CHRISTMAS WAS HERE.

am i the only one glad christmas is over? and am i the only one that was left on a tight budget after this chaotic, yet beautiful holiday? it seems every year i am in holiday denial where i refuse to be a part of it and give in to all the shopping.. and then it creeps up on me.. and i get excited.. once i start to focus on my own family and little ways to make it special, then its when i enjoy it. niko and i baked cookies on christmas eve and he put sprinkles on them, and some had cashew nuts.. we decorated the tree together.. (a couple times). our christmas tree was a disaster this year, we couldnt figure out if we wanted colored or white lights, then do we want bright colored ornaments or pastels? so it was kind of a mix of everything. papa did an amazing job picking a tree though! then we planned to get some family photos taken for christmas and the day we got ready to go was a mess and it even snowed in long beach. yea, long beach california. can't believe it snowed here too! but it did, and there went our christmas family photo idea. so i took some photos of the kids in front of our tree and it didn't work out like i imagined but.. i did it anyways. after all the mess, christmas day was so magical. niko woke up first and discovered he had a new unwrapped bike by the tree, papa and i were there to see his face light up and i took a bunch of polaroids to capture the moment.
this year (like every year) niko got an abundance of toys. such a lucky little boy, he got a bike, wii games, a basketball set, and so many other toys at grandmas! he even got a jeep power wheels! luna was pretty tough to shop for this year but i ended up getting her some books and misha lulu clothes, oh and a shopping cart with wooden play food. now i gotta prepare for her birthday in about five weeks! you know i'll need luck with that! :)

so before papa was back from his tour people were already putting up their christmas decorations and it was so cute because niko thought it was only christmas at their house.. and he always wanted to go to the neighbors house because they were having christmas. so when papa came home we had christmas at our house too. hence the title for today's post :)

Niko: shirt, Op. jeans, levi's. shoes, keep. 

Luna: dress, vintage. bow, made by me. tights, swapmeet. shoes, thrifted gymboree.

cookies for Santa Claus with almond milk. YUM! 

BED HEAD!!!

here is a list of books i got this year for the kids, that we all love: 

awesome book of thanks

uncle andy's cats

baby loves jazz - ella elephant 

harry the dirty dog

Hope to see more christmas stories over at Small Style and Hart & Sew later today! 

we're linking up ;)