Enjoy Every Moment of Christmas!

Christmas is full of wonder for little ones!

By Glenni Lorick, IBCLC

If you have little ones, you are in an AMAZING season of life! Christmas is especially full of wonder by the time they are about 2 years old. It is incredible to look at Christmas through a child's eyes! Their wonder, excitement, faith and joy are inspiring.

Keeping Sight of What Matters

It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of buying gifts, baking, wrapping presents and decorating that we miss the small joys of the season. Take time today to create memories with your children - make some fun pictures, pile in the car to drive around looking at Christmas lights, wrap your kids up in ribbon and make a game out of it! Don't let the holiday demands that you place on yourself rob you of the joy in each moment.

Remember what Christmas is really about. It isn't about glittery trees or fancy gifts. It's not about a perfectly roasted turkey or plates of delicious cookies. Fundamentally Christmas is about a baby being born.  It's about a tiny family of 2 becoming 3 in an event that would change the course of human history. So take time to celebrate YOUR family, the 2 that became 3, or 4, or more!

The Guy in the Red Suit

Children watching the lighting of the Advent Candle at church.

Every family has to decide for itself how to handle gift giving and Santa Clause. We chose to teach our children from the beginning that their presents came from Mom and Dad. We talked about Saint Nicholas and the importance of giving to others, but we sought to maintain the focus of Christmas on Christ. I remember the Christmas I learned the truth about Santa Clause when I was a little girl. I was seven years old, and absolutely devastated! It ruined Christmas for me that year. I never wanted my children to go through that, so we just never made a big deal out of Santa.

Nevertheless, to this day any child who is at home in our family on Christmas morning has a SPECIAL gift sitting out next to his or her stocking on Christmas morning. It might be the video game he has been begging for, or the new cell phone or computer she needs. Some years it was a Lego set or a special doll. Last year for my son it was a hunting rifle that had belonged to his grandfather. I'm thankful we still have two children at home this Christmas!

Some families have a VERY special gift this year!

Make Memories That You'll Treasure

When all is said and done, the gifts opened, the paper thrown away, what will you be left with? Will you remember the look on your husband's face when he opened his special present? Will you have a mental snapshot of the delight on your little one's face as she opened her gifts? Take time to savor each gift, each moment, each surprise. Christmas is day full of magic, so open your heart, slow down, and take in each magical moment.

Sometimes we're so busy trying to record each moment that we don't actually get to enjoy it! Recording the memories is great, but be sure to enjoy them as they occur. 

All of us in the ANM family wish YOUR family a wonderful, memory-filled Christmas!

Memories of Grandfather

John Ward Willson IV

A year ago today I lost the most influential, amazing man I have ever known, my daddy. He worked in the travel industry into his eighties - still traveling around the world, meeting people, coordinating group trips and making connections. He loved people, and they loved him.

Some of my favorite memories of my daddy involve him as a grandfather. He always insisted that the grandkids call him Grandfather, not Grandpa or Granddad...He was "Grandfather!" The name suited him well because he was quite distinguished. Yet he knew how to make an entire room full of people absolutely roll in laughter. And he knew how to delight his grandchildren, all of whom adored him.

When he laid eyes on his first grandchild, my daughter Sarah, he was

My dad surrounded by his kids and grandkids.
He adored his family, and we adored him!

overcome with emotion. He was so happy to be a grandfather. As they grew, he made sure that each grandchild got to come to Dallas for a special visit with Grandfather and Gram - no parents, no rules, just a wonderful one-on-one time with grandparents who would spoil them and love them and make some wonderful memories with them.

Christmas was one of my dad's favorite times of year. He shopped all year long as he traveled to various countries. He experienced more joy than anyone I've ever known when he watched everyone open their gifts. Sometimes the gifts were amazingly insightful, like the pink pearl earrings he gave Anna or the leather-bound books he gave Daniel. Other times, they were downright hilarious, like the statuette of a man with two females (as tasteful as a threesome can be, I suppose) that he gave to a fifteen-year old Sarah. (It made the rounds through several years of regifting and Dirty Santa until it ended up with an aunt who loves it!)

When we think about my dad, our family realizes how incredibly blessed we were to have known this Renaissance man who was truly bigger than life in our eyes. His first great-grandchild was born just two weeks before he died. The juxtaposition of new life and death was very difficult for me. The day my daddy died, I found myself standing by Nicholas' NICU crib telling him what an amazing great-grandfather he had as the tears streamed down my cheeks. He would have adored his great-grandson if he had ever gotten to know him.

So on this one year anniversary of his death, I just wanted to take a moment to honor his memory by telling all of you to cherish your children's grandparents. You don't know how long you will have them. Be sure to make wonderful memories with them so that long after they're gone, your children will carry them in their hearts!

Take Your Time and Savor Each Moment

My first baby, Sarah, with her baby, Nicholas!

In Sunday School this morning, a friend and I were chatting about how fast time flies. She has four grandchildren, and I have one. It seems like they're growing faster than we can believe!

But it didn't always seem that way. I remember being so eager for my first baby to take her first steps, to be able to put her little arms around my neck and tell me she loved me, to play games with me, to be able to interact with other children and learn to share.

 It seems like just yesterday she and her friend Amber were silly eight year olds experimenting with the ceiling fan to see what would happen if they put a sock over the light. (I called the fire department because I thought something was on fire somewhere in the house. As the firemen arrived the girls mysteriously disappeared across the street to Amber's house....)

It wasn't too long ago that she was all dressed up for prom. Then before I knew what had happened she was off to college and a life of her own.

Now she's a mother right in the middle of dealing with a teething baby. I'm sure there are days she wonders when that first tooth will finally pop through and when Nicholas will be able to put his chubby little arms around her neck and tell her he loves her!

There's no hurry, Mama! Take time to savor each precious day with your baby. Treasure that first smile, that first giggle, that first hug. Don't be in a hurry for the next milestone, Just enjoy the memories you're making today. Time may seem to drag right now, but I promise you that before long you'll look back and wonder where the time has gone and marvel at all the amazing changes in your little one.

My baby is 14. He's counting down the days until he can get his learner's permit and start driving. I can promise you I'm not in a hurry at all for that to happen! I'm taking my own advice and treasuring every day!