Santa's Little Helper

I can't believe how big Sophia has gotten! She's close to 3 - where does the time go? As we pulled out the Christmas decorations last weekend, she was completely into wanting to help. I just wasn't as jazzed about doing it all this year for some reason? Retail tends to ruin the magic of the holidays a bit, as our store put up Christmas by Oct. 1! I've been listening to Christmas music all day long at work (against my will...usually I make myself wait until Nov.1, sigh!). I'm a bit jaded this year I think. Plus, last year I probably jacked myself up on caffeine & decorated everything while Sophia took a 3hr nap! Oh well, the show must go on! Rod was great as he put on some of our fave Christmas cd's while we unpacked it all. Luckily, the weather put me in the decorating mood too - cold, dreary & drizzly. As I always tell Rod, weather like that reminds me what it looks like right before the first snowfall up north. When I think of it that way, then I get more Christmas-sy. Weird, I know. This will be our 3rd Christmas in this house (UGH, I'm SOOOO over this house!!) & so I know just where everything goes. I whipped up the tree with the ribbon, stems, picks & ornaments in no time. Then it was getting all the other table-top stuff in it's proper place. One of my favorite pieces is our hand-painted ceramic nativity figurines that my mom painted & we displayed each Christmas during my childhood. She gave that to Rod & I our first Christmas, & it was just so special to me. I still unwrap it in the old discolored moving paper that is tattered & torn - the same paper that my mom always wrapped each piece in when Christmas was over. Now, I unwrap it & place it on our mantle - in a few more years, Sophia can help me. This year, she was super happy to get to sift thru the boxes of goodies asking 'Mommy, what's this?' or 'I don't like that' (infamous phrase as of lately!). We gave her a few special ornaments to hang (her Baby's First Christmas, Santa's Sleighbell from The Polar Express, etc.) She LOVED her new little job! We'd tell her to pick out the very best branch & then hang it carefully. She was quite pleased with each selection!