This is my final self portrait for my monthly self portrait series inspired by my friend Gail. I’m looking forward to rounding up all the photos from the whole year and walking down memory lane. That’s it’s own separate post. For now, lets look back at the last month, December.

Oh December. It’s that month where you keep hearing that it’s the most wonderful time of the year when in reality it’s the final lap of an uphill marathon. (And I DON’T run.) I struggled with weird body pain and exhaustion as winter crept in. It must have been a culmination of the back to back trips we took this fall. (Come to find out, traveling with a one and a half year old twice in a month CAN just about kill you.) So I slowed down a bit. I did my Christmas shopping online, skipped baking cookies, napped when the baby napped and kept the holiday crafts simple. By the time Christmas came around, my body pulled it together and we had a magical Christmas week and I didn’t even get my yearly Christmas cold! We were all healthy, actually, which was the best gift Santa could have brought. I’ve gotten sick on Christmas every year since I was 2. No joke. So I’m THRILLED I was healthy.

Being a parent at Christmas time is a big job, but the pay off of being the one who makes Christmas magic is the best gift ever. I’m finally at that point where it doesn’t matter if I get anything for Christmas, it’s all about making it all wonderful for my kids. (That’s huge because I usually get the gimmies at Christmas!) Despite not feeling my best and feeling the stress of the world last month, I kept reminding myself of the immense blessings we have in our precious children and in my marriage with John. Oh and of course my own health as well, especially when I wasn’t feeling my best there for a while.

December 2011 was the Christmas when my children were one and a half and almost five. Santa was watching, joy was in toy lists, Christmas lights and our living room was the most magical place on earth for Miles and Joss. Those blessings make the rest of the crazy world melt away.

So to wrap it up, December was a mix of stress, pain, remembrance and of course immense joy and a heart full of the warmest, sweetest love and thankfulness. It’s like the whole year of feelings crammed into one tiny little month.

Photo taken in my studio by Chris Melching during our family photo shoot last month.