every year, I feel like Christmas is a balancing act between the spiritual, the fun, and the mundane -- and what saves me from losing my mind is the mantra "decide once", a la Kendra Adachi. I have decided that I order photo cards from Walgreens using a same-day pickup promo code (rather than wading through all kinds of assuredly beautiful cards from other sites). I fill stockings with mostly consumables, including toiletry products. I wrap using mostly gift bags -- so much faster! we eat clam chowder for dinner on Christmas Eve. we go to Christmas mass on Christmas Day, rather than the vigil the night before (well, Nick is at ALL the Christmas services, but I take the kids in daylight hours). I keep a locked note on my phone to track gift ideas and ultimate purchases. all of this frees up mental space for things that do shift from season to season! I want to strike a balance between enjoying a beautiful, special experience with my family while still maintaining my equilibrium. that means festive paper plates for Christmas morning breakfast, and fancy china for Christmas dinner, for example.
this year, Christmas and New Year's preparations were made extra tricky by my work schedule. I work Monday/Wednesday/Friday, and since Christmas Eve fell on a Wednesday, I worked a normal day (the office converted to strictly video visits in the afternoon, but I stayed in the office since doing video visits from home with all four children there would not have been a pleasant experience for myself or my patients). so I did my Christmas Eve prep on Christmas Adam, and then had to head into work on the day after Christmas as well. I could have taken vacation days but by the time I thought about it, a number of other providers had beat me to it, and with several upcoming actual vacations in 2026 (not to mention maternity leave!) I didn't want to have to reschedule multiple days of patients. so, it wasn't ideal, but we all survived -- and next year the calendar will fall in such a way that I'll have December 24-26 as well as December 31-January 2 off work automatically.
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| for Christmas Eve dinner, I made crabbies in honor of my Grandma Jo, who used to make them for family gatherings. mine didn't taste nearly as good as I remember hers being! we also had charcuterie along with our traditional clam chowder. |
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| traditional ornaments on Christmas Eve. Cece was disappointed to get a gingerbread themed ornament instead of the ballerina she had been secretly hoping for. tucking that knowledge away for next year ... although by next year that may not be what she wants! |
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| she asked for another picture by herself with her ornament after some time to process. poor kid was hit in the cheek during a basketball game earlier in the week and developed a large hematoma (blood collection under the skin) that made her whole left cheek swollen. |
Christmas morning, the girls awoke and tumbled downstairs to find magic spread out before them. we open our stockings all together in a hullabaloo, while the presents proper must be opened one at a time, in order from youngest to oldest, and duly admired by all before the next present can be unwrapped. we had time to open a few of the actual presents before I needed to start making breakfast and Nick needed to start getting ready to leave for choir warmups before mass.
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| "can we go down yet?! how about now?? WHEN!?!?!" |
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| after brewing a strong pot of coffee, Nick is ready for the onslaught |
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| Cece is always the one to carefully read Santa's letter |
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| I love watching him watch them! |
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| Ellie was so proud to have written her own name on her gift for Daddy |
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| tearing right into the Little Debbie Christmas tree cakes that were in her stocking |
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| testing out the Barbie hair styling kit that Cece gave Ellie |
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| she wanted to open her big gift right away -- a refurbished, older edition iPad |
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| keeping busy with Play Doh while I got breakfast ready |
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| Cece asked for this vibrating, heat therapy eye massager (just like the one her best friend has) |
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| seasonally colored pistachio muffins, assorted breakfast meats, and Danish! |
Christmas Day mass is always such a joyful affair, and Nick always finds some way to make the liturgy extra special, whether with added musicians (violinists or brass) or special choral music.
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| Greta asked if she could do Cece's makeup for mass (using the new makeup set that Greta gave her). I was hesitant at first and told her it would have to be very subtle. I have to confess I was surprised that she really did a beautiful job -- very tasteful and I know Cece enjoyed feeling pampered! |
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| a very fun surprise -- Nick's organ professor from Duquesne showed up at mass that morning! |
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| how I love this crew, shenanigans and all (you may notice Elizabeth changed out of her Christmas dress that matches with Victoria's and I had no interest in fighting that battle) |
then we came home for a quick lunch and continued the gift exchange!
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| Nick got Cece this little fondue set, which came in very handy at our New Year's Eve party the next week! |
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| Nick got me the book our family book club is reading together (and which had an interminably long hold time at the library!) |
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| a very tired Victoria testing out her new sled (with her beloved Snakey) |
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| Elizabeth's first Big Wheels |
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| testing out the new play dentist set |
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| Vickie received a play beauty salon set |
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| first pedals on the new trike that Ellie picked out for her! |
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| melt my heart! |
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| we couldn't stop laughing all afternoon after Cece used Victoria for some makeup artist practice. (this was exactly what I was afraid would happen when Greta did Cece's makeup for mass!) |
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| at one point she snuck out, shirtless, to try her trike outside |
Christmas dinner was special but simple: ham, mashed potatoes, candy cane caprese, rolls, and stuffing balls. well, the stuffing balls were not special -- I followed the recipe exactly and they came out dry and burned on the bottom. Nick gallantly ate them and said they tasted fine, but they weren't even close to how they turn out when his mom makes them. I was 9 weeks pregnant on Christmas Day and had been dreaming of these stuffing balls ever since eating them at Nick's parents' house for Thanksgiving, so was quite disappointed! but everything else was delicious, and for dessert, we had a Christmas-themed cookie cake that was a huge hit.
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| thankfully there were plenty of decorative rings on the cookie cake to go round |
the next day, we joined our friends for their traditional Boxing Day Chinese food feast. it makes for a very easy get-together as each family brings takeout to share and we just enjoy each other's company.
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| the kids table |
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| lots of snuggles for my sweet goddaughter! |
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| Greta spent close to an hour rocking her. little babies always bring out the sweetness in my sourpatch kid! |
and the next day, which was Saturday, we drove out to Nick's parents to celebrate Christmas with his side of the family.
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| Cece knows how to travel in luxury |
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| Nana always fills our stockings with the best treats (yes, Nick and I still get stockings too) |
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| big hugs for Aunt Becca after opening her Barbie camper van |
on Sunday, we had tickets for the matinee performance of the Nutcracker. attending the Nutcracker is a rite of passage for Will children -- at four, Elizabeth was deemed old enough to join us, and she was so excited. I always wait to buy tickets until the half-price sale at the beginning of November and thus was able to score seats just a few rows back from the front. Elizabeth was entranced the entire time, especially by the Sugar Plum Fairy and also all of the children from the Pittsburgh Ballet School who dance in the production.
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| Elizabeth chose her tutu dress to wear, naturally |
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| Nick joined us shortly after we took this selfie. see Elizabeth's sticker that she was given on the way in? so cute! |
we wrapped up the month with more gifts from out-of-town relatives, and a dusting of snow just generous enough to test out Vickie's new sled!
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| from my Auntie Kris |
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| from my mom (also, this was the point at which I started Cece on antibiotics for her cheek -- it was getting progressively more red, warm, and tender -- poor thing!) |
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| they love their new waffle jammies! |
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| "mush! mush!" |
and finally, one of my biggest delights of the season is sending, receiving, and displaying Christmas cards. we had quite a few more cards this year than last and our display spilled out from the garland onto the walls on either side. the best kind of problem to have!
and just like that, another Christmas in the books!
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