We were so grateful to be HOME for Christmas with our little Thai darling... but we were also jet-lagged and in the midst of a huge transition for Kate, so we kept things pretty low key this year (while still making precious family memories!) Despite our jet-lag, we managed to get the tree up on the 20th (with minimal decorations), and our mantle greenery, stockings, and one nativity scene up. We let go of a lot of fun Christmas traditions, but made time for decorating Christmas cookies (they may have just been the break apart kind, but our little one still had fun with the icing and sprinkles!) and managed to make a small (out of the box) red velvet birthday cake for Jesus (a precious family tradition from when I was a child).
Beyond that, we spent our days in our PJ's, snuggled up at home. Kate really, really liked our matching Christmas jammies, and insisted we wear them almost every day the week of Christmas (she would literally go find them in the hamper and bring them back to me and Rusty if we dared to take them off! Haha!) We spent a lot of time resting, attempting to unpack, playing with her, snuggling, and watching Christmas movies (which included watching Kate's choice of "Santa Buddies" at least 10 times a day!) We went out once to show her the Christmas lights at the zoo and to ride the train there. It was a short but sweet outing (she loved it! And she especially loved the snow machine we found on the way out of the zoo!) and I'm glad we gave it a try. We limited visits to close family so we didn't overwhelm her, and we tried to keep those visits short and spaced out. She did well though, and had some really sweet times with her Yaai & Dtah (my parents) and her Tutu (Rusty's mom, who came from Arkansas for a couple of days!)
Christmas morning was absolutely precious. For those of you who are family and close friends, I'm so glad you'll be able to see her face in the video above - she was ecstatic when she saw her gifts! We tried to limit the presents, but it's difficult to reign yourself in when you've waited 4 Christmases to spoil a child. So Santa brought her a kitchen set, small trampoline, Belle doll, some movies, and a few other small gifts.
She also got a traditional Thai outfit, a book about Thailand, and a beautiful vintage Thai Barbie (she liked playing with her - but not as much as she liked brushing our hair with her tiny brush! Haha!) Her favorite gift though, was a toy bunny that wiggles his ears and hops around!
There are so many memories from this holiday that I will cherish, but my favorite moments were when we were all snuggled up on the couch at night with popcorn for "movie time" together. Last Christmas Eve, Rusty held me on that couch as I cried because I missed Kate so badly. We spent so many nights snuggled up there, year after year, waiting on our girl. We would take all the cushions off so we'd both fit, and watch our favorite shows, and dream of how our life would look different once Kate was home.
"Do you think she'll fit on the couch with us?" I'd ask. "Do you think she'll like to snuggle?" The answer to both questions is YES. After a few nights of this tradition, Kate began to jump on the couch after dinner, pat the spot beside her, call us both over, and then point for each light to be turned off (except the tree). It meant so much to me that our family snuggle time has become one of her favorite things!
Merry Christmas darling! We're so glad you're HOME! We can't wait to make even more beautiful Christmas memories with you year after year! ❤️
There are cookies somewhere under all those sprinkles! ;)
Beyond that, we spent our days in our PJ's, snuggled up at home. Kate really, really liked our matching Christmas jammies, and insisted we wear them almost every day the week of Christmas (she would literally go find them in the hamper and bring them back to me and Rusty if we dared to take them off! Haha!) We spent a lot of time resting, attempting to unpack, playing with her, snuggling, and watching Christmas movies (which included watching Kate's choice of "Santa Buddies" at least 10 times a day!) We went out once to show her the Christmas lights at the zoo and to ride the train there. It was a short but sweet outing (she loved it! And she especially loved the snow machine we found on the way out of the zoo!) and I'm glad we gave it a try. We limited visits to close family so we didn't overwhelm her, and we tried to keep those visits short and spaced out. She did well though, and had some really sweet times with her Yaai & Dtah (my parents) and her Tutu (Rusty's mom, who came from Arkansas for a couple of days!)
Kate liked her little nativity, and loved to point out Baby Jesus!
Christmas morning was absolutely precious. For those of you who are family and close friends, I'm so glad you'll be able to see her face in the video above - she was ecstatic when she saw her gifts! We tried to limit the presents, but it's difficult to reign yourself in when you've waited 4 Christmases to spoil a child. So Santa brought her a kitchen set, small trampoline, Belle doll, some movies, and a few other small gifts.
She also got a traditional Thai outfit, a book about Thailand, and a beautiful vintage Thai Barbie (she liked playing with her - but not as much as she liked brushing our hair with her tiny brush! Haha!) Her favorite gift though, was a toy bunny that wiggles his ears and hops around!
Our Thai darling with her Thai Barbie!
There are so many memories from this holiday that I will cherish, but my favorite moments were when we were all snuggled up on the couch at night with popcorn for "movie time" together. Last Christmas Eve, Rusty held me on that couch as I cried because I missed Kate so badly. We spent so many nights snuggled up there, year after year, waiting on our girl. We would take all the cushions off so we'd both fit, and watch our favorite shows, and dream of how our life would look different once Kate was home.
"Do you think she'll fit on the couch with us?" I'd ask. "Do you think she'll like to snuggle?" The answer to both questions is YES. After a few nights of this tradition, Kate began to jump on the couch after dinner, pat the spot beside her, call us both over, and then point for each light to be turned off (except the tree). It meant so much to me that our family snuggle time has become one of her favorite things!
Merry Christmas darling! We're so glad you're HOME! We can't wait to make even more beautiful Christmas memories with you year after year! ❤️
