Christmas in the living room

Our baby's first Christmas.

Of course it was going to be special.  I just needed to capture a tiny piece of it.  A piece of her and a piece of them with her.  It was also our first Christmas in Florida.  We didn't bring much with us from Ohio, so we had to decorate with new things and buy a real Christmas tree from the Publix tree lot.  The kids were sad we didn't have our ornaments from home so I promised we would get them to Florida for next Christmas.  

Our Florida rental house was unfurnished. We had to purchase all of the necessities when we moved in.  While I love all the fresh new things, the kids miss our old stuff in Ohio.  Bren was able to bring us a few things from home when he came in November.  So, this furry rug is straight from our Ohio living room.   

The girls dresses are all so special.  I can't help it.  I care about dresses.  Dresses make me nostalgic and emotional. I don't keep them forever and if they get messed up, we shake it off.  But, the pictures...they stay.  And the memories, those are seared in my heart. 

On that note let me just say, Georgia was pinching Shi behind his back which made him cry and the baby was so tired and just wanted to sleep and not be messed with, but for ONE split second everything was calm.  I got my perfect picture in the midst of the ever loving chaos. 

Johanna is only a few weeks from turning eleven years old.  I'm not even sure how that is possible.  We are wading in unchartered waters and I'm not sure I'm doing the best job.  Hopefully, we can make it through this without me screwing it all up too badly.  She's so interesting and so quirky.  I just want to also make sure she is empathetic and productive.  This is our daily struggle.  But she is one of a kind! She is taking the move like a CHAMP.  She started school with some hurdles to overcome and she is handling it like a BOSS.  We are so proud of her.

Our emotional butterfly Georgia.  Of course she loves school! She begs for us to come eat lunch with her everyday.  I've figured out that is her love language...food and quality time.

Shiloh misses his playroom in Ohio and talks about it like its Disney World.  I hope it's not a let down when we go back in March.  The playroom mostly consists of McDonald's Happy Meal toys and stuffed animals we didn't have room to pack, but to him...it's Nirvana.

I shed a tear when I put this dress on this beautiful girl.  As I type this now, I'm crying again.  She is a dream.  One I didn't even dare to ask for but can't believe it's real.  I had my nails done the other day and the woman said, "You have four kids? Oh, so she was an accident cause you already had enough!"  I responded "Nope.  We WANTED her!"

I wanted her before I even knew her.  I lied when I said we don't keep dresses forever.  I boxed up this dress she is wearing and we are keeping it forever.  We can't keep her tiny forever, but dammit I can keep that tiny baby dress forever.

How can four humans cause so much chaos, and make us blissfully happy and fulfilled all at the same time?  What a blessed life we live.