Not exactly as planned

Last night, Ava was fussier than usual, but we really didn't think anything of it at the time. By this morning, she had a pretty high fever and it was clear she needed to see a doctor. They ran some tests and ruled out several things, but it turns out the diagnosis was that she just had a virus. Needless to say, this altered many of our plans for Christmas Eve. I must admit, it was a little disappointing there was no time for baking a birthday cake for Jesus, and that we weren't able to attend the Christmas Eve service at church. But as anyone in this stage of life understands, you just can't control these things and we just tried to make the best of it.

We did read Twas the Night Before Christmas and set out some cookies and milk for Santa. We said our goodbyes to Giffy, our Elf on the Shelf, who returns to Santa tonight to stay until next Thanksgiving. We completed our Advent ornament book as well as our Advent storybook.

Chris and I started a tradition a while back on Christmas Eve that has become so special to me. After the kids went to bed tonight, we made some hot chocolate and watched videos from Christmases past (well, since Claire was born). We were discussing how we had already forgotten some of the cute things Claire used to say and do. It makes me kind of sad how big she is getting and even how quickly Ava is growing. I know we'll blink our eyes and they will be grown. I just want to capture as much as I can so I won't lose these special moments! I cherish this tradition, though I am guessing as the girls get older, we'll have to put them to bed pretty early on Christmas Eve to get through them all! We'll see if we can keep it up!