This was the Firefly's very first Christmas. I believe in spoiling your kids for things like holidays and birthdays as long as you don't spoil them with gifts throughout the year and as long as you (as a parent) teach them what it means to give to others as well as to receive. We are trying our best to implement this and since our little girl has no clue what Christmas means or what gifts are we decided to spend this holiday season setting in motion all of the traditions and beliefs we want to instill in her.
To begin we will start with the documenting of her first Christmas. We had several photo shoots! The first was at school and we dressed her in her adorable blue knit dress. She apparently was a little star for the photographer, smiling in all the photos. The morning of the shoot I found a form that asked if we would give permission for the photographer to use the Firefly's pictures if she was chosen to be in an ad. We signed it laughing and joking about the odds. Well, about a week before we received her photos I received notice that her picture was indeed chosen and our teeny Firefly was going to be in the ad for
KG Custom Portraits. When I arrived at her day care the following day to drop her off there was a photo of her on the door leading in and again I laughed at our miniature model. Of course we had to purchase the $100 photo package when the time came because she's just that adorable. Our second photo shoot was completed by our very good friend and extremely talented Sandy. She has the patience of a Saint when it comes to my family. We change outfits, change backgrounds, change locations, change everything we can at least 10 times throughout our "one-hour" session. She takes phenomenal photos and although the daycare ones were adorable they don't hold a candle to the fun, spirited, photos from
Sandy's Collection. I love when Sandy comes over. We all laugh as we come up with the strangest ideas for the baby and every single time someone tries to hang her in something or from something to which the others always quickly vote against. We laugh as the Puppy poses himself or becomes frantic with jealousy when only the baby is getting photographed. The only trouble with photos from Sandy is you will find it damn difficult to get a frame to match the adorableness. I have about six photos that I want framed to decorate our house with next year and after looking all over the place I didn't find a single frame. I think I might just make them wall canvas' or buy "Plain Jane" frames and sparkly matte's. I guess I have an entire year to figure that out though! She also had two separate photos with Santa, one at the school and one at the annual Santa night (a block party in downtown with hay rides, bonfire, booze, and obviously Santa). The school one she has her, "don't patronize me" face on and I haven't seen how the Santa Night one has come out but we basically woke her up for it so I don't have high expectations.
The other traditions we decided to initiate as her first year were making Gingerbread houses with Daddy, baking sugar and spritz cookies with Mommy, she had her own tree in her room complete with a sugar plum star, and she wore Christmas jammies every night. I sewed stockings for all of us. We purchased all the classic movies and books and for weeks she spent her time being read stories or watching shows like, The Muppets Christmas Carol.
We sat together and made gifts for her teachers. We got the 1st in a Series of a Hallmark ornament as well as Baby's First Christmas and Grandbaby's First Christmas, oh and one with her name on it (you can't have too many ornaments in my mind). She selected presents to be donated to "Toys for Tots", something I feel very strongly about. My co-workers and bosses spoiled her with clothes and toys, Santa was extremely generous, all of her Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents went crazy shopping for a baby girl and her older brother gave her lots of rattles. All in all, the Firefly had a wonderful first Christmas.
I have lots in mind to add to the few traditions we started. First, back to the Toys for Tots, my dad always had my brother and I ring the bell for the Salvation Army and we always bought gifts to donate to less fortunate families. Through his Rotary Club we adopted a family and would purchase toys and clothes for the children and the parents would get Christmas dinner among other things. They don't seem to do that as sincerely as they had when I was a child. I decided the Firefly will pick out presents each year that she knows will be given to someone else. I hope it will not only instill a sense of giving in her but will also make her appreciate what she has been given. So, we will definitely be continuing with that year after year. The second "giving" I hope to do next year (I didn't hear about it until after Christmas) is donating in her name. By this I mean giving to All Children's, adopting an animal at the zoo, giving to a different charity, something that we do for her each year. We will give her the gift of giving to someone else. I hope that will teach her how to be honorable, loving, and generous to others, the fact that one of her gifts each year will actually be a gift to someone else from her. We will most likely stick with donating to animals for now because she LOVES animals, mostly monkeys and dogs. The third "giving" which is on the schedule I just couldn't get in until after the holidays is we are starting a savings account and an investment account for her. We plan to put money in monthly but at the end of the year we are going to make some larger deposits for Christmas. This will of course be her money to do with as she pleases later in life.
The other traditions that we as a family and as a wife to my husband decided to create, carry on and steal were set in to motion this year. First, the kids and I got Bub a new nutcracker. He had a collection of them that somehow became "lost" among anything else that was important to him in our move to sanity. So, since he loves them and since we've all began our new lives together what better way to start the holidays than giving him his own tradition back. Second, we went to the Charlie Daniels' Concert. Bub had never been to a concert and I couldn't think of a better one to be his first. We had our own table with our Best Friend, we spent the entire night hanging with the infamous crew from Deadliest Catch, we were ten feet from the stage (so close the glare from the lights made it almost impossible to get good pictures), and it was all for charity! I couldn't have planned it any better if I had tried. That concert with the Angelus County Christmas Pageant to follow are definitely traditions that we will continue in our upcoming years. We were unable to attend the Pageant this year because the Firefly had a cold every weekend it was open and the last thing I wanted to do was give the Angelus kids a cold right before Christmas. Bub and I went shopping together for our children and we've done this every year for three years. It's nice to get out together and spend our hard earned money shopping for our little ones, treating ourselves to dinner, and sneaking the gifts inside to wrap. I love shopping with him and we have so much fun finding things for the kids. We had fondue with the family for Christmas Eve, a tradition my family has had since I was little. Then, we opened our pajamas that we all get each year (Santa won't come unless you are in new PJ's). Christmas morning we all opened our stockings and gifts to each other before my siblings arrived to begin opening all of the presents. We had dinner with those who stayed, made a quick stop to let Trixie out for Stu and we headed over to our BFF's house for some Holiday Spirits!
Having her at Christmas was a blessing in itself and I loved how eager she was to help unwrap all the gifts, how she smiled at everyone and Called the Pterodactyls (when she screams her high pitched yell) when the room got a little loud. She was fun to cuddle with and watch The Grinch. Her wonder at the tube of icing and her father's almost disastrous forgetfulness as she grabbed it and brought it straight towards the two of them brought a smile to my face. After everything my husband and I have been through it is miraculous how happy one teeny 12 pound ball of chubby cheeks, brown hair, and thunder thighs can make everyone. Nothing else in the world matters when you hold her. Even though Bub got an iPad, tools, torches, and clothes and I myself received a laptop, scrapbooking, and a breakfast sandwich maker (Hell Yeah!) I think we'd both agree with her shirt.
