It's beginning to look a little bit like Christmas!

I love to go to our local zoo at Christmas time because they deck it out in the most spectacular display of Christmas lights you will ever see! I love Christmas lights, and despite that, I have never had success in convincing my husband we should "Griswold" our house. *sighhhh*

Last year, I missed out on zoo lights because I was on bedrest, then had a newborn. But this year, nothing is stopping me! We headed there once already, and I certainly plan to go again!



Last year, baby was in my belly. This year, baby was on hubsy's back...



Our fam, enjoying the lights...



Sadly enough, we are not putting up our tree for the 2nd year in a row. Last year was all the hoopla with bedrest, giving birth, having a newborn...you know, didn't exactly have extra time, energy or motivation to do the whole Christmas tree thing. And this year, well, this year we have this little brut...



Oh he may look innocent enough, but I assure you he will pull that tree on top of himself at some point. And I just don't feel like yelling "no!" every two seconds. I mean more than I already do.

But at least I can still decorate my mantle. :)



Every time I look at it, I am reminded of how special all of those items are to me. They hold great memories for me. Can I share a few with you? I'm glad you said yes 'cause I'm going to anyway.

• The stockings on the ends belong to Jon and me. We bought those while we were dating. He had just bought a house in November 2002, and we wanted to decorate it for Christmas. We picked out those stockings and I sewed our names on them. (NO, I did not live there until we were married, but I still got to hang a stocking.)
  
• The tree on the far left we bought at Pier One shortly after we got married and there is something about it that I just love.
• I am positively in love with the boys' stockings - they are from Pottery Barn Kids.
• The squares above each of their stockings are ornaments also from PBK, and they contain pics of each of them from their 1st Christmas.

There's a story and memory behind each item up there. Jon and I are not big on having lots of "stuff", and that includes Christmas decor. So I can remember how we acquired each item and they're all very special to me.

How about you? Do you have your Christmas decorations up yet? Are there any special traditions you're really looking forward to? I can't wait to hear them!