The Spectacular Blur of December

Wow. What a whirlwind this past month has been. In 4 weeks, we celebrated Christmas with our extended family up in the Smoky's outside of Gatlinburg, we had the girls first birthday party, we had Christmas at our home with Chris' parents and brother, then Christmas with my mom and step-dad, sister and niece in Chattanooga, then an impromptu unplanned trip up to northeast Tennessee once again for Christmas this time with my dad and step-mom, brother and sisters and sister-in-law and nieces. We had originally planned to completely stay home with so many coming for the girls birthday party, but as the party passed and Christmas arrived, it turned out to be the best way to truly differentiate between the big, special occassions. Now finally back at home, settled in, and a bit sad and lonely from all the wonderful memories we made in those short few weeks! Did I mention we celebrated the girls first birthday too? Of course I did...and the pics in my earlier posts prove it. But my goodness does it feel like one big whirlwind. All of the many wonderful toys and clothes the girls got prove that they celebrated two big occassions in less than a week. They are blessed....and so are we.

When we found out the girls would be arriving around Christmas time, I was so nervous about them not enjoying their own day for a birthday. The girls already have to share their birthday with someone else, but to have to share the special occassion with the biggest gift giving time of year....well I wondered how we would make them feel special? Not to mention the worry of wondering how in the world we would be able to afford 2 birthdays and Christmas at the same time with two new additions to our family that we want nothing more than to spoil like crazy! Still not sure how we will do that in the future, but if this past month was any indication, we made it successfully and I hope that we made it the most special time for both of our girls, for both occassions.

Yesterday we finally took down not only SOME of the Christmas decorations (more to go), but also SOME of the birthday party decorations. Wow...this house was a decorated wonderland. But the birth of our Christ Savior remained the most special occassion of all, which is something our girls will grow to understand more and more with each passing year, and hopefully feel honored that their birthday is so close to the One who created them and loves them more than we will ever understand. What a blessing!! Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas, sweet, sweet Madeline and Savannah.