I’m a huge fan of the ‘ole Christmas Card holiday greetings. And quite frankly, I like having our family photos done annually… it’s not anything we ever did as kids and looking back and I really wish we had more pics of all of us. Together.
So, there you have it: Every year since about 2012, family pics. Below is a look back. (Sigh.) BEWARE, you may feel as if time is going by too quickly. (Raises hand.)
::
2009
I remember WRAPPING this box, putting a white fleece blanket in it and taking this picture on a little ledge outside of our door in our previous house and praying that she wouldn’t stand up and tip forward… You guys. This little GIFT is going to be turning TEN in 2019.
Look. SHE IS WAVING. Sweet Baby Lila.
2010
I still have that little Christmas tree.
Sweet thing.
Apparently Ferg was deleted from the Christmas card family names.
2011
…and, there were two.
The picture took place in Vivi’s bedroom. (Oh, I loved those brown walls…) I tried propping them up together on the bed… against the wall. Finally, in the crib. I remember being bummed that you couldn’t see Lila’s Christmas dress.
This was a challenging Saturday afternoon in between nap times that never coordinated. I think I may have cried?
So cute.
2012
The color. The teeny baby feet. The bracelets. The smiles. I can hear that laugh of Lila’s.
Sigh.
This was when life was CHAOS, but it was so full.
2013
They’re soooooo wittle. They look like tiny old ladies.
Brocade. Pearls. Sensible black shoes.
I can’t even.
2014
In Ohio. Sigh.
2015
And this… this is when I can start to see them as they are now.
Vivi’s high tops.
Lila’s fanciness.
2016
Those smiles.
Vivi was trouble during this shoot. Lila was posing, posing.
2017
Look!
THEY AREN’T FIGHTING!
And Vivi had teeth!
2018
And, here’s this year’s. Photos taken by the incomparable, Summer Kellogg.
(I asked Lila if she was cool with using this picture, even though her eyes are closed. She said, “Of course I am! I’m happy!”)
Merry, merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah and best wishes to you!
What do I do with all of the cards we get each year? We add them to the collection and the girls always love looking through the cards each year.
#ChristmasTraditionsMakeUsHappy
xo,
![When I was a kid, my Mom would sometimes go to the grocery store at night while my baby sister and I were "supposed" to be sleeping. Baby sister slept, I stood by the window and watched for her headlights to turn back into the driveway, my stomach a gnarled mess while I waited.
The entire time she was gone I would create ill-fated stories in my mind that would ultimately leave her injured, kidnapped, or left for dead... I think these stories got worse after my Dad died. "What if I lose my one parent?"
I would stand there and worry.
And she always came back.
In one piece.
Over time, after therapy when I was younger, I realized that worrying doesn't shape anything... worrying doesn't CHANGE the outcome... but, it's real.
Telling someone not to worry is about as effective as telling someone not to cry when they're in the midst of full-sobbing or it's like asking someone WHERE they lost the thing that they lost.
"I can't find my keys."
"Where did you lose them."
[silence]
"Um, if I knew where I lost them, then..."
::
This time that we're living through right now is BIG and heavy and for the love of ALL THINGS HOLY it keeps on going.
I remember watching The Sound of Music when I was a kid and wondering when in the WORLD it would end. We're STUCK in the Sound of Music.
Schools opened, then closed.
Masks on, then off.
Life started, and stopped.
We've missed get-togethers and holidays.
Weddings and births.
We are as disconnected as ever.
Our worrying and concern and fear and anxiety is there... and it's real.
I see you.
I know this time is hard.
I'm not going to tell you to stop feeling the feelings, I just want you to know that I'm feeling them, too. (And therapy is helping.)
Get yourself a therapist.
Talk about all of this.
As I told one of my girls this week, “It’s ok not to be strong all the time.”
With love,
Ky](https://kyleebroughton.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
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