Preparing - Gwen had such a great time decorating the Christmas tree. She did a really good job putting the ornaments on and got her own special tree in her room. She named our Elf on the Shelf TANGO and did a great job of finding him each morning. The most fun part of our day has been driving at night to see all of the Christmas decorations and lights. She yells from the backseat, “My favorite color” or “I see Santa” or “Wow.” As soon as we pass one place she gets upset and says, “I need to see more.” Next year when we are settled into our new house (different post) we will put some lights up!
Christmas Eve – I loved watching Gwen run around with her cousins and snuggle with her uncles. She sits so nicely at the kid table and plays like she’s been on earth for ten years! My hubby’s family has a sing-along tradition that most of us would normally love to pass up. This year I had the best time with the video. My beautiful girl sat on my lap and held my hand during the whole thing. She was fascinated with the fact that everyone was singing and would tell me to keep singing when I stopped. She joined in on the songs she knew (Rudolph and Jingle Bells) and it was my favorite Christmas moment!
Christmas morning – Gwen remembered it was Christmas day and had a blast finding her full stocking and presents. We told her to go see if Santa had come and she ran to the front door and was looking outside for him. Then she walked around asking “Santa, where are you?” Bill made an awesome wardrobe for all of Gwen’s dress up clothes and it filled the room along with other gifts. It took a long time for her to realize that she was allowed to wear all the dresses in the wardrobe, but she has since come up with some interesting ensembles. Her favorite gift was the dollhouse and she sat on Christmas day for 2 hours just setting up the tiny furniture.
We enjoyed being with family and watching the kids enjoy the magic of Christmas. I remember the holidays when I would feel stabs of pain because I didn’t have a child to enjoy it with. I remember 3 years ago when Bill and I slept through Christmas so we wouldn’t have to deal with the holiday sans Gregory. We stayed up all night Christmas Eve and opted out of dealing with the day. I am so thankful of how things have changed. Spending these special days with my girl and watching her experience everything for the first time (that she is aware of) has been amazing. It is exactly what I dreamed of and waited for. Love.
