Whilst this post is going live at a point where everyone will be winding down for the festive season, thinking about packing away decorations for another year, and getting over their hangovers (Southern Comfort for breakfast anyone?), I’ve finally found a few spare minutes to share with you what decorations we had around the house this year.
Admittedly, I was hoping to write this in November, but I got slightly delayed…
You see, I was due to give birth at the end of November (and I did – punctual as ever), a weekend which I normally dedicate purely to Christmas – we would get the tree out of the loft, put on all of those songs we love so much (but are probably sick of by January), and get the house cleaned ready for party season.
Instead of potentially missing our Christmas ritual if I were in hospital (which I was), I made an executive wifey decision that Christmas was coming early at Number 29. So I put up our decorations mid-November. Shockingly early for many people, this much I know. But I’m so glad I did. Because writing this today is genuinely the first chanceI I’ve had to do anything which isn’t:
giving birth, feeding the baby, changing said baby…. Yup that’s pretty much been my life since then!
(By the way, not a complaint at all – I LOVE being a mum.)
The decorating for us has been a big deal. Last Christmas, our house was under construction. In fact, my Timehop tells me that the entirety of our kitchen was in the hallway with our fridge blocking the front door. There was also a hole in the back of the house where the wall had been removed in anticipation of our extension becoming water tight. So you can probably understand that decorations weren’t an option.
This makes it 2 years since our home was re-acquainted by Christmas, and bringing down our decorations was another reminder that our house this year has gone from a building site to a fully functional family home, ready to dress up however we see fit.
Our Christmas decorations aren’t particularly glamorous. They don’t have a theme, and they certainly don’t match each other. But they all hold memories which makes me hesitant to buy new ones.
There is our Darth Vader on the top of the tree. We have a glass angel which, although we are not religious, hangs off our tree as a gift from Norwegian family. There is the little drummer boy which Joe bought me the first time we visited the Manchester Christmas markets together. There is our Christmas wreathe which we bought after buying the house, and despite only being £20, at the time I remember it being a huge splurge. Now, it sits proudly over the stag head in our office/guest bedroom.
And there are also the new additions, which I’ll never forget because they mark this new chapter which introduces our daughter, Luna.
Luna has her own Christmas ornaments on the tree to mark her arrival, with this ornament in particular gifted to her from my best friend, Holly.
She also has her very own wreath handmade using crafty bits from Hobbycraft – the twiggy look matched the wicker chair that it sits beside, and the white/grey colours match the base colours of the nursery (a tour of this room coming soon!)
And finally, there is this tree.
I was in hospital just shy of a week when I gave birth. My lovely sister-in-law brought me this Christmas tree (I believe it’s from Tesco) which remained at my bedside for the duration of my stay. I’d have a good laugh with the midwives about how enthusiastic about the season I must be to be bringing my own Christmas decorations, as they were just decorating the ward whilst I was there. And it really was a little glimmer of home at a time I really needed it.
We’re going to plant it in our garden this week, and it will be Luna’s to decorate as she pleases. We’ll hopefully have some outdoor lights for next year and it will forever be known as the tree for our daughter, to mark as our first Christmas as a family.
It’s all just decorating really isn’t it? But long time readers of my blog will know that I’m a soppy git and have real attachment to my belongings with attached memories (a posh way of saying I’m a hoarder). And Christmas is no exception.
I hope you all had a fabulous festive holiday. Happy New Year everyone x