Decorating for Christmas

I absolutely love this time of the year. It is my favorite holiday..the celebration for the season is such a thrill, and I get so excited, I come close to forgetting my own birthday. Which, that's ok too, since this year I am celebrating the big "35". I know that doesn't sound like that big of a deal to most. It is to me, not because of the number or the age necessarily, but because "35" was a milestone that I had set in my mind for our first child. And, as we know, it's just not up to me.

We just aren't the only ones that have plans for our family.

This was from Ruth Clark. Thank you, Ruth - your gift couldn't have come on a better day. (Ruth's family shares the same LID.) It is "one of those days"... and for anyone who has been through the adoption process, or going through it, you know that some days are harder than others. It can be a test of faith - or a testimony to it, which is how I choose to look at it. But, without fail, some of the days are still hard. It doesn't help when I decide to listen to rumors that our wait for our daugther could be 18-20 months from LID, which for us would mean summer of 2008. And it doesn't help that at this time last year, we were still extremely hopeful that my surgery would help us get pregnant, and the in-vitro procedure would be a success. I am keeping Ruth's gift on our foyer table to remind me, and keep me strong. Thanks again, Ruth!

Back to where I started, I have enjoyed decorating for Christmas this year! Last year, we were so focused on recovery from surgery, visits to the doctor, tests, drugs/shots, more shots, going back and forth to Atlanta, so I didn't really do too much to help us get settled in for Christmas. (Not to mention I was not really myself for quite some time ;-)

We finally got the "snowballs" up in the front of the house during football game halftime, of course, (we only bought those around two years ago), and I even put up lights in the windows! I still have the details to work on, but its a start.

The Nutcracker looks awesome, I think, with the garland in the foyer (I bought him last year around Christmas). I put Santa up in the breakfast area (below) .. I just love him! (Still working on replacing the candles in the lanterns) And the fun lighted "present" was a gift from Eileen and John (thanks again!)

Still working on the tree, so no picture, yet.. but I even put up lights in the kitchen that lead to our front office/to-be playroom. That was fun, and since the kitchen opens up to the family room, we can really enjoy them. If you know much about our family, we don't really like a lot of overhead lighting - we tend to lean more towards lamps and if we use the overhead lighting at all, it is dimmed pretty low. So, the Christmas lights are perfect for the ambience.

I can't wait to do this with KG. We will have so much fun. I bet anything that Brad will not only get more involved, but he may even turn off the football ?! Or, will KG watch football with Daddy? Probably a little of both, and I'll take that any day.