Hey guys!! I’m finally sitting down to write this blog at 3am… that’s how it’s been the last few days trying to get everything done. I CAN’T wait until I can just kick back and relax with my boys for a few days!!! I’ve had the Christmas tunes on, W network feel good Hallmark movies on and doing a bunch of baking!! It’s definitely starting to feel like Christmas!! I can’t wait for more rest, cuddles, Christmas traditions new and old and more baking!!!

As you might have heard me talk about in my stories we are hosting Christmas Eve dinner tonight. We are having ALL of Gary’s family over as well as my mom and my sister. This is the first year we are hosting everyone and I can NOT be more excited!!! The table is set, the dessert is made (I went all out and made two kinds of cheesecake in mason jars so everyone can have their own, some chocolate peanut butter Rice Krispies, cookie dough truffles and a white chocolate raspberry crumble) and the house is clean!! I love that we will be spending Christmas here this year and our main priority is to rest, relax and enjoy ALL the cuddles we can with baby Pierce!!! My schedule has been jammed pack lately so I literally want to spend the ENTIRE day in our pj’s just watching movies, holiday baking championships, sipping wine and spending time with our friends and family.

Leading up to Christmas has been SO fun with Pierce. We took him downtown for a few days and went to Glow Vancouver, The Christmas Market, VanDusen Gardens, the tree displays at The Four Seasons and we did some shopping along Robson. That definitely got us in the spirit of the holiday season!!!

Gary and I also also took Pierce up to the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish for Brunch with Santa, some fun activities and photos with Santa!!! I am SO so happy with how they turned out.. everyone is smiling and looks great!! Always a large feat when that happens haha. Pierce was such a champ and did SO well sitting on mama’s lap but as soon as I tried doing one on my own and Tara the photographer suggested maybe Pierce could sit on Santa’s lap he had a meltdown. But he came back and we got a smile out of him!!

Christmas morning we will wake up here as a family of three and see what Santa brought for Pierce!! By the looks of it I think Santa didn’t do too shabby haha. With Pierce’s birthday just passing on December 9th we decided to hold off on a few presents and keep them for him to open on Christmas. Of course we do our stockings, that’s the best part right?? My parents and sister and Gary’s parents then come over once we finish up our thing and open presents altogether. We host a Brunch for everyone and make eggs and hash browns and mimosas and coffee and baileys and have so much fun. This is a new tradition we started a couple years ago and it’s definitely stuck. I look forward to us all being together in our Christmas jammies and now we get to see how excited Pierce will be to run around, opening the boxes, climbing into them and playing with everything!!

My mom always made Christmas really special for my sister and I and I just hope that I can do the same for Pierce and Gary!! I admire how much my mom did as a single mom and I am so inspired by her. She always hosted a house full of people and her cooking is SO delicious!!! We always go over to her house for Christmas dinner and I ALWAYS look forward to everything she makes from her delicious gravy, to the turkey and creamy mashed potatoes… I’m getting hungry just thinking of it!!! All of our family comes including all of my aunts, uncles, cousins and Gary’s mom and step dad as well!!! I LOVE that we can all be there to spend Christmas together and especially for Pierce to have everyone he loves with him.

To finish off the Christmas celebrations we will spend Boxing Day relaxing at home and a nice quiet dinner enjoying all of the leftovers from two beautiful dinners!!

This year I really want to maintain balance throughout the holidays (we wrote a blog with tips here that might help you practice mindfulness and balance) and stay present and focus on what truly matters… Peace, joy and love this time of year!!

Gary is off until the new year and I have everything scheduled to take that time off to spend with him and Pierce just having some downtime, lots of cuddles, playtime, movies, and spending quality time together!! I hope that you can have a chance to relax and slow down a little to stay present!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! Wishing you all lots of love and light!!!

What are you doing for Christmas? How are you juggling your time with your families?

Natalie xoxo