Christmas Evenings

The (un)fortunate thing about having less square footage in our house than my sister and her husband's house is that no one ever gets to see our Christmas decorations because all of our family functions are at their house.

Luckily there is a blogging world where virtually anyone can take a tour of our living room.

I love our living room in the evenings when the big light is turned off. It is rather cozy, and I enjoy spending time in there after Reagan has gone to bed. The first picture was taken without the flash so that you can get a sense of what the light looks like.

Same view as above, but with the flash. I used to want to be able to have a fire in our fireplace, but I have decided that I really like our candles in there instead.

Our tree.

I haven't found a Nativity that I'm in love with, so we're using Reagan's Little People Nativity for right now. Which I actually do love. :)

I took this picture a few weeks ago when it was snowing. This is the view from our backyard looking onto the porch and into the living room windows.

This is our back porch from the inside. I love having the light from outside coming into our living room...plus I just love the lights wrapped on the pillars and the twinkling snow flakes!

A Few of My Favorites

Growing up, my mom's (our) Christmas tree was a "designer" tree. That is the term that I always used. All it meant was that all the decorations were similar and the same color. It was a very, very pretty tree. With a big bow on top.

I just knew that I was going to have that kind of Christmas tree. Even in college and when I was single in my own apartment, I had decorations that were all the same. With tiny bows tied to the ends of the branches. A big bow at the top. Coordinating balls.

But then I got married. And we were given a few "Our First Christmas Together" ornaments. Those ornaments meant something to us. We also bought one on our honeymoon, and one that "looked like" our wedding.

And so it started. We have a beautiful Christmas tree with a mixture of red and green balls plus ornaments with sentimental value. I love putting them on the tree each year because I know exactly where each one came from. And why we have them.

I sound like a Hallmark commercial, I know. But here are a few of my faves:

Our star is hand-made from a friend that has since moved to Seattle. It is one of a kind. We went several years without a star because I couldn't find one that I really liked. She made us this one, and I loved it the first time I saw it. It is a large wood star (in gold/yellow) with two smaller stars in the middle (a white one and then a silver on top) with silver dots going around the white star. Then each of small white stars around the top have a silver star-center, and they are attached with curling copper wire.

This is our "wedding" ball. It says "Christmas 2002" which was our first married Christmas. The great thing about this ornament is that it is the colors of our wedding--light sage green, silver, and white! I was so excited when I found it--AT K-MART!!!!!!!

We got this mermaid ornament on our honeymoon. We took a cruise, and one of our stops was Grand Cayman--we went to Sting Ray City to swim with sting rays...that is why she's holding a ray.

I have found an ornament for each of Reagan's Christmasses. I try to find one that goes with something he has done or loved over the previous year. Maybe he'll want these when he grows up...be he IS a boy, and I'm not expecting him to care all that much. But I do. :)

This picture didn't take very well. But it is a blue baby bib with "Baby's First Christmas" on it.

Year 2. His first word was "dog", and I found this beautiful hand painted glass ornament. You can't really see because of the bow, but there are even cute little ears.

This one is a stretch, but I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. It turned out ok because this is Reagan's favorite ornament of his. For most of the previous year Reagan was attached to the Little People chicken from the farm. He even named it Tallulah. Tallulah went everywhere with him. It fit so perfectly in his hand, too. So here is a chicken for our tree.

The year 2007 started his love of cars and the movie Cars. This ornament is actually a Hot Wheels, but Reagan loves the cool fire coming out of it!

Lately Reagan has really enjoyed making and decorating sugar cookies. I stumbled on this one that is supposed to be a decorated cookie (I don't know if you can see the cookie part). It is a really pretty ornament.

There are so many other ornaments that mean things to us. We each have a football ornament--David has a blue Dallas Cowboys one and I have an Aggie one. I always put the two together. We have 2 bones for Abby and Elton and a white cat for Mav (who is black, by the way). We have some from other vacations. One from New York~~we used to go alot, and we bought one while we were there right after 9-11.

There are holes in the decorations, but I am looking forward to filling up those empty spaces with more memories.

A Sort of Winter Wonderland

Check this out!!! (I took these 3 minutes ago!!)

That is snow (mixed with lots of other cold wet stuff)! But there was SNOW!

Observations

Do you remember when you used to rest your head on your parent's arm?

Do you remember falling asleep with your head in the lap of your parents' during church?

There have been so many things that I have waited for since I have had Reagan. Him telling me that he loves me. Him giving me hugs. Kisses.

I still have to ask for 'I love you's' and kisses and hugs. But when I do ask for them, I know that he is totally willing to give them out. And I accept that as his personality. When I see him hug a grandparent or aunt or uncle with full-out arms, I am deeply touched at his love for that person. And for those of you reading this who have experienced a "lean in" type of hug compared to a real hug, you know what I mean.

This weekend during dinner, Reagan leaned into my arm and wrapped an arm around it. He leaned his head onto my arm.

I can only take this as love. As a need to be close to me. I didn't ask for it. I was just eating my taco, and he did this on his own.

I've seen him do this to David, and he has done this to me many other times. I think this is the "love" that I expect and want to see from him. The need to be close to us. The need of the warmth. The need of the love coming back to him.

I don't want to imagine this "need" ever leaving him, but as a teacher and as an adult, I know that I won't always receive this type of affection.

My dearest Reagan, please know that I am always here to receive your need and to give out any love that you are willing to take. I will be as close as you need me to be. You are an extension of my being, and we will never be apart.

I love you, baby.

Potty Party

In mid-October David and I treated Reagan to a potty success weekend in San Antonio. We drove down on a Saturday and met my friend Tina and her son at the zoo. We then spent the night in SA and went to Sea World on Sunday. We had a great time! Here are some pictures of the weekend:

Birthday Party Fun

Reagan's friend, Kendall, turned 4 years old a couple of weeks ago. Reagan and Kendall have known each other since before they were 1!! We met at Gymboree, and we have been playgroup friends ever since. And lucky for Reagan, Kendall now goes to the same Mother's Day Out AND is in the same class as Reagan and other playgroup buddy, Kennedy.

Kendall's birthday party was at Kiddie Acres--a place that we have not been to before. And boy-oh-boy!! It is a fantastic place for the kiddos! There are several rides all of which are perfect for 4 year olds to ride. Reagan had a blast. His friend from school, Blake, was there, and the boys were attached at each other's hip. THEN, Jack (Reagan's best bud) came!! The three boys did EVERYTHING together. (This is why I don't have many pictures of the girls at the party...including the birthday girl.)

Reagan (and Mommy and Daddy) are looking forward to our next trip to Kiddie Acres.