Merry Christmas

I sit here this Christmas morning, surprised to be waiting on two children to wake up. Well, maybe not. Gabe was up for a while last night, and he doesn't quite get the sense of anticipation just yet. Justin WAS up at 5 AM, but we sent him back to bed, and he is still sleeping. So Kendrick is patiently (no really, he is pretty content to wait!) waiting for his brothers to start shredding into the many colored packages around the tree.

Last night, after returning from the Children's Mass, we lit candles on cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to baby Jesus and go Grandma Maggie - who shares this special birthday. We try to interject the true reason behind the celebration whenever we can, and they do a good job of paying tribute to baby Jesus right along with Santa. When Justin asked how Santa really knew if everyone was being nice or naughty, I told him since Jesus was everywhere, so He tells Santa. That satisfied Justin for now. We can only hope the magic lasts.

Our greatest gift this year is a happy healthy family. Gabriel was discharged from OT this month, just as we thought he would be. This was the last discipline for First Steps we were involved in. It was another bittersweet farewell as we move on in this amazing journey. I talked to the mother of an Autistic child last week and she mentioned that he has therapy several times a week with many different disciplines. It was a reminder that despite Gabriel's tenuous beginning, we are incredibly blessed not only to have him here, but also to see him function as a normal child. He had another echocardiogram this past Monday and we will get another xray next week to continue monitoring his progress and his patch, but we no longer hold our breath in anticipation of these results. We feel comfortable all will show that he continues maintain health and the patch is holding. Some day we know that these results may be different, but we are enjoying today and all that we have to be thankful for. Christ is here in our lives every day and we welcome the opportunity to welcome Him again and again - especially on this holiest of days. We wish God's blessing to you and your families and hope you can feel that same sense of awe and hope that must have been felt that first Christmas by shephards and kings alike.

Merry CHRISTmas!