
Oh Christmas. It was perfect! It’s such a busy time for us, as we have so many stops to make during the short couple days of Christmas celebrating – but Christmas morning at home with Milly and seeing her eyes light up as she came downstairs was the best thing. The whole month of December we soaked it all up. We shopped, we wore all the Christmas pajamas and outfits, we watched almost all the Christmas movies (more than once, hah!), we wrapped gifts by the tree, went out to see Christmas lightings, and so much more. It was such a great Christmas season, and Milly made it 100x better.
On Christmas eve we were headed back home after a Christmas gathering, and it was about 9:30pm. We were exhausted and knew we still had so much to do, and Milly was asleep in the backseat. As we pulled into our hometown, we made the last minute decision to continue driving to look at lights, since we hadn’t had a chance to do that yet. It was so sweet and so magical – and we actually drove past quite a few houses where there were still people inside, gathered and celebrating. I don’t know why but it really warmed my heart – I love that this time of year brings families together the way it does.
After our detour it was back home to put Milly to bed and for Santa’s elves to start working. We had hot buttered rum, put on some Christmas music, and finished up the rest of the work for the night. (Also stayed up way too late watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” after we were done.) Santa got Milly the sweetest tent, complete with twinkly lights, and I think it blew her little mind seeing it in the morning. I woke up before she did (totally wondering how many more years I have before that’s not a thing anymore), and sipped my coffee, enjoying the magic of the morning.
We went out to my mom’s after for more celebrating, and the adults got to have some fun of their own with the saran wrap ball my parents put together. It was a great day – with the only bummer being that most of us had to work the next day. (Seriously, working the day after Christmas should be illegal…)
And then there was New Year’s Eve and Day. The only thing I wanted to do was have a dance party with Milly in the living room and drink champagne – so, we invited some friends and my parents over for board games & bubbly, and we served up lots of yummy appetizers. We stayed up until midnight and beyond and I’m pretty sure I’m still paying for it. *Yawns.*
And then my birthday! Marty and I spent two nights at sun mountain lodge – so fun, I’ll link to a post about this soon. When we got back we had a game night with friends which was so much fun! I’m thinking this needs to be at least a once a month thing.
I meant to post this in February, but here we are in March. Oops! Valentine’s Day was so sweet, we ordered Milly a new book and a magna doodle, and we had steak, prosciutto wrapped asparagus and sugar cookies. We ended the night with a dance party in the kitchen.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Cheers!
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