I Don't Usually 'Do' Christmas...

It's true.

I usually don't.

In my whole adult life I had never put up a tree, or ever really wanted to.

I've never owned a single Christmas decoration save for the (very) few that have been gifted to me over the years.

And to be completely honest, I have no idea why.

Not a clue.

I like Christmas, I do. I love seeing family. I love getting everyone the perfect gifts. I love wrapping stuff. I love seeing how other people decorate for Christmas... but as for me 'doing' Christmas?

Yeah, notsomuch.

That is until this year. This year I wanted lights because Willow loves them. I wanted a tree because Willow wanted one. I needed ornaments because Willow thinks they're "SO bootiful". I couldn't wait to make her list and then go fill it.

It's weird what kids will do to you...

So, I 'did' Christmas. I didn't go crazy, mind you. But I did amp it up, like, 1000 points from last year (since we did NOTHING last year).

We *Drew* put up a tree. A fake tree, but a tree.

Hey, you have to start somewhere, right?

And then Willow and I decorated the tree, which I have to admit was WAY more fun than I remember it as a kid.

WAY.

Like how only 1/2 the lights work? Yeah, me too.

I'm pretty sure people build up their ornament "stock" over several years.

Not me. No, I went to Target and knocked out what could be about 10 years of ornament hoarding.

Apparently I'm one of those instant gratification kind of people.

So thanks, Target, for having super-cool ornaments that have nothing to do with the colors red, green, or gold.

Because I like my Christmas to be hot pink, teal and purple, thankyouverymuch.

The only thing missing for the tree was a topper (I couldn't find one I liked that didn't cost 309480980 bucks) and a tree skirt.

I saw one at Target that was fantastic and lime green with lots of sequins, but, I'm sorry. I am not spending $30 bucks on a piece of fabric that's only going to be used for about 15 days out of the year and covered with presents so you can't even really see it in the first place.

Maybe it's me. I think that's crazy.

And get this... I didn't just get stockings - I made our stockings. I hung our stockings. I decorated around our stockings.

And I even filled our stockings.

Don't look too closely, though, because not a single one of them is completely finished. Ha!

I'm pretty sure some are even hanging from safety pins...

And then there was Christmas Eve!

Oh, how much fun it was making sure Santa had wrapped all the presents and placed them just so around the tree to make sure Willow got the best view as she was coming down the stairs...

We (I) totally forgot to make cookies for Santa and leave him some milk... but I'm thinking maybe next year we'll have this whole thing figured out a little better.

Sorry Santa!

There's a lot to learn.

There are no words to even express Christmas morning.

I'm pretty sure I was never even that excited as a kid as I was this year.

Not kidding.

I could not WAIT for Willow to wake-up Saturday morning.

A few side notes: my daughter calls Santa "Santa McLaudus".

We have no clue why.

Not even an idea where it came from.

But it is frickin' hilarious.

My kid is so weird.

Also, when we woke up Christmas morning, still in bed, my hubby told Willow,

"Santa came with presents last night".

What's the first thing she says ?

"Oh man. I'm on the naughty list."

We both cracked up.

I know some parents bribe their kids into being good by threatening such placement onto the naughty list, but not me.

Not us.

That's why I think it's so funny!

She must have been dreaming about being naughty...

Anyways, no words can even express Christmas morning, so here you go:

Awesome...

I think her favorite presents were the train set (Thanks Em and John!!), her Mr. Potato Head (best $7 bucks ever spent) and her hot pink soccer ball.

You know I had to get my girl a soccer ball.

She's already got the cleats and the soccer shorts and it was ALL I could do to keep myself from buying the little itty bitty shin guards and socks.

Let's just say I'm ready for soccer season.

I will be her coach and we will win.

Just watch.

I will be that mom.

I know I'm way behind in the whole Christmas posting thing, but seriously?

It's freaking busy. There's a lot going on in December.

Not to mention I had a birthday and broke my foot.

Not cool, but whatever.

No Christmas wouldn't be complete without the aftermath, would it?

I think it's one of my favorite parts.

I like to let it just stay all day because it reminds me of all the awesomeness that was.

Does anybody else do this?

I also decided I was going to start a new tradition by making homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas Breakfast.

You know, because I'm all about Christmas traditions...

A few days before I checked my recipe books, found a yummy-sounding one, double-checked my ingredients and looked over the recipe to make sure I would know what the hell I was doing come Christmas morning.

It all looked good.

20 mins prep time, 40 mins bake time... no big deal.

Yeah, well in between the "prep time" and the "bake time" there's about 6 freaking hours that I didn't account for.

Apparently, the dough has to rest, chill, rise, and rest.

Hell, you might as well make it a drink while you're at it.

Needless to say, the 1st annual Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls were scratched and that is a tradition I doubt will ever be attempted in the years to come.

6 hours?

Really?

Yeah, so we had some kind of muffin instead that was on the opposite page in the cook book.

And some coffee from the hubby's new coffee maker...

I think we might officially be grown-ups now because we actually own a coffee maker.

That's right, people. We've never had one until now.

And I have taken the position of morning coffee-making person. I think it's fun.

That sentence makes me laugh and I don't know why.

Willow got her Daddy a new coffee mug and some new ties for his awesome new job...

It's true. He is the best dad.

This guy cracks me up. I think we should all have one of these and we can just change the pieces depending on our moods. I like this pic so much it may just be our Christmas card next year.

Which we WILL do, you know, because I'm all about Christmas traditions.

Hope everyone had a Merry Freaking Christmas!