happenings of our home: Home for the Holidays!

Hello there! I am feeling MUCH better today! Jared & I made up, & I got some good sleep last night. Amazing what a little sleep can do for the mind & body! That, & crossing a gazillion things off a mile long to-do list! AND then there were all of the sweet words of encouragement so many of you poured out to me through facebook & email. Sometimes, it's nice to hear that I'm not alone in this motherhood journey, & that many mommies out there can relate. Thank you to my sweet girlfriends. You know who you are...

So, with that said, I ran Scrooge clear out of town this morning, & we are now up & running in the Christmas spirit once again! I decided to set the {now much smaller} to-do list aside today, & just let a few things go. After all, I want to truly enjoy this Christmas season, not merely survive it.

I'm pretty sure one of the things that aided in the blowing of the gasket last night is the fact that I am hosting Christmas this year at MY house! Everyone is coming--& by everyone I mean, my side of the family AND Jared's side! We are all having Christmas breakfast at at my house{Thank you, Lord I didn't have to do a turkey!} This is BIG! I mean, what could be bigger than the biggest holiday of the year?! I just don't want to drop the ball on anyone's Christmas. I want it to be perfect! I want everyone to feel comfortable, & get to come, relax, & make wonderful Christmas memories! I want them to leave with great big cheery, merry hearts, uttering to one another things like, "THAT was a wonderful Christmas!" I want it to be a special Christmas, one that leaves footprints on their hearts. It's a lot of pressure, you know. But then when I stop & really take a look at the situation...I'm the one who's bringing on all of this pressure myself. For the past week or so, I've been running around this house like a crazy woman, cleaning, sanitizing, painting baseboards, pressing table linens...you know, all the stuff that nobody REALLY notices! It has been an all out frenzy, & thankfully a gasket finally blew to make me take a step back & quiet the busyness going on in my head.

These are our families I'm talking about here. This is Christmas. Nobody is coming to look at how clean my home is. Nobody will be analyzing my baseboards & trim to make sure they are the brightest white. No one will judge if everything isn't pristine & perfect. That's not what Christmas is about. It's about the laughter that fills the room. It's about the people that gather together. It's about the memories we make as a family. And this year, it's about Jett waking up to see that not only has Santa come to visit, but everyone that loves him so very much has come to visit him also! I cannot be more excited that on Jett's first Christmas, the ones we love the most will be in our home all together under one roof on Christmas morning! We don't have to hurry through opening gifts just so that we can get in the car & on the road to the next Christmas. We get to relax, watch Jett's face as he experiences his very first Christmas, eat, laugh, & enjoy the great big love we all have for each other! Now THAT is what Christmas is all about!

There really is no place like home for the holidays!

And just for fun, I added a couple of pics from past Christmases!