First Christmas

Our Christmas this year was so magical and also very different!

Having a child of our own this year, Drew and I had so much fun shopping for Everett. Everett was a little to young to know exactly what was going on but he enjoyed seeing all the presents around the tree and opening some of his own packages.

I caught myself thinking a lot more about Mary and how she was feeling being pregnant with Jesus this year after having experienced pregnancy and birth myself. I can't imagine knowing that his tiny precious little babe she had given birth to had the "weight of the government on his shoulders." I know I want to shield and protect Everett from everything and knowing that her little baby would be the one to do that for all of humanity must have been overwhelming for her. Not to mention giving birth in a manger.... that makes my experience look like I was in a 5 star resort  in a Caribbean island. Fearing for your new babies life, of being discovered and killed upon birth... Mary is a major superstar! I am thankful that this year I have been able to spend some more time thinking about her this year and appreciating her gift and sacrifice so much more. What a strong and amazing woman of Faith.

This year for Christmas we spent the night at my Mom's house, like usual, but unlike usual Mom's house which is also Nana's house has now become Aunt Tammy and Kelsey's house also. This meant that Drew, Everett, and I along with Patrick who drove in from Dallas, spent the night with Lane, Neeley, Norah and Kelsey all at the house we have lovingly nicknamed "Casa Loco." It is , I believe, the first time ever that the Schmidt's and Lowe's have spent Christmas Eve together and woken up to Santa. It was so much fun to get to share Everett and Norah's first Christmas together in the same home.

 

Christmas Eve we attended a Candlelight service and then came home to a lasagna dinner with everyone included Charlotte and Doss. We opened up presents with them after, and they were so excited to give Everett and Norah the presents they had bought them. I made them some tile coasters with the babies pictures on it for their home since they are so in love with these little ones. Neeley and I baked sugar cookies while the boys watched football and Aunt Tammy finished wrapping. I must say the anticipation of Christmas morning was overwhelming for me as I was so excited for Everett to have his first Santa experience.

I woke up at 5 on Christmas day after going to sleep at 11:30. I laid in bed wondering if I should wake up Kelsey who was on a pallet in the hallway nook. I decided to wait and after laying in bed for 50 minutes finally got my ipad and moved to the hall to watch some Netflix before time to get up. I heard the jangle of Kelsey's charm bracelet and crawled around the corner to find her staring back at me... she was up! We quickly woke up Neeley, I went to make Everett's bottle and get him and Drew up. With Patrick and Lane quickly following and the babies downing their bottles we called for our "Moms" to wake up so we could all see what Santa had left!

Everett, Norah and Kelsey had quite the loot from Santa. For the first time ever, Santa skipped over us "adults". This year us married couples decided it was time to do stockings for one another and take that responsibility off of Santa since he had so many children to focus on. It was fun to see what Drew had picked out for my stocking and the learning curve we both experienced this year.

Everett's big gift from Santa was an Elephant bouncer, pusher. I was so excited about it, of course because it was an elephant. He sat on it for a minute and then decided it wasn't as interesting as the cell phone and keys Santa had stuck in his stocking. Norah got a play mat where she laid contentedly for the remainder of the stocking opening. Kelsey was bouncing off the walls because she discovered Santa had made miracles happen and left her with an Iphone 6!

After we all sifted through our stockings we ate breakfast casserole while Aunt Tammy read the story of the first Christmas and then gave the Fort's and Neal's each a copy to continue our own traditions next year. We continued to open presents for 5 more hours, slowly making our way through the most ridiculous and abundant pile of presents I had ever seen.

 Everett and Norah took naps on and off throughout the morning coming in to open a few of their presents here and there. E got a pile of clothing twice the size of mine. I wanted to get him very special and presents for his first Christmas from his Mom and Dad. For one gift I chose to give him "The Beginner's Bible" I remember having one of these as a child and thought now would be a good time to start reading these stories to him. We also got him a pop-up crawl tube. Our little bear started crawling from one side to the next with no hesitation. He is fearless!

I had a hard time watching my Mom on Christmas. Her experience of it the past few years has gone down hill as her disease has taken over. Her stocking this year was filled with things far less extravagant than in the past. I stuck in things she would recognize and appreciate such as oreo's and her favorite white chocolate kitkats. As a last minute addition I added in a coloring book and crayons hoping it would give her something to do during the days. I spotted mom continually folding and piling gifts up only to go back through them and find she had unknowingly grabbed some of the people's around her and stacked them with her own. I did the majority of Mom's shopping for her this year, with her help. She was unable to recognize when someone was opening up from her sometimes commenting on how lovely the gift was and wanting to keep it for herself. When each of us would hug her for our gits instead of saying "your welcome" she would say "just love me" or "stay near me" or "just be with me." It was a quiet stab in the heart when she was unable to communicate what we expected to hear but felt so raw and real of the place she is right now.

Sharing Christmas morning with our closest family was so special this year. The magic was really there as we celebrated together.  We were surrounded by so much love and utterly spoiled with gifts.