Merry Christmas!

 

 

We had the most lovely Christmas this year! I don't know how we ever lived without having Eli. He makes everything so magical. I found I was so much more excited about his gifts than I was about my own. It was my one Christmas wish to be able to enjoy this day before the new baby came. I wanted to be able to focus on Eli, my husband, the Savior and of course making delicious food.

Christmas eve we took Eli to the park, because he loves to slide and swing around on the tire swing. When it started to get dark we came home and David made a saurbraten roast dinner while listening to Elvis era Christmas music and I (as requested by Eli) made a chocolate cake for baby Jesus. We kept reiterating that it was Jesus' birthday and if there's a birthday, Eli thinks there must be cake. We then opened our Christmas pajamas. Eli was so excited that we all had new jammies. All evening he kept pointing them out and saying, "Eli like new jammies!" Then we read the Christmas story in the bible and watched a short nativity movie. We found the best way to keep Eli's attention though, was to use a story board with cut out nativity characters he could play with. 

I knit my first pair of socks! I've always been too intimidated to try, but it was the only knit thing my husband said he would actually wear. I decided to make the leap. (They were originally for his birthday in October- the month I went through a frenzied baby knitting marathon- but after only finishing one I lost the knitting bug and didn't pick up the second sock until a week ago when I decided with the new baby coming it was now or never, ha.)

Also, much to my happiness our paperwhite bulbs bloomed in time for Christmas. My mom always had lots of them at Christmas time and they remind me of home. This year I made all our wreaths and garland- with varying success- from branches we cut in the forest. Having both the pine and the flowers bloom made our house smell absolutely wonderful. I wish it could smell half as good the rest of the year!

All Eli wanted was a barn. They have a similar one at the library and every time we go he's obsessed with it. Every time we see one in the store he screams excitedly, "Barn! Barn! Eli want barn! Eli need barn!" As soon as he saw a little bit of red when unwrapping it he started screaming. I've never seen him so happy with anything. He's played with it almost all day for the last two days.   

I received my new baby stacking ring! I'm not big on jewelry, but I do enjoy a mix of rustic Native American and modern minimalist pieces. When Eli was born I chose a simple, thin, satin finish band to wear on my right hand ring finger. I paired it with a small gold band my dad gave my mom long before they got divorced. With the new baby's imminent entrance into the world I had to upgrade to two baby rings. It makes me happy to see the rings side by side- like a secret, like two brothers.

 

We're still trying to figure out how Santa fits into Christmas. My husband would happily cut him out all together, but I have fond memories of the magic he brought to the season. Eli got to see and sit near Santa (not on- he wasn't ready for that) and he now associates him with getting candy canes and treats. Santa also visited us on the 5th of December to fill our shoes with treats, which probably helped create the impression. I found talking too much about both Santa and Jesus just confused Eli, though. So, I made a compromise and decided to sew some stocking and fill them with candy and small gifts and that could be from "Santa." I guess we'll see how Santa evolves in our home over the years.

Life has been good to us and we are so very grateful for the blessing of children, family and our Lord and Savior.