The Johnson Jungle: Deck the Halls

We put up our Christmas tree last weekend because I wanted to get Ella's picture taken for our Christmas card this year. It's funny, the last couple years I haven't wanted to do much decorating, but this year, with the awe and newness of Christmas for Ella, it's just given me a whole new perspective. This is the first year that she's really starting to get into it and start to understand a little about what's going on. Right now she constantly says "Christmas tree", "Christmas lights", "Santa", and "Baby Jesus", but not quite sure how it's all connected yet or what it all means.

Here she is loving on Santa.

And...getting as close to the tree as she can without touching it....

My grandparents recently down-sized, so I was given quite a few decorations that they no longer needed. They all remind me of my childhood, and I'm happy to have them. This porcelain tree I have always loved, and we had one at our house growing up too. So, I was pretty excited when I got this one. I couldn't wait to plug it in and show Ella, and she laid there for about 10 minutes just watching and naming all the colors.

After a little decorating, we took a break and decided to pick it back up in a few days. In the meantime, we played dress-up. She calls herself the "white princess" in this dress. :) Her friend Audrey gave her this after she outgrew it.

And, tonight we finished up the decorating. Ella gets to display a few things in her room, which she thinks is pretty cool. She received an early christmas present on Thanksgiving Day; a music box that she really loves to sit and listen to. We've already heard "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" several times. ;) She also has her own very little tree that she got to decorate. The ornaments are little "s'mores", it was one of the first decorations I bought when I was out on my own.