Today we’re wrapping up our annual pair of “Christmas present” posts (the first was yesterday’s rundown on what we made Clara) with this summary of what else we unwrapped and how we spent the day, like this one and this one of yore. Think of it as our way of trying to cling to the holiday season for one more day while answering all of those “what did you get each other?” and “what else did Clara get?” questions. Meanwhile, in quick kitchen update news, we’re knee-deep into staining the lower cabinets, which means the room is a complete disaster, but it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas progress.
The doors/drawers/frames have been sanded, deglossed, stained, sanded, and stained again – so we’re just waiting for them to be dry enough to rehang. That should happen this weekend, which means we can share all the photos and details with you on Monday (in case you missed it, we revealed our painted upper cabinets a few days ago). But back to our tree on Christmas morning.
Clara was more excited this year than any other year before – even waking up about 10 minutes after going to bed the night before and declaring that it was the morning already. I was more excited too, because for the first time I could recreate a family tradition of mine growing up: sitting on the steps for a photo before sprinting down to rip through some wrapping paper. We can’t wait to accumulate years of pictures like these… especially since next year Clara won’t be sitting alone!
Clara was an unwrapping tornado. Many of the presents under the tree were sent from relatives (or were our gifts to others that we’d be delivering later in the day), but I was grateful that there were also a bunch of wrapped (not bagged) gifts for Clara so that we could witness her having those exciting moments where you get enough paper off to finally see what’s inside. Here she is actively shouting “oh wow, man!”
We won’t bore you with everything this little lady made off with, but there are some highlights – like these two Cinderella mouse ornaments from my parents, which were mine as a kid.
These were a surprise favorite (my mom worried she wouldn’t even notice them among all the other bigger and newer toys that shared the same package) but Clara was HUGE fan. She even gave them a giant hug before running right over to find the perfect spot for them on the tree.
The main gift from Santa (not to burst anyone’s bubble, but it was really from us) was the “ballerina princess doll” that Clara had been telling various Santas, relatives, and friends about all season. It’s a Gotz doll from Pottery Barn Kids and she spotted it weeks ago when we were in there picking something up for someone else. If you’d like a mental picture, her eyes locked and she saw hearts. Despite our original “she’ll probably forget all about it by the time Christmas rolls around” thoughts, she was still talking about it weeks later. So Santa delivered.
We decided it would be our one “splurge” gift for the year, and after a nice pre-Christmas sale and using an old Pottery Barn gift card, it ended up not being that bad. Honestly, even at full price it would’ve been worth it considering how much she loves this thing. “Melinda” even came to Burger’s annual check-up and to a neighborhood New Year’s party with us this week.
Some people have asked about our family’s take on the Santa tradition. Both Sherry and I both got some gifts from Santa and some from our parents or other relatives, so that’s what we do with Clara. Since she specifically asked Santa for her the little ballerina – well, Ole St. Nick got the glory for that one. But otherwise we try to give credit where credit is due, like this one that came from Nonna…
…and stuck with the theme of ballerinas. It was like tutu heaven for Clara. She named her “Spaghetti Hair.”
She got other things like books, games, stickers, and clothes, and we gave her a stocking with some socks, PJs, and Pez – which, by some miracle, were all met with equal levels of excitement.
We also did the traditional “you get to open a few smaller gifts on Christmas Eve” thing, and miraculously got this shot with Sherry’s iPhone, which completely captures her joy. As some of you noticed in yesterday’s post, there was a two-pajama-rotation (Clara wanted to wear her Santa ones and her new reindeer ones, so she put these on in the late afternoon, and then changed into her reindeer ones right before bed so she could wake up on Christmas morning in them).
And we can’t forget about Burger. He made his way out of bed about 5 hours earlier than usual, which earned him a few Christmas treats (literally) from us. He also scored a paw print “Feliz Navi-dog” ornament from my godmother Gerrie, who’s always great about remembering furry family members.
Sherry got me a fun soda-themed gift (she knows me well) complete with four unusual bottled sodas like chai cola, chocolate soda, and ginger cola.
Here’s my soda-tastic spread, which also included some themed candy as well (Bottlecaps are my favorite). I haven’t tried all of the sodas yet, but so far the best was the “Dog Drool” one, which was actually orange lemon flavored.
