It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas!

Friday morning Carter and I got up at 7am while everyone else slept in.  I dressed him in his new Christmas onesie.  We put a small Christmas tree up in his room adorned with the handprint and footprint dough ornaments from last year.  I created a Trans-Siberian Orchestra station on Pandora and we danced and played for hours.  I felt so happy.  That amazing, through and through, life doesn't get better than this kind of happy.  Being with Carter makes me so thankful for life, for health, for the ability to feel such an intense love, to be a mom.  Every moment with him is a gift and I treasure those special mornings like we had on Friday morning.

Posing with his Christmas tree.

Playing with Zuma, my parents' dog.

Later in the day I pulled out the rest of the Christmas decorations and we went to town making our home look festive.  It was the first time, including my childhood, I'd decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  We always traveled for Thanksgiving and got home days later tired and needing to unpack and do laundry.  It was so nice to be at home, relax, and get all Christmasy with it.

Helping me decorate.

Our tree is up, although not yet decorated, and we have decorations throughout the house.  Carter enjoyed playing with bells and looking at all of the lights.  He is so much fun to watch.  I'm extremely excited for this holiday season.  I've always loved the holiday season, but it now brings me so much more joy.  Not just because I have Carter to watch, but because of the memories surrounding this time of year.  When we were at the trails running I saw the Christmas trees that were up last year.  The trees we ran to the night before Carter was born.  I think back to all of those emotions.  Nearing the end of pregnancy as we put our tree up.  Nursing a brand new baby to the light of a Christmas tree.  Wearing Christmas pajamas while holding a sleeping newborn.  My heart swells just thinking about those things.  We have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to.  This small family of ours sure is full of love.