Christmas Decorating

So Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Holy crap when did it become CHRISTMAS 2010?!?! I'm still stuck in the past remembering Christmas' past :(

ANYWAYS, Christmas. OMG, I love it. I love decorating. I love the smell of fresh trees. I love giving gifts. I love seeing Little Miss B's face when she opens up her gifts. I love finding the perfect gifts for M. I love giving. I love the food. I love the cold weather. I love the lights. EVERYTHING. I love Christmas!

So I was busting at my seams to decorate this year. You see, our first Christmas together we were in living in Hawaii and we spent it away from home in Missouri, Vegas and back in So Cal 

Look at us! That was the first time I was ever in falling snow. Beautiful! Our first Christmas together. We didn't have a tree. We celebrated it with my family and just enjoyed our time together.

Our 2nd Christmas we were together, we lived in a small apartment and didn't have much money to decorate with. We were getting ready for the birth of Miss B (the stinker was due New Years Day!) and were planning on spending the day with my family, so we just decorated with lights, a small fake tree and mini stockings. It was so cute. And for the life of me, I can't find photos. Damn crashed hard drive.

Last year we were living with family. We had a tree with all my grandma's ornaments on it. And we celebrated at my mom's house and also at my grandma's house. It was nice. But nothing really OURS.

So this year, I was busting at the seams to get started. I seriously was driving M crazy. So the 1st wknd of December, I got his butt in gear and made him hang icicles lights from the house and buy a tree for me. I was like a little girl at the tree lot Home Depot. And so was B.

We got home and got everything together here's how I decorated for Christmas this year:

First off I took the bottom branches off our tree and decorated our mantle. It's a beautiful brick mantle, perfect for the holidays. I made sure to pick up stockings on Black Friday at Walgreens for about $20. (That damn Elmo stocking was $10 in itself, but once Little B saw it in the store there was no way he wasn't coming home with us!) The mantle hooks were about $20 at Target. I had all the white strings of lights, so I strung those up and put my candles out and I decorated with the tree branches and pinecones. So festive!

One of my most favorite things in the house right now, is the way that the house smells. OMG. So delicious. Walmart has the BEST home warming scents. They are SO yummy. Have you ever walked by The Body Shop in the mall and smelled their aromas they have burning? It's usually like Sastuma Orange or something. Smells heavenly. Well Walmart has their own line of that stuff. For MUCH cheaper. Infact. That black votive holder I got for $4. The votives were like $2 for 100 and I bought the scent Cinnamon Vanilla for like $4. It makes my house smell like the holidays without being overpowering. I love it. And I also bought Cranberry Mandarin for the bathroom. I've gotten so many compliments. Seriously, think about investing. You'll find it all by the incense in Walmart!

And of course, I had to get some candles. These are from Walmart too. I burn through candles TOO fast to buy anything too expensive. These were about $6-8 for all three. I got Cinnamon, vanilla and a berry scented one. The combination is yummy.

And the beautiful 6-7 foot Noble tree M let me buy this year. It is gorgeous and only cost us $40. Woohoo! We bought a new star for the top and M did the honor of putting it on top while I had a blast decorating. And see the M H B ornaments near the top? That might be my favorite part of the entire tree. M bought me those last year for babygirl's first Christmas since he knew how much I love ornaments and making a tree our own. We collect ornaments for each year, so those were a great thoughtful touch. They always make me smile.

And you know what's great about where the tree is? It's at the window that faces out to the street and I've gotten some great compliments from our neighbors about it already. I LOVE it!

The holidays are a beautiful time of the year. I can't wait to see the looks on B's face when she opens all her gifts. And this year is special as it's about new beginnings for our family. Not just us, but our entire family. I love it. The holiday season is addicting.