spontaneous blah.: 26 weeks and decking the halls.

i love christmas.

i love everything about this time of year...
the feeling of anticipation
the twinkling lights
the smell of snow
the baking of cookies
the endless art opportunities
the prime crocheting weather
the music
the way the inside of our church glows every sunday morning
i love it all.

but since becoming a parent
my love for the holidays
has only amplified
because
i love
watching my bug cradle the baby Jesus from her nativity
and whispering 'i love you baby Jesus'
ever so softly.
i love
how excited she gets when the doorbell rings
thinking that perhaps santa has decided to pay her
a special visit
(we're still working on the concept of time leading up to the actual holiday).
i love
watching her run through the toy stores picking out things to put on her list
none of which are pink or named 'barbie'
but rather include things like a 'jumpoline' and robots.
i love
rolling out cookie dough
watching her pick out shapes
and 'sprinkle' each one with handfuls of sugar
and then turn to me and say, 'mom, i so love baking cookies with you.'
i love
passing underneath the mistletoe
and then hear yell after me,
'mom! you forgot to give me a kiss!'
and hurry back to steal quick pecks
under the greenery.
i love
watching her expression
as we light our chirstmas tree
each and every time
to claps and squeals of glee
as she screams,
'oh my goodness! it is SO beautiful!'

and then i begin to think to next year...
and how each year has brought more and more excitement
and magic to the season
and next year
we get to multiply that by two;
two times the twinkling eyes
two times the sprinkling of cookies
two times the number of presents under the tree
two times the kisses under the mistletoe...
and i cannot wait.

when the magic of the season has come
and gone
we will be down to 10 weeks left
in this journey...
slight panic is setting in
but the crib is in place
there are diapers on standby
and we have lots of love to give...
we'll be ready.