Two years ago, Nick and I cut down our first Douglas Fir. Then we celebrated our first Christmas together as husband and wife in our tiny State College apartment. My how life has changed.
On Saturday we ventured out to JB Tree Farm with our little snuggle bunny (and gingerbread lattes in hand) to cut down our first tree as a family of three.
We climbed onto a wagon pulled by two sturdy stallions and enjoyed conversation with other families as we rolled past the Pines and the Firs. Including, ironically, one of the pediatric nurses who cared for Sam on the day after he was born! Oh, how I love our small town.
Now I have to tell you that Nick is serious when it comes to selecting the tree that will grace our home during the holidays. It took at least 45 minutes to find the tree that “spoke to him.” You know, like the moment when Clark Griswold first spots his tree — the one glistening in light from above.
Believe it or not, after all that time searching, we went back to the very first one that caught our eye. At least he was quick about chopping it down.
All of the excitement was just too much for Sam, and he passed out as soon as we strapped him back in his car seat.
When we got home, I took baby boy upstairs to feed him and change him while Nick dragged the tree inside. And of course that task was not completed without a bit of cursing. Let’s just say that next year I think we will invest in a larger drilled tree stand with a deeper water reservoir.
Then it was time to pull out the trunk of lights and ornaments. After which we discovered that our lights no longer lit up. None of them. And so I ran to Target to buy two new strands. I obviously should have bought three. I had to send Nick back out to buy another strand because our tree was not nearly bright enough.
Finally, finally, it was time to decorate with red and gold balls, our collection of Danbury and Käthe Wohlfahrt ornaments, and our Steinbach figurines. Ta da! And fa la la la la!
There is just nothing like the warm glow of a Christmas tree to get you in the holiday spirit.
Looks gorgeous – and what a fun day!
What a fun day as a family! I have to say, you look wonderful post partum. I guess the shred really worked its magic quickly!
So much fun. Great post. 🙂 My fiancé and I actually did the same thing on Sunday. It was our first experience doing such a thing and we had such a wonderful time. I plan to post on it, actually. It was also very similar to your story, except we didn’t have a snuggly wee baby with us but our beagle Heidi, instead. 🙂 We were out there for nearly an hour looking for the “one” which ended up having a split trunk that was slightly too large for our tree stand. The now broken tree stand has two books wedged under it to keep it balanced and the tree is anchored to the wall in two spots to save it from falling. haha. I wouldn’t change a thing.
What a fun afternoon!
We had a similar incident with lights. I had two strands on hand, and it was clearly not enough! I ran to the drug store to buy two more, and came home to discover I didn’t get ones with a plug on both ends. Argh! Peter made it work somehow, but it is a very plugged in tree!
Aww, you guys are too cute! And you look FAB!
Sam looks so sweet and comfy!! I laughed out loud about the light strands not working; this year, I pulled out three strands, two of them were the same color and one was LED. I have no idea how I missed that last year, but I was not putting mismatched lights on the tree this year. My husband thinks I’m ridiculous, but I had to go out and buy a matching strand.
We always had a Clark Griswold moment growing up! The tree looks great.
What time of baby carrier is that? It looks more light weight then the type I’ve been looking at.. Looks much more comfortable!!
I loved JB’s! I used them for a story I did on raising reindeer. There was supposed to be some sort of big Santa’s village-type place opening in Flinton, but I don’t know if it ever did.
Merry Christmas!! Love the tree farm…you guys are so blessed! 🙂
I love this post! I’ve always wanted to go to a tree farm but they were a dime a dozen growing up in So Cal. This year we’re skipping a tree altogether because of the move, and now I am afraid to buy a real tree because of our dog. So, I’ll just live vicariously through your blog! Enjoy and happiest of holidays to you and your family.
My goodness those little ears! He is SO CUTE! 🙂
That first photo of you and Sam is awesome – you look great, cute baby, and horses pulling a load of trees all in one frame!