Santa Baby

Claire took pictures with Santa a few weeks ago.  I haven't had access to a scanner until recently so I haven't updated the blog yet.  The Santa at Sprouts Photography was AMAZING!  What a sweet guy!  He was so nice to my little munch and she didn't even cry when she was sitting with him.  She was calm, a little suspiscious but didn't overreact.  She has a fairly calm disposition, thus far, so this didn't really surprise me.  When "Santa" said, "I wish all of them were like her," I couldn't help but feel a bashful pride come over me.  She's a sweet one, that Clair-ey.

The "Santa Question" is a one that has come up in conversation in our house a few times.  Christian and I are not totally sure about how we are going to deal with it.  Play along and tell her the story?  Play along but tell her the story is just pretend? Skip Santa completely? Teach her about the historical Christian St. Nicholas who had a giving heart? We still have a year or two until it really matters, I suppose.  We'll probably do some of each. But we want her to understand the true "soul of Christmas," the wonder of God made flesh and not get so caught up in the "gimme" of it all. I want the wonder and miracle of the Christ we commemorate to be as real and as necessary as the air she breathes. I also want her to have fun and view the season as a time of fun and even a little magic like I did as a kid.  It is a delicate balance.  

In the meantime, Claire is met super cute man who was sweet to her, got a dress that was LOVINGLY handmade (smocking and all) by a wonderful friend that cares about her and mama got a photo op to mark her first Christmas.    Not bad, sweets, not bad at all.

Giving Thanks: Better Late than Never

So it's December.  I swore I'd complete this post before December and now it's the 1st of December.  Bummer.  But, in my defense, we did, finally, finish out Thanksgiving celebrations last Saturday and it's only Wednesday.  I could have done worse, I suppose.  

Anyway: Claire's first Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 25th, was completely out of the ordinary for us.  Normally, we give thanks and eat the Thanksgiving meal at my grandma's house or aunt Nelda's house or some combination of the two.  One year we hopped from grandma's to Nelda's and then drove to Simi Valley.  But usually, it takes place at someone's home minus a random year when my parents were divorced when my mom and my grandparents and I went to breakfast for Thanksgiving at Hyatt hotel in Huntington Beach, and then I went to the Greenhill's for Thanksgiving dinner.  Anyway, this year we ate lunch at The Cottage in Laguna Beach and then my dad was gracious enough to take pictures of us for our Christmas cards and Claire's 6 month birthday and to commemorate the day.  The following Saturday, we drove out to Christian's parent's house for a more traditional Thanksgiving with his family and Claire got to hang out with her cousin, Lila.  We are thankful for family, really thankful.  Since I'm working part time, my parents, my grandparents and Christian's mom have all helped up with childcare in the afternoons (and we are thankful for our babysitter too, whom we love and Claire loves too!) when I have to work.  It was nice to see the people who are being so helpful all in one weekend.  We are truly blessed.    

I like that Thanksgiving is toward the end of the year.  If I am attentive, I'll remember to be grateful for what has gone right during the year.  There's always something.  This year was, especially, good for us, (cozy home, beautiful, healthy baby) although not so good for others in our lives (people needing jobs, family issues etc).  I'm sure there will be years where finding things to be thankful for will seem difficult, but God has commanded us to be grateful no matter what. People, remind me of that when our bad year comes.

Thanksgiving also marks the first full year for us in our house.  I can't believe we've lived here a whole year!  I'm thankful for Claire and for the family God is growing here at this little house in Chino.  May we raise her up to follow Him -such a huge, daunting task to be the temporary guardians of this little soul!

 What I rambling post I've come up with.  Oh, well. I'm thankful for a forgiving group of readers. . .