This morning I looked at the calendar and realized Christmas was is two weeks!!! How did that happen so fast?? I guess I've been so preoccupied with baby girl arriving soon that I figured we still had another month! But I couldn't be more excited for some time together over Christmas and for family to arrive. And this year we have plenty of it! We have nearly the entire family coming and going over the two weeks. Apparently our house is Holiday central this year. And we couldn't be happier! This will be the first year in... ever? that my parents, sister, brother and their spouses might actually be together in one place over New Years (fingers crossed!). It's sort of always secretly been my plan to be in a central location with a big enough place to have everyone crash at our house.
We finally put up our tree this weekend--a pine. The first pine we've ever had as our little family but also a favorite. We haven't been able to get one the whole time we lived in BC because of the pine beetle that has destroyed so many beautiful pine trees there. So we got the biggest/fullest pine we could find just to make up for having missed them. I covertly picked a really tall one so that the only place it would fit would be the sunroom with the tallest ceilings in the house. Sorry family, if you have to sit on the floor to open presents in the tiniest but tallest room. But it really is the most beautiful room in the whole house!
We put that big fat tree up and as it unfolded, whoa! was that thing big! I put up the lights (that's my job) and Jordan the star (his job) and while Gabriel napped we finished decorating the tree, then konked out ourselves. Some of the ornaments we have are from when Jordan was first born. Every year we buy each other a new ornament and the end result is a vast array of hilarious ornaments that often (although not always) tell the story of that year--like the skull and crossbones ornament or the Audrey Hepburn (my favorite actress) shoe. We always play the guessing game of who got who which ornament since some are from other family members. I mean, take a look at this pile and tell me that there aren't some hysterical ornaments there?? Over the years, it's one of my favorite things about Christmas, seeing those silly decorations go on the tree--a tradition we plan on continuing with both our children.
When Gabriel awoke, he found in his playroom, an enchanting sight. He was delighted and intrigued. I kept wondering what an almost-two-year would be thinking about this strange tradition, although he must remember a little bit from last year, because he knew not to grab it. He just gently touched the prickly pine needles with his mouth open in a big "Oh." Then grabbed the old Pentax camera and started snapping photos.
Oh, Christmas was so fun
last year with an almost toddler, but now that Gabriel is even a little bit older, all of this stuff is just that much more delightful. It's all about seeing the beauty, the surprise, the delight through his eyes. And we are loving watching it all unfurl for him.
Ps. Oh ya, we FINALLY got our Christmas card photo taken. They will be out in the mail.... well, likely not until New Years.
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