It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Life has thankfully returned to normal in our household. Maelyn is feeling better and the non-stop crying and tantrums are a thing of the past. We are all breathing a sigh of relief....

Last weekend we felt the need to inject some fun into our house -- we had had enough of the scheduled 'have to do' stuff. So -- we brought out all of our Christmas gear and got started on spreading Christmas cheer!

We got all of our outside decorations up, with the help of my Dad. It was the perfect weekend to be working outdoors -- nice and warm. Maelyn loved the lights when we inspected our work that evening -- saying 'oooh' over and over again.

Anyone who knows me knows that I live for the holidays and their traditions -- I love them all! Hallowe'en, although not my favourite holiday, was one of the best days we have had since we returned from China. The cliche that children allow you to experience special events through their eyes is so very true!! It is like being able to experience everything all over again -- double the holiday fun!

Christmas, however, is my absolute favourite time of year. I find myself counting my blessings that we get to spend this special holiday with our little miss. Last year was the best Christmas season we had ever experienced -- we had just received our referral and had seen Maelyn's picture for the first time. This year we get to celebrate as a family of three and create our own family traditions -- and I am soooooo excited about them all!!

Our first tradition of the season is decorating the house for the holidays. The best part? Now that I have my own house, I can put the tree up as early as I want!! :) The tree we have was given to us by my Mom and when I got the tree up I couldn't believe how BIG it was -- I even had to remove a few branches at the back in order to get it closer to the wall! And of course the Christmas music was playing in the background....

My Dad helped us get the lights on the tree...

That evening, after giving Maelyn a bath, we decorated the tree. To our delight, she absolutely loved it! Paul would get the decorations ready and Maelyn would bring them to me and help me put them on the tree. She was jumping, laughing, squealing in delight -- blissful sounds.

My parents started an ornament tradition with us when we were young. On Christmas Eve we were allowed to open one gift -- an ornament. The ornaments, with the year on each one, were beautiful and reflected our likes and personalities. Once we had our own homes, we took the ornaments with us to help decorate our own trees. We have continued this tradition with Maelyn. Last year, when we had Maelyn's picture, we got her her first ornament. The name of the ornament was 'Our Little One.' Perfect! It was wonderful to be able to put it on the tree with Maelyn this year.

Once we were finished we all sat on the couch to admire our work. We heard a rustling sound and Maelyn shouted 'Uh oh!' and there he was -- Rocky, settled into the tree, a few branches from the ground! Needless to say, he loves the tree and we have been fighting to keep him out of there all week! With a cat knocking over the decorations every time he explores in the tree and a two year old who thinks that it is her job to collect all of the candy canes on the tree, I will be shocked if the tree remains fully in tact by Christmas!

My goal this year was to try something new -- finish all Christmas decorating, shopping and wrapping by December 1st. The hope is to then be able to enjoy the holiday season and get together's with our friends. I am almost there!

I am so happy to have our little miss here -- especially grateful at this time of year. Life is good, isn't it? :)