Have a Jolly Jilly Christmas

Do you want to feel the true joy of Christmas?

Do you want to REALLY feel like this is the most wonderful time of the year?

Can you even begin to fathom the amazement of seeing Christmas through her eyes?

I can honestly say that never before have I come to enjoy this time of the year more than I have this year in making the season merry and bright for Jolly Jilly.  I was admittedly not a fan of Christmas.  It wasn't until I started dating Julian that I even really liked Christmas (but Christmas with him made me fall in love with the season).

Still, I don't think anything could have prepared me for this holiday season.  As soon as Thanksgiving happened, I wondered how much of the "Christmas spirit" Jillian would really understand or how much she would get into the season.  But I quickly discovered that she definitely knew something special was in the air.

From the second we put up our Christmas decorations, Jillian was so amazed by them.  She loves coming home to plug in our outside lights and our 3 Christmas trees.  She is so delicate with all our decor and doesn't touch anything she is not supposed to.  And she loves saying good morning or goodbye to the Snowman by our garage door.

We sing and dance to Christmas carols off her Christmas "ABCD" (that's what she calls it...instead of just CD, hehe).  We read Christmas stories and wear Christmas PJs and eat Reindeer pancakes.  We talk about Santa as we buy presents and talk about what Jilly wants for Christmas (her latest response..."Teeth medicine"...Silly Jilly, Santa's got something better for you than teeth medicine)! 

And most importantly, she knows that Christmas is Jesus' birthday. "First Jesus birthday...then Jilly Bear's birthday." We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus on the regular and Jillian is in love with Jesus' mommy and daddy.

We have spent a lot of times with friends this holiday season.  Everyday, Jillian asks me if we are going to see Jack-Jack or Emmy or Miss Christen ("with a baby in her belly").  It has been amazing to spend this time with our friends who are like family here in College Station.  And I really cannot wait to spend time with our real family, too.

I wish I could keep her this little forever.  I wish I could bottle up this holiday wonderment to carry me through the weeks and years to come.  I know that with Jillian, Julian and I will always have a blessed holiday season filled with love, excitement, and amazement that only a child can bring.  I am more in love with Christmas than ever before and I have Julian and Jillian to thank for that.  And I hope you and yours Have a Jolly Jilly Christmas too!

"Merry Kiss-mas everybody!"