christmas is coming

I cannot believe Christmas is right around the corner. I absolutely love this time of year and am finding that with little kiddos it's even better! Lily is more active and understands way more this year than she did last year and it's so much fun. I am also quickly realizing how important it is to set and stick to a Christmas budget as I've found buying presents for Lily to be way too much fun - I'm just so excited for her :)

This last week we have been decorating for Christmas, getting my shopping list sorted out for what and who we still need to buy gifts for, yesterday we put up the Christmas tree, and I am hopeful that today we will get up the outside lights - even though it's snowing and cold outside and we should have done it weeks back when it was nice out!

We don't have any big Christmas plans this year other than spending plenty of time with our families. John Deere gets a nice week and a half break so we don't have to feel rushed with getting back "home" yet getting some things done around here as well. We are incredibly lucky to have our families live close enough together that we can feasibly do both during the holidays without too much travel.

We also have a few Christmas parties we are looking forward to in the coming weeks. Des Moines John Deere has a party that should be lots of fun with many old and new co-workers for both Jimmy and I. My parents are planning to come down and the watch the kiddos while we enjoy the night out for that one. And then the builders that built our house and majority of the homes in our neighborhood have an upcoming Christmas party as well.

We plan to do our Christmas baking next weekend too - a few of our favorites are frosted sugar cookies (of course!), rolo pretzels, dipped pretzels, and peanut blossoms. We may have to look on pinterest for some inspiration on a few more.

So that's what we've been up to lately - aside from the ongoing house list on what it takes to get settled. I am anxiously awaiting Christmas with my little family of 4 as well as our families back "home"!

By the way I am writing this post this morning as I sit in our living room with a cup of coffee listening to my littlest baby coo and smile at me as snow is falling outside - love it - how blessed we are!