This year's Christmas ornament

In case you couldn't tell, I really love traditions of all kinds.  :)  And one of my favorites of the little traditions we've created as a family is the annual Christmas ornament.  Each year, we pick or make an ornament that represents one of the milestones of the year.  Now that we're finally living in a home with a staircase, I decided to put them all up together in a pretty little display:


Starting from the top, we have our 2006 bride and groom, 2007 NYU Law ornament, 2008 Fitz-Randolph gates, 2009 stork, 2010 Joshua ornament, 2011 Joshua handprint, and then this year's ornament:


A lovely embroidered ornament commemorating our little Sophia's first Christmas!  As our 2010 Joshua ornament was an Etsy find, I figured it was appropriate to look for another handmade Etsy item for Sophia, and as soon as I saw the embroidered work in this particular Etsy shop, I knew this was going to be this year's ornament!

I love that both of our kiddos have a lovely handmade ornament celebrating the year in which they were born.  And one of these days, if I'm ever on top of my game enough, they'll have ornaments that are actually hand-crafted by *me*.  ;)  But until that day comes, I'm thankful for all the pretties that can be found on Etsy!

And it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway -- we are all so thankful for our dear little Sophia.  2012 is the year David and I became parents to a daughter, and Joshua became a big brother, and this sweet little ornament is a fitting milestone marker for this year!