Christmas

(I just realized that I started this post almost a month ago and never finished!)  

I love love love decorating for Christmas!  I wasn't able to decorate last year because we moved into our new house on the 23rd of Dec, however, I did manage to at least put up our tree.  I then spent the day after Christmas shopping for cheap decorations for future years.  

Growing up, we always decorated the day after Thanksgiving while playing Christmas music on full blast.  I love this tradition and want to keep it going with my family.  The Friday after Thanksgiving wasn't a very convenient time to decorate, but you better believe that the first possible chance I got (Saturday) I pulled out the Christmas boxes.  It was just me and Nathan at home and I wanted to surprise Curtis when he got back from sightseeing with his parents.  In retrospect I probably should have waited for him to come home to get down the three large bins of decorations that were on the very top shelf in the garage.  Pregnancy, ladders, and carrying heavy boxes shouldn't really mix...but I was just too excited!  

I spent several hours decorating (which is always more fun at the beginning).  I still have a ways to go before I have enough decorations to really do up the whole house nicely, but I am happy with what I have.  I managed to save decorating the tree for when Curtis got home.  Nathan had a blast "hanging" ornaments. (I say "hanging" because most of his ornaments ended up just sitting on a branch or else on the ground.  Thank goodness for shatterproof ornaments!)

He would cheer everytime he actually got one to stay on the tree

Along with our inside decorations, Curtis volunteered to put lights up outside.  I am soooooo glad he did!  I just LOVE Christmas lights and this is the first year we have had the opportunity to hang them.  Putting Christmas lights on our home seems like such a "grown-up" thing to do, it seemed a little strange doing it.  Having a kid, buying a house, and being pregnant with our second child for some reason never warranted this reaction...but putting up our own Christmas lights...now THATS grown-up!  

We also took Nathan to see Santa at the ward Christmas party (in which he showed absolutely no interest),

and baked (and ate) lots and lots of goodies!

I have made sugar cookies once before with Nathan and it was a big hit, so I was excited to repeat the experience.  He helped me pour in all the ingredients and danced to the rhythm of the mixer.  I set up two stations (one for each of us) at the kitchen table to roll out the dough and cut out the cookies.  I made sure we both had aprons on.  I sat Nathan up at the table and showed him how to roll out the dough and cut out the cookies.  I handed him some cookie cutters of his very own and then finally a small ball of dough.  I watched in anticipation, ready to praise him for all his dough creations.  Without any hesitation he grabbed the entire ball of dough and shoved it in his mouth.  It took him quite a while to finish eating his dough and when he was done I had finished cutting out all the cookies.  So much for that idea.

I also made TONS of cream cheese mints, thanks to my inability to read directions I added 8 oz of cream cheese instead of the 3 that the recipe called for, and so I had to adjust the other amounts accordingly.  250 mints later I went to the bathroom to clean up and came back to find that Nathan had pulled a chair up to the counter and was shoveling mints into his mouth as fast as he could.  I think he had about 3 in by the time I found him, with another couple in each hand.  Needless to say Nathan had A LOT of sugar that day...

I am so excited for the Christmas season!  Like most, it is my favorite time of the year!  I hope we can all share in the joy that this season brings and remember the true meaning of the holiday.  Being pregnant during this time really has helped me to remember the tremendous sacrifice it took for Mary to bring such a precious gift into the world.  I feel a little silly complaining about back pain or doing housework when I think of the young, selfless woman traveling on a donkey and giving birth in a stable.  Mary must have been a very special woman to be entrusted with such a special son.  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!  The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ is truly worth celebrating!!!