Christmas Decorations

When we moved downstairs last spring, I knew I couldn't wait until Christmas to decorate our new place!  The rooms are bigger, the ceilings are higher, and we have a fireplace!  I just knew it would be so cozy, and couldn't wait.

Well fast forward to the last week of November, and pregnancy hormones attacked my body with no mercy.  I have spent half of the past 3.5 weeks motionless on the couch, trying to settle my stomach, and the other half in the bathroom, losing that battle.  

Okay, I'm exaggerating.  But I have been pretty much out of commission for anything but homework, only because it absolutely had to get done.  Therefore, I wasn't exactly able to go "all out" with the decorations like I wanted to.  In fact, our decorating is probably more minimal than normal.  Luckily, I got a few things put out before I started feeling so sick, and Luke helped a lot with the tree.  Otherwise, I have no doubt that we would have had no decorations this year!

Anyway, here is what we came up with for our first Christmas in our "new place."

Here is our tree during the day!  Luke is a ... how do I put this? ... He's a light snob.  If every inch of the tree is not covered in lights, it is not up to par with his standards.  Luckily, he took care of the lights while I was out shopping craft fairs with my mom and sister.  So there it is in all its glory: 1200 twinkle lights.  I'm so glad he agreed to use white lights this year because I think they are so classy, and they are my favorite!

And here it is at night. Magical. (And I've gotta say, my iPhone 5 takes a pretty good Christmas-tree-at-night picture!)

Our tree doesn't have a "theme." It is just a mish mash of ornaments that represent different periods of our life together.  There are special ornaments 

(Baby W even has a few already!) ...

This one is from Rachel and Jared

And this one is from Luke's parents.  It's an ultrasound picture that says "Praying, dreaming, and waiting for you"

We also have some less serious ones:

This one says "First Born - Dad's favorite"  (You know it's true, Julie. Kidding!)

And what would a tree that is partly my husband's be without a talking Yoda ornament?  Incomplete, that's what.

 And we also have a few purely for decoration.  I have a set of these sparkly bulbs that I love, even though the cats broke at least 2 back when they were ill-behaved kittens.  They have gotten a lot better with leaving the tree alone these days!

Moving on from the tree, we have a few other decorations around the living room.  My grandpa owned a nursery/floral shop for most of his life, and old habits are hard to break. I really think he is happiest when he is making something pretty for his loved ones.  He made us this beautiful candle stand a few years ago:

And this past Saturday he dropped this off for us (he made one for all his kids/grandkids.  He is the sweetest man on earth).  Isn't that mug too cute?  I love it.

And here is my dresser in the entryway with my nativity scene and some Christmasy candles.  We definitely need some kind of light over there next year, because it's kind of in a dark spot in the room.  We will tweak next Christmas.

And that's about the extent of our decorations this year!  It's not much, but it's cozy, and I will miss it once the season is over! 

Next Christmas, though, we will decorate every inch of this place.  Including a sweet, tiny Christmas tree in the nursery!  I know our baby will only be 5 months old, but I can't wait to make his or her first Christmas  special!