The last of our guests went home yesterday and this mama promptly got sick, so I guess Christmas really is over.

***

Christmas Eve is now officially my new favorite holiday. Ry's dad and stepmom were with us until Christmas Eve morning, but then it was just the three of us for the rest of the day. Quiet, cozy -- Duke and I put A Christmas Story on repeat and baked truffles and cookies and cupcakes for the afternoon which is kind of my idea of a perfect day. When it got dark, I put the baby to bed, made a cheese tray for Ry and I, and went to work wrapping and stuffing things under the tree.

Hotel Hodges was in between guests on Christmas morning, so it was just Ryan, Duke and me for a few hours and it was so so so good. It's our first family Christmas opening presents together in our own home and just really solidified my decision to do this forever after. Spoiler though - Duke still doesn't care about opening presents, and this year, wasn't even into the tissue paper, so I had to force hold him in my lap to open his gifts. When he got into the stuff though, thoughts another story. Later in the day, we had some more family over for dinner and when Duke B opened a fun Little People barnyard from Great Grandma and he was lost to anything else for the rest of the night. He's still obsessed.





We had a full house until mid-day Thursday, which is right about the time that my Christmas cocktails turned to DayQuil shooters. It turned out to be perfect timing though, if there's such a thing as good timing for literally waving goodbye to your family and figuratively to the holiday season. Seeing them go made me sad because it feels like Christmas is really over, but it was also right at the time that I really needed to take a nap with my baby and not feel bad about it.

So now we're in that weird part of the year, between Christmas and New Years, when the episodes of the Fixer Upper marathon I'm catching up on just start running into each other and we're about three days deep into the mashed potato leftovers. But this is one of my favorite weeks of the year. A little bit of a weird jumble of days that don't mean anything, and a lot of fresh inspiration for a new year. I really love a good fresh start and believe in the power of resolutions. I'm still wallowing in the Christmas-is-Over-Blues, but emerging shiny and new with plans for 2018.

***

Truly you guys, thanks for following along, clicking whatever it is you click to read this blog, and for caring and coming back. As I'm thinking about the future and getting excited about the new year, it's always how much I love writing here that makes me most inspired. I'll be back this weekend to write my favorite post of the year, The Best of.

I hope you had the best Christmas!