Leighton’s 2nd Christmas was every bit as fun as I thought it would be! I feel like I hear it all the time, but the holidays truly are infinitely  more magical once you have a child to experience them with. We spent well over a week celebrating with my family and then with Craig’s in Nashville, and it was a wonderful way to make it last just a little longer.

We had a little family dinner and gifts at our house with my parents, brother and sister-in-law before the two of them went out of town. Leighton spent the majority of the night begging for iced tea from Grandpa’s cup and playing with him in her kitchen. He was down on the floor eating fake food and having a ball with her, which was such a fun sight.

To take a break from cooking for the week, we had a somewhat low-key Christmas Eve with my parents at Atlanta Fish Market. Leighton was pretty restless and ended up sitting on the floor behind another table of people, just playing with her lunchbox. She doesn’t really appreciate a good meal yet. 🙂

We came home and put her right to bed so we could set up for Christmas morning. This was the first time I’ve been really excited to set up Santa’s gifts, and we couldn’t wait to see what she thought of everything the next morning. She’s still way too young to understand what is going on, but the anticipation was exciting nonetheless. Seeing this photo almost makes me wish we could keep our tree up all year. Except not really, because pine needles were everywhere. Also, Craig picked out her dish washer on his own and didn’t tell me about it until we put her gifts out. I love that he thought of something he knew she’d absolutely love, because she’s obsessed with helping unload the real one.

Leighton made a beeline for her new table and chairs and then set her sights on her fancy new dish washer. She was clearly very excited once she figured out what it was, and it even has a button to turn it on the wash cycle. She wasn’t much for gift opening, but she did dig into her stocking and carried her new sippy cup and bag of Yogis while we opened gifts. She racked up with a portable DVD player for the car (Santa hoped that it would be helpful on the upcoming drive to Nashville), a magnet board and fabric alphabet magnets, a growth chart, some clothes, board books, and a puzzle. She also got some fun goodies in her stocking, which has always been my favorite part. Coco was very pleased with her big bone, a toy, and an assortment of treats.

After our little family Christmas at home, we drove up to my parents’ house for a big breakfast and opening presents in our pjs. I hope this is a tradition that we’ll continue for years to come! Leighton wasn’t at all interested in opening presents there, either, so she pulled Grandpa outside to play on her new slide and wander around in the yard. Both were happy as clams. 😉

The day after Christmas, we drove up to Nashville to spend the next several days with Craig’s family. We had such a nice time, and despite having lots of plans to see friends and family, it actually felt pretty relaxing. We ate a lot of home-cooked meals, Leighton had some serious play time with family, we got to see a couple of my best girlfriends and visit one of their new homes (and her new puppy!), and even managed to take a few freezing walks around the neighborhood in the mornings.

Leighton was a huge fan of her new shopping cart, if you couldn’t tell from the photos below. She hilariously kept trying to get inside it like she does at the grocery store.

Her DVD player and new lift-the-flap book saved our delayed trip on the way home, thanks to some extra traffic outside of Atlanta. We had such a wonderful Christmas week, and it was sad to see it all come to an end. But it was also fun to end the year on such a great note, spent with family and some dear friends. I am already looking forward to the holidays next year!