When Bradley and I were first together we had nary an ornament for our tree.  We made a concerted effort to purchase ‘meaningful’ ornaments, and as time has progressed, we have inherited and purchased more ornaments now that what seems reasonable to hang.  For every ornament, there is also a story.  For a while, we went through a bird phase.   We had nests, birdhouses and birds all over our tree.  Then it was a rustic phase, all of our ornaments were rusty and dull and the only lights were flicker flames.  Now we are in our kid phase, toys, ballerinas, princesses, colorful lights and handmade ornaments adorn our tree.

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Both of our moms have done a good job of handing on those ornaments that we held dear as children.

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For me, there was one of the garish ornaments that my mom spent hours pinning, sequining and adding gems.  When I was little, there were no lovelier or fancier ornaments on our tree than those.  There was a pink and fuchsia ornament that held my attention more than any, but when the time came to inherit the ornaments, I was lucky enough to get the red and green ornament.

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The other set that I just loved was the Wizard of Oz complete set of Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion.  As a little girls, I always wanted to hang them in a row on top of the gold garland, like the yellow brick road,  that hung on our tree every year.

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Each year we purchase a new ornament for our kids, that way when the time comes to start their own trees in their own homes they will have some meaningful ornaments with stories and histories already that they can hang on their own trees.  When the time comes to empty the tree each year, we are sure to put their ornaments in their boxes.  The little bristly squirrel was the first ornament we bought to hearken the arrival of Jude.  When Jude was in my belly, we called him a squirrel in a cage.  Wiggly, twisting and turning, he was never placid or still.  When he came out, he was still the same  squirelly boy who was always on the move.  This little ornament seemed to capture the personality of our boy.

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When Gigi was born, I finally committed to a stocking style once and for all.  I spent the month after her birth making her stocking, and on Christmas day hers was the only one complete.  I cut four stockings out of the fabric with the hope that one day we would round our family out to four.  This year, Jude will finally have his stocking as I finished in two weeks ago.  It seems silly, but while the fabric waited in my closet for a second baby to come, I kept thinking, “I just have to get pregnant again!  We have the materials for the stocking!”  I feel such a deep sense of satisfaction in seeing all of them complete, not just because they’re finished, but also because of the symbolism of our family behind them.  We, The Littlejohn family, are complete now too.

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We wish you peace and love this season and always,

Tamara, Bradley, Gigi & Jude


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