A Very Milam Christmas 2013

       I thought I should make a pit stop and share some images from the holidays with y'all. Our Christmas season was busy and chaotic, just like most are. We tried to fit in a fair share of festivities, but also kept life as simple as we could. I had just about all of my shopping done by Thanksgiving, which helped relieve some of the holiday pressures. If you didn't get a card from us, you weren't forgotten. I just couldn't pull it off this year.
       I think there is so much pressure on us to do soooo much during the holidays. From Elf on the Shelf, homemade Advent calendars, Polar Express outings, family photo shoots so that you have just the perfect holiday card, holiday pajamas, fancy party outfits, and the list goes on.  This year I was really feeling like it was all just a bit too much. I was really and truly trying to just keep it all together. Despite all of the pressures, it really was a very blessed season for us. Our little family had so much to celebrate and be thankful for.

Quincy had her first encounter with the big guy this year. 

Nolan wouldn't get close, and I didn't pressure him.

He did however really enjoy the candy canes Santa was giving out.
He proceeded to talk about candy canes the whole month of December.

Nope, my kids just aren't the type that embrace Kris Kringle.

My resort does it up every holiday season.

Jon brought the kiddos by one evening so that Nolan could have  

a gander at our Gingerbread village, complete with a train.

Jon was just barely able to have Thanksgiving Day off and we 

were very thankful to have him with us.

We lucked out again when we thought he might have to stay over at work on Christmas,

 but didn't. He was working on Christmas Eve,

 so we joined the guys and the other families at the station

for a Christmas Eve dinner (the guys did all the cooking!). 

       Our Christmas' will probably never be filled with the same exact traditions year in and year out. That's something that I'm trying to come to grips with. Many years, Jon will be working on Christmas (in 2014, he'll be working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), and we'll have to flex our plans accordingly. This year we decided to forgo a rushed trip to the bay area to be with my family, because it's a lot for our kids (and us) at this age. Next year, I will surely be out of town with the kiddos while Jon is at work. But what I already learned this year, is that it truly doesn't matter which day we celebrate. As long as we take a day together to celebrate as a family. Waking up without Jon at home with us on Christmas morning was made much easier by the fact that he was getting off and would be home to join us soon. 

        Nolan really just started to comprehend Christmas and all of it's magic this year. On Christmas Eve, I couldn't get the kid into his bed, but after explaining that Santa and the reindeer needed him tucked in before they could arrive, he was happy to oblige. He helped me set out a cookie, some brownie bites for the reindeer, and a glass of milk. He then asked me to close his bedroom door so that Santa couldn't get in. 

       First thing in the morning, I heard him stirring in the living room. 

I entered to find him checking out the leftovers from the night prior.

He was happy to help finish off the bits that Santa and Rudolph left behind.

The kids and I made some quiche and set out breakfast,

waiting for dad to arrive home.

I figured it was best to snap a couple of pics of the kids while I could.

This is Quincy's new trick.

Nolan really became the gift opener extraordinaire.

He may or may not have opened a gift at one point and said,

"this can't be for me…it's clothes".

Oh, the Christmas spirit at it's finest.

       More then anything this year, I was reminded of how much we have. Too much really. We are so blessed and fortunate. It was certainly a time to reflect on how content we should be with all that we've been given (health and family, not physical gifts).  We spent the remainder of the day watching a movie as the kids napped, and then making some homemade ribs. It was lazy. And simple. And great.

Christmas 2011

       I spent the New Years weekend taking down our Holiday decorations. It feels good to have them down; it's a fresh and clean start for 2012. Before I talk about resolutions though I wanted to share with you our Christmas. 
       Our Christmas 2011 was simple but sweet. We were showered with more gifts then I ever expected, but it was a big reminder that the gifts are such an unimportant part of the holiday. As we create traditions in the coming years for our family, I hope to keep the emphasis off of the gifts and on the Spirit and meaning of the holiday. Our tree actually ended up quite a bit fuller then I expected.

I loaded up on wrapping paper after Thanksigiving, 

and had fun with the wrapping.

(Ugh....all that wood paneling. Isn't that illegal in 2011?)

One day, I came home for work to see this under the tree, 

and I had not put it there. 

Apparently Jon had been doing some shopping of his own.

I did a little bit of decorating around the house, but mainly just used materials I had

and kept it cheapy-deapy.

I decided that I wanted to continue a tradition that we have in my family.

We received an ornament each year, 

so that when we moved out to start our own families 

we had lots of meaningful ornaments to fill the tree. 

I saw this one in town and I had to get it for Buzz!

Hopefully it lasts a couple of decades until he's on his own.

Jon worked a 48 hour shift on Christmas Eve Eve & Christmas Eve

so we had to tweak our Christmas plans a bit. 

Nolan and I met Jon at the station on Christmas Eve

and we all had dinner with a few of the other fire families. 

We also had to tweak our gift opening. 

Instead of opening our gifts on Christmas morning,

we opened them a few evenings beforehand with champagne instead of coffee!

Jonny had a surprise under the tree. 

He got the power tools that he had been drooling over. 

I tried to fool him by wrapping some of the tools separately in smaller boxes.

