31 Days of Joy ~ Day 6

Today, the thing that brought me joy was decorating our Christmas trees. Yes, I said trees. We have a big one in our living room, a pint-size one in our kitchen, and a miniature tree (that's also in the kitchen). I realize it is a little excessive, but I can't help it. Go big or go home, right? 


If you come to our house during Christmastime, it looks like Christmas threw up everywhere. I hang garland any and everywhere I can, we have countless knick-knacks and figurines, and I even have Santa pillows for my couch. Christmas really is all around us.


We finally finished decorating the third of our trees today, the pint-size one in the kitchen. I cheated and decorated the miniature one myself while my son was asleep because I knew his little sausage fingers couldn't handle the miniature hooks and ornaments. 


I must say I probably like the kitchen tree the most because I've devoted it to my favorite Disney character: Winnie the Pooh. All of my Winnie-the-Pooh-themed ornaments get their special treatment on the kitchen tree and it makes the child in me absolute giddy. 


The little man and I had a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and sausage, and set out to "decking" (as he calls it) the tree. We had a wonderful, relaxing time working together. Only one Pooh bear and one snowman were beheaded in the process. Again, I was thanking the Lord for Super Glue, which fixed them up fine and dandy. 


As Christmas tunes danced around in the background, I enjoyed a special time with my guy that I will cherish for many Christmases to come. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

31 Days of Joy ~ Day 5

Today, the thing that brought me joy was my son. More specifically, it's his burgeoning vocabulary and personality. When he's not busy teaching me patience, he's making me laugh. 


We spent the evening decorating our Christmas tree and had quite a nice time together. The control freak in me was reluctant to let him help decorate the tree because I knew it wouldn't turn out "perfect" and a few ornaments might get broken along the way. We have a family tradition of decorating our trees with Hallmark ornaments, so I have a small fortune hanging on my tree each year and I shudder to think of anything getting broken. 


However, I decided to let go and just enjoy the time working with my son. I'd like to thank God for the person who invented Super Glue (or, as little man calls it, "supy gwue"). With that said, I was in awe of the job he did. He took such care hanging each ornament and really handled them gently, which was a feat in itself for him. 


At one point, as I was schooling him on the finer points of ornament hanging, he turned to me and said, "Are you kidding me, Mom?" I couldn't help but laugh. He has quite a mouth on him, and it keeps us on our toes. 


Later on, he eagerly told my husband, "Dad, I have a present for you," to which my husband replies, "Oh, what is it?" He then turns around and shakes his little hiney at him, which was full of, well, I don't think I really need to spell it out. I almost had an accident myself in laughing at that one. 


When we were putting him to bed, I was holding him and about to turn him over to my husband. He looks at my husband, puts his hand up in the "Stop" position and tells him, "Swiper, no swiping. Swiper, no swiping." If you've ever seen Dora, you know what this means. All we could do was laugh.


My child never ceases to amaze or amuse me. Thank you, Lord, for my sweet little boy. 

It's beginning to look a lot like ... Christmas card decision time!

Christmas cards are fun. Getting them is one of the highlights of the Christmas season for me because I love to see all our friends and family, how children and families have grown and what choices people make for their Christmas cards. 

Being the perfectionist I am, I'm always looking for that "perfect" Christmas card. I used to send handwritten cards, but since we've had a child, I really like sending photo cards because I know everyone wants to see the kid. I mean, who wouldn't? He's precious. ;) 

I am glad there are so many options for photo cards now. It makes the decision a little harder though because so many of them are cute and memorable. 

I think I've settled on one from Shutterfly. I was browsing today and thought this was a very cute idea for a Christmas card. I'm a huge fan of photos, so it's really hard to narrow down one photo and this card eliminates the need for just one. I love the way they've done the sample, too. The idea of showing a picture of my son from every month of the last year is a great way to show how he's grown and his age progression. It's particularly fitting for us because we have so many family and friends in other states who don't get to see him very often. 

I've used Shutterfly before for photo prints and I'm always really happy with the service and quality of their products. There are some super cute designs for cards whether you're looking for vintage, contemporary, traditional, etc. Take a gander at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery. You might find the "perfect" card for yourself. :)