Considering this week was Christmas, it was decidedly uneventful. I mean, BESIDES Christmas. But we spent all of the 25th (and the 26th) in pajamas eating stocking candy and being as lazy as possible. Then I got the worst pregnancy headache of my life (aren’t you glad I announced so now I can complain about it all the time???) and barely moved for 2 more days, so there you have it. Uneventful.

Sunday:

At the casino for some shopping, donuts and examining a fake ice wolf

Sleeping beauty

I have eaten two of these in a week

Monday:

Watching the zamboni

Once she got the walker thing she did great

5 pm. THANK GOD the days are finally getting longer again.

Tuesday:

A Christmas cookie miracle!

Easiest baking ever

My favorite part of Christmas Eve

Wednesday:

Arming my children, one gift at a time

Presents bigger than the child herself

Blurrily playing their new Jake and the Neverland Pirates game

Thursday:

Christmas recovery: chugging water and watching HGTV

Wiggly tooth. He fell on his face. The dentist said he’s going to lose it and have a hole for a long time.

Nothing says “Happy Day After Christmas” like Taco Bell

Friday:

Two things in common: cuddles and technology

Using his new fan to dry Caroline’s nail polish

Saturday:

Apparently all the baby wants is fake Mexican food

Naps for those of us with migraines/exhaustion

I had a newborn session this week (an early Christmas present not due until January!) and another session scheduled for next week, and I’m surprised to find myself excited about it. I burned out a little after the fall and hardly picked up my camera during the holidays so I’m excited to get it out again. Plus I’ve got a pregnancy post to write and a What’s for Dinner post I never finished and like 10,000 words about the Walking Dead I’d like to write but will spare you because no one cares about a show that already happened even if I only just caught up on.

I should probably also get the kids out of the house before we all go nuts, but everyone is doing that so pretty much everywhere is full of parents with the same crazy look in their eyes counting the days until school vacation ends.  I’m hoping a Target run for some storage bins and and Icees for the kids will do the trick.

This week was actually way more interesting than it looks in iPhone photos. I just spent nearly all my free minutes with my headphones plugged into my phone listening to podcasts while I tried to get the disaster that is my house under control. I’m happy to report about a 50% improvement. It would be closer to 100 if there weren’t two small people who make more messes literally SECONDS after I clean them up.

Sunday:

I promise we did lots of things, but the only picture I have is the gingers helping me pick fabric at Joann’s.

Monday:

Princesses love iPads

Princesses also love paint dots

Tuesday:

Morning person

Practicing his long jump

Hugging her dog-brother

Wednesday:

This might not impress you, but that’s 50 cents less than the actual price, thanks to Stop & Shop points.

If they made the salted caramel kind I would be the happiest person EVER.

Mystic

Thursday:

This girl loves school, except for the days she doesn’t, in which case OMG THE SCREAMING.

Waiting very patiently for her brother.

Friday:

Princesses want their quesadilla RIGHT NOW.

I’m trying to decide if this stuff will look ridiculous in our slightly-smaller-scale dollhouse

Saturday:

THE EXTRA COUCH IS GONE AND MY LIVING ROOM LOOKS LIKE A LIVING ROOM!!

Finally started decorating – one week to go!

This week I am going to finish 90% of my Christmas shopping, bake a zillion things, decorate for Caroline’s birthday AND Christmas, have a coffee date with a friend, clean the house for my parents and my in-laws (yaaaaaaah!) and possibly dye my hair rose gold.

Today Evan’s school is canceled so we have the morning to decorate the Christmas tree the kids and I chopped down and brought home and got in the house ALL OUR OWN SELVES. Or really, my own self. The kids weren’t very good with the hand saw.

A short list of things of all sizes that I am thankful for right now:

1. Pie and yoga pants. Those count as one thing.

2. Podcasts. I would never clean anything in my house if it weren’t for podcasts. They are extremely distracting. A short list of my favorites: This American Life, How To Do Everything, Pop Culture Happy Hour, RadioLab, Stuff You Should Know, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and Planet Money. They make me feel smart.

3. A dishwasher. Doing all those Thanksgiving dishes by hand would have taken forever.

4. My children, who told me today they were most thankful for Mommy.

5. The moment when Evan told me he really believed in Santa…and then when he hugged me because I started crying. CHILDHOOD IS MAGIC.

6. Everyone who has supported me in any way as I started my photography business. It’s been (is) terrifying but I cannot wait to see how much it will grow in 2014.

