It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. . .

Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. I can think of nothing better than decorating the house and tree while sipping a steaming cup of hot chocolate (with mini marshmallows and a candy cane, of course), while listening to Bing croon "Snow, Snow, Snow!" as "White Christmas" (the movie) plays in the background. Oh, and did I mention my obsession with Christmas pajamas? Growing up with Harmony and our moms, this was something we did every year with great excitement. (Still trying to get Dave in the decorating spirit... going on 12 Christmas seasons now together and have yet to be successful!)

Last Christmas season was the worst of my life. Grayson had just died and Carter was still in the hospital. I literally have no words to describe my devastation as I sat in the NICU and thought... this is my child's first Christmas. No presents, no tree, no music, no Christmas pajamas. I checked out of Christmas last year... didn't buy a single present or put up any decorations. However, now that a year has passed, the holiday spirit is returning. Not with the same fervor--I still don't have a house to decorate... but hopefully soon. My sweet aunt sent me a CD of fabulous Christmas songs that Carter and I have been listening to in the car everywhere we go. Carter now has 5 pairs of Christmas pajamas and I am looking forward to spending an entire day next week devoted to some serious holiday baking. Since I didn't post anything from last Christmas, I thought I'd share two of my favorite pictures of Carter's first Christmas:

This year, our festivities started early with a trip to Heritage Hill Historical Park to visit Santa during their Victorian Christmas. I have so many postive things to say about this event. They had Christmas carolers and tons of food and handmade goodies for sale, a really awesome puppet show, hand-churned butter and ice cream, Mrs. Claus telling stories, and possibly the most authentic looking Santa I have ever seen. (And we waited in line for less than a minute to see Santa!) Unlike most babies who seem to be afraid of Santa, Carter was fascinated. I think it was the beard that drew him in. He would have happily sat on Santa's lap all day and stared into his eyes. It was pretty darn cute.

Carter with his Auntie Harmony:

And last but not least... Christmas pajamas!