Sherry also got me this big pop-out reflector/screen that I had been eying to (hopefully) help boost my photography skills. I’ve seen how they come in handy to all of the pro photographers we’ve encountered in this job, and I finally figured it’d be worth having one around – you know, to help bounce/block/diffuse light. It collapses and has a few covers that zip on and off so I’m still getting the hang of it.
Since Sherry’s love for white ceramics is undying, I got her this set of porcelain ornaments from Crate & Barrel.
And since jewelry is a close second to her ceramic obsession, I plucked these two items from some strong hints that she dropped (Pinterest, and this gift round up). The arrow necklace is from Madewell and the love bracelet is from Anthropologie, which she liked because it reminded her of the “love” script on the cover of our book.
After all of our unwrapping was done on Christmas morning (and we downed some quick breakfast), we drove about 45 minutes west to meet up with the rest of my family at a nearby cabin we had rented for the night. You may have seen us Instagram a picture of it that afternoon.
We only stayed for about 24 hours, but it was awesome! We took a ton of pictures so we’re going to post a Cabin Crashing of it next week, but here’s a sneak preview.
I think we’re going to officially wrap-up the holiday season at our house this weekend – i.e. take down decorations and the tree. But we did snap a couple better-late-than-never seasonal pictures, since this will likely be the last time we can take a photo like this in front of the tree.
Kinda crazy to think that this was our last Christmas with just one little one (well, two including Burger – and about 30 if you count all of Sherry’s ceramic animals). What’s even crazier is that Clara stood still enough for this long of an exposure!
What did you guys wrap and unwrap this year? Do you do big gift exchanges with your other half, or just little fun things that you’ve been eying? Sherry and I like to keep it pretty low key, but we love hearing about giant surprises (were there any bows on any cars in any driveways?) and little thoughtful things alike.
Update: You can check out all of our favorite holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15!
Love love love the belly tree shots and the one with Clara. :) Brought tears to my eyes for some reason! Maybe since we are thinking of adding one more baby to our family as well. The sweetness!
Aw, thanks Frannie!
xo
s
a) I had the same Cinderella mice!!!!
b) Totally jealous of the stairs pic. We were hiding out waiting on our little man and kept waiting and waiting and heard him jump out of bed and we waited and finally, I decided to go check upstairs (our first Christmas in a house with stars) to find him and when I turned the corner before going upstairs, he was already playing wtb his toys in the loving room!!!
c) Love the last few pictures in front of the tree…
Y’all are great!
~Amber
I love that you had the same mice! And that’s too funny about your little man – he was really excited, huh?
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I had the cinderella mice too! If I remember correctly, they were a McDonald’s giveaway. Ahhh, the 80s….
I still have Jaq and Gus Gus (the mice)on my tree! :)
We had the same mice, too! I think they did come from a Happy Meal. My brother and I used to play hide-and-seek with them in the Christmas tree. Amazing we didn’t break any of the other ornaments!
So cute!
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I’m dying over all these grammatical errors. SOOOO sorry…the ELA teacher in me can’t stop cringing! I’m blaming it solely on trying to comment from my phone! I hope you can forgive me.
No worries at all! I have the same phone issues all the time!
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Dying to see that cabin you crashed! The preview photos are gorgeous …
The last few bump pictures are so sweet! You’re really starting to pop, Sherry! Looks like y’all had a great Christmas :)
I know, right?! I thought it was the “second pregnancy means you pop earlier” rumor, but then I looked back on Clara bump pics and I was the same way with her! I think my short torso = early poppage, but then I sort of max out and stay that way (a 6 month pic vs. a 9 month pic with Clara wasn’t very different at all, which made me laugh).
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I have the Jack and Gus ornaments form my childhood too!!!!
*from
So funny to hear from other ornament twins!
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The soda looks great. I’ve tried the Dog Drool one before, and I think the company also makes a Bug Juice that is pretty good. We went small on gifts because we spend the weekend before with a quick getaway to downtown Chicago. I would much rather take the time to do something to get crazy gifts!!
I think my computer ate my comment. Just stopped by to say how much I love the bump and tree shots. So beautiful and sweet! Thanks for sharing with all of us.
Ahhh I have the same Cinderella mouse ornaments (Gus Gus is my fave) and still hang them on our tree every year! Love :) Looks like a pretty wonderful Christmas Petersiks :)
Hilarious!
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Love Burger so much, I can’t stand it!!
Wow the pictures of Sherry and Sherry and Clara in front of the tree are absolutely gorgeous!! What a good idea! And as far as presents go, I got my husband tickets to the Broadway show Once. We are very excited :)
Ooh, tell me how that is! I heard good things!
