it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

During my sophomore year of college, my roommates decided that they wanted to buy a live Christmas tree.  I was poor as dirt and didn't want to spend any unnecessary money, so the entire idea stressed me out.  Call me Grinch or call me Scrooge, but I just couldn't make myself be excited about this dang tree.

I felt like Scrooge right up until the moment they brought the tree home and decorated it.  The smell, the lights, the purple ornaments that I wouldn't have chosen but totally loved...I had Grinched myself right into loving this tree.  Every night, I studied by the glow of that tree, and every night, I realized that I spent far more time in front of that tree than any of my roommates.  And truth be told, it was probably because I needed the Christmas spirit the most that year.

I haven't made that mistake since.

And since we're talking about the Christmas spirit, let me just say that decorating a tree with my child is one of the most magical things I've experienced.

Does she pull all the ornaments off within arm's reach?  Yep.

Has she almost pulled the entire tree over in her attempts to take off a few stubborn ornaments?  Every day.

Do we love every second of it?  Most definitely.

And here's the final product:

Christmas spirit?  Check.

And here's the stocking hanger that my lovely visiting teachers from church helped me to make:

Let's also talk for a minute about Ellie's love/hate relationship with Santa for a minute.  Ever seen A Christmas Story?  Remember that kid that can't wait to see Santa Claus, right up until the minute that it's his turn to sit in Santa's lap?  THAT WAS MY CHILD.  At our ward Christmas party.  I have videos.

But first, a momentary pause to admire how cute Ellie looks in this outfit:

Ok, sorry.  Back to Santa.  She was ecstatic to meet him.  She kept saying that she wanted to give him hugs and sit on his lap, but it went downhill fast when it was actually her turn.

We obviously didn't make her sit on his lap once she decided that it wasn't actually what she wanted, but the result still totally makes me laugh.  [Too stinkin' bad that these videos don't show up in my printed blog books.  I need Harry Potter up in here!]

Last week, we also drove through the lights they had set up at Willard Bay.  Ellie was totally in love, and if we're being totally honest, so were Tim and I.  But we had the exact same experience with meeting Santa.  She was over-the-moon excited...

Right up until it was her turn to sit in his lap.  Oh, how we love that girl.

Unfortunately it has also been a time for sickness in this household.  Right before Thanksgiving, we all got a very mild version of the stomach flu.  

Then Ellie got a cold.  

[But isn't she the cutest little sick person you've ever seen?] 

[She was getting stir crazy one night, and Tim was out of town, so I took her out to eat.  She was so happy to get out of the house!  I just tried to avoid any other children.]

Then Tim got tonsillitis.  

Then Ellie got Hand, Foot, and Mouth. 

And today, we learned that the antibiotics Tim was originally given didn't get rid of his infection, so now he's on some stronger antibiotics now.  The doctor said his white blood cell count is as high as someone with appendicitis, so as you can imagine, he feels super awesome right now.  Come on, antibiotics!

But even with all the craziness, we are loving the Christmas spirit!