Merry Christmas

It's not as easy to get things done around here as it used to be, but we are thrilled with the reason why. I usually decorate a lot more for the holidays, but alas, a baby makes everything like that a touch harder. We certainly don't mind though. Katie is the sweetest and best reason for not being as productive as I used to be.

These next 2 pictures were taken the night Wayne and the kids decorated our tree downstairs. Bradley is such a caring big brother to both of his sisters. Don't get me wrong, they have their moments, but overall they adore one another.

I have my few things that I bring out every year. I don't change them because I love them and it's become tradition to have them this way....at least for me. I'm not sure it means as much to Wayne and the kids, but this is what helps our home feel like Christmas to me.

I made these ornaments for our first Christmas. I picked up the pre-cut wood shapes, sanded, painted and stained them. They were really fun to make, and I think they turned out cute too. I have little ginger bread men, Santas, hearts, stars, and little Christmas trees. But I think my favorite thing on these trees are the berries. I really love these trees. In fact right now when I get up to feed Katie during the night I sit under them and use them as my light source.

The glitter pine cones in the basket were made last year with my mom and sisters. My mom gathered pine cones from one of their trees and we made several with glitter, we did some with cinnamon oil to smell delicious, and others we used to make garlands. We were going to do another project with them this year, but ran out of time. We will have to do more next year.

I love a beautifully illustrated book, and at Christmas my favorites are The Night Before Christmas stories. I have several of them and I love getting them out each year and looking through them. These are just a couple of my favorites.

Wayne's sister Kristi gave me the tiny one. She collects miniatures, so this was perfect gift from her. It reflects both of us, I love that!

This is my new book that Wayne added to the collection this year. It's a fun one with moving holograms in it. The kids really like this one.

We also love this book. It has a theme for every day of December up until Christmas day. We love taking time each night to read from this book. It has fun old fashioned art work, and wonderful stories and quotes. It has become a favorite tradition for all of us.

Wayne did it again! He found us a beautiful tree over Thanksgiving. For the first time ever, I watched Wayne help the kids decorate and didn't do a thing. I was sitting on the couch feeding Katie. (I did give a little advice here and there about where to hang the ornaments, but they did all the work.) They did a pretty good job! I did put the lights on the tree though. There are 1100 lights on this tree. It looks so pretty when we turn off the downstairs lights and just use the tree for light.

I think my favorite ornament for our family tree are these tin ice cycles. They were a gift from my brother Patrick. He bought them from tin smith on his mission in Canada. They are very delicate, and I think they add the perfect finishing touch to the tree.

I always look forward to getting out my nativity each year. I think it brings a sweet spirit with it, which is why I put it on the mantel. It's the first thing you see when you walk into our home, and we get to walk past it every time we need to head down our hallway. It really is a lovely nativity.

Katie is the reason we needed to add another stocking to our mantel this year. What a wonderful surprise she has been! We are so grateful for all the prayers that were offered this year in her behalf. We know that it is because of so many of our wonderful family and friends that she is here at home with us rather than the NICU. I love all the staff there, but I was so glad that I didn't need to spend time with them this time around. Merry Christmas everyone!