Before I start, I wanted to share a few updates with you. First, you'll notice in the pics that Hailey isn't wearing her glasses. She was having some problems with the frames. They kept bending and were also hurting her ears. So Mama decided that Hailey could try contacts for a while and see if those work better. So far, she's really enjoying them.
The other news is that Emily is still in surgery. Ella is getting really worried about her. She hasn't been able to visit her or anything. Ella's hoping that Emily will be better by Christmas so that she can spend it with us instead of in her sick bed in Mama's "dolls in progress box". Just thought you guys might want to know. Now, on to the post!
Three days ago, Hailey, Ella and I were sitting in our doll room when Mama came in with a box and a little pine tree just our size. "Who's ready to decorate for Christmas?" she asked.
I can't begin to tell you how excited we were. Christmas is such a wonderful holiday, and this was our first Christmas all together as sisters at Mama's house. We sure had our work cut out for us, though.
First, we had to rearrange the whole room to make some space for the tree. Hailey and Ella helped Mama roll out the pretty Christmas rug. I think it was actually a tree skirt at one time, but it made a great rug for us!
Next, we put the tree in it's place. Hailey and I moved it while Ella stood to the side to let us know when it was straight. It's not as easy as it looks to get a tree just right.
After the tree was set up, we started hanging ornaments. Mama had some beautiful little ball ornaments in green and lavender. Of course, I was thrilled, since purple is my favorite color. :) Mama tied a plaid ribbon on the top of the tree and it gave it just the right finishing touch.
Once the ornaments were on, Mama had some other Christmas decorations for us to use. We had so much fun unpacking everything!
"I love this rocking horse with the teddy bear on top...it's so cute!" Hailey said.
"Lucy's going to love this Nutcracker," Ella exclaimed as she pulled him out of the box. Our little cousin Lucy is really into ballet, and the Nutcracker ballet is one of her very favorites.
I just couldn't stop staring at the beautiful tree. It was so nice to have a real Christmas again! Last year, Mama didn't have a doll room yet, I had just arrived, and my sisters weren't here yet. This year was much better. :)
It was a great surprise to see some stockings with our names on them. We couldn't wait to hang them up.
"Hey, look guys!" Hailey called out excitedly as she rummaged through the decoration box. "It's 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens!"
I grinned at my little sister. "I think that should work. For now, though, I'm going to find a place to hang this wreath."
"Oh, it's so pretty!" Hailey breathed. "Where do you think we should hang it?"
"I was thinking maybe I'd try over here on the doorknob of our closet," I replied, carrying the wreath over to that part of the room. "What do you think?"
"Perfect!" Hailey agreed.
"Hey, Ella, how would you like to help me hang up the stockings?" I asked.
"Sure!" she beamed happily.
We stuck an extra piece of plaid ribbon through the loops of the stockings and started over to the closet. I thought that maybe we could stretch the ribbon across the top and hold it down with a couple of heavy things.
Just as we started to hang it up, though, we heard 3 voices singing "Jingle Bells" as happily and loudly as possible. We turned to see Lucy, Claire and Maggie standing in our room, singing at the tops of their lungs like hyper Christmas carolers.
"Hi, guys!" Ella called excitedly. "How do you like the tree?"
"It's really pretty!" Claire said.
"Look at the Nutcracker!" Lucy squealed excitedly.
"Are you guys hanging stockings up?" Maggie asked. "Because we brought ours, too."
We all looked. Sure enough, each of them had a stocking just like ours with their name on it. Lucy also held a stocking for her sister Katie. I sighed as I thought of my cousin, still far away on her traveling adventure. It was looking less and less likely that she'd be home for Christmas.
"Do you think you could find room for a few more?" Maggie asked. "It would be fun to hang them up all together." She walked up to Ella. "I have Emily's stocking, too," she offered, a little uncertainly.
Ella's eyes filled with tears as she took the stocking from Maggie. "I hope she gets well in time," she whispered.
Maggie gave her a hug. "I'm sure Mama will make her better in no time," she said encouragingly.
I smiled my thanks to my best friend for being so sweet to my little sister. Maggie winked back at me. Then I eyed the top of the closet doubtfully. "I don't think all of the stockings are going to fit up here."
"Maybe Mama can come up with a good idea of where to hang them," Maggie said.
And sure enough, Mama did. She cut a longer piece of the plaid ribbon and hung the stockings way up on the drapes behind our doll room. They looked perfect up there!
We are so happy with our festive room. What do you think? Do you like it too?
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