I made sure to get up earlier than Ava to “light” our poor man’s fire along with a few candles and turn on the Christmas music.
She ran straight to the presents by the tree and started playing with the ribbons. I think she is a little nervous about ripping the wrapping paper wondering if she’ll get in trouble. 
She’s ripped some pretty important things in her day already… like Daddy’s social security card. 
She liked her Christmas story book that she got from Nana and Papa Cal… recorded with their voices. Very special.
Mommy and Daddy got her this little tin tea set, and she absolutely loves it. She’s played with it all week.
We bought this little princess tent with money that Mark’s Grandparents sent for her… She likes to take her toys inside and play.
She also got a new Christmas movie. Which she requests to have played over and over again.
Christmas morning Monkey Bread… Mmmmm… fresh and hot from the oven.
This little girl loved using her new little tea set for Christmas breakfast. This is the stuff that memories are made of.
This was our 4th annual “Christmas in the City”, and we had such a wonderful time. Jamie and Angela always make everything so special. We arrived for Saturday lunch to homemade Wild Rice Soup in chewy bread bowls. Mmmmmm… so good. The perfect meal for a chilly winter’s day. 
We had just seen Savannah 2 weeks ago at Thanksgiving, but she had already changed and grew so much. 
She was wearing the little shirt I bought for her last Christmas… before we even knew if she was going to be a boy or a girl. We were secretly hoping for a girl, so that Birdie would have a little playmate to grow up with. And here she is, 5 months old already, and the Joy of all of our lives. 
Angela made a wonderful holiday drink for us… 
Marmie made our favorite Italian Cookie, Pizzelles, and brought them along. 
Ava spies Auntie Angela’s Peanut Blossoms!
And of course the Hershey’s kiss is the first thing to go. 
We played a fun game this year called “Would you rather…?” There was a lot of debate and persuasion going on. 
Marmie calls Savannah her little “Gerber Baby”. She’s so perfect. The Grandparents enjoyed lots of kissing and cuddling with their lil’ pun’kin. 
I think Ava’s favorite place to be is surrounded by her family.
That evening we bundled up and headed out to see Christmas lights in the city. Jodie had pre-toured some of the neighborhoods to find the best places to go. My favorite was 
When we got home, we dressed the girls in their jammy-jams, and Jamie and Angela invited Ava to be a part of their special Advent time that they’ve been doing with Savannah in the evenings. Auntie Angela even let Birdie put the next piece on their Nativity Calendar. She thought that was pretty special. Once the girls were in bed, we watched “The Bishop’s Wife” {the old version with Cary Grant}. Well, we watched most of it. A few of us fell asleep before it was finished… but the parts the we saw were sooooo good. 
On Sunday, Angela fixed us a yummy brunch… the egg baked was so cheesy. Mmmmm… I should have gotten a picture. Maybe I can get her to share her recipe on her blog.
There were plenty of story readers around, and that kept Ava very happy till it was time to leave for the Mall of America.
One piece of advice, though. Never go to the Mall of America on a day when they have a pre-teen boy band doing a CD signing. The thousands of girls screaming and crying was a little hard on the nerves. :b It was hard to get anywhere. Escalators were blocked off, elevators reserved for important people, teenagers everywhere. Ugggh. Not gonna do that again.
We did buy a few fun things, though… so that was good. Ava was completely quiet as she took it all in… the lights, the people, the hustle and bustle. Then she conked out for about an hour. I think she was on Christmas overload. 
We high-tailed it out of the mall and found a quiet coffee shop to rest our tired feet and get some cocoa. We all felt much better after that. 
We then went back to Jamie and Angela’s for dinner and packed everything up. It was a wonderful weekend. Both relaxing, but full of fun. 
On our way through Minneapolis we stopped to see Jodie’s new pad, and got the grand tour. 
And we all went home very…
Looking forward to next “Christmas in the City” already. 
So our “tree chopping” didn’t quite happen as planned. As it turns out the tree didn’t want to be chopped down, but wanted to grow big and tall, so we happily obliged. 
Mark and I put lights on the tree and put it up while Ava took her nap, but saved the real tree decorating until later when we could all have some cocoa and decorate together. When we brought Ava downstairs after her nap, she took one look at the lighted tree and whispered, “Oh, wow.” There it was… the magic of the season seen through my little girls eyes. I got a little misty. I wish we had it on video, but we did tape her a few minutes later as she jabbered and pointed and looked at the lights. So precious. 
We chose a long-needled tree this year since that was a tradition in Mark’s house growing up… as is drinking cocoa from Santa mugs while you decorate. 
This year Ava understands so much more, and she gets so excited and animated about things. It’s fun for us to see it all through her eyes. 
Special ornaments came out of their tissue paper and were carefully put on the tree. As Ava realized that she was to hang the ornaments instead of playing with them, she started to cry. I hadn’t anticipated that, but it does make sense. She thought we were taking them away from her. I thought she would love to hang them herself, but no such luck. With each ornament that was put on the tree, she cried louder. So much for special memory making! 
During this season I want to be very intentional about sharing with Ava the true meaning of the season. It’s amazing how much she understands already. We are always surprised when she does what we tell her to do, or points to everything correctly in books… we sometimes forget that just because she can’t speak, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t understand. She is growing up, my little Birdie. I want to begin to teach her the true meaning of the season. With each year that passes, I have a deeper awareness of just how special that holy night was when my Savior was born in a lowly little stable in Bethlehem. My salvation and forgiveness lay in that little manger. What a precious gift. My soul cannot contain my gratitude. 
This little ornament above is Ava’s First Christmas ornament from last year. Marmie bought this one for her… so sweet. We still have a few ornaments to make this year to add to the tree… Gingerbread men and hearts, gingham bows, Ava’s handprint. Such lovely memories coming up… even if she does cry through them all. 
We had a nice little snow last week which was enough to cover the ground and branches… and to play a little Christmas music, as well {shhhhh… I’m breaking our rule of no Christmas music till after Thanksgiving}. Ava loves to watch the big flakes fall to the ground, while I sigh with contentment and light some candles to accompany the mood. My counters are filled with bottles of sparkling cider and ingredients for some of our Thanksgiving favorites… tomorrow is my big cooking day. We’re looking forward to the family coming into town on Thursday morning for a nice long weekend together at Marmie and Papa’s… kissing babies, playing games, chatting by the fireplace. Thus is the life at the cabin in Sugarwoods. Bliss. 
We brought Ava Birdie into the ER last night after an hour of inconsolable crying. She hadn’t been sleeping well the last couple of nights, and we knew she was coming down with something, but we didn’t see any outward signs of the flu or a cold. When she began to grow fussy and finally began to sob, our minds began to wander down different paths as to what could be causing this pain. Appendicitis and scar tissue from her surgery were the two that caused the most concern, and we decided we needed some answers. She slept for part of the way, then woke up and began screaming in pain. We prayed all the way there and tried to console her to no avail. There is no fear equal to what a parent feels for their child. When we arrived at the hospital, Ava had quieted down and suddenly wanted to run the halls and play! I’m sure the doctors and nurses probably thought we were nuts for bringing this happy child into the ER. She did have another bout in the middle of the night, but seems to be fine today. From what we can tell, we think now she was suffering from severe gas pains, and we are watching her closely, but she seems to be doing much better {which makes Mommy and Daddy so relieved!}. 
The Sweet Life
“And thank you for a house full of people I love. Amen.”
~ Terri Guillemets