We always make it a tradition in our home to make an entire evening out of putting up the tree. This year I made a big pot of chili and corn bread and after we ate, gave Weebie a bath and put him in his festive jammies, we decked the halls.
With Christmas movies playing in the background and hot apple cider warming our tummies, we hung each ornament with care, reminiscing about where/when we got each one. We have so many memories wrapped up in this tree! We collect the Old World ornaments, and it makes for such a bright, sparkly, festive tree. It just screams "classic Christmas" to me and I find myself staring at the ornaments all the time.
We try to collect ornaments that mean something to us or symbolize something in our lives. We added some sweet little boy ones for Levi at the bottom of the tree (note: Elmo!) so that he could enjoy them and he loves it.
Levi is completely mesmerized by this tree. He exclaimed "oh boy" approximately 87 times during the evening. He has his favorite ornaments and goes around the tree pointing to each one. First he points to Santa and says "Ho! Ho! Ho!", then he moves over to the train and says "Choo-Choo!", he makes his way to Elmo and says "Mel-mo! or ELLL-Mo!" (it's different each time), and finally goes to the bison and says "Mooo". He thinks any large animal with four legs is a cow.
Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, but experiencing it through the eyes of a child is simply magical. The sparkle in his eye makes every little thing the most exciting thing in the world.
Tell me about your tree decking experiences! Any special traditions? What do you hang on your tree?
Pictures of the rest of my Christmas decor (including ALL of the tree) coming soon!
With Christmas movies playing in the background and hot apple cider warming our tummies, we hung each ornament with care, reminiscing about where/when we got each one. We have so many memories wrapped up in this tree! We collect the Old World ornaments, and it makes for such a bright, sparkly, festive tree. It just screams "classic Christmas" to me and I find myself staring at the ornaments all the time.
We try to collect ornaments that mean something to us or symbolize something in our lives. We added some sweet little boy ones for Levi at the bottom of the tree (note: Elmo!) so that he could enjoy them and he loves it.
Levi is completely mesmerized by this tree. He exclaimed "oh boy" approximately 87 times during the evening. He has his favorite ornaments and goes around the tree pointing to each one. First he points to Santa and says "Ho! Ho! Ho!", then he moves over to the train and says "Choo-Choo!", he makes his way to Elmo and says "Mel-mo! or ELLL-Mo!" (it's different each time), and finally goes to the bison and says "Mooo". He thinks any large animal with four legs is a cow.
Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, but experiencing it through the eyes of a child is simply magical. The sparkle in his eye makes every little thing the most exciting thing in the world.
Tell me about your tree decking experiences! Any special traditions? What do you hang on your tree?
Pictures of the rest of my Christmas decor (including ALL of the tree) coming soon!
Those photos are amazing, especially for indoors. Please tell me, what camera do you use and what settings? (is it an SLR or point and shoot? and do you use a high ISO or flash?) They are so bright and crisp!
ReplyDeleteCabin Fever in Vermont
I love seeing Levi smile in camera.He's such a lovely guy!! Amazing and warm photos..
ReplyDeleteYou have one of the sweetest looking, most handsome little boys I've ever seen! Where did you get his adorable pj's?
ReplyDeleteLevi is so precious!
ReplyDeleteWe always decorate the tree as a family, which is why we haven't got ours yet. My little boy is poorly at the moment, so we are waiting for him to get better so he can help too.
When my son was a baby we started the tradtion of getting him his own special ornament each year. We still choose for his baby sister, but he and his younger sister now choose their own special ornament each year. Our outing to choose the ornaments is one of the family traditions I look forward to most in December. By the time they are grown-up and have homes of their own they should each have a very nice collection of meaningful ornaments to decorate their own trees with.
I can't tell you how much I enjoy your Christmas posts. Look forward to seeing the rest of your holiday decor.
What beautiful photos! Levi is such a gorgeous boy. His Pjs are adorable. Where did you get them? Your tree looks amazing. We havnt put ours up yet but will be this weekend - i can't wait!
