Amazing Grace: December 2016

Somehow over night you turned 2. Just as quickly as you entered this world and captured my heart, we're already celebrating your 2nd birthday!! The past two years have been amazing! Learning you and pretty much relearning me and life, too. Just when I think I have it all figured out and feel like I can put on my Superhero Mom cape there's a new stage or a new mood or a new moment or a new way that you're expressing how you feel or what you want. This year has been an incredible roller coaster ride! You have learned and grown so very much!! You have reached and exceeded so many milestones this year! One thing is for sure...you are persistent, you are driven, and you don't give up! You are so determined!! Your strong willed personality is such a blessing when you use it in the right way! You are a born leader for sure! You command the room that you are in and you want all eyes on you. You take the lead and take charge in any and all circumstances. I remember being at the zoo with you for the first time over the summer and you were showing this little boy who was boss. Your daddy didn't know what to think! He just stood back speechless. I've learned so many times to just sit back and be quiet and watch you. One of my favorite things to do right now is watch you play pretend by yourself. You take your toys and interact with them...you give them voices and actions and it is the sweetest thing ever! I love seeing you read your books now. You hold the book in your still so tiny hands and read each page as if you are 10 years old. Seeing you do that shows how much you listen when you are read to and soak everything in!! You always ask so many questions...you want to know everything there is to know about everything! Daddy and I laugh sometimes because when we tell you something you will reply with "huh?" It is so cute and so funny! You are always making us laugh!! You make our world so happy and we love you so very, very much! My prayer for you in the years to come is that you keep your strong willed personality and use it in a way that gets others attention so you can show them who Jesus is and be His light. I pray that you stay determined and you never give up trying to accomplish something so you can show yourself that with diligence and persistence you can do anything you set your mind to! I pray that your heart continues to grow and love Jesus. I love it when you get excited about going to church and singing songs there and telling us the bible verses you learned. I love hearing you pray at night for our family and friends. I pray that your heart stays softened and opened to receive Jesus at a young age so you can live your life for Him and share Him with others. I pray that you always love us the way you do now! Your hugs and kisses and just being with you moments sometimes doing nothing are what I love the most!! I hope you always shower us with your hugs and kisses and want to spend time with us! I pray you always have a heart for others. You love to give big hugs when you see special people that you love and that means so much to them! You never like to see anyone sad. You always give Jonah a bye hug when we leave and tell him we will be back soon. I pray that you always think of others and want to make them smile and feel good. We started our Mommy and Me dance class this fall and it has been so much fun! I have enjoyed seeing your spunky personality every Monday night! You hop and run and leap and flip across that dance floor with such pride! I hope you always want to be the light in the room you are in! I pray that you keep the yearning that you have for books and for learning! It is such a special gift! You love, love, love to read and want to know all there is to know. You love to watch Wild Kratts and other TV shows that teach you new things. You love learning about animals and telling everybody when you learn something new! I pray that your inquisitive little mind keeps asking and wondering and you never stop wanting to know things. I pray that the smile you share with others keeps shining on your face for years to come because it is contagious. All that see it smile back just as big! My favorite words to hear you say are "I love you mama". I will never forget when you wrapped your arms around my neck in Fuddruckers after pictures with Santa and whispered those sweet words to me. My heart just melted right there. I love how you need me and I pray that you will always know that you do and that I am here for you. I tell you all the time that "I love you all day, EVERY DAY" and I mean that more than you will ever know! I tell you too that "I love you more than ALL the stars in the SKY and I love you to the moon and back AND BACK AND BACK" and nothing will ever be more true than those words! I pray that you always look to your daddy like you do right now. I pray that he is the model man that you compare all others to because of his love for Jesus and his love for you. Your future husband has some big shoes to fill for sure! I love seeing him hold you and hold your hand because it's at those times that you still seem so little. Your daddy loves you so very, very much and I hope and pray that you always know and feel his love because there is none like it. You light up his world and have him wrapped around your little fingers so tight! I love hearing you say "We are eating with our fam-ah-lee" when it is us three at a restaurant or sitting around our table at home. I pray that you always know how special you are to us and how thankful we are for God giving us you...our most precious gift yet. You never cease to amaze me Lillian Mae Allen and I pray that God along with all of your family can say that now and for years and years to come! I love you so very, very much my precious baby girl!
Love always and always,
Mommy

It's just 3 days before THE BIG DAY! Somehow we are about to celebrate another Christmas. It all seems like it is going by so quickly. This Christmas season has been so fun! Lilly is really having a ball and enjoying everything so much! It is so refreshing to see her excitement at Santa and Christmas lights and all of the other sights and sounds of Christmas. We have tried our best to experience all kinds of fun "Christmassey" events with her over the past month or so...here are a few...

*Stone Mountain: We went with Cheryl and Marty and it was SO much fun!! Lilly loved it all!! We listened to "The Gingerbread Man" and she had a her picture taken with him, we met Rudolph and Clarice and had our picture taken with them, we watched "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in 4D"...Lilly was a little scared because of the snow falling and the seats shaking but it was fun!...she wasn't too sure what to think about Bumble either...she would say "I don't like him" and scrunch her little face! :)...we met Ms. Clause and Santa, too!...there was a parade through the town...we went on a train ride and saw all kinds of lights and pretty scenery! It was the best time!! Lilly loved every bit of it and loves to talk about it even weeks later!

