It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

I'm very happy to report we put our tree up over the weekend and Grayson is starting to catch on to the whole idea of Christmas.

Topping the tree with a boost from daddy

Looks like we may need a little more help from daddy in the straightening department, but not bad for Gray's first try.

Part of what I love about Christmas is unwrapping the mismatched, hand-crafted ornaments and sentimental decorations that we've collected over the years. We made a hand print ornament with Grayson last year and it was fun to see how much his hand has grown.

We are also lucky enough to have some pretty crafty relatives who've created decorations including this poinsettia tree that lights from within which was made by Michael's great aunt Margaret. It was on display at Michael's grandma's house for years and now warms up our living room.

I also have a wooden Santa that my grandmother made. I'm glad it's kid-friendly because Grayson has taken a liking to it and every time I turn around it's on display in a different part of our house.

When I was a child, my Aunt Karen made this Santa doll for me and I loved on it year-round. It makes me so happy to see Grayson enjoying it now. He carries Santa around saying, "Ho ho ho!"

Once we got all the ornaments on the tree, Michael and I were packing up the boxes when we turned around to find Grayson (and the Santa doll) enjoying the tree lights from below. The look on his face was pure joy and it's a great reminder of what's important during a season when it's easy to get wrapped up in over-the-top expectations and unneeded stress.