post christmas in london

after christmas, we spent a few days in london before going to switzerland to celebrate the new year with my brother and his family (who live there). ian had the 26 and 27 off of work and then went back to the office for the rest of the week before we headed to the alps. IMG_3259

on our first christmas married, ian gave me a bike (the most perfect, adorable bike ever, which i was obsessed with and which very sadly didn’t make it to london in our moving shipment). we took it out for a spin as part of our christmas morning celebration, and it was so exhilarating and fun that we decided to make a bike ride part of our chrismtas traditions. last year we rode through drizzly london after opening gifts, and this year, since our christmas day was so packed with church services and seeing family, we took our traditional bike ride on boxing day.

it was such a blue, clear morning and since we took off around 8am, the streets were super empty and we felt like we had the whole sunny city to ourselves. we cruised down whitehall and across westminster bridge, then along southbank and back across millennium bridge, past st. paul’s and then down the strand back home. (thanks for babysitting, aubrey!)

a bit later on boxing day, we met up with my brother jonah and his family to stroll through christmassy mayfair. it has been so so great to have these guys in town! moses and i have been able to have a few more adventures with them, and they are here still until next week.
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when we were thoroughly frozen from our walk, we took jonah aja ana camden elsie poem and ezra to our flat and asked for their help demolishing our gingerbread house by eating it. that activity was definitely a hit with the kids :)
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^^ there are few things i’ve loved more as a mom than watching my baby meet and get to know his cousins. he’s so lucky to have thirty seven (and one more on the way!).. and he’s met all but five! moses was loving hanging out with elsie and poem on boxing day! ^^
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^^ here’s po, jo and mo! such a great little threesome :) ^^IMG_3274
we’ve been working a lot on sleep leading up to and since christmas. it’s been a continuously wild adventure unswaddling and trying to cut out mo’s night wakings/feeds. it’s a great thing that moses has such a super rad dad, who has been so supportive and helpful all along the way.
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on the 27th, ian and i went on our first real baby-less date. we went to the nutcracker (!!) while aja and ana hung out with moses. we got all dressed up and loved the show from the nosebleeds. i just can’t let a christmas season pass me by without seeing my favourite ballet. to be honest, the royal ballet’s rendition isn’t my favourite nutcracker production, but the royal opera house is maybe my all-time favourite venue.
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i always feel so melancholy taking down the christmas tree and decorations. but this tannenbaum was so far dead, and i enjoyed reflecting on how super special this christmas was as i put everything away.
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and we still had some christmas cheer around the city after the festivity came down in our flat! from a couple of evenings eating out:
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there might be nothing in this world sweeter than looking down at this sleeping babe in the wrap while walking the streets on londontown.
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moses is growing so fast! we’ve been pulling out bigger clothes for him to wear and it’s always fun to get him in new outfits. the one on the right below was worn by ian when he was a little baby! i love that my mother-in-law kept a bunch of ian’s baby clothes and sent them to us.
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sweet baby mo sprouted his first tooth right around christmas! his smile is changing and although i miss the gummy grin, i can’t get over how cute that tiny little tooth is!
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we did one final lighting of our christmas pyramid before we packed our bags for switzerland (and packed the pyramid up in its box). that was the perfect way to say a magical, illuminated goodbye to christmastime. on to two thousand seventeen!
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Comments

  1. This comment isn't meant for anything other then information. Night time feedings are so rough. My little guy is just 4.5 months and wakes every 2 hours. It's rough. But those night time feedings are so good for littles under one. And for your milk supply. Some good sources are dr Jay Gordon. You can Google him. And the womanly art of breastfeeding! Parenting is, so hard.... and I know you are a very prayerful and mindful parent. Just some good for thought. But seriously I think you are an amazing momma! I promise no guilt. Just different information! ♡ ♡ ♡

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  2. Which sibling has "one on the way"???

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  3. So happy to see all this! Can't wait to have that baby back in our arms in less than two weeks!

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  4. The "explorer" shot of Moses looks like he's just been shot out of a cannon into a life of glee, haha! I never get tired of his cute face!

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