Random. Decorating. and Santa!!

In case you've been dying to know, we had a great Thanksgiving.  Ate fried turkey for the first time and it was YUMMY!!

And yes, I'm "one of those" that decorates for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving.  Much to Michael's dismay. The more time I get to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells the BETTER!  The good man he is he obliged my request (demand?) of getting the decor down, likely because I threatened I'd do it myself when he was gone anyway and did he really want a 8 month prego lady climbing up and down a ladder with boxes in tow? didn't think so.  I keep telling him the sooner he accepts Thanksgiving as a part of Christmas the better. . . . . its the entire holiday season and its fantastic. Furthermore, I like shopping and relaxing the weekend of Thanksgiving - with all the work and decorating done.

Its possibly the hormones but I was a bit more emotional than usual as I set up the decor this year.  There's quite a bit of sentiment in the few Christmas decorations I have.  Many from my Grandmothers (who both passed away this year).  I can admit a few tears were shed.

I was about 3/4 the way through decorating and the thought came to mind "hmm, I wonder how long this will all be up? . . . . . maybe I should have called and asked my Mom if she minded packing the Christmas stuff up BEFORE I put it all out"  you know, since I'll be busy not sleeping after the first of the year.

I got tired and decided it was ok if we waited a few days to put the ornaments on the tree.  Rylee was the perfect helper and handed me the "special ornaments" to place on the trees.  So far she's been pretty good and leaving it enough alone.  There are a couple bells within her reach, which is a good thing because I always know when she's fiddling. One day we'll get a real tree, and by 'real' I mean a normal size, the decor trees have worked well enough and it seems I've always rather the money be spent elsewhere.

 Rylee is the sweetest.  She loves giving the baby hugs and kisses. She has quite the eye for babies in public too.  I seriously can't wait to see her become a sister.  She's learning to say "boy" and "girl" we often ask her which she thinks the baby is. . . . this morning she had her shoulders shrugged and chattered her gibberish for a full minute without stopping.  Oh how I wish I understood what she was saying.

 I can't even tell you how excited I am to be home for Christmas.  Its the best part about being pregnant right now. I have to stay put. Dr orders. :)  This will be our 6th Christmas together but still a first for our family.  Let me tell you I will try my hardest to make it the best Christmas ever!!

Because this is the first we'll be home, Michael put lights on the house.  Simple, but I love it.  Rylee does too.  We've gone on a couple walks to look at other lights in the neighborhood (I think its a little easier for her to see from the stroller vs carseat) and she gasps, oohs and ahhs its so fun.  We also adopted a book reading tradition.  We wrapped a bunch of christmas books (most of which we checked out from the library) and she gets to open and read one each night.  The first night she went straight for the next present - quick learner. Its been really fun!

 I do think the little people nativity may just save the life of my ceramic/glass ones.  She's only reached for the ceramic sheep once and was easily directed to her own nativity and sheep that she could play with.  Worth every penny.  I didn't expect the ocd's to come out this early.  She has quite the routine (especially when it comes to getting OUT of bed. . . . sometimes I get really annoyed) and loves lining things up.
exhibit A:

 We got to see Santa twice last weekend, and didn't have to wait in line either time.  It was great.  The first we went to an "Old-Fashioned Christmas" in a neighboring town - they had a bunch of booths and a tree and santa was hanging out.  It was dark and I forgot the camera, but we did snap a few phone pics, but the next day our HOA hosted Santa in the office.  Again, no line.  It was awesome.  Rylee says "SSS-nnnTA" (though not to him) and she's being trained to answer "what do you want for Christmas?" with "books" and "shoes".  She loved pointing to Santa but was a little hesitant when it came to touching him or letting him hold her so I stayed close.   When you think about it, it really is quite creepy - I can't blame her hesitance.

Merry Christmas!!