Shoes and ships and ceiling wax, of babies birthdays and holidays.
If this were paper, there would be tear stains all over it. I just got a bug and had to pour my heart out. Something about the holidays makes my heart swell and my eyes tear.
The realization just hit me that our daughter will be one year of age soon and we will be homeowners for a full year. With Halloween and Thanksgiving behind us we get to look forward to our first real Christmas with Lily. Of course there has already been a Christmas when she was a newborn but being inbetween homes, there was no time or house to decorate. Christmas has always been a favorite holiday of mine.
My brother and I would wake up early, turn on the treelights and sit staring at the presents until we fell asleep under the tree. Our morning would smell of coffee and pine. Sitting against the couch, we watched as my dad separated the presents in to our own piles. My mom (the photog-of course) would snap pictures of our chubby faced grins. My hair was always a wreck and my pajamas were nowhere near cute.
Even as the last package was opened, Christmas magic was still in the room.
Naturally, I want the same memories for our daughter in the same house. I have such an animated imagination of a cozy warm house and being able to hear the pitter patter of her feet on the tile going down the hallway. I want to be the photog capturing her chubby cheeks smiling as she peels back the snowman covered wrapping paper from santa in moms handwriting.
Unfortunately, our strict budget has limited us from going in to a "buy all the presents" fit. This year has definitely been a test on our wallets, love, strengths and weaknesses. We've had to re-learn how to work together as parents and still be a young married couple. We learned how to give up our wants and put forth ours/lilys needs. We learned that ramen noodles taste better with steak seasoning and sometimes date nights just mean redbox and cuddling.
But No matter what our finances are like, I always want to put our kid first so I just had to splurge this black friday. Lily will be able to open her gifts this year from under a tree and I can not wait to see her chubby cheeks smiling at the telephone and rocking horse silently waiting in our closet. I will eat ramen and pb&js for an entire year just to see that pure happiness. Sure, she'll only be a year old and won't remember her presents now but in the years to come I hope she will remember the coffee and pine just as much as I do!
I can not believe how fast her first year of life has gone by. Watching her grow right before my eyes is just something so special and emotional. We created this little ball of sassy independent flesh and actually kept her alive for a solid year! Ha! I can successfully pat myself on the back and look forward to the many years to come with her. I am ready to take on the highs and lows as long as I get to see her smile at the end of the day.
Nystroms & Nugget
Trust me, she will remember. I am pretty sure that my son remembers his "horsey-up". He was just over a year at the time.
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