Christmas with the Sauls!

*Note: for some reason the date on this blog is saying it was posted Dec 22...this is not the case...Christmas really has come and gone...it is Sunday the 27th!*

It is amazing to me that Christmas has already come and gone. I blinked and poof it was over. I had full intentions of blogging about our Christmas preparations long ago but a little handsome boy changed that mighty quickly. Of course I will be blogging about little monkey's first Christmas but I think it is necessary to blog about our Christmas preparations first mostly because we have a slight obsession with EVERYTHING Christmas (from the preparations to the gifts to the family time, etc...)

Disclaimer...while we LOVE Christmas, the preparations aren't always merry but my husband makes sure those not so merry moments make for good laughs!

I suppose starting from the beginning is as good a place as any. Caleb and I knew that we were going to have to start Christmas decorations early this year if we were going to get all of them up. We were unsure of when little monkey was going to grace us with his presence and once he was here...all bets were off as far as getting the normal done! I believe we need to rewind back to the weekend of November 6. Yep that's right folks...the very first weekend in November. We were officially part of the "its not even Thanksgiving yet and they have Christmas decorations up" crowd.

At this point...I was very pregnant and all of our Christmas decorations were in the attic, to which the entrance was in our finally finished nursery. Now I will claim that my hormones were talking but my husband claims otherwise...I did not want to wait any longer to get these decorations because I did not want my son to come home from the hospital to a cluttered mess in his room, like he would have known any differently, but still. So Friday, November 6, we pulled all of our decorations down from the attic and on Saturday, because the tree was screaming "put me up", we put up our tree. Ok, Ok and all of the other indoor Christmas decorations as well. Those of you who know us, know that our decorations dont just consist of a simple tree and some garland. My husband is obsessed with his train set and the winter village that goes with it. This was an undertaking but I was determined it would be finished that very weekend! And that it was...

Christmas Tree and Village in the Living Room

Side-view

Close-Up View of Caleb's Village

China Chest (from IKEA...I'll post about my true love for all things IKEA on another day)...Halfway Decorated...I added Christmas placemats and napkins with a nicer centerpiece later.

Mini Tree in the Family Room...and yes I like the tilt...it gives it character! :)

Lawson's very own tree...complete with footballs, baseballs and sports snowmen! :)

We agreed that we would not subject our neighbors to our outdoor extravaganza until the weekend after Thanksgiving and went about our daily lives pretending that the inside of our house was not yet a Christmas wonderland (although when Caleb wasnt looking, I would turn on the Christmas tree lights and sit and enjoy for a bit...haha).

The following weekend, Caleb and I were returning to the house after running a few errands around town. As we pulled into the neighborhood, I noticed our neighbor on his roof putting his Christmas lights on the house. The first thought that came to my mind was..."thank God...we arent the only crazies putting up Christmas long before Thanksgiving". I looked at my husband and could see the wheels in his head turning as he blurted out..."It's on". Our agreement about waiting to put the outdoor decorations up until after Thankgiving just went out the window along with my husband and our Christmas lights...literally. While I was busy thinking about not being the only idiots putting our decorations up early, he was thinking he needed to take out the competition and pronto.

After about 10 minutes of my husband out on the roof...I hear a loud yell of profanity followed by..."Holly, get me a beer". I knew at this point that things were going down hill and fast. I ran quickly to the refrigerator and gasped when I realized for the first time in a very long time...there was no beer in the house. We are not huge beer or alcohol drinkers but there is always at least a few beers hanging in the fridge.

Sidenote: I usually notice when the beer supply is getting low and replenish our stash; however, I quit doing that the last time I went to the grocery and a little old lady glared at me and then my belly as I was walking to check out with a 12 pack of Miller Lite. Clearly I was not buying the beer for me and my unborn child but she had other thoughts. I felt a sense of hatred toward this lady as I frequently felt toward anyone who made a slight glare of disapproval in my direction for whatever reason (even if they really didn't) and decided it best that for her sake and the sake of the general public...I quit buying anything that would make me look like a careless mommy-to-be.

So back to the problem at hand...Here is my husband...outside on the roof obviously pissed at the world because the current strand of Christmas lights wasn't working (not to mention the thought that he might not "out-do" the neighbors...how griswaldy of him) and there is nothing I can do to fufill his request. I walked to the window, leaned out and broke the news. Now if I wasn't on bedrest, I would have run to the store and fixed the problem no matter what the look from little old Bertha and her knitting group, but I had been out of work and the money flow did not allow for the little extras here and there. My news did not go over well...I believe the exact words were..."Merry (fill in the blank with an expletive of your choice) Christmas to me". I offered him a nice cup of hot chocolate as we had plenty to fill my intense craving for all things chocolate at the end of my pregnancy and he just stared at me. Hot chocolate for beer...ok not the best substitute I have ever come up with but I was trying.

The best description I can give you for how the rest of the day went is from the 12 days of Christmas..."Stringing up the #*#*#*# lights". Nevertheless with all of the swearing and beerless hours of decorating...my husband finished and I do have to say...he did a pretty darn good job! Our house definitely looked the best and most classy on the block if you will allow me to boast for just a quick second! The following pictures were taken at the beginning of the recent snow "storm" we had. Merry Christmas from our house to yours! :)