a christmas tree & semi-related thoughts.

is it too late to talk about christmas-related things? or put up photos of a christmas tree? it's kind of like suspiciously eyeing the expiration date on your milk: you're teetering dangerously close to being grossed out, but the product is still good.

at this point, i want to write it down. remember these little thoughts & capture them before it's all gone. we're not even to the middle of january yet (almost!), so i figure the window of acceptability is still there.

this was our first christmas with a tree. in past years with traveling and "we're only at home a few weeks in december anyway" and (basically) excuses...we just never made it happen.

{first strand of lights on...a few more to go}

 

it was so sweet, though, and definitely added to our holiday spirit. we loved turning on the lights and ocassionally just sitting in the sunroom chatting with drinks (or tea, in my case) & soaking up some of that christmas feel. so last weekend we took just a few more shots of the tree before we hauled 'er out of the house. we figured it was a good time to get an updated bump picture, too. first tree, first baby. all kinds of sentimental.

 

 

 



i'm amazed at the transformation my body has undergone in the last 7 months...and i know it will only continue to dumbfound me in the last 6 weeks of this little babe growing inside of me.

 

there are certain pictures from the summer (especially from our big trip) that i chuckle at now in amazement. i already know those will be my "pre-baby body" photos...the ones i'll look at while sighing someday and think, "damn, would be nice to have those _(insert body part)__ again."

 

BUT but but but...i can already sense a shift of perception. although i had never been in a better place about my body image/appreciation/what-have-you (and it was, of course, a long and not-always-easy road!)...and really, truly liked every little bit of flesh & limb before i got pregnant...i sense a widening of appreciation. an opening for something new.

 

i know the post-partum body ride will be a wild one, but i already have such pride and gratitude and downright awe for what this body has done in the last 6+ months...what this body has created and nurtured and sustained: our sweet baby.

 

the added inches...the tummy that i'm assuming will feel like a deflated tire around my waist for some time...a different, uh hem, chest...it all means that a little heart could beat so close to mine. a little dream could come true. a little family could form.

 

 

 

 ...and there's the end of my emo christmas story! although, let's be honest, i can't guarantee the end of sappy posts to come.