Maybe Christmas Doesn't Come from a Store...

"It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes, or bags.  Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

This season, social media has been full of so many people questioning Santa.  If your kids believe in Santa are you lying to them?  Are you teaching them to be greedy? Are you forgetting the true meaning of Christmas?  Is it really fair to the kids? People, please!  Your killing me! 

My parents are the greatest at Christmas. Still, to this very day.  My brother and I literally believed in Santa until we were 13.  My parents were just that good.  Jake got a bell from Santa's sleigh before The Polar Express was even cool.  My mom made teeth marks in carrots so we knew Rudolph enjoyed his snack.   Jake tried to "catch" Santa every year, setting up traps and cameras in our living room.  One year he put our video camera on the kitchen counter and aimed it at the tree, knowing he was going to get him.  After working the midnight shift, my dad got up, put trash bags over all the windows to make it look like night, dressed up as Santa, delivered some presents, pretended to notice the camera and ran over to turn it off.  That tiny glimpse of the man in the red suit in our living room was enough.

  And guess what?  We are fine.  We are both productive members of society.  Our childhood was amazing, even with Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy ( gasp!).

We still went to church on Christmas Eve and sang Happy Birthday Jesus as a family in my grandmas basement every single year.  We give and donate and volunteer.  We aren't greedy or jaded or feel like our parents lied to us all those years.  Because to us, Santa is real.  He is the spirit of all that is good and right in the world.  He is magic and wonder and charity. 

So it was only appropriate that Santa bring us the best gift of 2013.  News that 19 weeks in, we still have a healthy baby, and that little baby is a girl!



 As you can see, Jaslyn is thrilled. 

For the record, I was 150% convinced this one was a boy.  So if your pregnant in the future, and I say " I think its a boy/girl" you can pretty much bet on it being the exact opposite of whatever I believe.

 Our ultrasound went well, the baby was very active and much more cooperative than big sister was for her ultrasounds.  All baby's organs look good and my placenta and fluid levels are normal.  The IUD is still visible but is being pushed farther and farther into the uterus as the baby grows.  This may cause another complication towards the end of my pregnancy if the IUD becomes imbedded in the uterus and they cant retrieve it when the baby is born.  But we will cross that bridge when we get there.  We go back again on Dec 30th and will hopefully discuss delivery options, as I want another natural birth and the IUD may present complications at delivery. 

Another girl means Jeremy will officially be outnumbered 5 to 1 (our cats Hattie and Harriett are both girls).  He said he is getting a male dog, but I'm holding out for baby #3 in a few years.  :)

 

Now to pick a name.  Hopefully it's easier than it was with Jaslyn who was nameless until we signed the birth certificate. 

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Everything from our family to yours!