seeing Christmas through new eyes

the past few days have been spent getting our house (and our family) ready for Christmas. i have been super busy with finishing up photos for several friends who wanted to get their pictures done in time for Christmas cards. my dear friend amanda and her family invited the whole family along on their photo shoot so we could enjoy dinner together afterward. she also offered to snap a few photos of us along the way, and i think she did a great job :) many thanks to her husband chris and her two girls who helped bring that big grin to davis's face!

at home, we have finally put up our tree and have the wreath on the door--though little else has been done. i'm hoping the rest gets taken care of this weekend, after i've gotten caught up on editing.(we're also having a few more pictures done by my friend laura--or here, more recently--and i'm excited to finally pull together an idea i've had for a Christmas shoot for a couple of years now.)

we debated where to put the tree, and then depending on where we put it, do we block it off from davis or let him at it? in an attempt to make it as easy as possible for everyone involved, the tree is within his reach and the bottom quarter of it is "davis friendly." i rationalized with justin, "of all the trees that he will regularly encounter this Christmas season, shouldn't our family tree be one that he can actually touch and play with the ornaments on his level?"

and he is in awe...

curious about this new sparkly thing that has appeared in our living room.

and we didn't even bother with a tree skirt, opting for a much more snuggle-friendly fleece blanket around the base.

even more so than last year, i love looking at the whole Christmas season through his eyes and imagining what he's thinking...

i was excited to try something new this year after linking up to faith's christmas card carousel the last couple of years. she hosted an ornament exchange, along with several other bloggers, and i thought it sounded like a cool idea!





i was paired up with kristin, from the smith family journey, and i must say--she was a great partner! after getting the package of ornaments the other night, i felt like she did such an awesome job pulling together all of the ornaments and explaining why she chose them. (i didn't do quite as much detail :( but i hoped you liked them, kristin!)




this book ornament actually has pages where we can write our favorite memories of Christmas 2011 and keep it from year to year...

and this beautiful ornament has different virtues on the hearts (hope, love, joy, faith, etc.) with related scriptures on the back. so perfect to remember the true reason for Christmas!

the lantern represents her home state of minnesota and all the camping they enjoy doing there...

and then she included this adorable snowman family--two parents with a little snow baby--just like us!

if you would like to link up to the Christmas card carousel, faith will be hosting it next week. it's a great way to meet new bloggers and share your Christmas card with others.