ReplyDeleteToo cute...amazingly enjoying the Christmas....these pics make me to remember about my childhood days...
ReplyDeleteThese pictures are absolutely adorable, Whitney and little Levi gets cuter every time I see him! I'm so glad you were able to capture all of his different smiles and "belly" laughs on camera to cherish for years to come. It's so obvious that he is such a happy little boy. Big hugs to you and your sweet little family! :)
ReplyDeleteI love Levi's pajamas! What a memories you all are creating.
ReplyDeleteI love Old World Ornaments! I started collecting them this past year.
ReplyDeleteThat last picture captures the mood of the entire evening. What a fun family time. It has inspired me to look forward to putting up my tree tonight instead of dreading it.
ReplyDeleteI looooove the PJ's! Looks like you guys had a ton of fun! We're newlyweds and we may not get a tree (artificial) until the day after Christmas when they are super cheap....but I look forward to next year! This post reminds me that we should try to buy an ornament from the place where we were married.
ReplyDeleteThe tree looks great and your son is just the cutest thing I've ever seen!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Petchie
oh my goodness he looks like a little mini elf! so so cute & happy!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to when it's my kiddo examining the tree, but just a couple days ago our friends' sons (1 and 2 1/2) came over and their tree isn't up yet, so I got to see some of that excitement! They loved the "choo-choo" ornament, too!
ReplyDeleteok, first, where did you get those jammies?! I MUST have them!!! My favorite tree traditions are very similar to yours. We put in the movie Elf while we pull out the decorations, then put on Christmas music when it's over. Andy hangs the lights outside, and I put together the gorgeous nativity scene that Andy's grandparents gave us as a wedding present. It's my favorite time of year! :D
ReplyDeleteOh goodness GRACIOUS, Weebie in his little candy cane stripes is just the sweetest and best thing EVER!!! That's one reason I look forward to having a child... I remember how magical Chrismas was to me when I was little, and I think it will be kind of like reliving that again once my husband and I have children of our own. So sweet!!! I just adore all these photos and the pure joy on Levi's face!!! :)
ReplyDeleteYour tree is beautiful! We got an Elmo ornament for my little guy this year too. He loves him! Our tree is decorated with all kinds of trinket type ornaments of all different types. I love different kinds of ornaments all over. Tommy was just a baby last year so it's fun to see how excited he is with the Christmas tree!
ReplyDeleteYour little elf is tooooo cute.
ReplyDeleteLevi is too cute. We make an evening of decorating the tree, too, but this year my husband ended up working late and by the time he got home, it was time for the kiddos to be in bed! So, he and I decorated the tree alone after we tucked them in, and about ten minutes later, Cub emerged from his room and saw the glowing Christmas tree. His expression was priceless and he declared, "BIG Sissmuss Tree!!" We let him stay up for a while and touch all of the ornaments. It was so cute.
ReplyDeleteMaybe next year our timing will be a bit better!!
He is so cute!!! We (meaning pretty much me) love to get an ornament from each place we vacation. It makes for great memories as we put up the ornaments!
ReplyDeleteThese pictures are terrific!
ReplyDeleteahhhh his little pj's are the CUTEST! that hat is adorable...seriously...i could go on and on, but i'll stop now :)
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! It looks like you all had a very special night.
ReplyDeleteBEAUTIFUL!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the holiday PJ's. The hat just makes the outfit to me.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures! What kind of camera do you use?
ReplyDeleteLevi's childhood innocence is so refreshing. Adults get so caught up in getting gifts for people that they forget to really enjoy the holiday and remember who we celebrate.
Oh my goodness - Levi's pjs are adorable!!
ReplyDeleteThe tree looks great!
How special! And I love Levi's pajamas and matching hat. My family always made an evening of putting up the tree and decorations together, with mugs of hot soup or hot chocolate, and Christmas music. I remember the last Christmas before my youngest brother was born. My mom was 8 months pregnant and sat on the couch and handed us ornaments and tinsel to hang on the tree. It was a special year because on January 1, we welcomed my baby brother into our family. He was a late Christmas gift. I'm sad to say that this year my husband and I put the tree up quickly and he decorated it while I crammed for finals. One day we will be able to do the family evening thing again!
