Our First Christmas Tree

Though this is our fifth Christmas together since meeting, Jordan and I have never put up a Christmas tree. When I think about why that is, I can only figure that life during the Christmas season has been really busy/full in last four years, and we had little energy or time left over for buying and setting up a tree. And there were some years when we were away for a good portion of the Christmas season (like last year in Jamaica).

But this year, we were on a mission. We were getting a tree. 

We thought it would be nice for Jameson to be out with us as we picked the tree, and this little dude had waaaay more fun than we could have anticipated. Not sure if it was the intoxicating tree smell or the fact that it was his first time getting out of the house for the day — either way, he was pumped. In picking out our tree, we wanted the breed that would be most fragrant. And that meant pulling off a few needles and giving them a good whiff. Jameson is just starting to understand the concept of sniffing, so I’m not sure if he liked the smell or just watching Daddy put something up to his nose. Once we had our tree picked out, Adam (our friendly neighborhood tree man who sets up a shop every year with trees from Vermont), prepped the tree for us to take it home. He gave Jameson the sawed off end of the trunk, which seriously smelled like a grove of Christmas trees. And as you can see, Jameson was very pleased. There were definitely some tears when it was time to take it away from him later.Never was there a cuter toddler in a hipster beanie, if you’re asking me. :-)

And I was thrilled we would soon have a tree at home. Jordan had the hard job of carrying the tree, while I had the harder job of posing in front of the trees. It’s rough out here, y’all.Once we were home, the Christmas music went on, and the decorating began. I have a collection of tree decorations passed down from my mom and a few others that were special gifts from different people…

A pair of felt animal ornaments to represent our little family of three (similar ones here), which were a gift from friends at church. An ornament representing Jameson’s first Christmas, which was a gift from my cousin. And a 25-year-old crystal star that my dad gave my mom back when they were married. Their relationship is surely different, but there’s still love there, and I’ll always cherish the love this ornament represents.In the end, we had a simple tree, dressed up in love. And Jordan and I were over the moon — it seems all this time without a tree made us underestimate how much having a tree would make it feel like Christmas. How it was a tradition we both missed. How the smell of a tree would put us in a good mood, and the lit up tree would make cold nights at home really cozy.

Creating traditions takes time and energy, but this tree is a reminder that traditions are also really fulfilling.I anticipated that Jameson would be really impressed with the finished product.He was actually more into his applesauce…He did eventually humor me a little bit.Here’s to savoring the Christmas season and creating more family traditions.