kim through
   the looking glass

Yeah, I know. It’s January 24th and I’m just now talking about Christmas.

What can I say? Having people at home during the day means I don’t feel like blogging so much!

WARNING: PHOTO-INTENSIVE POST!

Anyways, my Christmas began with having my sister, Becky, overnight and enjoying a long-anticipated visit with her. We haven’t seen her since … I’m drawing a blank, but it’s been a long time! I know it was well before Gwen’s birthday, anyways.

We made a wreath together that is still hanging proudly on my front door and I think she enjoyed spending some time with Gwen!

It was a bizarre Christmas morning - the first I haven’t spent at my parents and the first I haven’t spent with my whole family. It was good, just odd … and I’m not sure how much I enjoyed it!

And our impromptu mantle - the unfinished doorway between the living room and dining room!

I opted, since I was hosting my parents for Christmas dinner, to serve a midday meal instead of a later one. This was partially because the thought of being in the kitchen prepping Christmas dinner @ 5:30 with a toddler was horrifying, and partly because I love the idea of having everything eaten and cleaned up before 6 … you can enjoy the whole evening!

Here I am, 31 weeks pregnant, with Gwen in the sling. She wanted to know what I was doing! In this picture, I’m making Peppermint Hot Chocolate in the crockpot.

And here is, I think, one of my all-time favourite pictures of Gwen and I!

Dave, my brother-in-law, and I decided to go somewhat non-traditional with the turkey. We chose a Bacon-Wrapped Turkey served with pear cider gravy, mashed potatoes, and a salad with pear cider vinaigrette. My mom brought a pumpkin pie for dessert to finish off the meal.

If you are ever looking for a ridiculously good way to prepare a turkey, THIS IS IT! It was sooooooo good. Oddly, the turkey cooked MUCH quicker than we anticipated that it would and was nearly finished by about 2:30pm. It was a whirlwind, but we had everything ready and we were eating but when Gwen woke up from her nap around 3:00, we were setting the table and putting the finishing touches on the meal, which we sat down to about 3:30pm. It was a fantastic spread!

After the meal was eaten and dishes done, we sat down to open presents. Thankfully, we were able to keep the presents to a dull roar From Auntie Becky, Gwen received a set of Vilac Letter Magnets, which she loves to carry around. Sadly, she calls most of the letters ‘P’.

From my parents, Gwen received a beautiful wooden desk, some paper and stacking farm finger crayons!

I love this picture - she totally loves this desk!

These crayons are awesome - they have animal faces on them and they stack. How much better does it get?

Brad and I got Gwen a xylophone, a few books, and Wonderworld’s Eco-Friendly My First Train. We got each of her gifts either free from relatives or at a garage sale that we went to before she was born!

You can see the train in that picture, although she’s more interested in the desk

We didn’t do much for the adults - I knit my mom a few small-sized Christmas cloths, I knit my dad a remote caddy for their couch, and gave Brad a tool belt!

All in all, it was a wonderful, simple, low-key celebration. Just what I needed this year!