Exciting Mail

We got two exciting packages in the mail last week. Both packages are Christmas related. In the past I haven't done much to decorate our house for Christmas. One of the reasons being it was always just D and me and I couldn't work up the motivation to do much. The other big reason was that we always go to Tulsa for Christmas and usually get there a day or two before and then stay several days after. So it just seemed silly to put effort into something we weren't even going to be around to enjoy on the actual holiday. (The secret reason is that I have some lazy tendencies when it comes to stuff like that.) I know this year LB will have no clue what is going on and he won't even notice if I put up a few decorations but I haven't been this excited to celebrate a holiday in a long time! The first package was our Christmas cards. I have never thought about Christmas cards pre-Thanksgiving before. Never. I have also not been consistent about sending them every year. They arrived today and I am very pleased with how they turned out. They aren't super fancy but they were a good deal. Busters love discounts. D is a big fan of Groupon. There is probably one for your city and there is a new deal each day. We tend to buy the restaurant gift cards as it makes going out to eat more affordable. When we were sitting in the airport waiting to leave for the first trip to Ethiopia, D was online and the daily groupon was for one of those photo websites that will make calendars, invitations, Christmas cards, etc. If you spent $25 then you got $100 to spend on that website! Good deal, right!? So we bought it thinking we might want to make a book of LB's adoption story or stuff like that. That is still on my to-do list but I was able to use some of the gift card for our Christmas cards. I am still working on thank you notes from my baby showers and I apologize if you haven't received your's yet. Again, working through that to-do list. But now I have to get cracking so I can move on to sending out our Christmas cards.

The second package was our Christmas stockings. We had a gift card for Pottery Barn Kids and just weren't sure to get with it. My mom has my Christmas stocking that I have had since I was little and she still hangs it each year at their home in Tulsa. D and I thought it would be fun to have stockings at our house too and LB needed one! So we ordered them from PB Kids and I love them!

I know it looks like LB's stocking is partially pink but I promise it is red. Sadly, our house does not have a fireplace so the big question is where we will hang them. What do you tell your kids about Santa if you don't have a chimney? Does Santa break in through the basement? That sounds a little creepy. I'll have to think about that one. I suppose I have some time to come up with something. Good thing we go Tulsa for Christmas and Santa can make his deliveries to LB through my parents' chimney.

I know it isn't the cards or the stockings that has me excited for the holidays this year but it is what they represent. For me, it is a celebration of our new family. And for that I am so grateful.