This year, I was so excited about picking out our tree. This would be the first tree that Emerson would see all lit up and twinkling. The first tree that she would open gifts under. Our original plan was to get our tree at the MARC house in Key west. It's a non-profit agency that serves folks with developmental disabilities. It's where we got our pumpkins for Halloween and we wanted to get our tree there too. We made plans to pick out our tree during Jared's port call. We got dressed up in reds and greens and headed on down to KW. This happened to be a time when I was especially exhausted. Emerson had a couple of rough nights--the kind where she was up for 3 hours at a time--and my body responded to the lack of sleep by breaking out in hives. I was sleep deprived and an overall mess, if I'm being honest. Jared offered to pick one up on his way home, but I was determined to get the perfect tree as a family. So off we went when Jared got home to pick out our very first Christmas Tree as a family of three.
The MARC House Christmas Tree Farm...
We walked around, in search of just the right tree. Jared and I have pretty high standards when it comes to our Christmas trees :) Some were too short, others not full enough. The one thing they all had in common was the price. They were so expensive! But we liked the idea of getting our tree from a place that gave back to the community. Well, evidently Emerson had different plans. In the middle of our search for the perfect tree, she had...shall we say...an explosion. We're talking a 9.0 on the Richter scale kind of explosion...so we had to leave. Fast.
We didn't get our tree that day. It would have to wait. A couple of days later, after Jared had left and come home again, we swung by Home Depot on a day we were running errands and picked out our tree there. It wasn't the way we had planned it out, but that's kinds how life goes, isn't it. And you know what?
It's the perfect tree...
Tomorrow Emerson will wake up to her very first Christmas. We'll walk her out to our tree, glowing and bright with presents all around. Her eyes will light up and she'll probably make that breathy "ooh, ooh, oooh" sound that she makes when she's excited. And we'll all smile as we watch our little girl enjoy for the very first time, the magic of Christmas.
The best of all gifts under any Christmas tree is the presence of family, all wrapped up in each other. What a beautiful saying, and so true. Even though we couldn't be together this Christmas, our family is still the best gift ever. This year Emerson was our extra special gift!!!!!
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