I've heard "Merry Christmas" about a thousand times in the last few days and it never gets old. It still makes me smile. I just LOVE everything about Christmas. The twinkling lights, the smell of food baking, the sounds of family, "White Christmas" or "A Christmas Story" on the tv. And now, I can add baby's laughter to the list. McKenna had no idea what was going on this morning, but she got just as excited as Larry and I at the prospect of ripping up (and eating) paper. She could have cared less what was underneath the paper. Although, she very much enjoyed the toys that some friends of ours got her. She's been playing with (and attempting to eat) them all day.
The thing I love the most about Christmas, even more so now , that we have a child, is that it's one day out of the year where you are forced to stop everything, look around you, and be thankful for all of the blessings in your life. I am beyond blessed.
My second favorite thing about Christmas is the food. I hold no guilt in completely stuffing myself silly on Thanksgiving and on Christmas. (Luckily, my metabolism is okay with that so far.) Since yesterday, I've baked 2 dozen cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, 2 loaves of pumpkin bread, a loaf of banana bread, jello, ham dinner, and sausage balls. (I parked McK's pack-n-play in the kitchen with a boatload of toys.) The chocolate chip cookies were a disaster...they never rose. I don't understand how the package on the side of Nestle's chocolate chips can render bad cookies, but it did. Maybe it was the baker. However, the rest of the food was wonderful!! For the last oh...6 months, I've been watching Food Network NON-STOP. It's like I had all this pent-up cooking mojo I needed to let out. If I had more ingredients I think I could cook for the next week. It's such a stress reliever to whip something into submission....
