'Real Housewives Of New Jersey' Star Teresa Giudice's Family Is 'Doing A Countdown' To Her Early Release; Are 'Thankful' She's Heading Home

Teresa Giudice is just about done doing hard time behind bars and her family could not be more excited. It was announced in April that the star of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" had been granted early release. She will begin serving out the remainder of her 15-month fraud sentence at home on Dec. 23, which has left her husband and four children chomping at the bit.

According to a report from E! Online, Teresa's family has started a countdown to her return home. An insider told the outlet that her immediate and extended family members are incredibly excited and can't wait to "hug her." The source also said the cook book author's loved ones are "very proud" of her for handling her situation with style and grace.

"Everyone's doing a countdown. It's an exciting time. Everyone's excited to see her again and come over to the house and hug her," the insider said. "Everyone's just very proud of how she's handled things and gotten through it and stayed strong. They're really thankful she's finally coming home."

Until now, Teresa, 43, has had to spend her holidays in prison. She recently missed celebrating Thanksgiving with husband Joe Giudice and their four daughters and asked that they not come visit. At the time, sources reported that she requested Joe, 43, and the kids -- Gia, Gabriella, Milania and Audriana -- stay home in an effort to make the holiday "as normal as possible." A source told People Teresa wanted her girls "to have a good day" and didn't want them to have to spend Thanksgiving inside Danbury Women's Correctional Facility's visitation room.

Teresa is likely spending her final weeks in the Danbury, Connecticuit, prison keeping busy. Her lawyer, James J. Leonard, announced in July that his client has been writing in a diary during her prison stay and plans to turn it into a memoir. Several months later, publishers confirmed the book was in the works, revealing that it was set to be titled "Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again." The book will be released Feb. 9, 2016.