Christmas on my mind.

I know many people scoff at early Christmas decorations. Decorating is not one of my best qualities, but I like to have some decorations up sometimes. The past 2 years have been newborn baby intensive so our Christmas decorating has been practically nil. In 2006 BB was 2 months old at Christmas time. We were so in up to our eyebrows with adjusting to parenting we hadn't even thought about getting a tree. Then my mom came to visit and bought us our first artificial tree. (By the way, my mom is not an artificial tree kind of woman, but she understood we were in survival mode.) So we had a tree that year and that's pretty much all.

In 2007 LB was 2 months old at Christmas time. We got out our trusty artificial tree, that I lamented smelled curiously of B.O. We got a really cute video of our two babies in front of the Christmas tree and looked at that a lot over the season. That was pretty much it for festivities at home that year.

So this is our first Christmas without a newborn, and I'm excited! The past two Christmases have been very special with our sweet angels. But I'm also looking forward to sleeping Christmas eve and looking forward to feeling relatively sane when the sun begins to go down. The past two years have been like, "Oh, right, it's Christmas, can you get me a diaper?" or "Tomorrow is Christmas. I wonder if LB will be able to nurse today or do we have to start supplementing with formula?"

I have not forgotten how it felt, the Christmases celebrated by just the two of us, longing for a child to raise. I remember how it felt like we were the only ones celebrating childless Christmases, and how heartbroken I felt to think we may never have a baby in our home during Christmas. That was our reality for 3 Christmases. Our reality is different now. I am grateful for our children. I am also grateful for sleep.

The heart of the holidays is not decorating or Christmas trees. It is the root of the word Christmas - Christ. Praise Him from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him for creating days and nights so some years we can even sleep.