Christmas - Whew!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We certainly did!

On Christmas Eve, we went to church. That has become one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I love going to church and being reminded of what the season truly means.

I always feel closest to Melissa when I'm at church. I think it only makes sense when you consider that she is in the presence of God. This year's service hit especially close to home. It would be hard to explain it on this blog, but just suffice it to say that the service was tough for me. Ann Catherine sat with us, but Lily stayed in the nursery. During the closing prayer, Chris and I just held onto Ann Catherine and cried. As soon as the service was over, I told Chris, "I need to see Lily."

On the way to get her, someone stopped me, so everyone in my family went ahead of me. After I finished talking, I started walking near the nursery. I saw Lily just standing there near Chris and my family, with this confused look on her face. She wasn't smiling. I said, "Lily Baker!" and ran towards her. She said, "Mommy!" and ran into my arms with the biggest grin on her face. I squeezed her with all of my being. It was EXACTLY what I needed at that moment. As I have said before, Lily saved us. Being able to see her after mourning Melissa during the service was the best thing in the world for me.

When we got in the car, I was telling this to Chris, and he said, "Amy, it was the weirdest thing. We went to get her out of the nursery and we were all standing there. Me, your mom, your dad, Ann Catherine, and she didn't get excited. She looked confused. She just walked past us and kept looking. It was obvious she was looking for you."

Isn't that strange? Lily needed me as badly as I needed her. Or, maybe she knew that I needed her and she was trying to find me. Either way, I just thought that was so amazing. Yet another example that God knows what we need, when we need it.

On Christmas Eve, we let the kids open one present. Ann Catherine opened her Hannah Montana doll from my parents ("I've been wanting this for all week!" she said) and Lily got a train (she loves trains!).





Here are some pix from Christmas:

Ann Catherine in her Tinkerbell dress with her Handy Dandy Notebook!



Lily in her new Cinderella dress drawing on her art easel that Santa brought!



My nephew, Will, got a Wie. The girls (including my niece, Ally) took it over and sang Hannah Montana songs. Look at Lily getting into it!



Lily on her new riding toy. Ann Catherine also got a bike with training wheels. We are ready for summer!



Lily with Will and Ally's dog, Buddy. She was a bit skittish of him at first, but by the end of the week, she was fine with him - as long as he didn't touch her bunny, her Elmo doll, her Blue's Clues dolls or her juice!!



Then on Saturday, Chris' parents rolled in from Canada and the girls got to do it all again! Lily's favorite present was this Elmo Live doll.



This doll is amazing! I thought he would just say a few words. Oh no! He talks and talks and talks - and moves around. If you knock him down, he'll ask you to help him up. Lily thinks that's hilarious, so she repeatedly knocks him down so she can help him up. It's pretty funny.

Ann Catherine's favorite present was this Toronto Maple Leafs jersey!



She and Lily both got one. And here's the best part. The back says "George 17" just like her daddy's jerseys!



When Ann Catherine opened it, she could only see the back and she immediately said, "A Maple Leafs hockey jersey!" Chris' parents couldn't believe she knew what it was. I'm telling you, the girl LOVES hockey! And I'm sure she's the only Maple Leafs 3-year-old fan in Huntsville, Alabama :)

We are going to the Havoc game tonight and they are wearing them. Ann Catherine is so excited!

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. Most of all, I hope you have recovered :)