Lily was so excited about Christmas Eve that I couldn’t keep her still for a photo. She was literally squealing with joy. I was pretty excited too as we got to spend it with the Darlings, our beloved cousins.

I had forgotten how fast Lily can be. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her move like this. And she’s gotten taller. So it now takes about two steps for her to dart out of a room and down the hall. I got a lot of exercise chasing after her that night.  And I was so grateful.  Watching her run around giggling felt like a Christmas miracle given how she was doing last year at this time.

She was adamant about having her hair up in a bun with a silver hair tie.

Christmas Day she was feeling a little hungover from the previous evenings excitement. So we took it easy. Opened presents. Ate pancakes (courtesy of Stephen). And opened more presents. For lunch we went to Benihana. I think Stephen and I were more excited about it than Lily. We didn’t even realize that there was a Benihana restaurant in Manhattan until we started researching places to eat. Lily enjoyed the flying shrimp and the onion volcano, but not as much as the adults did!

Christmas day: Hibachi fun!

The rest of the day we chilled out at home – playing with our toys, reading our new books, wearing our fabulous new jewelry and feeling very loved.

Wearing her favorite bracelets (courtesy of Auntie Angela) while chatting with Grandma on Christmas Day.

For New Year’s Eve, we will likely have a crazy fun party. In mommy talk this means popping popcorn, watching High School Musical and in bed by 9. A pretty perfect sounding evening for me and my girl.

To everyone who showered my girl with love this holiday season: thank you! Lily felt so very special.  And so did I!

Big hugs,

C & L