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OOH!! I saw it on Broadway this summer. I really recommend it! Great set, cast, songs, theater etc!
Sounds awesome!
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See the movie first. THAT is amazing. The show was good but the movie is hauntingly beautiful.
No way! That’s usually not the case, so I’m really intrigued!
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Ooooh I’m glad that everyone says that it is good! And yes the movie is good and their actual music is amazing!
What an awesome gift! Once is the only movie I have ever immediately rewatched. It was so lovely. I’m sure the show would be amazing!
What a wonderful Christmas you had! But my favorite are those pictures at the end! How beautiful! I love how Clara really gets Christmas now. It’s adorable!
I’m sure there will be a lot of comments on this, but I love the baby bump silhouette photos against the tree lights! Total pregnancy memory keeper.
For our holiday, we stayed local and saw lots of family. It’s been pretty snowy here in the Middle West, so we’ve had to dig out around our house most days, but our toddler has been having fun sledding and making snow people. We didn’t do much decorating this year, just our mini DIY Christmas tree (we’re planning on designing and building a life-size wooden one for next year!). We did get out and enjoy some holiday decorations around our new neighborhood, though.
http://www.rathersquare.com/2013/12/first-christmas-at-rather-square-house/
So sweet! Happy New Year Laura!
xo
s
Poor Spaghetti Hair! Melinda won the name lottery for sure. So fun!
I have the same Cinderella mice :) they were my favorite ornaments as a kid, and when I got married & moved out, my mom gave them to me. They’re still some of my favorite ornaments. :)
So sweet!
xo
s
Happy New Year Petersiks! I hope that 2014 is a happy, healthy, and successful year for everyone. I thought it’d be difficult picking a favourite picture from this post, but the last two–Sherri, Sherri/Clara–win hands down for me. Thank you for continuing to share your lives and projects with us :)
Thanks Ann!
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s
Gorgeous pics! When I was 5 I totally also named my favourite, most beloved doll Melinda. She gave me so much joy, and I hope Clara gets the same from her Melinda!
Also, I bought myself a ring with the exact same “love” script in the post-Christmas sales last week.
Here’s to lots of love from my family to yours in 2014 xox
That’s so sweet about your Melinda! I hope she’s Clara’s favorite (along with Barnicle) for a nice long time :)
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s
Even better than all the presents, was the photo of Sherry’s baby bump – you look gorgeous! Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all of you xo
Aw thanks Jeanette!
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It looks like you guys had a wonderful Christmas. I know you are excited about having a new bambino for the holidays next year! I can’t wait to see you what you have in store for 2014!!
Precious precious photos! And such an awesome tradition to take a photo of the kid(s) on the stairs before diving in.
We gave our almost one year old his own set of wheels, with a bow on the plastic hood and everything. ;) My husband gave me my new 50mm lens for my Nikon which I’m learning and loving. I bet that reflector screen will do wonders!
Typical for myself, I took tons of photos on Christmas day (our boy’s first!) and just recently shared them… http://lisadunkin.blogspot.com/2013/12/finns-first-christmas.html
Happy New Year Petersiks!
Such a cute little guy! Love those pics!
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You guys have raised such a sweet and thoughtful child! I fall in love with her more and more each day.
P.s I’m so coming over and snatching those ornaments! Gus Gus!!!!
Haha! Come on over!
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What a wonderful Christmas you Guys had! Love reading about the family’s adventures. The dog drool soda I’m familiar with, my parents live next door to the town in CT that makes it. He buys all the weird flavors for our family Christmas party. ;)
Yay for Cinderella mouse ornaments! I have the same ones! Gus Gus is my fave ;) We still put ours on the tree every year. Looks like a wonderful Christmas Petersiks! Can’t wait to see the post on that cabin… Yum.
I absolutely love the belly pics in front of the tree!
My husband and I had agreed to do stocking stuffers, and then he changed his mind, so I looked like a cheapskate and he surprised me by getting my master’s degree framed.
Aw, that’s so sweet!
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*my dad buys it every year
love the bump pic! I took the same one for our Christmas card this year. And happy to see that I’m not the only one who is 6 months pregnant and totally popped. I have a short torso too, so I’m feeling like I’m 7 months or so already! The holiday cookies may also have something to do with it too, hmmm. Gotta love being pregnant during the holidays! :)
Haha, so true! Like “is that some pound cake in there, or the bun?” Not sure!
