christmas fun! | swinging | bunny girl

I love, love, love Christmastime! Many of my fondest memories involve twinkly colored lights, the smell of pine, holiday decorations, presents galore, Christmas carols (particularly an ancient album of really hokey kids' music), great food, and my little sister Kristen and I finding new and unusual ways to celebrate the season - which for us, often started around August.

Well, now I'm all grown up (sort of) with a family of my own, and it's my turn to help make the holidays a magical time for my little girl. So this past Sunday we bought ourselves a little 5 foot tree, cranked up the Christmas music, and got to decorating as best as we could, considering Elliott would rather eat ornaments than admire them. We set up the tree in our screened in porch, right in front of one of the glass doors for our viewing pleasure. It looks so cute and it totally put me in the holiday spirit! Ellie watched us decorate with a look on her face that clearly said "what are these idiots doing?" but she played along afterward, taking in the glorious beauty of our very first Christmas tree as a family!

Checking out the tree (12/13)

The following day found us at the park near the community garden Ryan runs. It was a balmy 70 degrees outside and a completely gorgeous day! Elliott enjoyed her first time swinging at the playground. She was timid about it at first, but soon got into the groove and just enjoyed the ride. She made little "pfffffff" sounds the whole time, which she does when she's happy (you can sort of tell from the following photo). I think she would have stayed in there all day long if I'd let her!

I love the swing! (12/14)

And finally, I just had to include this adorable photo taken just an hour ago of Ellie in the bunny pajamas (check out the feet) that my friend Jackie gave her. The funny part is that prior to seeing the camera she was bawling, but once I started snapping shots she was suddenly a happy little angel!

Thanks for the pj's, Miss Jaclyn! (12/15)