Christmas Time

We are one week away from Christmas and I'm pretty sure we just had thanksgiving when I wrote last. I must get better at doing this more frequently! (I think I've said that before)

December is my favorite. I really enjoy everything that is involved with preparing for Christmas. Even though it is by far the most hectic time of the year. I try hard to have a healthy balance of making things fun for Adrianah while teaching her the importance of being generous and stepping out of our comfort zone to give of our time, talents and gifts to bless others. All the while, celebrating and being in awe of the hope and light that came to such a dark earth when Jesus came. The best gift of all.

Christmas for Landon is a completely different experience. It's hard not to feel sad for him when we think of all that he doesn't get to experience. Christmas lights are such a special thing to see and every year we go for a drive to find the best houses in town. I'll often turn around and glance at him and he's just sitting there enjoying the Christmas music and has no idea what we are enjoying. There are so many things that I'm aware that he doesn't get to see but for some reason it's more sad at Christmas time. His only experience of our Christmas tree is that it feels kind of prickly and it makes jingly noises when he runs into it. I wish he could see how beautiful it is when it's all lit up. He has a few ornaments that play a song or have bells on them and those are special to him. He still enjoys things about Christmas it's just so much different than the things we all get to enjoy. Thankfully he loves Christmas music and that is something that we can enjoy together. Even if he wants to hear the same song over and over again.

 I'm not totally sure what he understands about Christmas because I'm not able to have a conversation with him about it. I think he's starting to realize that certain things go together, like when the big chair gets put away and the tree gets set up we listen to this kind of music. He remembers that we did this last year and will request songs or things that we did around this time last year. (ie, the big box in the video at the bottom) It's pretty amazing what he can remember. It's interesting though because he never asks or says anything about presents. Most children make lists of things they want for Christmas and are counting down to the moment they finally get to open their gifts. Landon doesn't even know that he can ask for things and we could totally get away with not buying him anything at all. He wouldn't even know what he is missing. We would never do that though. We brainstorm ideas of what he might like. He's not into any of the toys that other 6 year old boys would like. He would love a leaf blower or wood router or some kind of crazy loud machine. So for Christmas this year he's getting an air purifier for his room because he'll love the humming noise from this little machine. When picking out the air purifier we looked up reviews of each one and picked the one that got the worst reviews because it was too noisy! He'll love it! His stocking is going to be full of electric toothbrushes and ripple chips. No action figures or chocolate for this kid.

We also don't need to hide his gifts, even though it may somehow make us feel better if we did. Every time we walk into the garage and see the things we bought him just sitting out in the open it stings a little as it's a small reminder that he can't see. You'd think after 6 years it wouldn't be a surprise anymore, but once in a while we still get hit with the shocking truth that our boy is blind and it feels like a punch to the gut. Not sure that will ever go away. We found out that he was blind on Dec 8th when he was only 11 weeks old. Adrianah was 1 1/2 years old and watching her eyes fill with wonder when she saw lights, trees and presents and knowing that Landon wouldn't experience Christmas that way made it bitter sweet that year. As Landon gets older though he brings so many new amazing aspects to Christmas and it reminds me to turn the lights off and focus on the true meaning. To listen to the carols about Jesus without any distractions. My boy has no idea how much he is teaching me. So grateful for him.

Anyway here is a little video from last year that I hope puts a smile on your face.

Merry Christmas from our goofy family to yours!