Christmas At Our House

This December has been better than I expected. Andrew is on an ICU rotation this month which we've been dreading for a while now. The hours are long and intense (he also has to work all day Christmas Eve and Christmas) but I think the worst part is that Andrew hates it and is stressed out all the time (am I allowed to admit that Stace?). But like I said, overall it has been a pretty good Christmas season for us despite being a tad lonely and hearing lots of stories about patients dying :(.

In fact, I sort of think this might be my favorite Christmas in Ohio yet! After almost 5 years of marriage we've collected some Christmas treasures that are so fun to see around the house. Luke is really starting to understand the basics of Christmas and it is fun listening to him sing Jingle Bells around the house and tell Cam about Santa. Even though all the presents and the Santa stuff isn't the most meaningful part of Christmas, it is still really really fun.  Three might actually be the perfect age for Christmas. Luke has absolutely no Christmas gift requests and would probably be happy with a candy bar. I think we can do a little better than that but it is nice that he isn't making demands or setting himself up for disappointment. It is also extra nice that he won't notice when we celebrate Christmas on the 28th instead of the 25th so that Andrew can be here.

I've learned a little bit from Christmases past and did a much better job this year of not starting any Christmas crafts during December. Most of my shopping was done by last week and I'm not feeling that last minute stress to find the perfect gift. Best of all, we've been watching these videos a lot which bring a great spirit into our home. With Andrew gone a lot, we maximize any family time we do have to the fullest and feel more grateful for the simple things.

So here's a look at Christmas around our house...

Here was our attempt at a family Christmas card photo. I don't know why I can't get my act together to take a real family picture, but it feels like it is almost impossible to do. We thought we might be able to pull it off one day just using our own camera. Andrew was actually home during daylight hours, everyone was showered and looked decent, the sun was even shining. But wouldn't you know that in the time it took me to set up the camera, the clouds rolled in and a storm started in 3 minutes flat. Result: no family Christmas card photo. Sorry guys. (this was just a test shot but you gotta love Luke's hat pulled over his eyes. It's a nice touch). I might still try to pull something together but I've lost hope in a family photo.

When we put up nativity stickers with Luke (so we could reiterate the story of Christmas), he insisted on putting them up really high so Cam couldn't reach them. That Luke is always thinking ahead of how Cam could possibly destroy something he likes.

We bought this ornament when we went to New York for a day during Christmas a couple years ago. Andrew always makes fun of me when he sees it because it was totally overpriced. He wanted me to haggle with the guy for a better deal. I HATE DOING THAT. So I kinda haggled and got it for a couple dollars less. When I boasted to Andrew, he was not impressed but thought it was funny that I was so proud of myself.

We got this ornament in Puerto Rico which is where we spent our first Christmas as a married couple. We have so many great memories from that vacation. Like the hostel I found in Old San Juan that was only $25 a night and was the scariest, dirtiest place I've ever seen in my life. Or the secluded beaches in Vieques that were absolute paradise. I can't wait till we can do more trips like that.

I picked this pheasant up at the after-Christmas Target sale last year (this is when I buy most of my Christmas stuff). It reminds me of Andrew's Dad. He raises pheasants in his backyard. It is very endearing.

This crane is from a Japanese family in our neighborhood that was here for a few months while the husband did some consulting at OSU. The wife didn't speak much English and it was one of those amazing times when my language skills were actually needed. I miss them.

We have a plethora of handmade Christmas crafts that Luke made in preschool this year. Here is one of my favorites. The funniest part is that there is another kid's name written on the back of it. Oops, I guess they glued his picture to the wrong one. Oh well, I still like it :)

And here is a cheese puff ball that I wasn't expecting to find while I was taking pictures. I'm pretty sure it is the last remnant of a "cheese puff war" that I let the Activity Day girls have in my house last week. They've been talking about it all year so I finally let them go nuts as my Christmas present to them. I expected to find cheese puffs all over my house for weeks to come but I didn't expect that there would be a thick layer of grease all over my floor afterwards from all the crushed cheese puffs. Seriously there were girls slipping all over the place. Good times.

Here are all of Luke's Christmas crafts from school. Is preschool the funnest place on Earth? I think they must dress the kids up in cute stuff and take pictures almost everyday. 

Cheapest decorating idea of the year. The little balls are from the dollar store. String 'em. Done.

Here is our small Christmas book collection that is mostly thanks to my sister-in-law Melanie. We were also really grateful when the Collings gave us the Strega Nona book last year.

Here is the wall of LOVE so far. Sometimes I get super practical and start wondering if it's worth it to print and mail Christmas cards. Most of the people I would send them to read our blog anyway. And I know it will just end up in the trash after Christmas. But having this wall fill up makes me SO HAPPY! I don't care that I pretty much know what's going on in most of these friends' lives. I don't care if I've already seen the family picture on their blog. The cards are all about spreading Christmas cheer and I feel cheerful every time I walk past it. There. Cheesy but it needed to be said.

A good friend gave us this pillow and I love it. I tried making a duplicate for my sister-in-law but it's not as cool as this one. Sorry Marika, this is what I was aiming for.

Last year we didn't have much to decorate our tree so I made these little cardboard ornaments with pictures from Christmases past. I hope I can keep it up and make one for each Christmas. 

We went with  a smaller tree this year and I am very happy we did. It is cute and doesn't look as bare as our huge tree last year. And it still smells great which is why we got it in the first place.

For the record, I am not one of those people that feels that there must be snow on Christmas. Columbus is uncharacteristically warm for this time of year and I couldn't be happier. When I see pictures of people celebrating Christmas in warmer climates with the sun shining, my heart gets all warm and fuzzy as if I'm watching "It's a Wonderful Life".

Christmas we are ready for you. But you can't come until Dec. 28th :)

Up next: Christmas Fieldtrips


*p.s. I finally blogged about my brother's wedding on affordableutahweddings.com. If you're interested in a few more details, find them here. (It is my sister-in-law, Jessica's blog in case you were wondering).