Merry Christmas!

We loved our first Christmas with Jillian - what a joy to have two little ones in the house on such a wonderful holiday. We not only saw the joy of her witnessing all the beauty of Christmas - from lights to bows on presents, but also saw Meredith show love and her giving spirit by picking out things that she knew her sister would love, and even telling us she had to tell Santa what Jillian would want, since she is a "baby and can't talk yet." I also loved this year's preparations because Meredith is really learning the Christmas story. She would walk around the house reenacting the night in Bethleham - knocking on doors and declaring "There is no room!" And then finally "You can stay at my farm!" She learned about the gifts that the wisemen brought and loved siging carols about Jesus. We had a really special tree in our house that we made with my Mom's group at Church called the Advent Jesse Tree - there was a devotion each night that told stories of God and of Jesus. She looked forward to putting on the ornament each night and hearing the Bible Story.

This year, of course, she really got into the Santa stories too. She loved getting ready for Santa, choosing which cookies to put out for him and where we should put them. This was a big step up from last year, when she cried because Santa ate her cookies. I didn't sleep well on Christmas Eve because I was afraid she would run out to the living room before waking us up, instead, we had to go in and wake her at 8 am (which is very late for her!)

What Santa had waititng for the girls. This included a Green Teddy Bear that about caused me a heart-attack because it wasn't looking like it would get to the North Pole in time to be on Santa's sleigh. The other super exciting item was Meredith's new Violin - which was one of her big requests this year. She is loving playing us songs on it - maybe we'll have to upgrade to one with strings next year! :)

Checking out her stocking
Pretty, smiling baby crawling for real just in time for Christmas (she still reverts to leaving her tummy on the ground most of the time, but is getting better and better and lifting it off the ground)
Big sis was very excited to show little sis how to make the baby she picked out for her work.
Modeling mama's snuggie from daddy

Hoping this smile will talk us into letting her go for a whirl on Meredith's Sit N Spin.