I am ignoring the "sleep when the baby sleeps" rule tonight so that I can finally add some pictures of our Christmas setup in the McWilliams home. I've been wanting to do this post since Friday when two of my sweet friends,
Kelly and
Erin, hosted a link up on Christmas decorations.
We didn't go overboard with decor this year, but we did get the basics up. It did cross our minds to do nothing but a small tree since we have a newborn, (and we have a newborn that recently had surgery at that), but on second thought we wanted to make it special since it's our first year in our new home.
Aaron and Ava did most of the decorating, as we got all of this up the DAY after Judd got home from the hospital and I was EXHAUSTED. Sidenote: I will share Judd's story soon! I was VERY impressed with their mad decorating skills. The only thing I really did was the front entry way.
Here is our main tree and "mantle" in our living room.
Ava was really into trimming the tree this year. She loved putting the ornaments on and in fact, she is still loving it...17 days later! I have to tell her no less than 50 times a day to quit moving around the ornaments!! I also wanted to add ribbon or mesh to the tree, but this year it just wasn't in the cards. I am just happy it is up and decorated!
This is our "mantle". I never even realized until about 3 months AFTER we moved into our house that we had no fireplace. Isn't that so odd? I was a little panicked (yes I am dramatic) about where to put our stockings that would not be hung by the chimney with care. But have no fear, Ashley! The TV hutch worked out just as well. I just love our Pottery Barn stockings so much. Next year I plan to add mesh to the sad looking garland.
Here is our stairs leading up to the playroom and "SheShe Office". I love the lit garland as it just adds another warm touch. Do you see Beth the elf perched on the rail? Ava loves that elf more than the big Jolly ol elf himself!
This is Ava's little area in one of our hallways. It is a bit on the Griswold side, but these are for Ava to play with and enjoy. She can break them and it will be okay. The light up Christmas village is her absolute favorite! It plays a variety of Christmas carols and she will stand next to it, with microphone in hand, and sing at the top of her lungs. I will be adding that fake snow stuff to put underneath the "junk" for next year.
Here is our breakfast nook area (aka home to our dining room table). I would love to have my nice Spode Christmas china out on display but with little ones it won't be happening for many years. So this is it for now. I put evergreen greenery inside the hurricane vase and used a red holly berry wreath as the centerpiece. I got those "disco ball trees" as I call them at Big Lots on sale for $5 each.
Here is our entry way. I bought all of these decorations on the table this year at Hobby Lobby before Judd was born. The Sleigh holds all of our Christmas cards. The picture frames on top of our windowsill are pictures of Ava every year at Christmas. Some are Santa pictures while others are of her on Christmas morning. I have already added a picture of Judd and Ava in two frames:)
This little tree is also in our entry way, but more in our kitchen. I am not sure if I like it with or without ornaments on it. The cord drives me insane so I put the "Falala" sign there for my own peace of mind. Like it really did any good, right? Haha! It made me feel better. A little, anyway. We have two more trees I didn't photograph. One of Ava's room and one in our formal dining room. It was naptime when I took the pictures, what can I say?
And here is our home looking in from the front door. It's so nice and majestic at night. I just love Christmas time in the home. Thanks for checking out our decorations and I wish you and your family a happy, healthy, blessed Christmas!
