feeling trim?

Thanksgiving turkey is still working its way through my system and we've already got the trees up - two of them.

This decorating malarkey is getting out of control.

The rest of the house is half-way trimmed up too - but Momma still has a lot of work to do. I'm going for super sparkly and garish this year!

A bit like this British pub:

You don't think it's too much?

I got my Mum to mail me a load of those shiny foil concertina decorations that you hang from the ceiling. I don't think they do them over here - a bit like Christmas crackers. But then I didn't think they did Cadbury's mini eggs either....

She sent me some new ones - plus what was left of the same ones we had growing up. These are the real deal. Talk about sentimentality on overdrive! I'm even putting them up in a similar ceiling arrangement as we used to do back home. I can see our childhood living room so clearly when I touch them.

They've already dropped down a few times. Sticking them back up will become part of Momma's morning routine I'm sure!

Tonight we had dinner at our friends' house and they have a train IN their tree.. IN THEIR XMAS TREE! How cool is that? Of course our boys had to have a train too...

At least Momma's version...

So, we stopped off at Dollar General on the way home (not Home Depot) and lo and behold, there it was - a 5 dollar train (their's was $30) to go around the base of the tree. An absolutely fabulous bit of tat.

Totally tacky and cheap as chips. Spot on!

The kids LOVE it of course. What toddler can resist a battery-operated train - especially one that goes around a Christmas tree? It's purple and red and has the words Holiday Express on the side.

A complete rip-off of the Polar Express, which we've already watched THREE times this season.

And it's not even December yet!

We didn't trim up until the middle of December growing up - and we never had a train - but time goes SO fast these days. It really is the most wonderful time of the year - and I want to make the most of it.

My eldest - our three year old - is already asking if it's Christmas Eve. He's asked every day since the night before Thanksgiving. Even before we trimmed up, the little man could smell it in the air.

No wonder, what with the rest of the village being trimmed up since the day after Halloween. It really does feel like a three-month holiday here. We're celebrating non-stop from October to January.

My kind of a holiday! What better excuse, than Xmas (except being preggers of course) is there to feed your face?

With Advent just around the corner, the choccie calenders are sitting on the piano waiting for Saturday. It's a bad idea.. I KNOW. My big kid especially may not be able to handle a day that begins with that sweet candy goodness.

But, what the hell! It's CHRISTMAS! I'm going to give it a go anyway - for the sake of all that is HOLidaY!  Maybe the kids won't like their Chocolates and Momma will get to eat them..

When Texas freezes over. That could happen.

No Momma! Don't even think about it!

The run-up-to Christmas diet (aka operation lose baby weight) is on.

I want 23lbs GONE by Christmas - Okay, I'm kidding (sort of). That just sounds a tad crazy and crash-like. But seriously, yesterday couldn't be soon enough!

We're doing family portrait shots at the weekend and I'm desperately wishing I was looking as trim as our Xmas trees! Maybe if I wrap myself up in tinsel garlands no one will notice I'm a bit tubby....

And after gobbling up three Thanksgiving Turkey dinners and a double helping of chocolate brownie and ice cream I admit I've been feeling like a bit of a heffer - not surprisingly.

I hate my clothes. All of them.

So, during my post-gorge blues I ransacked my closet and weeded out the biggest offenders -  unceremoniously sending the hubs to the thrift store with three great big black sacks!

Fortunately my tie-dyed wedding dress was rescued by Daddy. It's way too small, and the dyes didn't work. But it's still my wedding dress, after all.

I don't love the clothes that remain. The only reason anything made the cut is that while we're not totally adverse to walking around in the buff we're not hard core naturalists either, and it is nearly December.

Then finally - after resisting for three months - I stepped up on that Wii Fit and discovered I'm +23lbs since the last time I was up there, which was almost a year ago to the day. When I found out I was pregnant.

My Wii weight chart panned out over the last three years of charted breeding is a shark-tooth zig-zag pattern. I'm waiting for the zag to my last zig...

So, basically, losing 23lbs (1.5 x baby girl's weight) will take me to my pre-baby three weight, which is where I want to be..... by Christmas. Again, I'm kidding!!!

That's a long way to Go Momma!

Lose it in 5 weeks - put it all back on in a couple of days! That's the Christmas spirit. Still kidding!

I've got my Christmas tunes lined up on Pandora's box - anything without a beat gets a resounding thumbs down - along with all that is Elvis or Bing Crosby!

Here's to boogying away my bulges before the years out! I promise, I'm KIDDING!

I already have my New Year's resolution lined up; No matter how trim and sexy I'm looking - no getting pregnant in 2013! NOT KIDDING.