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some life.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, guys!  I wanted to pop in! I have so many blog posts I want to write, but I’m enjoying spending 95% of my time caring for baby girl.  I am starting to crave some time for me to get some work done, so I’m hoping I’ll get out of my own way and let someone else watch Jo for a bit next week.  Even if I know she’s well cared for…it’s hard to not be with her all the time even if I know a bit of time alone would allow for me to care for her better.

We spent Christmas Eve with Andrew’s parents in the Chappell Hill (Texas..not North Carolina haha).

Sally planned a cupcake decorating contest for the girls.  Sally made these Christmas tree cupcakes out of melted chocolate and I thought they were gorgeous!

Some meals were a lunch of salmon + cauliflower + garlic bread…

..and an EPIC EPIC EPIC Christmas Eve dinner of beef tenderloin with peppercorn cream sauce + popovers + crispy potatoes + salad + gorgonzola pears.

Molly has been sick both times we have seen her so she unfortunately hasn’t gotten to hold Jojo yet :( We’re hoping to plan a trip to visit her in January when she’s feeling better.

Christmas morning we packed up and headed back into Houston to spend the day at my parents.

One of the highlights of my Christmas was that Marco finally got to meet Joanna! They had their first espresso together. 

So sweet.

For Christmas lunch we walked down the street to my cousin’s house.

This time of year, the time between Christmas and New Years, is so weird.  I always feel confused as to what to do with myself/what day it is.  Starting on Christmas Eve Eve Joanna had 4 rough nights of sleep in a row so that has left me even more confused as to what day it was.  Last night she finally gave us a decent sleep stretch, 5 hours, so I’m feeling way more recharged than I have been.  Andrew is off work until the New Year, so we’ve been enjoying our family time together with coffee dates…

I’m getting more and more comfortable feeding Joanna in public.  Before I had to spend 5 minutes psyching myself up to feed her by telling whoever I’m with, “okay I think I’m gonna feed her now.  I’m gonna do it.  Here we go.”  But now I just pick her up and get her situated without saying anything.  When we’re out at a restaurant or coffee shop I do look for a table that’s in a corner/more private so I feel more comfortable.

…and one night we had my sisters and their husband/fiancé over for pizza and Mario Kart playing. 

This is the old Nintendo64 Mario Kart lol.  It’s what I asked Andrew for for Christmas and it’s just as awesome as I remember!!!

Sister’s over = diaper changing help!

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary! Andrew and I are awful at remembering our anniversary and I didn’t remember until a friend texted telling us “Happy Anniversary!” haha.  One of my cousin is getting married today! YAY! So we’re spending the morning at home before heading that way. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful end to their holiday season.  While I usually feel like holding on to the holidays as long as possible and feel sad when they end…this year I’m ready to move on to the New Year! I’m ready for Joanna to keep growing up and sleeping a bit more.  People keep telling me, “this time with a newborn goes by so fast.” And I’m like, “it HAS to go by fast because otherwise all mankind would die off from sleep deprivation.”

I’m hoping to get up a post or two more before the New Year, but we’ll see how life goes :) Thanks for hanging in here with me while I figure out life with baby girl! 

16 comments

  1. What a wonderful holiday weekend! I love any posts you share but am absolutely patient and understand that life is different and a bit unpredictable right now. I hope you are able to sleep more and feel better soon! All of the food looks amazing, but I’m especially loving that popover – it looks so good! Have a beautiful day and a wonderful New Year’s!

  2. Happy anniversary to you and Andrew!
    Fingers crossed Joanna will get back to a sleep schedule more comfortable for you soon. Must have been something about Christmas Eve because my colleague told me her little one – a bit more than a year old – has been driving her crazy not falling asleep until way late into the night. Boundless energy … only not on my poor colleague’s side. You mums are really doing the toughest job.
    Don’t stress about those posts. It’s so very understandable you’d need time to yourself and for your family right now. Life > blogging, always.

