The Meaning of Christmas

You have read quite a few blog posts from Zach the past few weeks, and none from me... I know you have missed hearing about Ellie! Well the reason why I have been MIA is because Ellie and I have been sick. I'm not quite sure if we have recovered yet... but we both definitely feel better. Zach arrived home on December 11 to both of his girls coming down with a cold. Ellie ended up having 3 doctor visits within 8 days, life has definitely been hectic these past few weeks. The first visit was on Friday (the 12th) to diagnose her with a cold, the second on Tuesday to diagnose her with a double ear infection, and the third on Thursday to ease our concern with her temperature dropping to 96 degrees most nights. We definitely had many nights of worrying and casting those worries to God through prayer, and we are so thankful that it has only been mild illnesses.

I haven't given you much of an update on Ellie. She definitely is the cutest and happiest baby around! Alright, I might be a little biased, but she truly is such a joy in our lives. Everyday we are so amazed by how much love we have for this child, and how blessed we are to have a healthy, happy baby. She still is not crawling, rolling, or walking... but this is nothing we are concerned about. We know most of this immobility is from her not spending much time on her belly since she screams every time we put her on it. She loves to stand and pull up by grabbing onto our fingers, so we do know she is progressing. She actually has been taking steps while holding onto our hands, so she might just skip the whole crawling phase... that won't bother me! I absolutely love how I can still just sit her on the floor and she will be in the same spot when I leave the room and come back. She also has been saying 'da da' a lot the past month. She has been jabbering here and there, I love it though when she talks and we can't keep her quiet!

Thankfully we have been able to get our Christmas shopping done with hardly any stress and are now visiting family in Kernersville and Winston-Salem. This Christmas season, I have reflected a lot about the meaning of Christmas... not so much because I am remembering Christ's birth, but because I am forgetting it. When asked the question, 'What is your first thought when you think about Christmas?', what is your answer? My answer struck me because mine probably would not be Christ's birth. It is so easy to think of Christmas as being a time to give, a time to come together as family, a time to decorate, shop, and bake. Christmas was meant to be 'the holy day' which we know as holiday. It isn't about coming together as family or giving and receiving gifts. How much more Christmas really is... how it symbolizes something that we cannot hardly fathom and something so miraculous. It is a time meant to remember this miracle and the greatest gift we have ever been given. Here is a video that I got from one of my favorite blogs, girltalk, that reminds us and helps me reflect on the true meaning of Christmas:
(it might be a little long, but definitely worth watching... trust me, you should make time for this)