It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Who doesn't love Christmas time? It's just a magical time of year. When I was younger, to say I loved this time of year is an understatement. My sister and I mourned the loss of Santa for a long time - even though we (embarrassingly) continued to receive "Santa" further into our twenties than we would like to admit. I have enjoyed Christmas even after the magic of Santa was long gone, but there has been something missing. We don't have any other youngsters in our family so once we grew up, the excitement that accompanies children at Christmas has ceased to be a part of our Christmas world.

Now with a baby on the way, I'm realizing that the really exciting Christmases are just around the corner. Plenty of grown ups love Christmas, but no one loves Christmas like children. I remember the excitement being unbearable sometimes and I can't wait to be a parent during this time of year!

You'd think from reading this that I would really be soaking up this Christmas-y stuff right now, but actually I'm not. In fact, we just now got our tree up and I have no plans to decorate any further. Buying presents and decorating just seem secondary to the really important stuff I wish I was doing now like decorating the nursery. It's like I have tunnel vision and the only thing I can think about is getting prepared (nesting is no joke). Once I go back to work after Christmas, I'll only have about 8 weeks left. I'm sure we have more than enough time to get ready, but I am now very thankful for the 40 weeks that pregnancy provides you to prepare. We certainly wouldn't be able to get by with anything less. I also now know why people say to do the most work in the 2nd trimester - how true! By now, I am tiring out more quickly, but more importantly I just feel like my stomach is in the way and it can make what should be easy tasks slightly more challenging. All that being said, I am thankful that Brandon and I have one last Christmas together pre-parenthood. We'll take it easy and relax as much as we can...it's our last chance for at least 18 more years!