Christmas Letter

My sweet Eli,

Merry Christmas, baby! I am so excited to celebrate with you this year, because this year you will actually know that there is something really fun going on! Last year you just laid in the wrapping paper and watched as we opened your gifts for you. But this year? This year you will run into the living room on Christmas morning and notice a big pile of presents under the tree. You will get insanely excited as you rip the paper off of the boxes. And you will have a blast playing with all of your many new toys. You'll love running around with your cousins at Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop's house later in the morning, and you'll bask in all the attention lavished on you when we go see Daddy's side of the family later in the day. You will be the delight of our day. Christmas is just so much better with you!

I want to remind you of a couple things, because I imagine that someday you'll read back through these blog entries, this digital journal that I'm keeping for us, for you. First, I want to remind you of your precious Savior Jesus Christ who was born for you on Christmas day. Eli, there is no gift I want more in this entire world than the gift of seeing you trust Him as your personal Savior. He came for you, baby! He took on flesh and all the limits of humanity, all the horrible persecution we inflicted on Him, all the pain and agony of death on a cross... for you! For us! We open presents and get together with family on Christmas because we are celebrating the indescribable gift of Jesus Christ. We have talked about this so much already, opening one little drawer of our advent calendar every day so that we can help to tell you the story of the birth of Christ. We pray that in the coming years you will understand more and more fully what Christmas really means.

The second thing I want to remind you of is that I love you! I love you for who you are, and nothing could ever change that. But I also love you for what you do! I love your big personality, all the adorable sounds you make that comprise a language all your own. I love that you lift up your shirt a thousand times a day to see your belly button, asking "Where is it?" until you find it and then waving "bye-bye" to it as you pull your shirt back down again. I love that you wake up yelling "DAD!" I love that you take my hand when we walk and say "Mommy" over and over again when you sit in your stroller, just to make sure that I'm still there. I love how you climb all over everything, my little monkey! I love how smart you are, remembing what everything is and where everything goes, learning shapes and colors and words and sounds. I love how you adore your cousins and can hardly contain your excitement when you see them. I love that you love to wrestle and be tickled and chased and scared by us when we play hide and seek with you. I love that you call your toes "wee-wee," because we've played "This Little Piggy" a thousand times, and that last little piggy goes "wee-wee-wee-wee, all the way home." I love your affinity for sticks, how your favorite toy right now is piece of PVC pipe that is taller than you are. It stays outside, though, because you also love to knock things off the counters with it inside! :) I love your strong will and determination, and I also love your sweet spirit that is tender and teachable. I love YOU, Eli Wilson, from the top of your white-blond head to the tips of your adorable, tiny toes.

You are the joy of our hearts, baby, and we are waiting with childlike excitement to celebrate your second Christmas with you. I remember not being able to sleep as a child on the night before Christmas because I was so excited to see what was under the tree. This year I won't be able to sleep either, but now it's because I can't wait to see your reaction to what is under the tree! You will make this Christmas perfect.

I love you, sweetheart!

Mommy.