  3. The picture of you feeding little Jo is SO beautiful! So natural and just lovely. Happy holidays. :)

  4. Having a newborn through the holidays is pure magic.
    My baby Baz turned two on December 12th, and I cannot fathom how it’s been two years already.
    The old adages about time flying are true, but what they don’t tell you is that the minutes feel like years.
    From reading your posts since Joanna’s birth, it sounds like she is just as difficult a sleeper as my baby boy was, and I promise you it does even out eventually. I look back on the first three months he was here, and I probably got a collective twelve hours of sleep the whole 12 weeks. It was madness, but you’re right. It’s a temporary madness otherwise, mankind would cease procreating altogether.
    I hope you continue to soak it all in and remember to be easy on yourself. As a fellow reformed perfectionist in ED recovery, it’s really easy for our negative self talk to creep back in as “mom guilt”. I’ve suffered a ton of it in the past two years, and only now am I realizing how nobody has it together, not even the people who claim they do, or look like they do on instagram. We’re all hot messes. Every . single. one. of. us.
    Best.
    Jess

  5. Happy Anniversary Kylie! Chappell Hill looks so pretty! I am not looking forward to the sleep deprivation part but hopefully it continues to get better :)

  6. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and all that stuff! Glad to hear you had a good time with your famjam. The picture of Jo and Marco and the espresso is too cute!! 

  7. You’re doing so great! That’s all I wanted to say. Great great great. It’s just all so. dang. hard.

    Merry Christmas and happy new year!

  8. Motherhood got easier for me as my babies got older. There IS a lot of truth to how quickly the time goes by. And you do miss/feel nostalgia for the times they are so tiny and snuggly. But for me personally, it was a lot better for my anxious personality when my kids were on a good schedule, and when they could tell/show me something was wrong.

    I feel like there is a lot of emphasis on ENJOY EVERY MOMENT THEY ARE ONLY NEWBORN ONCE IT FLIES BY etc etc. But I think its really important that new mothers also hear, Hey, its okay to say, WOW these first few months are REALLY hard. Scary, draining. The days might go by quickly, but when you spend only a few hours here and there sleeping, the days are also REALLY long. They blur together. You start wondering how other mothers survived this. You start feeling like the rest of the world is sleeping, living, coming and going at any speed they please, and

    you are in this little baby bubble, connected figuratively and literally to this little piece of your heart that lives outside your body. Its the most beautiful and the most heart wrenching time. As you said, getting some time away will be really great for you. And over time it will get easier. It will be a new normal.
    You are doing so fantastic, and I truly hope you know that. Motherhood shines on your face. and your daughter is so lucky to have you.

  9. I love all of your posts so much. I just had my LO a week ago and I’ve been going back and rereading all of your postpartum posts…it helps to know that I’m not the only one having sleepless nights ;-). I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

  10. Happy Anniversary!! I, too, get so confused about what to do with myself during the Christmas- New Year’s time hehe. It just feels like….you don’t want to work on any goals or big things because that’s what the new year is for so you kind of veg out and noodle around bc we all deserve it, dang it :)
    Glad you’ve been having so much nice family time! Also, I just have to say, you look absolutely beautiful, like GLOWING, and I have no idea how you’re doing this because when I’m sleep deprived I look like someone from The Walking Dead, but I’m guessing it has to do with just being a happy new mom :)

  11. Jo is so sweet! I love her little smile in the fifth picture.:)
    Merry Christmas!

  12. The time between Christmas and New Years is definitely weird, I agree. It’s Saturday, but it feels like I could just as easily be Monday or Friday.
    The old school Mario Cart looks like a lot of fun! Hope you have a happy New Year

  13. What a beautiful photo of you feeding Joanna in the coffee shop.

  14. Happy Anniversary!! It looks like you guys have had a great holiday season. I almost always take off about 2 weeks during Christmas and I always feel so RECHARGED by the time I get back to work. I have 3 days left now and while I slightly dread it, there is a part of me that is itching to get back to a normal routine. I would hate to see what would become of my life if everyday of it I was allowed to wear sweatpants and not do my hair. BUT …. it has been AWESOME! Take your time getting back to work, lady! We’ll be here when you’re ready. ;)

  15. Popovers – one of my favorites!!! And that cute little wave at the end, so sweet!

  16. Your posts always make me so happy! I’m so glad to hear you’re having a great time as a mother. God bless and a happy new year!

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