Tree Decorating

The day after we got back from the mountains was spent decorating our house for Christmas. I had worried over where to put our tree because Shelby Claire is at a stage where she is into everything. The last thing I want to do is have a baby climbing our Christmas tree. We ended up sticking it in the dining room. I like it there because you can see the lights from the street. We thought it would be "out of sight, out of mind" for Smiley but, um, not so much! We ended up putting gates at both doors to the dining room to keep her out of it.

 Audrey helped me decorate the tree this year and LOVED EVERY MINUTE of it. She told us to "put some moosic on" so we could dance! Love her!

On our honeymoon, Clay and I picked up an ornament from Newport, RI. Since that first ornament ten Christmases ago, we've collected an ornament for each vacation we go on. We've added other random ornaments for the girls and now almost every ornament on the tree has a special meaning to us. We joke that if the house were on fire, I'd run back in (after safely getting the girls out) and get my ornaments!

 Despite my love of those ornaments and the memories they bring back to me, none are as special as my Audrey. Let me tell you, it took every ounce of self-control I had to allow her to help me but I kept reminding myself, "It's just an ORNAMENT!".  She unpacked just about every ornament (even the super fragile ones) and hung them on the tree or told me where she thought I should put them. She hung about 50 on the lower branches and that's where they stayed. Our tree is pretty skimpy on the top but boy does it look fan.tas.tic on the bottom! Thankfully, we didn't break any that day but that's not to say that they won't be broken before we get them back in there boxes. Not only did she enjoy decorating the tree the first day, but she likes to rearrange the ornaments on a daily basis. I moved the handprint ornaments to the very top and just let her have at it on the bottom.

That little outfit Shelby Claire is wearing is a size 24 month and Audrey wore it last year. I'll leave you all with that little tidbit to think about!