Christmas Tree Is Up!

This time last year I was 8 1/2 months pregnant. Bad heartburn issues due to carrying Gabriel super high - same as Ethan. Sick with constant colds. Weak.

We didn't get our tree up last year :-( I was just too sick. We didn't get to do hardly anything for our favorite time of year... No going to see Christmas decorations, none of our own decorations. Ethan didn't even get his presents from us till over a month later.

Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade Gabriel for any of the things we missed out on! But it was a rough pregnancy, especially toward the end. And we really feel like we totally missed Christmas.

So we're determined this year will be different :-) Number one on our list - Christmas tree! Our living space is so cramped that our full-size tree lives in our storage unit, in anticipation of one day living somewhere there's space to put it up. What we have is a 3-foot tree. It sounds so small but it really seems larger! We've bought ornaments through the years, plus my mom buys us new ones every so often.

We originally planned on putting the tree up Thanksgiving day. But we ended up having to wait till after our big Thanksgiving dinner Saturday. Then it kept getting pushed back. We decided today was IT! The boys and I woke up to find the boxes containing the tree and decorations in the dining room this morning :-)

All day it was one thing after another but we finally got started after supper. I always leave the lights on the tree and was disappointed to find they weren't on when I unboxed it. Then I remembered that two years ago I had to buy new lights and didn't like the way I had wrapped them. So I had taken them off to start fresh the next year. I started putting them on the tree and thought about plugging them in... just to be sure they worked. So I plugged them in and NOTHING. Pushed each bulb tightly in (all 100 of them) and tried again. Still nothing. I found a new set of lights in the boxes (remembered they had been B1G1F) and they worked! But it wasn't enough to cover the tree like I wanted.

So at this point I had three options:
1. Rewrap the lights to try to cover the tree better
2. Go out tomorrow and buy another set of lights - and explain to Ethan that we couldn't do the tree yet
3. Get out and buy more lights

At 9pm I walked to the car and headed a mile down the road to pick up another set of lights. I needed an extension cord anyway.

Got back home, connected the strands, and put both sets on the tree. Plugged it in and BAM! Ever see 200 lights on a 3-foot tree? Some might say it's overkill but we think it's beautiful :-) I added the snowflake garland.

Then came the fun part. Ornaments! We have so many that they can't possibly all fit. So I laid out Ethan's special ornaments (the ones with his name on them etc) and most of the others. He was so excited :-) I explained that he had to put his special ones on first. As he did, I told him the story of each one. "Grandma got this one for you" "Your cousin has one just like this with his name on it" "This one says you're a gift from God" "Look! A frog for our frog-baby" (his nickname as a baby).

After those were on the tree, I let him have at it.

I told him he could put the ornaments wherever he wanted. Jesse and I took turns taking pictures and occasionally holding him up when he asked to reach a high branch. Gabriel played happily on the other side of the gate and periodically peeked at us. He was quite content to let us do all the work while he played ;-) I unpacked the colored candy canes and let Ethan place them on the tree as well. I put a few ornaments but I let him do most of them.

Ethan had the best time! The bottom front of the tree (approximate eye level for him) has multiple ornaments and candy canes on each branch. It LOOKS like a 3-year-old decorated it. And you know what? That's just how it's going to stay. Jesse asked if I was going to move things around later. No way! It's PERFECT the way it is :-D

I found myself getting so emotional tonight. Watching the pure delight on Ethan's face as I lit the tree to test the lights. His pride in being able to decorate it. His frustration when ornaments wouldn't stay where he wanted - usually because the branch had too many on it already ;-) His despondency when one of the plain silver balls fell off and shattered at his feet.

In some ways I feel more like a mommy tonight than I ever have. Watching this child who I hoped for since I was a child and tried to conceive for over two years, who grew inside of me, who I felt move and grow, who I have nurtured physically, emotionally, and spiritually, who I'm watching turn into a little boy right before my eyes. Seeing the range of emotions as he's decorating the tree for the first time. Knowing that next year Gabriel will be helping too. It was such a special time for me that I don't have words to describe it...

P.S. It was so cute listening to Ethan telling me over and over after we were done, "Mommy, I like our tree!" with a very happy smile that lit up his whole face :-)