The Christmas decor is up, the holiday music is on pandora, presents are wrapped, & our bank account is drained. There are still 15 more days until Christmas and our little baby Estelle is still not here! This is going to make things a lot more difficult from a shopping perspective. Justin and I will most likely have to take turns finishing up. Luckily we are about 75% done with most of the family. Some of the last tidbits are gift cards that I can completely trust him to handle!
Shopping for Isla this year was fun and definitely not as big of a wallet buster than I had anticipated. Toysrus.com was having a huge online sale so I got her several toys for just over 100.00 dollars. Justin and I don't believe in breaking the bank for our kids at this age. We want them to have a great Christmas and of course we want to spoil them just a little, but they really don't understand the point, so why splurge?....Besides the attention span for one toy lasts about 20 seconds. Most items I bought were less than $15.00 each so I won't feel bad if she is "just not that into it" for awhile.
We did get Estelle a few things, but spending a lot on a newborn just doesn't make sense. We will depend on family to get her fun things. :)
So far this month has been uneventful other than having a good time Christmas shopping. My last day of work was Tuesday, December 3rd. I was grateful for that, but now that it is the 10th I am thinking of the extra Christmas money I would have been making. Oh well, I'm just consumed by trying to get this baby out. Nothing seems to be working and as of now I'm 40w1d.
Decorating the house kept my spirits up and this year {to my surprise} I didn't find too many Christmas items to buy. I'm going to wait until clearance sales to buy anything I like. Below are some pictures of the family room all spruced up for Santa.
Isla has been pretty good with the tree so far. She does occasionally pull of an ornament, but other than that she just really likes the lights. We did put a few wrapped gifts under the tree and to our surprise she has no real interest in tearing them a apart!
Other than Christmas being the center of our December, football has been pretty intense for Justin and his fantasy league. I just laugh at the competitiveness of these grown men! Isla and I just have fun hanging out with the fireplace going, eating all the good football food on a Sunday afternoon. It's the perfect way to end the week!
I have changed so many ways in the last couple years that some of my newest interests have been all about how I present things. I have always cared about the way I look and how I present myself, I have also always cared about how I present the way I live (specifically by being clean and tidy). When we closed on our house, I just became a different person with how I wanted to present my house. I was and still am obsessed with home decor. I mean.... Obsessed. I walk around my house and constantly think about what I want to do next. The wheels are always turning. Lists of projects keep getting longer and longer.
I also have tapped into my inner DIY-er. I have always been artsy fartsy and it has seriously paid off in my adult life. Crafty things come natural to me and (not to brag, but} I do them well. So well that it even looks professional. {Check out my kitchen re-do if you haven't seen my entry in re-finishing cabinets.}
& call me nerdy....
.....but one of the more recent things I have been particular about is gift wrapping. Yes, that's right.....wrapping presents. Ever since our baby shower, I have saved, collected, and organized a gift wrapping bin. It has tons of items that I never even bought, it was all given to me with a gift and I saved it to shell out to someone else. It's quite a large collection! However, I'm lacking in Christmas items. So the purpose of this entry? I am
now obsessed with Christmas wrapping paper and how I present my gifts. I want them to look elegant and striking. Even though it will be forgotten, I want my gifts to look like someone paid to have it look like that. If you haven't seen hobby lobby's paper - check it out because it is all beautiful. I'm just waiting till after Christmas to stock up on gorgeous paper, bows, and sparkley name tags. It really makes me excited.
Tonight my husband said "You used to be easy to Christmas shop for, now you are so difficult. Your taste has changed so much". That's right Justy, I have champagne taste with a beer pocketbook! Once the Christmas stuff goes to 80% off look out! I'll be the crazy lady with two babies stocking up on all the paper!... But when you get a gift from me, the wrap job will take your breathe away! :)
For the first time Justin and I hosted Christmas Eve. We wanted to start our own traditions and had fun with the siblings over. Auntie Jill and Uncle Brad never fail in providing great gifts for the girls. Isla got her first car (cozy coupe) which she adores! Dinner was great - a simple ham with lots treats. My parents stopped over after visiting at the Meyer Christmas. After a glass of wine and some very tired kids, we all turned in anxiously awaiting Christmas morning!
Christmas morning was upon us and the girls were thoroughly spoiled. Opening our gifts first thing in the morning followed by a stop at my parents meant lots of toys! Grandma and Grandpa Pittard stopped by later to also drop of gifts. The generosity was unbelievable this year. We are blessed and so grateful to everyone!
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