Merry Christmas - I'm so in love

Last year at this time, kids weren't even a possibility.  Yet, here I sit, with the two most precious presents I could have ever hoped for.  Max and Rosie helped to make this Christmas a very special one.

Every year I found myself crying on Christmas day - saddened that our house wasn't filled with family.  Don't get me wrong- David and Nittany are incredible company, but I always felt something was missing.  This year - I had no time to think, let alone to have a feeling other than overwhelmed.

On Christmas Eve, I thought it would be a great idea to decorate sugar cookies.  I'm not going to lie - it was for me.  I wanted to do something that makes me feel calm and relaxed.  It was a creative outlet I haven't had in a while.  David was so wonderful about watching and feeding the babies so I could have the time to make the cookies.  My awesome coworkers taught us all how to make the cookies in years passed, but this year I was on my own.  Their expert instruction led me to some beautiful creations.  Mom bought me a new cookie cutter this year, so we had ornament shapes as well.

In the early evening, David and I exchanged gifts and I was happy to open Max and Rosie's gifts too.  They were spoiled rotten and received fantastic items from family and friends.  Luckily, Grandma V. remembered Nittany - because we sure didn't.  She was entertained with her new toy and stayed out of our way for at least 5 minutes!

Max and Rosie got to wear another adorable Christmas outfit - this one from our friend, Robin.  When we got these at the baby shower in September, I couldn't even conceive that they would be wearing them!  

Daddy says Rosie had too much egg nog - hence the head holding!

To make it feel more like Christmas, we made some hot chocolate, put on Santa hats and packed into the car to go look at the lights in Hastings Ranch.  It was a nice night - and a car ride always puts everyone to sleep.

Because I'm crazy - or because we spent so many holidays with just the two of us, I decided to host Christmas dinner.  We only had 3 people over, but it was quite an undertaking with two babies and a very helpful dog.  All our guests brought delicious dishes, so it made it a bit easier.  Although it was a lot of work, I'm glad that we had people over.  It was so much more festive than it would have been.  That being said, we missed our family across the country and wished that we could have been with everyone.

It's hard to believe that next year the twins will be mobile at this time!  Good thing we got Elf on the Shelf to help keep them in line next December!