Self Portraits at Home

Every year, my own Christmas card photoshoot has to be something fun and unique and memorable. Last year I was five months pregnant on the shorts of the Mediterranean, the year before I made a fake sunset, and one year we were in Costa Rica on our Christmas card. It’s become a personal challenge and my favorite project of the year: creating memorable, meaningful Christmas card photos depicting a highlight of our year and showcasing my self portraiture.

But this year? This year was the hardest yet: a baby adds a new layer of challenge to my project (so keep scrolling to see the photos I hired a photographer to take for us in our backyard … I didn’t want to risk missing out on beautiful memories!). I’m sure it’ll get harder before it gets easier, but the self portrait tradition has continued for another year and I am grateful.

And now? Our 2020 Christmas letter. =)

Twenty-twenty was a memorable year, no? While the world struggled to find equilibrium (and, let’s face it: so did we!), our little family cocooned around its brand new little adventure. Emilie Anne was born five weeks before the pandemic hit Canada, giving us a tiny taste of “new normal” before the borders closed and the world screeched to a halt. While the challenges of #pandemiclife were (and are!) innumerable, we chose joy in the forced slower pace and spent those months getting to know our daughter, undistracted.

Emilie is full of smiles, eager to explore, growing as fast as can be, and bringing boundless joy and laughter into our home. She claps and waves and giggles and belly laughs and cruises along the furniture and chats endlessly. We are excitedly watching her personality unfold and eagerly waiting for each new milestone along the way.

Jennifer had a longer-than-expected maternity leave (spring wedding season was postponed) and the forced recovery and rest was – in retrospect – beautifully necessary.

John spent his year scouring MLS listings (when he wasn’t playing with Emilie, obviously) and preparing for the other milestone of our year: purchasing our new home!

Yes, that’s right: we moved! Packing and unpacking with an increasingly mobile baby is wild but between Jennifer’s pre-move planning and John’s moving day skills and a handful of dedicated friends, we made it into our new home and out of our old home in one and a half days.

We’ll spend the next few months putting photos on the wall, renovating the basement into a rental suite, exploring the backyard gardens, and scheming all the ways we’ll bake with the fruit from our very own apple and cherry trees! We’d invite you over … but… 2020. Maybe next year?

Merry Christmas, friends!