*Dickens of a Christmas: This tradition began last year with us and my mom. Once again we ate downtown and walked the streets admiring the people dressed up, singing carols, selling goodies, the live nativity scene, and of course the big Christmas tree downtown. Lilly loved it all! Nick and my mom got a warm drink and Lilly ate a cupcake as we walked around downtown. It was a lot of fun! :)

*Downtown Greer: We met Erica, Daniel, and Emersyn at a pizza restaurant in Greer and then after we ate we walked around. We saw Santa who read "T'was the Night Before Christmas" to everyone! Then we got to see Santa light the big Christmas tree. It was a lot of fun with our sweet friends!

*Christmas Performance at First North: We took Lilly to her first Christmas performance at First North with Poppy, JoJo, and Granna. It was a lot of fun! She loved the bears and the toy soliders the most! She has been marching around like soliders ever since then! :) She also loved the ballerinas. :) The show lasted over an hour and she did great up until the end. When the pastor was talking and praying she yelled out "I ready to go Mama". So red faced and all we scooted out of there as fast as we could.

*Christmas Performance at New Life: She loved watching the kids perform and sing the songs at our church's performance one Sunday morning. But when she was ready to go she was sure to let everyone know!!

*McAdenville Lights: Granna and Paul took her to see the lights and decorations and she was amazed! She kept saying "They worked so hard, Granna!" :)

*Christmas Cookies and Ornaments: Adri, Brandon, Kadence, Kennedie, Kannon, Amanda, Kelbyn, Taelyn, and Bailey came over and we baked cookies and made ornaments. It was a lot of fun! The kids were more interested in running around and playing than baking cookies, but when it came time for decorating them with sprinkles and icing they were excited! It was a fun first year tradition and we are definitely making plans tom do it again next year! :)

*Polar Express: We bought the book and read it, then we bought the movie and Lilly watched the whole thing! Then we went and stayed in a Watershed Cabin in Bryson City, NC Monday night. We met Lacey, Eric, JT, and Oliver and we ate at a BBQ restaurant and then went to our cabin. The next day we ate breakfast, hung out, then got ready and ate at an Italian restaurant in Bryson City. We came back for a nap (Lilly would not fall asleep!) then we left for our Polar Express Train Ride. It was A LOT of fun! Very magical and "Christmassey". They read the book on the train ride, served hot chocolate, a chocolate chip cookie, danced and sang Christmas carols! We had a blast!

We have also enjoyed everyday things like...
*Watching Christmas movies...she loves Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!! She is still so funny about Bumble though! I bought her a little stuffed animal Bumble so she would realize he is not scary.:) She also has a little Rudolph stuffed animal and Rudolph pajamas that Joy got her and a Clarice lovie that I bought her. To say she is rotten is an understatement! :)
*Singing Christmas Carols...she loves to sing Christmas songs! They are on in our car 24-7. She will burst out singing "Frosty", "You better watch out", "Winter Wonderland" and any other Christmas song you can think of! She is too funny! I love hearing some words that she gets mixed up...like in "Frosty" she will sing "eyes made out of GOLD". :) Too cute!!
*Christmas Decorations...she loves seeing lights and other decorations outside on houses and in yards. Her favorites are the blow up ones of Santa and Frosty. She gets so excited when she sees them! :) She also loves the decorations in our yard, too. When Nick first put lights on a tree in our yard he took her out to show her and she said "Ohhhh pretty!"
*Nativity Scenes: She loves seeing baby Jesus in the nativity scenes. We read books about Jesus all year and she knows who He is. Then at Christmas time she gets to see Him everywhere! She gets so excited and she wants to touch Him and play with Him. Nick's mom bought her a rubber set and she loves to get them out and play with them! :) They had a birthday party for Jesus at church last Sunday in her little class. She had a cupcake and got a little goodie bag with candy and a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cup, too. :) She definitely knows the REASON for the SEASON! :)

Christmas is definitely different through her eyes. She notices everything and calls attention to it no matter where we are. It makes it so much fun because she lights up and gets so excited! I can't help but smile and get just as excited! It takes the ordinary out of everyday life for sure. The lights haven't looked so bright and beautiful as when I saw them when I was a child. The nativity scene has been looked at and talked about more than ever this Christmas. No matter how many times she sees lights and decorations and baby Jesus in the manger, it never seems to get old to her. She soaks it up every time and looks just as excited as she was the first time she saw it. How special it is to experience Christmas with her and to make these special memories! I feel so blessed and so thankful to have these times with her. Christmas through her eyes is so new and refreshing and I'm so glad that I get to share these experiences with her and we will cherish for years to come.

It makes me think of my daddy and how he was always such a big kid at Christmas time. He would get all wrapped up in the movies, and decorations and of course the food and sweet treats! He loved it all! I keep thinking about his last Christmas with us. We went over to his house on Christmas Eve morning for breakfast. He wanted to make Red Velvet Pancakes like they were advertising on TV for IHop! He was determined to make them! I can't remember exactly how they turned out, but just being with him and sharing in his excitement that morning was so special! He always made the best omelets and pancakes! They were so fluffy! His specialty is definitely breakfast food!! I bet he will be cooking a nice big, fluffy batch of pancakes in heaven this Christmas Eve! Have one for me daddy! :)

Christmas has a way of bringing about memories from the past and I just want to relive them all over again. I just let myself go there to that time and that place and feel everything like I did back then at those very moments. Sometimes it hurts because it feels so real and then I realize I am missing those people that I shared those special times with. I can't have them back with me, but how grateful, how thankful I am that I get to savor those memories over and over again.

I know these memories that Lilly is making right now will be ones that she and I will both remember and think back on for years to come. Thanking God for this time together with my family and friends to etch these precious memories in time that will never be forgotten.