Living With a Sense of Wonder

Ever since having Eisley, I just love love LOVE holidays.  I enjoyed them when I was single, and then a little more once Nick and I got married, but there is just something about holidays with a baby.  Suddenly they are magical again, you know what I'm talking about I'm sure.  It's the way you felt when you were a little kid.  Christmas, Easter, the Fourth... they were days that you did something out of the ordinary, celebrated, and created traditions with your family that would last for the rest of your life.

So she may be a little young to do fireworks this year (and that's ok because with the drought we're having, I'm pretty sure everywhere around here is under a burn ban, which means no fireworks.  Bummer!) but we've had fun dipping her toes in her very own little baby pool, cooking out, and spending time with her aunts, uncle, and grandparents.  Just knowing that this is her first Easter and first Fourth of July and so on just makes it so precious.

I just love how this little girl is bringing magic back into our lives.  It's too easy as an adult to take things for granted and feel like every day is just another tick mark on the calendar.  It makes me want to be really purposeful about making her "firsts" super special.  I need to sit down with Nick and figure out what family traditions we want to start for our daughter and our future kids.  I want everything to hold a sense of wonder for our littles, because wonder is one of the most important parts of childhood.

I remember when I was a kid, my parents did such a great job at making holidays special.  We'd come home from church on Easter sunday, and there would be five of the most beautifully done Easter baskets that you'd ever see.  Somehow my mom would quickly set it all up as my dad corralled us all into the van before we would head out to church.  When we would get home I just remember being so excited that the Easter bunny had left us such great stuff.  Every Christmas they got us an ornament that had to do with something we'd done or loved that year, and we would open them up on Christmas Eve and put them on the tree.  When I moved out I had a box full of memories to put up on my own tree.

I'm just really enjoying the fresh eyes that having a baby has given me.  Now don't get me wrong, those fresh eyes also open you up to a world of scary stuff that you have to protect your little ones from- but it's the magic and wonder and beauty that you need to focus on.  We have such an amazing opportunity as moms to shape the world into something better.  We can start by creating a world full of beauty, wonder and traditions for our babies.  We all face the harsh realities of life eventually, but let's try to make sure that we hold that off as long as possible for our kids.