Christmas 2011...

26 weeks 0 days

...was, quite simply, amazing.

(there was the small matter of Drew's mom ending up in the hospital and getting her gall bladder out Christmas day, and his brother getting into a car accident Christmas Eve...but everyone is doing relatively well and things could always be worse.)

This was technically Madi's third Christmas, but in so many ways it was the first Christmas she actually experienced.
It started in late November with the KV Santa Claus parade. We took her the two previous years but this year she was able to recognize the lights and trees, and the usual participants - snowmen, reindeer and of course Santa.

Right off the bat we started with the advent calendar, which we have been doing each Christmas. This is a tradition that goes back to when I was very, very young. My mother made this for me when I was small and every year she faithfully wrapped presents and tied them to the little red loops. Sometimes she tortured me with boxes of raisins, other years she delighted us with John Michael Montgomery concert tickets (yes, I remember, Mom!) I decided to go the torture route with Madi while I still could - 6 of my 12 gifts were boxes of raisins. Daddy's gifts included a bag of Skittles and a Dora flashlight.

Early in early December we started a new tradition, one I have been planning on doing since she was a newborn but she wasn't really ready for it until this year - The Elf on the Shelf. We ceremoniously took him out of the box, read the story and of course we had to give him a name. Madi chose the name Truck. Every morning, after his nightly trip to the North Pole to report to Santa, he would appear in a new spot. Every morning the first thing Madi did when she got out of bed was ask "Where's Elf on the Shelf?" and we would go looking for him.

Finally the big day came. We visited family, had family visit us, wrote Santa his letter and left he and Rudolph treats. When she woke up in the morning the Dora cake (well, cupcakes because I cheated) were there, along with some more surprise gifts. She didn't totally know what was going on - she thought every wrapped presented was supposed to be for her - but she knew that Santa had brought her presents and that he and Truck are back in the North Pole until next Christmas.


These were some of the big moments of Christmas, but there were so many. I can honestly say, as cheesy as it sounds, that having a child truly brings out the magic of Christmas, more so that I could have imagined. Everything about it was fun and I can't wait until the little ones are older and we can watch even more amazement at this time of year.