Well, it is Christmas Eve in the Probst household… which mean it’s time to RELAX!  This is a word that has not been used frequently throughout 2009 in our household, and will likely continue to be a scarce commodity as we move into 2010!  Two years ago, with the impending birth of our third child, we decided transporting our entire Christmas (gifts, people, dog, etc.) to Chicago or Wisconsin to spend Christmas day with our families was just not practical anymore.   So last year we decided it was time to start our own family traditions and spend the holiday in our jammies at our own house with our own tree with our own little family.  It has to be one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.  The kids are able to spend the day relaxing and enjoying their gifts without my husband and I stressing about how messy they make someone else’s home – plus, even more importantly, my husband and I don’t have to spend hours trying to negotiate the puzzle of packing everyone’s gifts into the car!  Our Christmas Eve tradition has been to order out Chinese food and then get the kids cleaned up and to bed in anticipation of the arrival of Mr. Clause.  This year we are still partaking in our usual Chinese dinner, but then we will be heading over to the Carmichael’s for an evening of friends and libations!  What better way to spend the eve of Christmas than with great friends.  Hopefully this will be a shared tradition for years to come!

As you may have noticed, I have had very little time to photograph my own children these past few months.  Fortunately, I did manage to sneak in a session a month or two ago.  Despite my overwhelming urge to share the images from their session, I have been keeping it under wraps until all of the photo gifts, calendars, holiday cards, and the like are distributed over the coming week. I’m not usually one for restraint, but seeing as these images are incorporated into so many of our gifts, I will resist until we return from the holidays!  For now, here is a peek at my fam’s holiday card 2009 since it has been officially mailed and received by all on our list!  Enjoy and stay tuned as I will be back with some news, updates, and things to look forward to in 2010!  Happy holidays to you and your family!