A Very Merry Christmas

It was a wonderful Christmas in our household. Taryn is just now at that age where she really understands that something exciting is happening. She picked pink wrapping paper for her presents and loved seeing them under the tree, but even better than that, my thoughtful girl asked Santa to bring a present for everyone in the letter she dictated to me. She helped wrap, even wrapping one pair of socks for her Daddy all by herself. She kept telling people that Santa was coming and we were going to open presents on Jesus' birthday.

On Christmas Eve we got a tearful Taryn to sleep with promises that her elf, Two, would meet Santa outside to carry the presents in. She just didn't want that strange man inside her house! She did however leave him cookies and milk and a bucket of corn for his reindeer. She woke at 5:17 Christmas morning and got excited, but when we opened the door for her to go into the living room she froze and was very wary of the pink tree Santa had left her and Jenna. I had to hold her hand and walk her over to where her little pink tree was with the unwrapped gifts from under it. It didn't take long though for her to get into it. Surprisingly, she was initially more interested in showing Jenna her gifts and also really enjoyed passing gifts out to everyone. (My in-laws came up that morning before we headed to their house for the rest of the day.) Taryn has been happily playing with Christmas gifts ever since! We did get to spend the weekend with my family and had a great visit. Taryn gets intrigued by every new Christmas tree she sees. I hope every year will be this magical for her and for us. I love seeing and experiencing things through her eyes. The everyday and mundane become exciting again and she is teaching me to value the little things in life.