Holiday time!

I love this time of the year... between Thanksgiving and Christmas when the air is cool, leaves are falling off the trees, Christmas decorations are up and Christmas songs are on the radio. It all just puts me in such a good mood. I smile while I stand in long lines in stores and I wave to my neighboring car while at a red light. I guess you could say that I am definitely in the Holiday spirit.

There are so many lights that are up in my area now and me and Lilly are loving them. Zach doesn't really pay much attention, but I doubt he can see much from his car seat anyway. There are a few places close to home that are doing a light show that I would love to take the kids to. I've only been to one and that was 7 years ago when I was pregnant with Lilly. 7 is the magic number, its time to go again!

We don't have any decorations up, we still don't even have a spot to put our tree! I did a little cleaning Sunday and told hubby that the rest was his and he has yet to do anything with it. I always like to have Christmas decorations up the first weekend of December, but hubby likes to wait until the last possible minute. Next year, I'm not going to wait for him to decide he wants to do it. Next year we will have a house and have our stuff there instead of being stashed in someone else's garage or my storage building. Next year, I will just start putting stuff up and if he wants to join in, he can. Of course I won't decorate the tree. I'll just bring the box up and sit it in the middle of the floor. I won't even put it up, ok, unless he takes forever. Putting it up is his and Lilly's thing and one day will be Zach's too. I don't want to take that away from him. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I am dying to decorate. I want to decorate. I want our house to be all Christmas-y. I want lights on our porch. I want our tree up. I want to be able to start wrapping gifts.

Yes, the countdown is ON. 18 days and some odd hours until Christmas! I do believe I have gone a bit overboard this year. Last year, I spent around $800 for everyone and Lilly got a lot of things, but this year she got more and Zach has just as many and I'm still shopping. I've spent over $600 on the kids this year!!! I think I'm just too excited. Ok... the $600 isn't just for Christmas, I bought them some birthday stuff too. Then between everyone else, I spent probably another $500 and I'm still not done. I need to go get picture frames for some family members to put pictures of the kids in it and if possible, try to figure out something to get my grandparents other than pictures. They are all I have left, if I'm going to get them something else. I can't seem to find anything.

What happened to this year? It just flew right on by and I barely noticed, it seems. This time last year, I was huge. I was pregnant. I was waiting the arrival of my beautiful baby boy. And now, I'm buying him a rocking horse for his first birthday. He is one of the main reasons I'm so excited this year for Christmas. The first Christmas is always so wonderful. He is almost one year old! Its been a busy year. Its been an exhausting year...and I can't believe its almost over. We've had parties, t-ball games, soccer games, picnics, fireworks, camping trips, fishing adventures, dirty diapers in the middle of the woods, a new car, excitement over a house, tears over a house, doctor appointments, shots, sickness, funerals, arrivals of more babies, costumes, cookouts, a couple weddings, sunburns, a visit to a museum, a talent show, spit up on all my clothes and thousands of pictures. I wonder what 2012 has in store.........