Christmas Home Tour!

With this being our very first year in our new, forever home I knew I wanted to document lots of Christmas decor and happenings around here. This Christmas is just a super special one. Not only are we home for the holidays for the 2nd year in a row now that we're back in the hometown, but we're also home in the sense of finally being settled in the place we plan to stay from this point forward. The home we're looking forward to celebrating many, many Christmases in. It's a sweet, blessed, exciting feeling.

So here's a little peek into our home this Christmas. Our very first Christmas here.

This is walking in the front door... where you'll find our most bare room of the house. Haha. Eventually we'll get around to decorating and "furnishing" our dining room and foyer a little more, and eventually I'd love a small tree in here, but for now, this is it... 

My favorite view this Christmas from my kitchen sink. Of course my little loves hanging out in there playing and getting along and being sweet little angels is the BEST view, but it's also pretty nice just like this. =)

Santa pictures from the past 3 years are displayed on this table. Looking forward to visiting the man in red this Saturday!

We still love our tree! Especially since we haven't had any other issues with it. =)

The mantle is simple but sweet. I love all of our stockings. They're from Pottery Barn and my mom has gotten them for all of us, including Anna and her fam. In the future I'd love to find some ornament filled garland and a Christmas sign of some sort to put where the window pane mirror is. Don't tell Terrell about all of my future plans. Ha.

This is the very first year I wasn't able to put out my real Nativity scene. Unfortunately it was just too risky. Between Layton and Baby A I think it's safe to say I made the right decision. So this year we're just using our Fisher Price Nativity. And it never looks like this for long but my big boys do love to arrange everyone just so when it's clean up time. 

The boys' favorite Christmas decoration is this carousel and Layton is also a huge fan of the pillows because of the pictures. =)

I traded my pumpkin for a snowman up on my mini gallery wall.

And of course the countdown to Christmas is highly popular. Austin reminds me to change it every single morning and is absolutely thrilled with the number growing smaller.

Our kitchen...

The boys most favorite thing we do every single morning as soon as they come downstairs is the Advent calendar. They LOVE it. They take turns and alternate who gets to open the door to retrieve the magnetic piece and place it on the Nativity scene and who gets to take out the Bible verse we read. Such a special way to start our day and keep our focus on Jesus and the true gift of Christmas. Also, I love displaying my Christmas plates each year. Just an easy, festive way to spruce up the kitchen counters. =)

Above the stove I placed Austin's sweet little Christmas gift to me from when he was 2 years old. =)

The star is battery operated and just adds some festive light when we're all done in the kitchen each night.

This Christmas centerpiece on our kitchen table is still around after 10 years. Haha. It was one of the first Christmas decorations we bought for our very first home. Can you spot my baby playing out in the backyard? He wasn't out there alone I promise... Terrell and the big boys just weren't in the picture.

Every year I add a few Christmas touches to the boys' rooms too. On the big boys' dresser I have a little family of snowmen plus Christmas plates that Garrison and Austin made at our old preschool. 

And on top of their bookshelf is a small Nativity scene plus a Santa snow globe.

And an up close look at their tree which they pretty much decorated all by themselves. 

Layton's dresser has a Nativity scene that was given to me as a baby... which makes it 32 years old. So it's sentimental and will always be displayed somewhere every Christmas. Plus I added 2 small Christmas trinkets. 

And my baby's tree which is similar to his big brothers' but also has some subtle differences. We are all boy around here, that's for sure. =)

The night time view is my most favorite I think. Christmas movies, Christmas books, quiet evenings and not so quiet evenings all take place here. It's where we gather before bedtime and where we wind down as the day comes to a close. Where we snuggle and cuddle and also where we play and make messes. This room... plus our kitchen... is just one big blessing filled with so many memories already. I'm loving experiencing our Christmas season here. In our hometown in our home. 

Decking the halls is a ton of work, but always worth it. So thankful for home, for family to share this season with, and for the celebration of the birth of our Savior.