It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's hard to find time to decorate for the holidays with two young kiddos, but we succeeded and it looks great around here (I think anyway)! This will be our first Christmas in our new house. We are excited. The fireplace is decorated, the tree is up and the outside lights are up. Well, I should clarify- they WERE up. We had some huge icicles this week hanging from the garage. I was trying to be a good Mom by knocking them down one day so none would fall on top of Braden when he was playing outside. Well, the icicles were actually stuck to the lights so the entire strand of lights above the garage come a tumblin' down. (Sorry Joe for all your hard work! At least it will be 37 degrees tomorrow so you can put them back up in nice weather.)
  My favorite part of each day during this holiday season is when Braden comes down the stairs each morning and sees the tree and yells "It's Christmas." He loves looking at the decorations and always asks to turn the lights on. Liam loves seeing the fireplace lit up. Liam now belly laughs, blows bubbles with his lips and yes, we are starting to get some sleep here. We got him new reflux meds and they are starting to kick in. I also have been doing a little sleep training- so with a combo of those he only has woken up 2 or 3 times a night the past couple of nights versus the 10-15 times before. I am starting to feel like a sane person....starting to but it might take a bit longer! :)
 What a fun time of year. Most mornings we are out/about though between classes at the Y, ECFE and some errands. BUT some days it's too chilly to venture out far (and honestly it's a TON of work bundling up two kids and hauling all of their stuff around), so we may stay cozy in the house and find things to do instead of our fall days of venturing to the park in the morning. On days like this, I am lucky to have this space instead of being cramped in the townhouse like last year. Christmas parties, seeing some family and friends, cookie exchanges and a visit with Santa are all things coming up for us in the last couple of weeks before Christmas. Not to mention shopping, wrapping and all that other good stuff!

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday spirit. It sure is a busy time of year and most everyone gets stressed out. We really need to focus on not getting so consumed by the pressure of making Christmas "perfect". Take time to enjoy the little things- the lit tree, the kids getting excited, the smell of cinnamon and gingerbread.  Simplify if you need to and try to enjoy the special time with family and friends. After all, it only comes once a year and we are blessed to be healthy and here to enjoy it! I am excited to spend Christmas here in our new house as a family of four!