Baby Jesus in my heart

It's important to us, as I'm sure it is to you, that Grace learn the real reason for the season. We talk about Baby Jesus, we listen to the gospel at church, we read The Christmas Story to her, and we try to focus on the giving aspect rather than the receiving, but at times I find myself wondering how much of it is sticking, being that she's only 21 months. Well, to my delight, I came home one day last week after my mom had been taking care of Grace for the afternoon and my little pumpkin had learned the sweetest thing ever!

What is Christmas about? Baby Jesus.
Where is Baby Jesus? In your heart.

I finally caught it on tape this afternoon!!

To say I was proud is a definite understatement. My heart literally burst at the seams with pride and love and joy all mixed in together. Thank you Noonie - this is the best Christmas gift you could ever give me! And I can tell it's really stuck with Grace. This past Sunday we went to Aunt Lexi and cousin Jade's church to watch Jade perform in their annual Christmas program, where she had a solo to The Mystery. We're proud of you, Jade!! Later in the afternoon Grace kept talking about watching Jade sing for "Baby Jesus...at Christmas". So sweet :)

And now, onto a little mischief...

My mother-in-law gave us a sweet little Nativity scene that had been in their family for some time. It is so cute AND it's plastic, which is perfect since I hesitated to put out our porcelain one for fear of little hands making a dash for the intricate figurines.

Checking out the tree oh, so innocently (or so I thought...I think she was looking for a hiding place since she likes to "rearrange" the ornaments and hide little toys in the branches) CAUGHT! (with two lambs and a donkey from our Nativity scene) Trying to explain away those two little fistfuls! So hard to get upset when that sweet face is looking back at you! Thank you, Mimi for our hands-on Nativity!!! It's perfect! Every time she makes a dash for the figures, it gives me a chance to talk to her about Baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph and the miracle of that most Holy Day, which brings me to...

I'm always looking for sweet traditions and ideas for the holidays. I read in a magazine where this family bakes a birthday cake for Baby Jesus, sings happy birthday, and blows out the b-day candle on Christmas morning. I think we'll try that one since Grace loves birthday cake and it'll be a good concrete way to help her celebrate our Savior's birth. If you have any fun traditions, I'd love to hear all about them! Who knows, we may borrow one or two!