I love creating Christmas magic for my family. It started with unexpected surprises in stockings, and visits from Santa’s friends during advent.
In 2020, Santa left our rescued pup Nala underneath the tree, much to the delight of my husband and stepdaughter. I thought I had peaked. How do you compete with a puppy for Christmas? And not just that — Nala has turned out to be the best, most well-behaved terrier we could imagine. We insist that her middle name is Claus since Santa brought her on his sleigh.
And then I got pregnant in October. Counting the weeks, we’d hit the end of the first trimester right at Christmastime. 12 weeks along, a general safety zone to start sharing with extended friends and family…including the kiddo at home who had been asking to be a big sister for years now :)
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for a Christmas surprise. And it got even better when, just days before we planned to tell my stepdaughter, we visited good ol’ Santa at Macy’s with some friends. We planned with A that she would ask Santa for a Bluey play set (wink wink). In the whirlwind of situating all the kids for photos and shuffling jackets and bags, my husband and I never got to see that interaction play out. But on the escalator down to the street, little hands grabbed hold of mine.
“I asked Santa for a baby sister and he said YES.”
Pretty bold of Santa, if you ask me.
But it all lined up so perfectly. Because when we finally did tell A, the spirit of the season just felt more real. Of course Santa already knew. He knows everything.
Again, I thought we had peaked.
But the real magic came on Christmas day itself. In the early afternoon lull, when all the gifts were opened and everyone cleaned up from breakfast, I tapped my phone to check in on any notifications. There was one — a new test result had just posted to my online health portal.
It’s a boy. And he is healthy.
I guess the Christmas spirits were watching out for me, too.