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s
I am one who is terrible with directions and pretty much eternally lost on the road. I have a TomTom that has seen better days (as in: it takes about 10 minutes to start up, and then you have to immediately restart it to get it to actually work … and the maps are all outdated!!). So I was surprised/elated to unwrap a brand new Garmin with lifetime map updates this year!! :)
That’s so sweet! I’m THE WORST at directions. Like if my instinct is to go left, what I’m looking for is definitely on the right.
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Wow! Wow! Wow! LOVE the belly shots… and all of them. Simply beautiful family. So very happy for you guys. Happy New Year! Hope you fare the snow, well. We got hammered here in Jersey which wouldn’t be so bad if not for the sub-zero temps. Kiddies want snowmen, but it’s WAAAYYY cold!
Oh man, stay warm and safe!
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I love the Cinderella Ornaments, my mom has the same ones hanging on her tree. Amazingly, they came out of a Happy Meal when I was little. I wish you still got amazing toys like that!!! Maybe I can convince my mom to give them to my girls next year.
So funny! I love how many people have these, and that they were happy meal toys from so long ago!
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Tons of adorable Clara shots AND bump pics? You guys are spoiling us with cuteness today! Thank you for sharing such sweet moments with all of us!
Of course, Lisa! I love having these “who got who what” posts each year on the blog to look back on. I hardly remember the gifts, but seeing those expressions and the tree and the events of the day is so sweet.
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Thanks for sharing the pics. I love the one Sherry in front of the Christmas tree at night. I took a picture of my sister in front of my parents (not at night) – so she could have a picture of her bump too! She is due in a couple of weeks!
That’s so exciting! Congrats to her (and the whole fam!).
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The pictures of you in front of the tree are absolutely beautiful. They made me tear up and I’m not even pregnant! Awaiting a little one is such a special time. :)
Aw, thanks so much Megan. You’re so sweet.
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What a great post, I also got tears in my eyes a few times. For Christmas my husband got me a gorgeous new wedding ring. For him I surprised him with the news of our first little nugget. I made a pack of onsies with all of his favorite band logos screen printed on them. Needless to say there was crying and embracing. Great start to the new year!
So sweet! I love hearing what you guys got!
xo
s
Curious to know where you got Clara’s deer jammies? I have a friend who has a little girl that is Clara’s age that is deer obsessed.
Thanks!
They were from John’s mom and the tag says Carter’s but someone yesterday said Target sold them if that helps!
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Santa (aka my husband) got me the stove I wanted :-) And we installed the non-vented range hood on Christmas Day. And my mother-in-law got me a new pot (to replace the one my husband melted. Long story) and a dutch oven! woo hoo! And my parents got us Lowe’s gift cards. Paint and a programmable thermostat, here we come! It was our son’s first Christmas (he is 7 1/2 months old) so we had fun getting gifts for him (only a few) and he was very spoiled by relatives and his two sets of grandparents. Love! I can’t wait until he is older and we will have exciting Christmas mornings like you have with Clara!
Sounds like so much fun!
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As always, such wonderful photos! My 8 yr old daughter walked up as I was watching the video of Clara and said “Awww, she’s so cute! ” Happy New Year!
That’s adorable!
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What a thoughtful Christmas! I got a tent and some camping gear! Can’t wait for warmer temps so we can head to the coast. I’m thinking that one small town/city you guys traveled to for that magazine looked nice. Wonder if they have camping spots.
Ooh Cape Charles? I bet they do! We’re chatting about doing a family trip there this coming summer! It was such a charming place!
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great thanks!
Beautiful picture Sherry!
Love the bump pics (so does every one else apperently) :) such a good idea!
Love the idea of low key gifts but I certainly wont complain about getting a caribbean cruise for christmas wahoooo!
We have been trying to decide if we want to have another baby and I have mostly been letting my logic brain let me know that right now isn’t the best time in the world, but my ovaries felt like they lit up with joy at your last two pictures. I shake my fist in a good-natured way in your direction, YHL.
Hahaha! Love and fist-shaking-in-a-good-natured-way coming right back atcha!
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What a fun Christmas! I love the ceramic ornaments…I’m a sucker for any sort of ornament. Merry (very late) Christmas and Happy (less late) New Year!
