Remembering our babies at Christmas/our new traditions

So...this year, Christmas is interesting. It's been incredible to have a baby girl in my arms.....and feel so blessed...And yet, now that Julietten is here, I'm keenly aware of everything that I'm missing with Samantha, Dominic, and Noah...and it breaks my heart. I love those babies so much and I ache to hold them and snuggle and tell them how much I love them.

Anyhow, I was buying a stocking for Juliette and in my mind was feeling really conflicted about not having stockings for the other babies. So I bought a whole bunch of stockings...even for Chris and I....6 total big ones and two little ones for Izzi and Anni. I wrote names out in glitter glue and they are hung on the mantle over our fire place. We talked about what to do with the stockings of Samantha, Dominic, and Noah....Just read ironically on Faith, Hope, and Joy blog that Jenn is doing something similar. We had decided to write notes to each of the babies. Then the next year we can pull out the notes and read them. As Juliette gets older, she can draw pics and then write notes too....We can leave them in the stockings. In addition, each of us will get one small present from Samantha, Dominic and Noah. It will be kind of a special reminder of our precious babies. In addition, I have an ornament for Noah but not Samantha or Dominic yet. This ornament will be something special we can put on the tree and remember them by every year. Noah's says: Noah Bug 2011, on the front, and on the back, He lives with Jesus. It's a little angelic looking boy with wings hanging from the moon. It's sweet. I cried when I put it on the tree yesterday. But we are looking forward to having our babies be part of our Christmas traditions.

We also are looking forward to putting Christ at the center of our holiday. We are going to do a Christ child gift instead of the Santa Claus thing. I'm going to have Chris build a little manger that can go under the tree and we can put a Christ child gift in it..which would be something like a Christian music CD or devotional or Bible or something with a Christian basis to it. This will be a neat family tradition.

Our last tradition is going to be a Christmas Eve one....Every year we will give Juliette a brand-new pair of PJs and a Christmas ornament. Then we will read the Christmas story as a family with our Advent wreath lit up if we are home....It should be neat.

Anyhow...that's the Christmas scoop with us. Hope you all are blessed and Merry Christmas.

~Shannon