our Christmas tree

Yes, I know it's still the first half of November. I don't have a "no Christmas before Thanksgiving" rule. I have a "start Christmas as soon as you can" rule!

The past 2 years, I've been borrowing the top 2 tiers of my mom's Christmas tree. She wasn't going to put it out, and the whole thing is way too big for an apartment. So I took the top and middle pieces. It actually made for a very cute apartment-friendly tree.

Being that we have a wee lad this year who gets into everything and is in demolition mode, I decided we should not have decorations he can reach, destroy, or pull down on top of himself. I had thought about getting some garland to hang over the bar and fireplace (way up high), but then Rodgers suggested getting a small tree to put on the bar. Actually, he first suggested to not decorate at all, but I wasn't having that! So, we got a 3' tree from Hobby Lobby a week or so ago.

I saw no reason to put it away in the storage closet only to bring it out again in a couple of weeks to decorate, so I put it up almost right away. I strung the lights a few days later, when I wanted to procrastinate cleaning the bathrooms. And I put ornaments on a few days after that.

Since it's so small, I only used our memory ornaments. We have a lot of gold and clear glass ornaments, as well as some odd ones that just sort of tickle my fancy. But my favorite ornaments are those that represent certain memories.

For example, last year, we got a Texas State Parks and Wildlife ornament on our honeymoon, a Santa on South Padre ornament from our babymoon, an "our first Christmas" one, and a "parents-to-be" one. So as I was decorating the tree, I had these little reminders of all the great things that happened in 2009.

I wanted to do the same thing this year, and I want to continue this as kind of a tradition. I am debating whether I should get a general "baby's first Christmas" ornament or a picture frame one for a "first Christmas" picture of Nate. I haven't decided yet, but there will definitely be one for his birth in 2010. Not that we need a memento to remember that, but I want something special for him.

We went to England and Kenya this year. It was Nate's first time to fly, and my first time to fly with a baby. That was a significant adventure for the two of us. When we bought our little tree, I found an airplane ornament, which now represents that memory. Then, I found a zebra ornament. We didn't see zebras while we were in Kenya this time, but they do have zebras there. Also, the reason we went to England was for Cat's wedding, and she loves zebras. So that is a great symbol of our trip!