First Christmas with the Girls
 

Everyday I am thankful for my beautiful girls, but since this will be my first Christmas without my Grandsons being at "Nana's" (darn kids moved to NC and took the kids with them), I am so grateful to have the girls to share my favorite holiday with (oh yeah - there's the fiance' - but I'm really thankful for the girls..haha).

Even though both Bridget and Greta turned 1 in October - this will be our First Christmas as a "family", and very possibly their first encounter with a "Christmas Tree":xmastree1: not to mention pretty wrapped gifts :presents2:under the tree.

Does anyone have any experiences they'd like to share about your baby's first Christmas at home, or advice about what to expect? I've had cats, and large dogs - but never a Yorkie/Biewer Christmas!

Kacee didn't bother anything, but she has never been very destructive. She's always been unusually good. She really paid attention to the lights though. They really fascinated her. Just don't hang any bulbs down low that your girls could possibly pull off and eat. That's a very common Christmas problem.

Aww, yay for the holidays! I'm sure you'll all have a splendid Christmas.

I've only had one bad experience with the presents under the tree, and that was with my old Black Lab. We wrapped up a thing of Dunkin Donuts coffee for my Grandpa because it was his favorite and oh man. We waited until Christmas eve to put the presents out because we figured she'd attack them, but she only went for the one. The coffee. LOL. So I wouldn't put any food under the tree. :)

We have not had any bad experiences with Rosie and Christmas. She doesn't seem to mind having the tree there. Of course, she has to smell it and check it out at first. But then all is good!

A fake tree is less likely to get well wee-wee-ed on. This will be my first Christmas with these (second with me for one of them first with the other two) three dogs...so I'm trial running it too. I have a Christmas tree "gate" I used for when my children were little to protect the tree from toddlers-it may come out the rafters in the garage-having one on stand by may be helpful. The "gate" is a wire mess looking squares that are about 14" tall and attatch to create any shape playpen style if you can imagine-sorry I can't find pics.
Definitely don't put the dog treats in their stockings until the night before Christmas-they will rip the paper to get to them-no brainer right? I realized this the hard way last year when I found the packages of Zuke's unwrapped and two dog's just a waggin' their tails as we came in the front door...
Also we have a my six year old son's Polar Express train he loves-it has a remote that makes the train go backwards and forwards and whistle with lights etc-it was NOT Scoobers favorite and my boyfriend's dog who was previously with us "tried to kill the train" so I suggest absolute caution with decorations of this nature.
Best of luck I'll need it too-but I'm thinking of putting the tree on a large wooden based also to keep it up a few feet (our faux tree is only 5' tall) and the presents all on the fireplace bricks so they're more out of reach for my miniatures if it works we'll see.

Last year was my first Christmas with Roxie. She didn't bother the tree or any of the decorations at all.

This is my first year with Rizzo and Fatso for Christmas...so far Rizzo hasn't really bothered with the tree, Fatso on the other hand has been exploring it, I'm worried that he'll probably mark it. He has been getting better, but still from time to time I find cat pee in my house, so I'm hoping he's gotten over it and will continue to not mark up my house. I'm pretty excited about this year though, time to start looking for doggy presents :D

This will be our first Christmas with izzy also even though she was born Oct. 2009... (We didn't get her In Jan) She doesn't mind the tree.. But we have a really nice Polar Express train under the tree and when the kids play it, She goes nuts... Trying to bite it, barking at it, etc...

( Yes our tree is already up):D

Last year was Snoopy's first Christmas. I was so thankful to have him, because both of our adult children who lived at home ditched us for significant others!

We have a fake tree. Last year we just used the top half, and put that on a table. We didn't put gifts out until Christmas day. I think we'll put up the whole tree this year, but I'm not sure.

Mine have never bothered the tree but for the first year I would put ornaments and things on the top only. I dress mine up in matching outfits on XMas eve and day. I also make them a special meal. My cats get tuna on XMas day. I have kittens so Im anticipating there will be some kitties climbing the tree this year

Couver is not the one I've had to worry about with the tree... It's always been my cats that try to climb it. It was cute when they were kittens, but not so much anymore now that they are 15 lb cats. This will be Khloe's first Christmas with us, but I don't imagine it being a huge issue, she is usually pretty good.

I guess it all depends on the dog. If they are known for chewing everything, I would be worried :p

haha - I can so relate to the cat thing....we have 3. Our old girl is just too lazy to climb the tree, but our boys will in a heart beat...We had an artificial one that was several years old - but really nice and full, but it was the kind that you had to put each branch in a little hole....nothing like spending hours on a tree only to come home from work and find branches on the floor with strings of lights still attached. After a 22 lb cat sits on a tree branch it never is quite the same UGH!!
Last year I bought a new one with the branches attached and they didn't seem to bother it....well now in the girls spare time they like to chase the cats so I'm thinking I'll be having a cat in the tree at least once this year. Luckily I put the tree in the corner, put some twine around it and tie it to a hook behind it so it won't tip over.