Well, I guess Santa Claus was a one year adventure for me. I am not a Santa Claus hater--I just never believed in him. My parents never said he didn't exist, but they never said he did either and they definitely didn't have a distant uncle call me and tell me to get in bed on Christmas Eve because he had flown by in his sled and saw I was still up. Anyway, you get the point...

Now fast forward to me as a mother of three girls. Tori sort of played it like me. Santa is a nice story, but she never actually believed he came down the chimney and such. But Isabelle, well, the stories of Santa brought wide-eyed wonder. And, for me at least, wide eyed wonder is one of my favorite things about having children. So much so that last year I went all in and while Jamie had the girls out I dreamed up an elaborate story about Santa and how he had visited our house while they were gone and swooshed down the fireplace, took their stockings and filled them with treasures and then hid them somewhere in the house and I couldn't find them. Tori was a skeptic, although she played along, but Isabelle fell hook, line and sinker. She started asking every question under the sun and my little white lie got more and more elaborate...I didn't want to lose the wonder in her eyes.

Well, this year I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I wasn't sure I could come up with another story to fool a now 5 year old little girl. But today I learned I don't have to. In an uneventful moment of discovery this morning, Isabelle told me Santa is not real. Santa is your mom and dad. I asked who told her. She said no one, just herself, because last year when there was Strawberry Shortcake bubble bath in her stocking she knows you buy that at Target and Santa does not go shopping--he has a workshop. I didn't argue, cuz why bother with the lie if she doesn't seem to care. And so I sang her "I Saw Ponsi Kissing Santa Claus" and she told me that means she is kissing her dad. She's a smart one.

Merry Christmas!

My dear, sweet Ronsi Ponsi....from before you even made your first appearance in this world you were teaching us things. A visit to the hospital in the beginning days of my pregnancy, taught us to wait on the Lord and take nothing for granted, as a nurse prepared me for the possiblility that I had miscarried you. Your early arrival into this world taught us the value of friends who could take me to the hospital and stay with your big sister at a moments notice, while Jamie rushed home from a basketball game in Long Island to be there in time. Your teensy tiny 5 lbs., 13 oz. frame taught us about an amazing God who had carefully formed each precious finger and each precious toe. And now, as five years of your life have passed, You have taught us joy through your infectious one dimple smile and uncontrollable laughter. You have taught us that a hug (especially a Ronsi leg hug) really can make everything feel so much better and raise your endorphins all in one shot. You have taught us of an insanely creative God as you brought us into a whole new world that is uniquely you--filled with mgiraffes, princesses, horses and puppy dogs and more made up words than I can recount. We have watched you grow from a tiny baby into a soccer "sort of" playing, scooter riding, cartoon watching, skip-bo winning, junk food loving big sister--all done in your own way with a confidence in who God has made YOU to be. You captured your Dad and I's heart a long time ago and capture more and more hearts by the day. Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Isabelle! We love you!