five Christmases

My husband and I spent our first Christmas together in 2005 in our first little house that we had moved into a week earlier. That was such a fun Christmas! We would just sit in the living room with the only light coming from the tree. Just sit in the quiet and sip and gaze at the tree. Our little tree wasn't much to look at. It was full of homemade childhood ornaments and gifts from my classroom kids. Look at that tree skirt! Oy! My mom made those bows because she thought your eye needed "a place to rest."

The second Christmas we actually had gifts under the tree, luckily to hide that flashy tree skirt! Reminds me of the one that Bernice wore on Designing Women. We spent that Christmas in New Orleans. We had a wonderful time with my husband's entire family, but I was sad to leave our little house and tree on Christmas Eve.

By the third Christmas, we had moved two streets over next to the mean neighbor. That Christmas, my in-laws drove in and spent the holiday with us. It was my first time having a real "family Christmas" at my own house. I worked so hard to make sure it was classic and perfect. By this time, my MawMaw had given me a slew of beautiful ornaments from Pottery Barn. Long gone are the teacher ornaments and hand-me-downs from mothers. Kinda sad when you think about it like that. We spent that Christmas morning sipping coffee and gazing out the window at my neighbor as she furiously put up a fence in her front yard on the property line between us. Such an angel she was.

This was the first Christmas in our "new" 75 year old house. It was also our first real tree. I feel like you need a real tree in an old house. I also finally upgraded to a prettier tree skirt. This one looks more vintage with pearls. Because we got a real tree and I came from a faux tree family, I was terrifiied of it spontaneously combusting into flames. (My dad always used that as an excuse for not having one.) So I got the LED lights for it that you can leave on for hours and they never get hot. They're great for peace of mind, but they look kinda blue. I'm not a fan. This might be the last year I use them. You can't beat the golden glow of the old kind. This was also the year I converted to the "mesh." You know the stuff I'm talking about. It's everywhere. I felt real classy having some on the tree.

This Christmas tale remains to be told. We are quite sentimental this year, because it's our last one just the two of us. We are expecting a baby in June, and are so excited about it. We are ready for velveteen Christmas dresses and black patent shoes and Santa Claus. I'm thankful for these five Christmases. I've loved curling up with my sweet husband as we exhange gifts, and play loud holiday music, and sip champagne. But there is something missing. We are looking forward to completing the picture with a little one and teaching them the Christmas story and tip-toeing up and down the stairs on Christmas Eve.

Pray for our little June bug and have a wonderful week before Christmas!

A little something special for ya...