Feels like Christmas, among other things...

People, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Ivins abode.

Maybe it was the giant snow storm that trapped us in the house for the majority of the day.
Maybe it was my Etsy/Barnes & Noble online Christmas shopping binge (seriously, those Cyber Monday deals KILLED me).
Maybe it was receiving an early Christmas gift in the mail.
Maybe it was reading everyone else's blogs and realizing how behind I am in the holiday cheer department.

We may never know the exact reason, but today was the day I felt inspired to deck our halls.

Lola was a love and decided to treat me by taking a three-hour nap this afternoon, so I got busy making pizza dough for our traditional "Decoration Day Feast."  Last year I made chili and cornbread with the intent to turn it into our staple annual meal, but I didn't have the stuff for it and I was really, really craving pizza.  I guess we'll be switching it up every year.  THAT will be our tradition.

We busted out Lola's Christmas pj's early just for the occasion.
Well that, and we haven't done laundry in about a week.
My girl is so goofy.
She kept us entertained at dinner by sucking the BBQ sauce off her chicken and crust and then throwing the remains on the ground with a resounding "Mmmmmmmm."

After dinner, I turned on "The Polar Express" for Lola while Reece braved the 18 inches of snow to procure our decorations from the outdoor storage.  I love my husband.

The problem is, my daughter can't seem to sit still for more than about three seconds unless she's eating a lollipop.  The only way I could get her to settle on the couch next to me was to give her full control of the PS3.  And for the record, she's made it quite clear that taking posed photos is not her thing anymore.

Daddy returned alive and I got to work on the tree while he regained his strength.  By the way, Lola sat quietly for him without a fight.  She's a bit of a daddy's girl these days.

I was particularly excited to pull out the decorations this year because many of them are brand new.  I stumbled upon Target's 90-percent off Christmas sale last year and stocked up big time.

But apparently I forgot lights, so the tree decorating basically stopped at assembly.
That's how I roll.

Lola particularly loved out advent calendar stocking.  I have a feeling I'll be lifting her up to play with it countless times over the next month.

Our tired girl quickly turned into a bit of a Grinch, and our attempt to get a happy picture in front of the naked tree failed miserably.  But it's pretty funny, and funny is always better than nothing, right?

Since I'm quite disappointed about my undecorated tree, I'll end with a few of my favorite decorations, including stockings for our cats hung above their food dish, of course.

And here's a little Christmas reward for all those who had the patience and stamina to get through this ridiculously long post:

Look familiar?
That's right, the shower curtain will once again be making frequent appearances on the blog.

If you can't tell from the pasty skin, bloated belly and exhausted look on my makeup-free face, Lola's getting a baby brother or sister in June.

And we're pretty freakin' thrilled about it.
In fact, we couldn't feel more grateful and blessed.