Christmas Through New Eyes

Buon Natale! We enjoyed decorating the house for Christmas this past weekend. The holidays are such a magical time of year. They bring warm memories of traditions and happy family times. As we make new memories and family traditions with Sophia, we can't help but miss Claire. Last year we thought we'd be much closer to travel by the end of 2007. She is always in our thoughts. She has ornaments on our tree and a stocking hung on our fireplace. We'll be praying for her, and for her birth parents, this Christmas.
This year we are experiencing the magic of Christmas through Sophie's tiny eyes. It was with great pleasure that we noticed her eyes get bright & wide when we were stringing sparkling lights on the tree, mantle and stairs. She LOVES to stare at them, and hardly looks away. We noticed this fascination while Mark was hanging garland on the stairs. Sophie and I got comfy on the floor & spent some time soaking in the magic of the lights. Suddenly this decoration that we have always had developed a new holiday magic for us!
The chimney sweep ornament is a very special one in our family! It is tradition to put this on the tree first. You can see how excited Sophia was about it....her hands/arms were going nonstop! Sophia loves to stare at the tree. She lays on a blanket and twists her head around to see it. She'll either gaze without moving, or she'll kick her legs and move her arms like crazy with excitement.