Stella lights up the room, as per usual.

And we only broke one ornament so far. Stella tried to put ornaments on the tree, even getting the right grip on the hook, but then would just turn and hand the ornament to me, as if to say, “Oh you know what you’re doing, why don’t you take care of this for me?”

So, as I come down from a mulled-wine-induced sugar high, I just wanted to post a quick update. We are over-the-top “in the spirit” of the holidays this year. Christmas was always such a magical time for me, and I am very excited about creating some good ol’ wonder for Stella Bella. Our halls are almost completely decked–and I even put a small pink decorative tree in the bathroom. Because I want to make sure we are jolly at absolutely all times. I’m making a holiday banner that looks like it’s on crack–it’s insanely busy with like ten different patterned papers and barely legible because there’s so much going on but, damn it, that thing is going to hang on our mantle as a testament to our enthusiasm for the season.

Lately, I keep thinking how different this holiday season is from last year’s. For starters:

• No tube! This year’s holiday food issue seems to be how to cut Stella off from the cookies without prompting a melt-down.
• No waking up every 2.5 hours to tube-feed. However, Stella did wake up at 4:30 a.m. and would not go back to sleep. When this happens, Cody and I take it almost a little too well. Because it’s an incredible night’s sleep when you compare it to last year.
• No more being trapped at home. We’ll be traveling a bit this year, and for the most part, we are really, really looking forward to it.
• No more easy holiday photo card shoots. A better camera and some toddler cement boots would help.

Oh and that banner? It will simply read, “PEACE.” Sums it up nicely, I think.