I got my husband a Nest thermostat (and told him all about your experience of installing one; “John Petersik thought the directions were amazingly thorough!”). He loved it. The plan was that he’d install it this weekend, but the thing might just get REALLY confused during its “learning phase” cuz the furnace is going to be working overtime no matter what, with a high of -12 on Monday. (We’re in Dusty’s neck of the woods.) BRR! Hubby prepaid a pro tooth-whitening session at our dentist (after hearing wish aloud a few months back). What a weird – and perfect – surprise, eh? I’m hoping to end up with a smile that beams like Clara’s. :) Happy 2014, Petersiks!
That’s so sweet! And happy Nest-installing to your hubs!
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I am super excited to see the cabin crashing post. We bought a log home in the country – spring move date – and I am excited and stumped by the prospect of decorating. Need tips!
Stumped! Ha!
1 – Can’t wait to see the cabinet reveal!
2 – Clara is an absolute doll, seriously… her face in all these pictures is just precious!
3 – We totally got those house ornaments for my mother in law as part of her christmas gift because she loves christmas ornaments and also to commemorate the fact that she painted all the walls and ceilings for us in our new house this fall.
4 – I was actually really super proud of my gift to my hubby this year… he’s a Robert Frost fan, so I looked around for a nicely bound copy of some of his poems. Failing to find one, I decided it’d be more special if I made it myself anyway. So I wrote out about 135 poems, managed to illustrate a couple of them, and had my art student brother show me how to bind a book. It was great fun for me, and my hubby LOVED it :-)
SO SWEET!
xo
s
I still have those Cinderella mice on my tree from when I was a kid too– love it!
So funny how many others have them!
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What camera do you use? We are looking at getting a nice one and I love how your Christmas photos came out.
We have a Nikon D-3200, and really like it!
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With the kids getting older I decided I wanted to get each of them a gift from me that reflected who they were or had some kind of special meaning. For my one daughter (11 yrs) who LOVES elephants I got her a necklace with an elephant pendant that I found on Scoutmob. It wasn’t babyish nor too grown up. For my other daughter (11 yrs) I got her a tshirt in her favorite color that had a quote on it from Shakespeare that basically said that even though she is “little” she is fierce. Being a sick preemie when she was born and having some health issues ever since her strength and tenacity for life made this tshirt perfect for her. For my son (9 yrs)I got him a chalkboard print that I framed that simply says Love You More. Each night when he goes to bed we say this to each other. The tears in his eyes when he opened it…it definitely was a special Christmas this year. Love all your pictures and the special gifts you all received. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2014!
SO SWEET.
xo
s
Kinda surprised to see that Clara inherited the same mouse ornament my son Calvin discovered this year! He found Jaq (mouse in the orange shirt) packed in a Christmas box and it was instant love. Don’t you just love it when our kids appreciate the stuff we loved as kids?
Yes! It’s so sweet!
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How fun!! This was the first year that our daughter asked for something specific from Santa (she’s exactly a year younger than Clara). She has been saying that she wanted a pink bunny for the whole month, so Santa had to deliver! Unfortunately, Christmas morning present opening at our house was quick and not very festive due to being on the 4th day of no power because of an ice storm! Of course, she didn’t really notice the fact that it was 45 degrees in our house! She was just excited that Santa came!
Last year, we put an addition on our house so we had no kitchen and no space for a tree, this year was the big power outage…here’s hoping that next year is full of warmth, twinkling lights, and waking up Christmas morning in our own home! But at least we were together :)
Oh man, that sounds like a curveball! And for the second year in a row!
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Man, I am so ready to have Christmas at my house with our son. We currently “have” to go to my parents’ house Christmas Eve and I am truly looking forward to the day where we can have it at our house. Now, if only I wouldn’t be chicken enough to make it happen. :-/
We had our very first Christmas in our own house last year, and it was so exciting! You’ll love it when you make it happen :)
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It sounds like the family had such a wonderful Christmas. I used inspiration from your blog to do an ombre tree this year, and I don’t think I have the heart to take it down yet! Happy new year to you and your family :)
Love that! Happy New Year right back!
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My man got me a squash racquet! I joined a ladies league this year and have been using his, this way we can finally start playing together. It is awesome!
His big surprise gift was from his parents – a huge air compressor. He was very, very excited. Me? Not so much! But I love that he loves it so much.
I got my inlaws a book of our wedding photos. My father in law stopped me later in the day to say ‘you done good with the book, Leah’, so I think that was their favourite gift of the year, haha.
So sweet!
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