This year, Christmas was extra special for me. Its the third year in a row that we've been waiting for a bundle of joy to join our little family. And rather than be upset that he wasn't here yet, I just absolutely couldn't shake the joy of knowing who that little fella is. And knowing that, God willing, he should be in our arms next Christmas and coupled with our E*P Christmas miracle, we were about as merry as could be!
This tree was supposed to be decorated with all of P's handmade ornaments, but Perry had other plans. The only homemade ornament he would leave on this tree was this stained glass nativity. All the others ended up on our family tree. And to me, flexibility is the name of the game so I went with it. (While taking down our family tree, I also realized that Perry had decorated a few branches with scotch tape and socks- that I didn't even notice before! If you look super close, you can see them in the next photos. Too funny.)
See if you can find the sock. TOTALLY cracks me up. Justin had also hidden my present in the tree by this point and I was completely oblivious. I'm so not hard to surprise!
A view from 'the bridge.'
This was one of my very favorite decorations. My two boys' stockings hanging underneath the beautiful nativity my mom and dad gave me. It is truly surreal to have two sons. I cannot even believe Justin and I are so lucky.
The nutcracker has one of Perry's Santa photos in it. I need to figure out a way to display Santa photos a little better. The others were on our kitchen buffet.
I truly admire the gorgeous trees that Pottery Barn and Ballard's features in their magazines and stores each year, but I'd be lying if I said I wanted a tree like that. To me, there's nothing more magical than pulling out all those special ornaments and taking a stroll down sweet memory lane. Here is our first Christmas ornament and to the right is our wedding invitation all curled up in an ornament.
This is our Elf, Merry Noel. She's kinda lazy. But, she did fix P breakfast a few mornings, deliver a few nativity crafts, and bring us tickets to go see Jake Live one weekend. So in my book, she's pretty cool. If you've been following the blog for a few years, you'll realize that her name has changed. For some reason, I was thinking her name was Merry Noel, but as I was putting Christmas decorations up yesterday, I ran across a letter to P signed Rosalie. Oops. I really like Rosalie better since she has red hair and all, but I guess we'll see what he calls her next year to determine her real name.
Perry's first Christmas ornament (I'm also trying to get one for Jack too!) and a sweet handprint from when he was an itty bitty.
Pseudo Jack Cruz! I love this ornament I won from a friend's adoption auction this fall. SO cute and meaningful. Up until this year, we've had a little panda bear ornament on our tree to represent our Asian baby. It felt SO good to finally know who that panda represented and to put a more accurate ornament up to represent our sweet Jack!
{thankful for}
a silent night
the true nativity
meaningful ornaments
Justin's decorating skills and willingness
a tripod
