Our first Christmas as a little family is already over, but first we had to celebrate the thirtieth birthday of the undersigned. And although that birthday started off a bit sadly with two sick little boys in bed, we made up for it in the evening. Jon, under the influence of paracetamol, was singing along to Hazes at the top of his lungs, and even friends who were initially hesitant ended up singing their hearts out in the private karaoke room at the Chin Chin Club by the end of the night. The club had anticipated that we would be done after two hours, but in the end, we sang our lungs out for a whopping four hours, resulting in quite a few people being voiceless at the Christmas dinner the next day...

And so I also started our Christmas marathon with a somewhat hoarse voice. Because it always feels a bit like this: four days in a row (since Christmas Eve and the third day of Christmas are also fully scheduled) dining ‘in moderation’ and trying to keep breakfast and lunch somewhat reasonable during the day. But yes, when you receive a giant box of your favorite macarons for your birthday that must be consumed within five days, you quickly find yourself at six macarons a day... So, after breakfast, Mrs. was already on her first sugar bomb. Ah, those last pregnancy kilos are still there, so that little extra can still be added.

The Christmas tree turned out really well this year. Everyone always marvels at the bright pink poodles, fish with extremely large red lips, and the Can Can piglets with teased hair. Most of the ornaments come from my parents‘ house and immediately take me back in time: decorating the tree with my sister, where usually one ornament would break each year. Now that we have our own tree, I buy two new ornaments every year to add to our collection, and we have now hung some ’snacks' in the form of a crate of beer and a bag of popcorn. I hold my breath for when that little one can walk next year: I should probably stock up on some tubes of super glue.

Now that we have just fully ‘Marie Kondo-ed’ the house (an absolute recommendation at the end of the year), we want to limit the gifts this year: no trinkets that you know will have to leave the house during the next decluttering round, but a practical, beautiful gift. Jon has dreamed for years of a beautiful Japanese knife set, which I am not allowed to touch because my thumb tip still hasn't fully grown back from the previous incident. But good, my husband is now ‘chef de couteau’ in the kitchen (read: a lot less cutting work for me!) and I really had to believe in an adult phone case, but of course in style. So we went on the second day of Christmas, together with all of Amsterdam, to the Bijenkorf in search of the perfect designer case. And at store number one, we succeeded. Meet the renewed, sophisticated case of this thirty-year-old lady.

Today we are already celebrating the half-year anniversary of Otis! It feels like just yesterday that the little man came to enrich our lives, and by now I can't imagine life without his smile, extremely soft skin, and sweet little coos 24/7. This enormous milestone had to be celebrated in style, so this afternoon we were at the beautiful Amstel Hotel for a gigantic high tea (as if those Christmas days didn't already include enough sweetness...) in honor of Otis. If he becomes as much of a sweet tooth as his mama, we'll be sitting here together in a few years with scones and chocolates, but for now, there are still cauliflower and carrot snacks on the menu.