7. Facebook. I am never lonely or bored or without validation when I have an internet connection.

8. Amazon Prime. Absolutely, totally, without question worth the subscription. The amount I save on shipping is crazy, although I’d probably buy a lot less stuff if I couldn’t get it in 2 days without having to go get my credit card from my wallet.

9. My husband, and the fact that he still goes to work every day to support us instead of running off the Mexico where the military will never find him. I almost wouldn’t blame him at this point.

10. Now it’s Christmas! SANTA. I KNOW HIM.

There are approximately 2 bazillionteen more things I am thankful for, but right now I’m thankful for warm coats and Starbucks since I promised the kids the aquarium, Santa, and the town tree lighting tonight.

Here are some not very good pictures of our boring, non-Pinterest, at-home Thanksgiving that I didn’t really edit and you probably don’t care about unless you are a relative very concerned we might not have had a proper meal on real plates at the table. Happy Thanksgiving!

I bought a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey and just sort of…winged it. Considering I was taking stuff in and out of the oven above and below the bird I’m shocked it came out delicious, with enough leftovers for sandwiches.

Potatoes with cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, bacon and chives > boring mashed potatoes

Wish bone! They failed.

CHEERS!

Don’t worry, it’s cranberry-apple sparkling cider, not “Mommy juice”.

MORE CHEERS!

Leftover begging face. It worked, obvs.

Time for pie!

The correct pie-eating method.

Caroline talked me into rented one of the Barbie animated movies – something about magic pink horses? – and it was just about as awful as you can imagine. I would rather watch one million episodes of My Little Pony than anything Barbie-themed ever again.

Sunday:

A bear, a Wuzzle and an angry bird walk into a bar…

Weird things I drank today: apple cider vinegar in grapefruit juice, chia seeds in lemon water.

Sleeping face.

Monday:

Mondays are royal occasions.

Greeting her subjects as they arrive home.

Hair stylist daddy brushes the ginger curls

Tuesday:

So much blue sky, so so cold

A recent family picture! It’s a miracle!

When that face says “pweeeeeeease??” I almost always say yes.

Wednesday:

The school’s Thanksgiving program was a fruit salad (my job was to send in a cantaloupe)…

And a performance of some songs about turkeys and family

Tiny Dunkin Fan.

Thursday:

Bus stop cuddles

Accurate Snow White portrayal

Friday:

Proof everyone – even Princesses – loves Target

I think there are some kids under all that hair

CLEARLY we needed an organizational system

Saturday:

Maybe the highlight of the week.

“Mommy I’m going to do my pose and Caroline is going to do her pose and you take a picture, OK?”

If I could go back in time and start househunting again in CT, I wouldn’t even consider anywhere but Mystic.

I can’t believe this week is Thanksgiving already, especially because right after Thanksgiving it’s December. I’m not ready for December. I need way more than 2 week to finish getting ready for Caroline’s birthday party…and WAY WAY more than 2 weeks after that before Christmas. I am not prepared. AT ALLLLLLL.

I set a goal for myself to take more interesting, photographically complex, technically strong iPhone photos, since those are all things I’m working on in my real photography. I failed. Maybe next week.

Sunday:

Waiting in line is boring. Thank goodness there are benches for lounging.

The Carle <3

Practicing their cheers

Monday:

The ticket cashier printed extra “tickets” for the kids and the ticket puncher punched their “tickets” for them. We love Metro-North.

You’ve seen this one, but my phone died in NY so I didn’t get many more.

Donut the size of his head.

Tuesday:

She’s obsessed with my glasses

Winter is coming. So is the bus.

Modeling her awesome hat and sweater.

Wednesday:

I have no idea what we did on Wednesday. Teeth brushing might have been the only thing.

Their new favorite bedtime book

Thursday:

Not very excited to be outside in the cold

Ignoring me.

Matching Christmas jams (just a little early)

Friday:

We are totally going back to do this again

My new favorite spot for evening pictures

Playground time before it gets too cold

Saturday:

DO I LOOK CUTE MOMMY?

First pony tail requires two pictures.

Bounce house birthday = kids who slept really great

I cannot even believe how fast November is going. I have less than a month until Caroline’s 3rd birthday party (princess themed this year!) and I’ve done almost nothing. THAT IS SO UNLIKE ME. I don’t even have invitations yet. If anyone has this work-life balance thing figured out let me know, because so far I suck at it – and I can do 75% of my work from my couch.