Oh Tannenbaum, Oh Tannenbaum

I've been pestering Ernie since Thanksgiving weekend to get our Christmas tree. Finally, tonight he gave in. You can tell by the look on his face that he was thrilled. This is the biggest difference between the two of us. I am perfectly content to enjoy myself and follow Lily endlessly until she wears herself out. Ernie, however, walks in with a one-track mind. He is focused on the goal. Get it and get out. Ernie focuses on the end goal while I enjoy the journey, with little thought to the end result. And it is the times when he gets in his "zone", that my blasé attitude annoys him to no end.

But I refused to be rushed. I wanted Lily to have a good time running through the aisles and picking out the perfect tree. Some of my favorite memories of Christmases past are of picking out Christmas trees. And Lily, following in her mommy's footsteps, was thrilled by the experience. She especially liked the "snow" covered trees.

I'm sure more than one person there thought I was insane for taking so many pictures of a Christmas tree lot. If I had been an outsider looking in, I know I would have. But Lily was being so dang cute that I couldn't stop myself. And now, since I can't decide which pictures are my favorites, you've got to muddle through them all.

Just in time for our excursion, temperatures dipped below freezing. The smell of pine coupled with the crisp, frigid air made it a quintessential Christmas experience.

And yes, we did take our baby out in thirty degree weather without any mittens. But this is California. It isn't supposed to get this cold, and I admit that we were unprepared.

As a result, she walked around with her hands in the air almost the entire time. I guess it was easier to keep her tiny hands covered with her coat sleves that way?

But even though we were bad parents and didn't have mittens for her, we did have this adorable and super warm and cuddly coat.

The tree lot was also selling these lovely mistletoe-like cuttings. I know it is a rip off and not real mistletoe, but I couldn't help myself. I had to buy one.

I love this picture. You'll notice the look has come back. Or perhaps it never left? I still haven't decided if it is annoyance or determination, or maybe a mixture of both. And I love Lily peeking out around her hood. What a cupcake, if I do say so myself.

Don't you just love the expression on my and Lily's face in this picture? Ernie so thoughtfully caught us as we were blowing kisses at the camera. From the look of it, we are either right at the beginning of a good pucker up, or right at the end. Either way, it is oh-so-flattering.

This one is marginally better, and I like the tree in the background. But he still caught me with a less-than-flattering look on my face.

Finally, we both look normal. Too bad Lily's hand is in front of her face, or this one would be perfect.

On the way out, Lily noticed this little guy and fell in love. And yes, I bought it for her. I think I'm setting bad precedents here.

These are the trees that Ernie wanted to choose from. But don't worry...

This is the tree we got. I wanted a seven-foot tree and Ernie wanted the mini-tree, so we compromised and got a six-foot beaute. Okay, so maybe a compromise between a two foot tree and a seven foot tree is more like a four foot tree...but I've never been good at compromise...