Snapshots of Our Christmas 2018 ♥

Christmas for us this year was quiet, just the way I like it to be honest. I've finally realised that the part of Christmas I like most is not actually Christmas Day itself, but the calmness and quiet of Christmas Eve (the only day of the year when both of my children are well behaved at the same time!) and the slow and steady build up of excitement in the days before that I love most.

I could take or leave Christmas Day really... yes it's lovely seeing the boys open their Santa presents and being excited about all their lovely new things, but as a whole I find Christmas Day to be quite busy, a rush and exhausting - I went to bed at half eight this Christmas Day! I'm getting old!

One Christmas activity I loved this year and which is an annual tradition of ours, was decorating a woodland Christmas tree - only this year we decorated two. We were able to decorate them as a family too - last year it was only Tyler and I (click here to see our woodland Christmas tree the Christmas before) and I was so pleased to see Beau taking an interest in them, playing with the decorations and wanting to hang them on the trees. 

I loved how the pictures turned out from our little woodland decorating session and I loved how the boys were dressed - Beau was an ultimate little festive babe in his knitted set, the last year he'll be able to wear anything like that - *sob*! The set is one of my favourite knitted pieces ever and was knit by a lovely lady I've followed and purchased off of many times before, @knitbylesley over on Instagram. The little holly details just made it perfection. I'm saving this for any future babies or grandchildren I may have!

I'm so glad I started this Christmas tradition for us and will continue to do it each year as long as the kids want to get involved.

Christmas Day came and went in a blur and tired haze. The boys were delighted with their Christmas presents from Santa and would have played all day only we had to leave to go to my grandparents for Christmas dinner. We walked there because I think it's important to get some exercise and fresh air each day (not just for the kids but for me too!). Despite bringing my camera with me I took no pictures on Christmas Day and I never do. It's a shame, but I think it's the one day of the year where I'm present in the moment (no pun intended!) rather than being behind a lens, so I'll forgive myself.

On St. Stephen's Day we went to my mother's house for dinner and delicious it was! This Christmas is the first that I've readily asked people to take pictures of me. In fact, I love people taking pictures of me now. I was glad to get a few snaps of me with the kids, having been missing from so many photographic moments over the years.

I know I'll treasure these photos in years to come.

So those were some snapshots of our Christmas 2018. A quiet one, but filled with lots of lovely moments. Tyler has a few days left of Christmas holidays and we've spent a lot of time outdoors so far, which has been great. I'm not sure if I'm ready for the busyness of school runs again, so I'll relish these last few days of calm (in between the boys squabbles and whinging of course!) before we have to get back to reality!

I hope you and yours had a lovely Christmas and a very Happy New Year!