.Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.

I had resigned myself to the fact that we were not going to able to get a tree the day after Thanksgiving, as has become a tradition. Our sweet Scotty exhibited a lot of allergy problems last Christmas due to our tree. After much researching we were told the best thing to do for him was to get a live tree for no longer than ten days.

I had resigned myself to the fact that because our tree would not be up from the day after Thanksgiving until the week after New Year's, that we would have to get a small Charlie Brown type tree. How could we justify spending $40 on a tree that would be up for only a few days?

It has not felt like Christmas in our home. I am very traditional, and having such a huge tradition "messed up" has been hard for me. Of course, a Christmas tree is not the reason for Christmas - not at all. And I know that, and I believe that, and with or without a tree I would and will celebrate my Savior's birth and His rescue plan for me. And of course, I want my precious son to be healthy, and do not want to jeopardize his health just because of my want to fill a silly tradition. But still . . . .

My sweet, sweet husband who knows me so very well, and who (I am sorry to all you other wives who think differently {wink}) is definitely by far and away the best husband on this earth, surprised me this afternoon. Just after the children had gone down for their naps, I heard the doorbell ring. When I opened the door there stood my hubby with a grin stretched across his handsome face, and a monstrous 8 foot tree in his arms!! He bought a balsam fir. I was so excited,and could not wait for the children - especially Cadi to wake up from her nap.

Cadi could smell it as soon as she got to the top of the stairs. She was so excited to see the HUGE tree taking up much of our dining room. I think she thought we were just not going to get one this year. She was a lot of fun decorating the tree with this year. Scotty woke up about half way through our decorating. He was so cute upon first seeing the tree. "Pretty, pretty tree" he kept saying.



Jim helped Scotty touch the tree. This was probably not one of our brightest moves as parents to a son highly allergic to Christmas trees. {bah}



Scotty went to bed with quite the runny nose, and a bit wheezy and raspy. We will see how this works out. He was given a dose of Zyrtec, per doctor's orders, for the first time tonight. I am hoping that once that builds up in his little body, it will help.

Jim spent a bit of time trying to set up his train under the tree. He had quite the little "helper" in Scotty! Cadi for the most part sat mesmerized on the floor beneath the tree. This is a rather technically, horrible shot, but something about it is so sweet regardless.



I cannot find my tripod. I think it must be in our van from my last shoot. Jim has the van at church. I tried to take a photo without it, but I am just not steady enough on my own. It is really hard getting a nice lit Christmas tree photo with a tripod, and without is nearly impossible for me. Any tricks that you know?? This is my only lit version until I find my tripod - I laid down under the tree and held the camera as steady as I could on my chest! {grin}
I think that my husband is so romantic for bringing this tree home to us.



And in case you are wondering, because I have not mentioned it in eons - yes, we are still doing school! {wink} A homeschooling post complete with photos {grin}, for all of those who emailed and commented questions, will be coming soon!



Hope you are having a "tree"mendous day! {giggle}