We've been talking about Christmas for weeks now and Miss A has gotten excited about it because of both Jesus and "my advent" (as she calls it). We got one of those calendars with chocolates in them and she gets a chocolate at the end of every day to help count the days down. Since she's just a little more than two and a half, she's still learning about it all and trying to figure it out but we're excited to report that she's gotten the most important part of it down - which is realizing the importance of the birth of Jesus. Miss A gets all excited when you mention His name and even knows exactly who He is in the nativity...
Every year Miss A has gotten stocking gifts and then three gifts under the tree to symbolize what the wise men brought to Jesus. This year one of her gifts was her own Craftsman tool bench that I actually picked up months ago for a mere $12 from my favorite local thrift store.
We thought it was brand new because it looked sealed and the box just looked a little beat up but as it turned out, it was missing the battery-operated power tools and had only the manual ones. *shrug* Honestly? Miss A isn't missing them too much and has plenty of imagination power to make everything else that came work just fine. Oh... but DON'T call it her tool bench because in her mind it's a new kitchen.
Miss A's second gift was a very special doll. I am forever in search of Asian baby dolls that actually look Asian and are pretty (many end up looking like aliens or far from Asian) and I've thought that I would have to pony up and buy one of those super expensive American Girl dolls that are close to $100. (*sigh* I don't like that idea but I would budget and save for it if I had to.) Thankfully I will have to do no such thing!! One of my favorite doll companies in the world (I used to work at FAO Schwarz in college) teamed up with Walmart and created their own version of the 18-inch dolls that are very much like American Girl dolls AND they have one that is of Asian descent that is so much prettier than the American Girl ones. YAY!!!!!! I saw it at Walmart last week and it was a real steal at not even $30!!! And it was a big hit with Miss A...
And seeing as how well it went over, I'm already scheming about how to get her some matching outfits with her doll for upcoming birthdays and other occasions.
And for the third present this year, well... we're waiting on that one until Christmas day with family. We've got only half of it here and we decided to hold off on opening that until it can all be opened together. It was a very blessed early Christmas for us this year though and we loved being able to go to our home church together. Miss A was especially excited about getting all dressed up in her sparkly shoes AND koala hat...
God bless us everyone indeed.
