2025 Christmas Letter

Hi everyone!!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. Lately, I’ve been missing this, but I also don’t have the capacity to plan out content for the month, so I was hesitant to write something random when I didn’t have anything Christmas-y planned.

However, I received a Christmas letter the other day and I enjoyed reading it so much that I thought I might write one. Since, you know, its been an eternity since you’ve heard from me. I’ve missed you guys tons.

That said, here’s what the Salinas squad has been up to.

In May this year, we welcomed our second, and last child, Norah Mae. She is now just about 7 months old and she is ENORMOUS. Like, we call her e-Norah-mous on the regular, because she is. She can sit up by herself for a bit, loves her brother’s trucks, eats a ton, and is trying her darnedest to crawl. She is the sweetest baby, and the happiest little girl. I am so blessed to be her mom.

Will turned 3 a few weeks ago and is really coming out of his shell. He started jiu-jitsu in November and mostly enjoys playing dodgeball and running around, but I’m so glad he has an activity in the winter to get his energy out. He is a super smart little boy who loves music, routine and learning. He joins his Pap to pray at church every week and he says grace for us at every meal. His favorite songs include Sunshine On My Shoulders, Gangnam Style, Old MacDonald and The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Will is the quirkiest, silliest boy and dances like nobody is watching. I just love his sweet soul.

Elliot is the best dad and an even better husband. He is also learning jiu-jitsu, so he and Will roll around the house almost constantly. Elliot is leading a small group at church, and serving on several teams. He is very busy with keeping our family fed with delicious homemade meals, maintaining and updating our home, and keeping two little ones alive. He has been the real rock of our household and I am so grateful for him. He’s also pretty funny.

In addition to having a baby (oof), I’m my second year of grad school working on my MBA. I also serve on the worship team at church. Recently, I also started Jiu Jitsu (as in, I’ve taken one class so far) and while I am very uncomfortable being a beginner, I’m very excited for this new thing. I’m over halfway to my goal of breastfeeding Norah for a year. My hair finally stopped falling out after having Norah (thank goodness), and I also get to sleep through the night most of the time, so life is good. I’m on a break from school for a month right now and it is the best thing ever. I just have to wrap gifts, work full-time, clean the house, create Christmas magic for a 3 year old, put away laundry and get ready for the holidays. I love Christmas more than any other holiday, but I’m also really looking forward to the peace of January. The past five months have been a marathon and I’m looking forward to some quiet.

Ellie and Mollie are still here holding down the fort, although they get a little less attention than before we had kids. However, they don’t mind too much, especially when we work from home. While they are a working breed, they consider themselves “work from home” dogs, and their responsibilities mainly lie in cleaning up any food messes and crumbs, supervising our family, and monitoring any deliveries to the property. They are so good with our kiddos and watch out for them always. We have a theory that the girls share a brain, and it resides in Ellie’s tiny head. But they are, and always will be, best girls.

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Friends, I wish I could promise that my New Year’s resolution is to get back to a weekly cadence here on the blog, but I can’t. I love sharing my thoughts and ideas here with you, but in this season, I’m stretched a bit too thin. Of all the balls to drop, my family isn’t one of them. I’ll be back every so often to share, and if there are specific things you want to hear about, I’m all ears. But for now, while I’m juggling school and two littles, I can’t commit to weekly posts here. I’m hoping to post some New Year’s ponderings in January, and after that, I’ll see ya when I see ya.

Love you all, and wishing you the merriest Christmas, and the happiest New Year!