Twelve months, twelve photos

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Christmas Dress

One of my favorite hobbies, for sure, is dressing my kids. The actual dressing I hate. They both wiggle and run and cry about getting dressed. But choosing their clothes? I love it.

Now, I've never been much into fashion for myself and spending more on them than me I find super ridiculous. I shop sales and only buy things I LOVE. Also I love vintage for Juliet, so that often is from thrift stores, gifts or eBay.

It is amazing what you can find on eBay for practically nothing. I adore finding hidden gems, and this dress is one of those for sure.

Now, if you remember last year, Juliet had a wonderful fancy Janie & Jack dress (a gift!) to wear for her first Christmas. I wanted something similar but didn't want to pay the J&J prices.

Eeep! Look how tiny she is! Ack. I miss this.

This year's dress is very similar. Smocking, Christmas plaid and a collar. I love collars on baby girl dresses. You may also notice she is wearing the same flower in her hair. When she grew out of headbands around her first birthday I clipped all my favorite flowers off her headbands and glued them to little hair clips. They are still the most used hair accessory in the house.

Long beautiful curls in the back.

Rose and ribbon at the neck, and a big double white collar.

This dress?! After months of searching "smocked dress 2T" on eBay this one came up. It's a vintage gem that had never been worn. Original tags still in place. Winning bid (mine!) was $7.12. AMAZING!

Red fingernails to finish off the fancy Christmas outfit!

Dress - Ebay
Hairbow - Etsy
Tights - Old Navy
Shoes - See Kai Run

Christmas Day!

Christmas Day came and went in a whirlwind of candy, smiles, food and presents presents presents. I always wish Christmas Day could last a little bit longer, it is oh so special.

As any and all Christmas days should start, it begun with an excited dash to the living room to check if Santa had come. Oh he had come! A huge pile of golden presents awaited the kids. Next we rushed over to our stockings and James found one of the only things he had asked for. "A snuggly squirrel".

Before many photos could be snapped the stockings were dumped upside down and happy squeals filled the sleepy living room. Each kid got gummy worms, bath time foamy soap, lollipops, and the favorite of all, they each got a sheet of bubble wrap.

After E and I made coffee we moved over to the presents Santa left. James inspected each one, shaking and weighing, trying to guess what each held.

One of his bigger gifts was a stomp rocket, where you shoot rockets into the sky using air propulsion.

The doctor tool kit was addressed to both kids, but after Juliet received a fake shot she has forsaken it. She won't touch it. James however loves it.

Full exam before eight am.

The thing we were most excited to give the kids was a homemade pipe kit for the bath. We used PVC pipes, attached suction cups and the idea is you can make custom paths for water to flow in the bath tub. Both kids were thrilled (and it has since proven to be really fun!).

Checking out the new pipes on the front window.

As always, each kid got a book. James's "Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late" has been a huge hit.

At ten we loaded up the kiddos for a jammie brunch and more presents at E's family's house.

We were greeted with a living room brimming with gifts! Juliet found her cradle first thing and started working on getting all the babies to take a nap.

This little love is so sweet and darling. I got to get all my snuggles in before she starts denying anyone but her parents.

Can you get over these three in their Christmas jammies?

Soon we opened stockings (filled to the brim with more sweets than ever). Both kids gravitated to the lollipops and wanted them open immediately.

Lots and lots of presents.

The night before James asked to sit next to Auntie Melissa for dinner, and the next morning he requested to sit next to Emilia. Never before has he not wanted to sit next to E and I, so this was huge and super adorable. At one point he said "I'm sitting in a girl sandwich! Both the girls I love."

Once home we put the kids down for a nap and got right to work. I polished silver and set the table. E cooked. We were hosting my Dad and his fiancé, my mom and her husband, my siblings and E's siblings for dinner. E wanted it to be perfect, so he smoked two turkeys for the occasion. They came out AMAZINGLY!

Soon everyone arrived, more presents were exchanged, and everyone sat down with hot wassail with rum. Both of my shy kids were being amazing (which is a miracle, since even with family these two act super shy).

Lots of partying to be done.

Dinner was served on the silver platters I inherited from my grandmother. Everything was DIVINE. Every single person could not believe how yummy the turkey was, and even in the middle of dinner James said "everyone look at me! Look at me! I am LOVING the turkey!" Everyone laughed at our sweet boy.

Chef extraordinaire.

Lots of happy silliness ended out the perfect day. Merry merry Christmas!

Celebrating {Part I, Christmas Eve}

Christmas Eve is among my favorite holidays of the year. The day holds so much anticipation of what's to come, and we always celebrate with a big fancy party with my family.

Once upon a time my sister and I would even go to the salon on Christmas Eve to get our hair styled for the special night.

Since my Grandpa's death and my Grandma's stroke Christmas Eve has changed a lot. But that is ok. Now it is less formal and more hectic (since we've added James and Juliet to the family since then).

And, even with all the changes it is still my favorite.

For the fancy party I tried a crown braid (a french braid that wraps around her entire head). It looked AMAZING until a diaper change and the drive over to my mom's. Car seats can ruin awesome hair. Glad I got to enjoy it on our little neighborhood walk before the party.

After a week of snow the skies cleared and it even warmed up a little. The mountains sparkled.

We walked up to our favorite house in the neighborhood and I was able to snap this gem.

This girl is a Daddy's girl. She kept kissing him and hugging him the entire walk home. I finally asked E to stop so I could grab a photo. (Notice her fingernails!)

And the party at my mom's was wonderful. We started with presents (a huge stack for everyone!) and Nana was so happy to just watch the kids play and laugh.

My mom and hostess. 

My mom is always sure to have something special for the kids to drink whenever we see her. Upon arriving, Juliet yelled "Debbie's! Juice!" And I painted my nails earlier in the day and she saw me. She wanted it so much and kept asking "pleeeaaase?" so I relented and let her have red fingernails for Christmas.

As always, my Grandma was moved to tears when opening our family photo book. She just loves it.

And, late at night, before the day was through, Santa paid a visit and left a huge pile of golden gifts for the kids. Christmas day blog post coming up next!

Outfit details:
James's -
Coat - Costco
Sweater and herringbone slacks- Gymboree
Tee - Old Navy

Juliet -
Coat - Target
Dress - Vintage Etsy find (I spent months looking for the perfect holiday dress, I found two, so this one, which you've already seen was her Christmas Eve dress. Her Christmas dress is just as darling!)
Tights - Old Navy
Hair clips - Gift from Damma
Shoes - See Kai Run