ReplyDeleteI wish they made Levi's jammies in adult sizes! I would be all over that.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first Christmas my boyfriend & I will spend since moving in together. I want a real tree, but the size of our apartment dictates that it must be very little. I saw some 2-foot little potted trees in front of the market the other day, so I think I will pick one of those up! I think I'll string some popcorn and cranberries to decorate it with.
Such cute PJs for your Levi!
ReplyDeleteOur Christmas decorating tradition is similar to yours - spend an afternoon, or evening, decking the halls and sharing old memories. This is our first year to decorate with a little one, and it is SO FUN to see it all through her eyes. She is very enchanted by the lights and sparkle.
I love Levi, and I LOVE those jammies! I wish I had some matching ones! They are so festive! I'm quite certain I wouldn't have the same cuteness that he has. I can't help but grin from ear to ear when I look at that sweet boy!
ReplyDeleteMy family does the same thing! We plan for everyone to be home (not easy with six kids in the family, ranging from age 9 to age 25), and then my husband and brother always set up the tree together while my Mom makes snacks in the kitchen. Every kid has their own box of ornaments collected through their life and hangs their own while my Dad does the "family" ornaments. Every year a different child puts the angel on top of the tree, although as the family grew we often forgot the rotation! Then Mom comes in with all the once-a-year-snacks such as the cream cheese dip we all love so much... and then we always pick out a Christmas movie and watch it all together. It's really, really special.
ReplyDeleteYour little boy is precious and your pictures are beautiful! Your life and faith is such an inspiration to me. I just love reading your blog!
ReplyDeleteLove the tree, but the pictures of Levi are priceless! Such wonderful memories for you all to treasure.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love your pictures... We put up our decorations on Saturday. We turned on Christmas music and drank wine as we turned the house into a Christmas Wonderland.
ReplyDeleteOMG...Levi's little Christmas jammies are absolutely adorable!! Where did you get them?
ReplyDeleteThe only Christmas tree tradition we have is that I buy an ornament every year representing something my husband and I did during the year. Next year we will have our first baby so I hope to start some fun Christmas traditions!
OMG I Heart those pajamas!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove all of your pictures! I can definitely see you in Levi in a few but then in others I see your hubs! He is just so precious!
ReplyDeleteI love Levi's smile! I can almost hear him giggling through my iPad. My goal is to have a night just like tomorrow! :) now you have really gotten me in the mood!
ReplyDeleteYour tree is beautiful! What a fun family night. :) My mister and I collect ornaments that represent all the places we have traveled to and have fun putting them on the tree. Christmas is the best!
ReplyDeleteHe is too cute in his Christmas PJs with that big smile on his face.
ReplyDeleteWhat are Levi's favorite toys these days? I always love those updates, especially when it's time to shop for my little one who is just behind him.
Hi Whitney! I just love your blog, it is always so inspirational :) I just got a Canon T2i and just got the basic kit lens. In the photo of Levi in front of the tree, how did you make him the focus and the tree blurred? Am I able to do this w/ the kit lens or do I need the bigger one?
ReplyDeleteYour family is precious! I designed a blog in July, and keep saying..."write the 1st post..."! Someday!
thanks,
Melissa
That is exactly the kind of joy I love to see about Christmas! His delight is so perfect in those pictures!
ReplyDeleteSuper cute! Levi is so precious!!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I can't even stand the cuteness overload!
ReplyDeleteYour tree looks beautiful and I can't wait to see the rest of the decor! The pictures of Levi are just so darn cute! He has such a glow about him that shows just how happy of a boy he is!
ReplyDeleteI often wonder about your photos, too. What camera do you have? What editing software? Maybe you could do a little tutorial on your photography skills - you always have such nice pictures!
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