Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Catching up on Christmas


We are pretty much done with shopping! Joe had yesterday off and we hit the mall. All purchased gifts are purchased. I am working on a few homemade gifts the rest of the week.

I am a little disappointed with myself though, I had great plans for all the Christmas things I was going to do this year. I didn't even get cards out and I usually do. Gwen was very uncooperative with taking a nice photo. We did not even attempt a visit with Santa this year. And to top it off I did absolutely no baking of my own.

When I was younger I had these grand visions of what Christmas would be like when I was married and had kids. I pictured huge family parties with music and tons of amazing food. I wanted it to be just like when I was a kid. I am sorry to say that this is not what my Christmas or any holiday for that matter, looks like now. After my Grandma (dad's mom) passed away there was a division in the family and it has never been resolved. So no big holiday parties any more.

I know, now that I have my own daughter, I need to start developing my own family traditions. It is just hard to envision the holidays without all my family though. It is even difficult to get together with my older brother and his family. Maybe when we get a house, we can host the big events. Until then though, I will just have to cherish the memories of holidays past. I need to enjoy the ones at hand and make them memorable for Gwen. I want her to look back and remember how wonderful they were for her. They are about her now and making memories with and for her.

Tomorrow we are heading to Chicago to visit the Christkindlmarket. I am sad to say that I have never been. I even worked on Michigan Avenue for two years and passed the market when I would get off the train. Joe has the day off, so we are going to bundle Gwen up and take her to see it. A new family tradition begins tomorrow (I will post picts tomorrow night, I hope!).

Have a good rest of your evening.

Nikki

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