After he opened the second tool though,

he was on to me.

I snuck away to bring him one last package,

with the remaining tools inside.

(Despite his expression, he was quite excited).

But he was just as excited to see Nolan open his special gift.

Probably the first of many bikes under our roof over the next few years!

Christmas love is better then any gift love though.

When Jon got off shift on Christmas morning, 

he came home and we packed up (quickly!) and headed to the bay to see my family.

We snapped a family photo before everyone else arrived and it got totally crazy.

It was a day of kiddos and merriment.

The decorations are all put away now

 but I still have a few repairs to make. 

I'm probably not the only mother of a toddler out there with this issue.

I'll be working on getting these glued up, 

and packed away with everything else these next few days.

On Wednesday I'll be sharing our goals for 2012!

A Whole Lotta Christmas

       Well, we've got a whole lotta December happenings to share with you all. The past few weeks have been hectic with all the getting-ready-for-the-holidays mania. A bad cold virus swept through the Milam house this past week, which certainly sidelined us for a few day, but we've pushed on with the decorating, celebrating, baking, shopping, and wrapping. And quite frankly, I'm totally pooped. I'm glad that there is just one more week before the blessed day and before my to-do list gets to be a bit shorter. 

  The week after Thanksgiving we took full advantage of a day off together

to get lots of Holiday goodness done. First up was chopping down our tree.

For the 5th year in a row we opted to head into the woods to find our tree. 

This year we didn't venture too far from our house

 before we found a nice patch to choose from.

We found the tree in just a few minutes.

Definitely our quickest tree hunt to date. 

The cold temperatures were our biggest motivator. 

Don't be mislead by the bright sun, it was a very cold day.

Here's the beauty we settled on.

Okay, kidding.

Ours was of the much smaller variety.

Jon got to cutting while Nolan and I headed to the car to stay warm.

Just a few minutes later Jon had the tree in the back of  the truck,

and we were on our way home to get it trimmed!

The light snowfall so far this season

is starting to get people concerned 

but I don't mind one bit. 

Maybe we're having a dry December to make up for the snowy June we had this year.

The ground was dry and brown this year when we went out.

And here's what it looked like last year, 

when we chopped down our tree on December 5th.

After we got home, Jon and I got to trimming

while Nolan took a perfectly timed nap.

When he woke up our little elf was happy to discover a twinkling tree 

in what is normally his playroom.

Next up, we were off to see Santa.

We heard that Santa was going to be in downtown Tahoe City, 

so we bundled up and headed out. 

Santa was a friend (he organizes the Graeagle trip that we take each Fall).

Nolan stayed safe on my lap, 

so there were no waterworks with this Santa visit.

A photographer took a photo of all of us

(although we had a bit of sticker shock when we found out the price for this!), 

and it now sits framed on our Christmas mantle.

Three out of four looking at the camera ain't bad. 

This year I had high hopes for our Holiday card. 

Okay, I always have high hopes for our Holiday card.

I envisioned us, sitting on one of our bikes, riding through the snowy woods,

in some quirky playful sort of way.

So in late November, I wrangled our friend Lindy to come over

 and take some shots of us and in exchange we made them dinner.

We all headed up the hill

to a location in the woods that Jon and I had scouted earlier in the day,

and took some photos before we lost daylight.

Lindy worked some magic with the camera, 

but we were sadly reminded that we are not models.

No. Siree.

We are just regular old people, 

needing to take a cool photo. 

There were many outtakes.

Exhibit 1: Open mouth + Nolan looking at the ground.

Exhibit 2: We're so crazy and fun (not)+Nolan's shoe fell off.

Exhibit 3: closed eyes + odd face.

Luckily we found one that we were happy with,

so I got to ordering and putting ours together.

This is what my little workshop has looked like most of December.

I fit in a few minutes here and there during nap time to work

on some decorating projects too. 

I worked some magic on this old frame

(which was left for FREE in front of a neighbors house)

with some materials I already had at the house,

into a place to hang our incoming Christmas cards.

And I've definitely been doing lots of baking.

Our house runneth over with baked goods and chocolate!

We captured the traditional tears-on-santa's-lap pictures

at Jon's Meeks Bay holiday party. 

He wanted nothing to do with it!

What can I say? My kid's passionate.

Nolan did like Santa a bit more when he 

realized that Santa had given him a little goodie bag.

Oh, but that wasn't the end of our holiday tears!

On Saturday night, for the second year in a row we attended our 

friends baby friendly cookie exchange.

At the end of the night, we attempted the infamous group shot. 

My boy was the only one that didn't want to participate. 

He was off that couch in 5 seconds flat

(notice how all other babies sit quietly).

Jon gave it one more attempt with Nolan behind the couch, 

but that didn't go so well either.

Jon is working at a station on Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve-Eve 

this year, so our holiday plans are slightly up in the air. 

Not even sure yet when we'll be able to open our gifts!

When he gets off on Christmas morning, 

we'll be be throwing ourselves in the car and heading to the

Bay Area to celebrate with my family.

Here's to a Merry Christmas to you and yours!

I'll be back to share more pics from our holiday celebrations this year!