Christmas is magical and my home feels like a warm & comfy cottage rich in tradition and decor.
A couple years ago I thought it was time to change my decor, there are so many holiday themes to choose from, and I am so glad I didn't. Our colors match our home in familiar comfort with memories with each piece.
This year I gave my girls "Cookies for Santa" plate and their "Milk for Santa" cup to Mariah for Sofia's 1st Christmas.
I am over the moon excited with her perfect Christmas gift purchased and her beautiful Christmas stocking handmade (approximately 20 hours worth of details) just like Mariah & Brooke's. A keepsake my aunt did for me when I was very young, I have done for my daughters, and now Sofia.
Christmas has always been magical to me, but this year, even more so.
"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news
that will cause great joy ..." - Luke 2:10
Sofia's birth and my relationship with her was my good news and she is my great joy. Listening to Christmas music and hearing the words good news, great joy, a baby, in reference to Jesus my heart bursts with love and I think of my most perfect baby granddaughter and how she brings a whole new perspective to Christmas in a way I wasn't expecting.
Sweet chubbilicious snugglicious is 16 lbs. at 3 months old. Three months seems like such a short period of time, but I've had so much time with her that it actually seems like its been longer than that.
They say you can't buy time, but I beg to differ.
This summer I was able to buy time working 4-days per week. That meant every couple of days (weekends & Wednesdays) I would get days spent with her. I'm grateful Mariah & Jeremy gave me an open door pass to their home and to Sofia. Our relationship began the very moment she entered the world, the first time I held her, breathed in her sweet baby scent and time she and I have spent together.
You cannot build a relationship without time.
I knew I would love her, but I never fathomed how much in love with her I would be. Her life has been my good news, my great joy and brings me peace and happiness.
This Christmas when I hear about a baby lying in a manger, the depth of love I have for Sofia highlights a parallel of Jesus's birth, as a babe lying in a manger and the wise men who seek him.
Much like reading the bible, it is alive, and you can read the same books over and over and pick up something totally new each time you read it. All these Christmases and suddenly it feels totally new and different.
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find a babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven,
the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto
Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass,
which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the
babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying
which was told them concerning the child.
And all that they heard it wondered at those things which were told
them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart."
- Luke 2:11-19
