Mom said she would set up the tree, but wait for me to fly in to decorate it. Then I realized I wanted That Husband to participate in this annual tradition with me, so we put it off until two nights ago.
Mom sat on the floor unwrapping ornaments and attempting to guess who they belonged to when they hadn’t been labeled properly. My mom has presented That Sister and I with an ornament each year and opening them up to see what she came up with that year is one of my favorite traditions.
This year my ornament is (what else?) a pregnant lady holding a tub of ice cream in one hand and a jar of pickles in the other.
It’s a good match don’t you think?
This shot makes me laugh.
TH surprised me by saying that he actually liked decorating the tree. Yay! I hope that means he will be willing to buy and decorate one of our own next year as we aren’t planning on coming back to WA every other year which means next year we’ll be on our own.
A closeup of my 2009 ornament hanging on the tree. Don’t you love it?
This year That One got an ornament as well. Mom bought one in pink and one in blue since we don’t know if it’s a boy or girl. 
Each of my mom’s children has a Precious Moments figurine on the tree. The sweet little fisherman in the corner belongs to my baby brother, who passed away at birth.
Out of my 24 ornaments, this one might be my favorite. I received it the year I participated in the Junior Miss program, where I placed as a finalist and spent the summer touring parades throughout Washington.
The phrase on her crown is my favorite, “Actual Princess of Some Place Grand.”
That’s me!
The finished tree! Now it feels like Christmas.
December 24th, 2009 on 9:18 am
Man, that is such a fantastic tradition! I’ve never seen such cool ornaments before. Where does your Mum get them from? And that ornament your Mum gave you this year is great and made me laugh
Merry Christmas, and thanks for sharing so much of your life on this blog. Its always a delight to see something new of yours pop up in my google reader.
Reply
Jenna Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 1:32 am
My mom loves the ornament tradition so she buys them in different places throughout the year. Sometimes she travels and searches them out months and months in advance! I’m pretty sure my ornament this year was from Hallmark though. Last year they were all from the Sundance catalog.
Reply
December 24th, 2009 on 10:20 am
I’ve never really been into the random ornaments thing. All of our ornaments and decorations matched (most of the time). Making ornaments in school for me drove me crazy because I didn’t want to put them on the tree because it wouldn’t look right. The ornaments on our tree now aren’t exactly matchy-matchy, but they go really well together. That’s a really cool tradition, though, for your mom to give you all a new ornament that represents you.
I love the silver branches around the tree! They’re soooooo pretty!
Reply
December 24th, 2009 on 10:48 am
No matter what other decorations there are, it doesn’t feel like Christmas until the tree is up and decorated!! Glad you are able to be with family. You are looking so darling with that cute tummy! Merry Christmas!!
Reply
December 24th, 2009 on 11:52 am
My mom buys each of her kids an ornament every year too and it’s my favourite Christmas tradition! I love the tree - Tall and sparkly, just the way I like it! Merry Christmas to you and your family Jenna!
Reply
December 24th, 2009 on 12:01 pm
I love your ornament! I can’t even remember the last time I decorated a tree and I have no idea where all my ornaments are, but we did the same thing every year and I love all mine! I bought myself 2 this year (no idea if my mom got me any). Yesterday I found a little mask made in Ghana that looks just like the masks I bought when I was there so I had to buy it
. Will your mom continue to buy you ornaments once you have your own children and keep them at her house or will you take them all home this year to use next year?
Reply
Jenna Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 1:33 am
My mom likes buying them so much that I suspect she is going to buy each of the grandchildren one each year, as well as one for me, and probably one for our “family” as well, which means we will soon have a tree so stuffed full of ornaments from my mom that we won’t have anywhere to put them.
Reply
December 24th, 2009 on 2:21 pm
I love the tradition you have.
Last year I made ornaments to represent our wedding, this year if I can find my polymer clay I want to make one representing our First Home.
I think I’m going to talk to my husband about starting a tradition like yours though starting next year.
This year’s ornament is adorable. As said above where does your mom gets those?
Reply
December 24th, 2009 on 2:39 pm
Love the tree and love your new ornaments and that one for Jr. Miss was great! We had some good times that summer huh? Love you! Thanks for being so wonderful! I hope you continue to enjoy Christmas with your family!
Reply
December 26th, 2009 on 10:10 pm
Beautiful tree! I love it!
Reply
December 28th, 2009 on 11:03 pm
You’ve really “popped”-adorable!
Reply
December 28th, 2009 on 11:04 pm
You have popped!!! So cute!!
Reply
December 29th, 2009 on 3:07 am
I think I have that same sweater! Did you get it at Old Navy? It looks much cuter on you than on me-I can’t quite figure out how to wear it. (Buttoned?? Unbuttoned?? Partially buttoned?? Belted??)
Loved this post-I love hearing what people’s holiday traditions are.
P.S., how’s the acid reflux? I’d suggested AC vinegar-did you ever end up trying it? How’d it work for you?
Reply
Jenna Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
It’s from Gap but Old Navy might have a similar (probably less expensive) version.
The acid reflux has been better, I’ve been working on drinking more water earlier in the day and trying to avoid acidic foods where I can.
Reply
December 29th, 2009 on 2:10 pm
I would also love to know your mom’s source for the adorable ornaments… the tiny pregnant lady is so cute!
The life-size pregnant lady holding the ornament is cute, too! My sister is also due in April and it’s fun to see the parallels.
Reply
December 29th, 2009 on 2:58 pm
I love my mom’s Christmas tree! I love reading others traditions! I also have many ornaments from my childhood & my mom has started giving them back to me over the years for our Christmas tree
I love having them!
Reply
March 31st, 2010 on 11:22 am
[...] boy” and one for “baby girl”. You may remember that my mom did the same thing for baby’s first Christmas ornament as well. She makes me laugh. The brown John Deere onesies was in the boy’s package but [...]